‘Saw?’ Jack said.
‘It was nothing.’ Her mind whirred, as they stared her way. ‘Just a cute cat earlier, which looked a bit like Luna.’
‘Well there’s only one Luna,’ he said, with a smile, plonking a kiss on the cat’s head.
Millie looked at Isla, but Isla couldn’t read her expression. ‘I’d better get back,’ she said mildly. ‘Or they’ll send out a search party.’
Millie left, and Isla finished getting ready.
‘Are you sure you don’t want some Chinese?’ Jack said, sitting at the breakfast bar and spooning chow mein from a foil container onto a plate. He’d texted her earlier to ask if she fancied her favourite chicken in black bean sauce, but she’d declined, far too nervous to eat.
‘I’m not really hungry,’ she said. ‘But thanks.’
‘Do you want a lift to the station? It looks like rain.’
Isla glanced through the window. ‘I’ll be fine. It’s only a ten-minute walk, and I need the air.’ She pulled on her boots then leant across the worktop to kiss him. ‘I feel a bit weird actually, meeting up with people I haven’t seen for years.’
‘I’m sure you’ll have a great time.’ He smiled. ‘Go wow them, and call me if you need picking up.’
‘Yes, thanks, I will.’ She’d barely got the words out when his phone rang. ‘Can’t you change that daft ringtone?’
‘Spider-Man is not daft,’ he said, fake indignant, grabbing the phone and looking at the screen. He rejected the call.
‘Your mum?’
He nodded. ‘You look great, by the way,’ he said, biting into a prawn cracker.
‘Thanks,’ she said, but felt he was just being kind. She knew she looked as if she was about to go for a job interview. She’d dug out a brown skirt suit from the back of her wardrobe that she’d only ever worn once, hoping, for some bizarre reason, that a professional look might make a good impression on Ben Martin.
‘Right, I’m off,’ she said, kissing Jack, and grabbing her coat and bag. ‘See you later,’ she called before closing the door behind her.
Isla had forgotten her high-heeled boots rubbed. She rarely wore them, preferring flats. By the time she got to the station, although the rain had held off, her ankles throbbed, and she wished she’d taken Jack up on his offer of a lift.
The train appeared within moments, and she headed down the almost empty carriage. Just a woman wearing earphones, her head down, engrossed in her laptop, at the far end. Mizzling rain splattered the window, as the train rattled along the track, and as though the movement had loosened her memories, thoughts of Carl Jeffery invaded.
Six years ago
‘I’m taking off,’ Bronwyn said.
Isla smiled and turned from where she’d just snapped a photo of a kookaburra perched high in a tree near the hostel.
‘Now?’ she said, greeted by her friend’s freckled face beaming at her from under a cap, the midday sun burning down on her from a clear blue sky. Bronwyn was wearing denim shorts and a T-shirt with the peace sign that matched the small tattoo on her arm, and her thin but sturdy legs led down to battered walking boots.
‘Uh-huh.’ Bronwyn hitched up her backpack, which was almost as big as she was. ‘Got that wanderlust feeling again. Need to carry on.’
‘I’ll miss you, Bron,’ Isla said, a pang of sadness rising. This was what she hated about travelling. You got so close to people, and then they’d leave, morphing into a profile picture on Facebook or MySpace. Or, if you were lucky, you’d receive a text every so often. Despite only knowing Bronwyn for a short while, Isla would miss her. In fact, home had crept into her thoughts more than ever lately. After Canada she would head back to the UK. ‘So what’s your plan?’
‘I’ll probably hitch into Sydney,’ Bronwyn said, grabbing a bottle of water from the side of her backpack, and taking a gulp. ‘Then get a flight to New Zealand.’
‘You’ll love it there,’ Isla said, memories of her own visit fresh in her mind. ‘North or South?’
‘Both, I hope. I’m desperate to see where they filmed Lord of the Rings.’
Isla pulled her into a hug. ‘We’ve had some laughs, haven’t we?’
‘Sure have. I’ll never forget being chased by those kangaroos, or that bloody great spider in the loo.’
Isla laughed. ‘So, have you told Carl?’ They’d been seeing each other for around six weeks, although It’s only a bit of fun was still Bronwyn’s stock phrase.
‘Yep, told him a couple of days ago.’
‘Was he OK with it? He’s pretty besotted.’
‘To be honest, he acted a bit weird at first. But I told it like it is. Said he was a being an eejit, and it was never meant to be anything serious. He has to be cool with it.’
‘He’ll be fine.’ Isla took her friend’s hand. ‘Don’t forget me, will you?’
‘Of course I won’t.’ Bronwyn squeezed Isla’s hand, and looked back at the hostel, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the two-storey, red-brick building. ‘Do you like it here?’ she said, screwing up her nose.
‘Pretty much, yeah.’ But Isla had picked up on Bronwyn’s unease. ‘Why?’
‘Oh, nothing – my imagination probably – it’s nothing. Ignore me.’
‘Oh God, you can’t say that and leave me hanging.’ She wasn’t one for worrying, but if there was something about the place, she needed to know, and move on.
Bronwyn met Isla’s eye. ‘It’s just I’m sure someone knocked on my window last night.’ She shrugged and took a deep breath.
‘And?’
‘Nothing. That’s it really. Ignore me.’
‘Did you look out?’
‘Yeah, yeah I did.’ She studied her feet, scuffing her trainers on the dry earth.
‘And?’
She looked up and squinted into the sun, before arching her palm over her dark eyes. ‘I got a bit freaked,’ she said. ‘Might have been my imagination, but I’m pretty sure someone was out there. Watching me.’
Now
Isla’s phone rang, jolting her back to the moment. She rummaged in her bag for it and saw Roxanne’s picture on the screen.
‘Hi, you,’ she said brightly into the phone.
‘Hey, Isla, I can’t believe you’ve been back since Tuesday, and we haven’t had a catch-up.’
‘I know,’ Isla said, pleased to hear her friend’s voice. She’d missed her. ‘It’s been far too long.’
‘So how was Canada? I saw your fab pics on Facebook.’
‘Truly amazing,’ she said, as a surge of emotion at how wonderful it had been came and went.
‘Cool. I so want to hear all about it. You free tonight? We could try the new tapas bar.’
‘I can’t, sorry. I’m on my way to a uni reunion, would you believe?’
There