Secrets on the Italian Island

by T A Williams

  ‘That’s all right, thanks. I’ll book somewhere in Portoferraio. And please don’t bother hanging about for me on Monday night. We can meet up on Tuesday morning.’

  ‘Fine by me. Text me the name of the hotel once you’ve booked it and I’ll come and pick you up on Tuesday at nine, if that’s okay with you.’

  ‘I don’t have any choice in the matter.’ There was a moment’s hesitation before Ruby’s voice returned, sounding brighter. ‘I’m sorry, I’m just a bit grumpy today. I shouldn’t take it out on you. I’m looking forward to meeting you. My father says you’re one of the best.’

  Anna was genuinely amazed – and elated. Although she felt pretty sure her reputation in the company was reasonably good, she had never heard Sir Graham say anything especially nice about her. Mind you, he rarely said anything nice about anybody.

  ‘That was kind of him.’ Applying that particular adjective to her boss was something she had never done in her life before and it sounded weird. ‘Have a good trip and I’ll see you on Tuesday morning. Just remember to text me the name of the hotel.’

  ‘Of course. I’m looking forward to a nice sunny holiday. Bye.’

  ‘Nice sunny holiday?’ Anna addressed the rhetorical question to the suitcase open in front of her as her eyes alighted on her second set of overalls, neatly folded and, so far, unused. Somehow she had a feeling her priorities here weren’t going to be shared by the boss’s daughter who obviously wasn’t too happy with life. Not that Anna was particularly surprised. Sir Graham hardly struck her as the perfect dad. Still, she told herself, that wasn’t her problem and the good news was that Ruby sounded a whole lot nicer than she had been fearing.

  Next week really did look like it was going to be interesting. Apart from Ruby’s imminent arrival, there was the prospect of a day sailing with Marco on Monday and then dinner with Toby on Wednesday to look forward to. Her only real concerns were what Sir Graham had meant when he had talked about not wanting Ruby to get into more trouble, and what was causing her grumpiness. She stared down at the phone in her left hand and decided to have a word with Charlie. He had been in the company a good few years longer than she had and he always kept his ear close to the ground. If anybody knew, it might be him.

  He answered almost immediately. ‘Hi, Anna.’

  ‘Hi, Charlie. How’s Mary?’

  ‘Still expecting. Getting fed up, but she’s okay. What about you?’

  ‘Well, I’ve just had a call from Ruby. She sounds nice, but can you give me any more background? She didn’t sound too happy and spoke about having had a tough few weeks. It’s pretty clear she’s only coming because she’s being sent, rather than because she wants to. The thing is, Sir Graham made some vague comment the other day about me being responsible for ensuring she doesn’t get into what he referred to as “more trouble”. Any idea what that was all about?’

  ‘No, but I’ve got a friend in the New York office. I’ll shoot off a message to her and see if she can shed any light, but I doubt if it’s anything too major. Ruby’s a sweetie and a very touchy-feely sort of girl and she got a bit of a reputation when she was in London. Don’t get me wrong – she wasn’t jumping into bed with everybody, but she was a bit too friendly with the rest of the staff for her old man’s liking. He likes to keep distance between himself and us proles and he obviously felt she wasn’t keeping up the family tradition. The word was that Sir G sent her over to the States to get her out of the way.’

  ‘That sounds radical.’ Anna frowned at that, trying to imagine how it must feel to have your own father wanting you so far away. ‘Makes me relieved I come from a normal sort of family.’

  ‘When Ruby was living in London she always had a very active social life and I imagine that continued in New York so maybe she’s just pissed off to be dragged away from all her friends over there. I know Ruby quite well and I like her. It can’t be easy to live under the weight of Sir Graham’s expectation.’

  ‘That’s what I thought. Having Sir Graham as father can’t be a bundle of laughs. Maybe you’re right about her just being worried about missing the social life. The first thing she asked me was where the best nightclubs on the island were.’

  ‘Are there any? Elba struck me as a quiet sort of place. It’s not exactly Magaluf.’

  ‘Search me. I haven’t been clubbing for months, years.’

