‘You see that little black cloud high in the sky, over there to the right?’ She pointed upwards. ‘That’s Justin. He makes the sun go in sometimes, but then you see it peep out again. Justin has always made me believe that he controls the sun.’
Laura found it easier to tell Max what she had to say without looking at him. Even though she skirted around the horror of her childhood, explaining that the fire that killed her mother was an accident and the attack against her father had been in self-defence, it still sounded like a nightmare. For the first time in her life, Laura was telling someone who was not a psychiatrist about her past. She told him about the long years in homes, about the electrocution therapy, the drugs that left her with no memory for about five years. She admitted that her relationship with Justin must be difficult for an outsider to understand. ‘We only had each other, so we must seem unnaturally close.’ Laura pressed herself into him. ‘He is very dominating and I allow him to be so. If it had not been for him, I might never have been released from the home and allowed to return to France. I owe Justin... I owe him everything. And I was content for him to be the most important person in my life until...’
‘Until?’ Max asked softly.
‘You,’ she said simply.
‘Do you love me, Laura?’ he asked, holding his breath.
‘You are open and trusting and...’
‘You didn’t answer my question.’
He turned towards her and she looked into his face. ‘Yes,’ she said.
He took her hand and kissed the palm then drew her close to rest against him.
‘I know I’m young and inexperienced, just a kid, but I also know I love you, Laura. I want to make up for all those hideous years and make you happy.’
‘You do,’ she whispered, loving the feel of his arms around her.
‘I want to be with you. Will you leave and come with me?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know. That’s impossible, isn’t it? Besides, Justin would never let me go.’
‘Then don’t tell him, just leave. We could leave right now. Will you come with me?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, of course I will.’
‘When?’
‘As soon as possible, but—’ She broke off and took a deep breath as the little black cloud covered the sun, like an omen. ‘We’re just being foolish. Justin would find me, no matter where you took me. And I don’t think your parents would approve. You’re much too young.’
Max stood up and drew her to stand in front of him. ‘I am not. I have a trust fund, so money is no problem. I knew I loved you from the moment I saw you. My parents will have to know, but so will William.’
‘When he calls I’ll tell him.’
‘No, Laura, you can call him. Besides, I thought you’d spoken to him this afternoon.’
‘No, no, I didn’t. I had such a migraine,’ she lied.
Max put his hands on his hips. ‘You told me it came on after you spoke to him. Don’t treat me like some idiot. I’m serious. I love you. I want to get out of this place. I want you to get away from your brother.’
‘Justin will go to any lengths to stop me leaving with you.’
‘Then we’ll escape without his knowing. We could go right now, while he’s off the island.’ He caught her face between his hands and kissed her.
‘Believe me, Justin must not find out.’ Her voice caught in her throat.
‘You sound as if you’re scared of him. Are you using him as an excuse? I don’t mind telling him. I’m not afraid of him.’
‘Oh, Max, I’m scared he’ll make me feel so guilty I won’t be able to leave. And I do want to, I really do.’
‘Well, I’m not scared. We can go and tell my parents, now, then wait for him and confront him.’
‘No, we can’t do that. He’ll turn you against me and make you hate me. Justin has a powerful hold over me. You have no idea how much it took for me to come to you today. Justin is already jealous of you, he already suspects I care for you, that he is no longer the centre of my universe.’
‘How much does he know?’ Max asked.
‘Enough.’ She traced his jaw-line with a finger. ‘He only has to look at me to know. I find it hard not to smile when you’re close to me. In fact, when you’re anywhere near I want to look at you, touch you.’
He clasped her to him again. She was saying words that filled him with passion: words he had only dreamed of hearing. Nothing had ever sounded so sweet.
Suddenly Laura pushed him from her. She felt somehow as if she was flying. ‘Wait! I have a plan. The mail-boat docks at our quayside at about six in the evening. We can leave on it.’
‘Tonight?’ Max tingled, either with fear or excitement.
‘No. It comes every other day. It’s due tomorrow. Maybe we’ll be able to leave then. If not, we have to wait just two more days. We can stay over on Tortola and catch a plane first thing the following morning.’ She paced up and down, making brushing motions with her hand, a determined expression on her face. ‘We’ll stay apart until then, and the night we leave we must be careful not to give a clue to anyone, especially not Justin. You pack your bags, I’ll pack mine, and we can leave them hidden close to the jetty. We’ll meet up at Suicide Point. Say that you’re taking a walk, so that no one suspects. I’ll come via the lower path, you take the long route round. No one will be able to see either of us from the house on those routes, and from up there we can see the mail-boat coming in.’
‘But if it always comes at six, why don’t we just hide down there?’
‘It’s never on time, and we’ll have to wait until Justin has collected the mail. He always takes the crew some beer and chats for a while before he brings the mail and the newspapers up to the house. When he’s gone they sit and drink their beer on the boat. That’ll give us time to get on board and leave the island without Justin seeing us or anyone suspecting anything.’
Max was so overcome that he didn’t notice the deviousness of her plan, or that she had been able to make it so quickly. All he could think about was that she was agreeing to be with him. ‘Until then, we keep apart, ignore each other. We must not give ourselves away.’ Laura was excited, her face glowing, sure she had not overlooked anything. The fact that he was little more than a child and she an adult woman, fifteen years older than him, was unimportant. They were two people infatuated with each other, holding their world in their arms.
‘Whatever you say. I’ll be waiting.’
They kissed and parted, then ran back into each other’s arms and kissed again, neither wanting to let the other go. Eventually Laura made him turn his back and ran until her lungs felt as if they would burst, her hair flying, her skirt caught in her hands above her thighs.
‘We’ll get married!’ he shouted after her, and his voice caught the wind and echoed. But she didn’t hear. He could see her figure darting and jumping, ducking beneath overhanging trees, and then she was gone.
Laura ran full tilt into Humphrey Matlock and lost her balance. He had to catch her or she would have slipped over, dangerously near to the cliff-edge.
‘Dear God, you’re crazy. It’s slippery here,’ he said, still holding her arm. She gasped her thanks. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes danced. She rested against him to regain her balance and catch her breath. ‘I was looking for James,’ he said.
‘He’s gone to Tortola for the evening.’
‘Ah, well,’ he said, towering above her. His black hair was tousled from the wind and his face was even more tanned after another day’s fishing. ‘Are you going back to the house?’ he asked, and she nodded, walking backwards a few feet in front of him.
‘Did you catch anything?’ she asked flippantly.
‘You mean apart from you?’ He smiled. His teeth were large and slightly stained from the cigars he smoked. She could smell brandy on his breath. ‘I didn’t have a good day, but tomorrow we’re planning to go further afield, start at the crack of dawn. I’ve not enjoyed myself so much in as long as I can remember.’ Matlock went on chatting to her, indicating with his hands the size of the fish he had lost, describing the dolphins and how close they had swum to the boat. Then he stopped and sniffed. ‘God, smell the air, it’s so fresh. But that perfume, it’s all over the island.’