Tasting Sunlight by Rachel Ward

Author:Rachel Ward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orenda Books
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sally grinned, and before she could fall off balance, she raised herself up on the pedals and rode.

She paused briefly where the track came out onto the country road. In the distance, she could make out the contours of the village church through the rain, blurry and grey. She didn’t actually want to go back yet, but she was gradually getting cold and she’d already done over thirty kilometres.

It was no fun riding on the lane in this weather. The water pooled in the ruts and made her wheels sluggish, but if she rode further into the middle of the road, the cars passed her so close that she could feel the slipstream, on top of which she was soaked every time by a dirty cloud of spray, thrown up by the wheels. It shouldn’t bother her, seeing as she was wet anyway, but the inconsiderate way they all overtook was just so annoying.

‘Arsehole!’ she screamed after a black Mercedes that passed so near her she swayed in the turbulence and had to grip the handlebars. She stuck her middle finger up, even though there was no way the driver would be able to see her through the spray. On the opposite side of the road, a VW camper braked.

‘What?’ Sally yelled furiously at the driver, giving him the finger too. The window was wound down and there was a second’s delay before Sally recognised Liss. She smiled slightly.

‘Want a lift?’

‘Is this yours?’ asked Sally once they’d stowed the bike inside it. The middle row of seats had been taken out so there was loads of room. Sally had taken her T-shirt off and swapped it for the dry jumper from her plastic bag. She’d kept her wet trousers on. They’d dry by themselves anyway.

‘The camper belongs to Gerhard. The man with the big house with the slate roof behind the church. He sometimes needs a tractor, so I let him use mine. And in return, I get to take this. He’s got another car anyway.’

Somehow, Sally had always thought Liss had no friends at all. She hadn’t seen any visitors since she’d been staying with her.

‘Uh-huh,’ she said.

Liss gave her a brief glance that she couldn’t interpret.

‘What?’ Sally asked loudly. ‘What?’

‘You think I don’t like people much.’

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. Sally felt seen through. She didn’t like the feeling, especially because other people always went and thought they knew everything about her just because they’d got something right for once.

‘It’s not so hard to guess, is it?’ she retorted. ‘Where are you going anyway?’

Liss didn’t answer right away. Despite the rain, she was driving fast and not at all like someone who only borrowed a car occasionally. Eventually they turned onto a road that led down to the river. Sally could see a solitary barge, chugging through the grey. It was an image that spoke to her somehow. She didn’t know exactly what it was saying, but it spoke to her. In the city where she lived, there was no particularly big river.

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