  ‘Maybe you’re about to start again. I imagine Sir Graham wants you to make sure she doesn’t end up with some unsuitable man.’ She heard him chortle. ‘That’ll keep you busy.’

  ‘Oh, God… and how the hell am I supposed to do that? Does he expect me to start following her around? And why should I? I’m a geologist for crying out loud, not a nanny.’ Having Ruby out of sight on the other side of the island suddenly didn’t seem like the best idea.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. She’s a grown woman.’ There was a pause while he did a bit of calculation. ‘She’s Sir Graham’s only child, although her mother’s his third wife and a good bit younger than him. I reckon Ruby’s got to be in her mid-twenties now. If I were you, I’d just keep an eye on her when you can. Besides, unless you’ve found anything interesting, I don’t suppose you’ll be on Elba much longer and there’s a limit to the amount of trouble she can get into in three or four days.’

  ‘I wish I shared your confidence.’ Anna took a deep breath. ‘Well, I’ve been thinking about a career change for some time now, so if she ends up getting kidnapped while on my watch, it’ll just be hastening the day.’

  ‘You won’t give up geology, Anna. It’s your life. No, just roll with the punches. It’s only for a week or so. Anyway, what’s the rest of your news? Found anything interesting? How’s the old guy? Seen any more of the dog?’

  They chatted for a few minutes and Anna gradually calmed down. Charlie was right: Ruby wasn’t arriving until Tuesday morning and the way things were going, the mission to Elba might well be all wrapped up by the weekend. She would just have to grin and bear it, though she had the feeling she wouldn’t be doing too much grinning if Ruby turned out to be the wild socialite Charlie had said.

  In the restaurant that evening she ate alone, just opting for a small Caesar salad, having eaten quite enough this week already. Loretta appeared at her table and was particularly chatty tonight.

  ‘So you saved Jack’s life, how amazing.’

  Anna nodded and rolled out the usual: ‘I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.’

  ‘Well, we’re all very grateful to you. He’s a lovely man.’ Anna saw her hesitate. ‘So you know Marco, Marco Varese?’

  Anna had been preparing herself for this eventuality and did her best to defuse any possible jealous – or even homicidal – reaction from the glamorous hotelier by repeating what she had told Felice the other day.

  ‘He almost mowed me down with his sailboard a few days ago and so he took me out to dinner to apologise.’

  ‘I see.’ Loretta’s eyes had narrowed again. ‘And how is he?’

  ‘He’s fine, I think.’ Anna shuffled slightly in her seat so as to be able to jump to her feet and make a hasty exit if Loretta decided to try to scratch her eyes out. ‘I suppose you know him well, seeing as he lives so close by.’

  ‘I did.’ The pause this time seemed to go on forever, but finally Loretta’s face cleared and she picked up the conversation again. ‘I haven’t seen him for a while; that’s why I asked. When you see him next, do tell him I was asking after him.’

  Anna decided that a bit of dissimulation was probably the safest way of negotiating her way out of a dose of poison. ‘I doubt if I will see him again. He told me he’s gone up north and he won’t be back till next week and I’m leaving here tomorrow.’ All right, she was only leaving her room at this hotel but Loretta didn’t need to know she was going to be staying on at Jack’s house. Spotting what could have been relief on Loretta’s face, she produced her sweetest smile. ‘But if by any chance I should bump into him of course I’ll tell him.’
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br />   As Loretta turned away and retired in the direction of the kitchens, Anna relaxed a touch. Hopefully she had done enough to ensure her food arrived untainted.

  As she was coming to the end of the meal her phone rang and she felt a little thrill of excitement when she saw that it was the man himself. Before answering, she instinctively glanced around to see if Loretta was within earshot, but was pleased to see her chatting to the occupants of a table at the far end of the long room.

  ‘Ciao, Marco, where are you?’

  ‘Ciao, Anna, I’m still up here in Bergamo, but I’ll be home tomorrow night and I was checking to see if you still like the idea of a sail on Monday. After a wet weekend the forecast for Monday’s good again. There should be some wind but nothing too strong – ideal sailing weather.’

  Now would have been the time to wriggle out of the invitation and stay safely out of his reach, but Naughty Anna had other ideas.

  ‘I’d love that, Marco. What time are you coming back tomorrow? Would you like to have dinner with me and Jack?’

  ‘That would have been great, thanks, but there’s big family lunch here tomorrow. I won’t get away until late afternoon so I’m booked on a late ferry and I probably won’t be home until eleven or later.’

  ‘Well, in that case you must definitely let me feed you on Monday night, seeing as we’re going to be neighbours.’

  She went on to tell him about Jack’s offer of his old barn but Marco didn’t sound particularly pleased to know she would be living so close by. Maybe, Sensible Anna was quick to point out, he was afraid this might be a bit too close for comfort if he had dates with other women lined up. Nevertheless, Naughty Anna brushed this idea aside and they arranged to meet on Monday morning. By the time she rang off, Anna knew she was really looking forward to seeing him again, although the evidence that he was a womaniser was stacking up against him. She had long since given up trying to explain why she felt so drawn to a man who was so unsuitable in so many ways, not least as she had Toby patently dying to see her again – and she him. Maybe it was just the thrill of spending time with a handsome man or maybe it was the fact that she had never dated a Bad Boy before. Well, she told herself, it didn’t really matter anyway. Any relationship was destined to fizzle out in less than seven days’ time when she left the island.

  Chapter 12

  Next morning the weather was still grey and overcast but this didn’t bother Anna too much. The main thing was that the wind had dropped and the sea – at least here on the south coast – looked relatively calm once again. As she would be playing truant from work on Monday to go sailing with Marco, she decided to spend the rest of Sunday – after doing her shopping and moving into the little house – carrying on with her official duties, not least as this would hopefully shorten the time she needed to be with the boss’s daughter.

  After breakfast she went to settle her bill and found Loretta at the checkout desk. She thanked her for a wonderful stay, saying how sorry she was to leave but not disclosing where she was going to be staying. Loretta managed to hide any satisfaction she might be feeling at Anna’s departure and wished her a happy onward journey. As Anna went back upstairs to finish packing, she breathed a sigh of relief tempered by a feeling of apprehension at the looming arrival of Ruby.

  She drove to the supermarket along roads that were still streaming with water, regularly splashing through minor floods where little streams running down from the hills had turned into raging torrents and had burst their banks. Nevertheless, the road was passable and the supermarket not too busy at nine o’clock on a Sunday morning. She filled a trolley with purchases and took them to Jack’s old stables. With the assistance – if that was the right word – of a very happy, slightly soggy, black dog, she unloaded everything and set about stocking the fridge. It didn’t come as a great surprise to find it already more than half full of cheeses, sliced ham, salami and fruit, and the door shelf packed with bottles of wine, including one of very good champagne. She only just managed to find space for the things she had bought and she remonstrated with Jack who just stood there looking on and smiling unrepentantly. She told him he was invited over for dinner and refused any excuses, although she did promise to make it something light and agreed they would eat early.

  She made him a decaf coffee with the swish modern coffee machine and was pleasantly surprised at the very drinkable results. After that she took the dog for a walk, ending up down on the beach where he happily splashed around in the water and cleaned the mud off his undercarriage before Anna had to return him to his master. By noon she was up at Marciana Marina on the north coast. The boat she rented was easy to handle and, although it was considerably slower than the RIB, it was fine for what she had in mind, so she set off westwards, chugging slowly along and studying the coast through her binoculars, protected from the intermittent rain by a rigid canopy above her head. There was still a bit of a swell running but it wasn’t too uncomfortable.

  As she followed the line of the coast her phone rang. As she saw that it was Toby, she felt a little thrill.

  ‘Toby, hi. Where are you?’

  ‘Hi… Anna… coast of Sardinia… rubbish signal…’ Anything else he might have been trying to say was lost as the phone went dead. For a moment a horrible image appeared to her of his yacht running into a reef and foundering, throwing all aboard into the sea, and it brought back to her how close she had come to him in such a short time. She was still worrying when the phone rang again.

  ‘Can you hear me better now?’

  ‘Yes, much better. Everything all right?’

  ‘Everything’s great. If you could see me now – I’m halfway up the mast so as to get a decent signal and every time we go into the trough of a wave and heel over I can just see water beneath my feet.’ In spite of his scary words he sounded full of beans.

  ‘You don’t sound as though it’s bothering you too much.’

  ‘It’s great, a real adrenalin rush. Anyway, I can’t stay but I just wanted to hear your voice. I’ve been thinking of you a lot.’

  ‘And me. I can’t wait for Wednesday.’ She hesitated. ‘Just be careful. I wouldn’t want to lose you.’

  ‘I promise. See you on Wednesday.’

  ‘Ciao.’ She blew him a kiss but felt sure he would miss it in the midst of the wind and spray. It sounded as though he was not only coping with the weather conditions but positively enjoying them. Just hearing his voice cheered her immensely and she was smiling as she continued her survey.

  She got as far round as the north-west corner of the island before turning back. What looked clear to her expert eye was that the geological structure here was unlikely to yield the results she was seeking. It was certainly looking more and more as though the south-east of the island, the oldest part where the iron mines lay, would be where anything of interest might be found.

  She returned the boat to Marciana Marina around mid-afternoon and headed home to the former stables. After a shower and a change of clothes, she prepared a light meal for tonight. Jack was coming at six and she was delighted to see the clouds beginning to clear and the sun breaking through just in time for her to set up table outside on the loggia. After the rain, the air was remarkably clear and she could see right up to the summit of Monte Capanne, no longer swathed in cloud. She breathed deeply and caught the heady scent of lemon blossom in the air. On closer inspection she found a lovely old lemon tree at the corner of the house, taller than she was, hung with bright yellow fruit and dotted with highly perfumed little white flowers. Yes, she thought to herself yet again, she could definitely see why both Jack and Marco had decided on this lovely spot for their escapes to Tuscany.

  That evening was very pleasant. Jack regaled her once again with stories of the exotic places he had visited in the course of his career and, as usual, she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from joining in with memories of her own. She took the opportunity to quiz him on his family background.

  ‘Marco said you have Tuscan roots. Wit
h a name like Dante I suspected something of the sort.’

  ‘My grandfather was from just outside Florence. He emigrated to Canada in 1897 at the age of just twenty to join the Gold Rush.’

  ‘You mean your grandfather was a miner in Tuscany?’

  To her surprise, she saw Jack shake his head. ‘No, he was a baker, but as soon as news of the discoveries being made in the Klondike and along the Yukon river started to filter through, he chucked in his job and set off to find fame and fortune in Canada.’

  Anna caught her breath. As a girl she had read Jack London’s books about the Gold Rush and these romantic place names had a way of exciting her even now. ‘Did he strike it rich?’

  ‘Not rich, but he had the good fortune to find some gold, and the even greater good luck to live long enough to spend it. They say that of the hundred thousand people who set off for the Klondike at that time, the vast majority of those who survived the sub-zero temperatures, the bears, the rattlesnakes and the regular outbreaks of disease, subsequently died penniless. Barely a handful made and kept sizeable fortunes. My granddad left the Yukon in 1900, set up home in Vancouver, married my grandmother and opened a bakery. He was then killed on Vimy Ridge just a few years later in the spring of 1917.’

  ‘How awful to survive the horrors of the Yukon, only to die in the horrors of the First World War.’ Anna felt genuinely saddened. ‘And your father? Did he take up mining?’

  ‘No, he stuck to making bread.’ Jack looked up with his wry old smile. ‘And it was just as well. That way they all had food to eat during the Great Depression of the nineteen thirties. They were tough years.’

  ‘What did he say when you told him you wanted to become a gold miner?’

  ‘He told me I was a crazy fool and I’d do better sticking with the bakery alongside my big brother, but, deep down, I know he was pleased and maybe a bit proud that I wanted to carry on his father’s tradition.’

  ‘That’s an amazing tale. My background’s nothing like as exciting as yours.’