The Storm Sister (The Seven Sisters #2) (10 page)

That afternoon, Maia, Star, CeCe and I made our way down to the jetty to see Electra and Tiggy off. Maia handed them their translated quotations as well.

‘I think Star and I might be on our way later too,’ commented CeCe as we walked up to the house.

‘Really? Couldn’t we stay a little longer?’ asked Star plaintively. And as always, I noted the physical contrast between them: Star, tall and thin to the point of emaciation
with her white-blonde hair and pale-as-snow skin, and CeCe, dark-skinned and stocky.

‘What’s the point? Pa’s gone, we’ve seen the lawyer and we need to get to London as soon as possible to find somewhere to live.’

‘You’re right,’ said Star.

‘What will you do with yourself in London while CeCe’s at art school?’ I asked.

‘I’m not quite sure yet,’ said Star, glancing at CeCe.

‘You’re thinking of taking a cordon bleu course, aren’t you, Star?’ CeCe answered for her. ‘She’s an amazing cook, you know.’

Maia and I shared a concerned look, as CeCe took Star off with the intention of checking flights to Heathrow that evening.

‘Don’t say it,’ Maia sighed when they had gone. ‘I know.’

We walked towards the terrace, discussing our concerns about Star and CeCe’s relationship. They had always been inseparable to the extreme. I only hoped that with CeCe concentrating on her
art course, they might disentangle themselves a little.

I noticed how pale Maia looked and realised that she hadn’t eaten lunch. Telling her to sit down on the terrace, I went into the kitchen to find Claudia and asked her to prepare some food.
Claudia gave me an understanding look and began to assemble sandwiches as I returned outside to Maia.

‘Maia, I don’t want to pry, but did you open your letter last night?’ I asked carefully.

‘Yes, I did. Well, this morning actually.’

‘And it’s obviously upset you.’

‘Initially yes, but I’m okay now Ally, really,’ she said. ‘How about you?’

Her tone had become abrupt and I knew it meant that I should back off. ‘Yes, I opened mine,’ I said. ‘And it was beautiful and it made me cry, but it also uplifted me. By the
way, I’ve spent the morning looking the coordinates up on the internet. I now know exactly where all of us originally came from. And there are a few surprises in there, I can tell you,’
I added, as Claudia brought out a plate of sandwiches and placed it on the table before swiftly withdrawing.

‘You know exactly where we were born? Where
I
was born?’ she asked tentatively.

‘Yes, or at least where Pa found us,’ I clarified. ‘Do you want to know, Maia? I can tell you, or I can leave it to you to look up yourself.’

‘I . . . I’m not sure.’

‘All I can say is, Pa certainly got around,’ I joked lamely.

‘So you know where you’re from?’ she asked.

‘Yes, though it doesn’t make sense just yet.’

‘What about the others? Did you tell them you know where they were born?’

‘No, but I’ve explained to them how to look up the coordinates on Google Earth. Shall I explain to you too? Or just tell you where Pa found you?’ I suggested.

‘At the moment, I’m simply not sure,’ she said, casting her beautiful eyes downwards.

‘Well, as I said, it’s very easy to look it up yourself.’

‘Then I’ll probably do that when I’m ready,’ she said.

I offered to write down the instructions for the coordinates for her, but doubted whether she would ever have the courage to look them up. ‘Did you have a chance to translate any of the
quotes that were engraved in Greek on the armillary sphere?’ I asked her.

‘Yes, I have them all.’

‘Well, I’d really like to know what Pa chose for me. Would you tell me, please?’

‘I can’t remember exactly, but I can go back to the Pavilion and write it down for you,’ said Maia.

‘So it seems that between us, you and I can provide the rest of the sisters with the information they need if they want to explore their past.’

‘We can, but perhaps it’s too soon for any of us to think whether we’ll go back and follow the clues Pa has given us.’

‘Maybe so,’ I sighed, thinking of Theo and the weeks ahead. ‘Besides, I have the Cyclades race starting and I’m going to have to leave here as soon as possible to join
the crew. To be honest, Maia, after what I saw a couple of days ago, getting back on the water is going to be hard.’

‘I can imagine. But you’ll be fine, I’m sure,’ she reassured me.

‘I hope so. It’s honestly the first time I’ve had cold feet since I began racing competitively.’

Saying this out loud to my big sister was a relief. Currently, whenever I thought of the Cyclades, the only image that sprang to mind was of Pa lying in his coffin at the bottom of the sea.

‘You’ve put everything into your sailing for years, Ally, so you mustn’t let it faze you. Do it for Pa. He wouldn’t have wanted you to lose your confidence,’ Maia
encouraged me.

‘You’re right. Anyway, will you be okay here by yourself?’

‘Of course I will. Please don’t worry about me. I have Ma, and my work. I’ll be fine.’

As I helped Maia finish off the sandwiches, I made her promise we would keep in touch and asked if she’d like to come sailing with me later in the summer, even though I knew she probably
wouldn’t.

CeCe appeared on the terrace. ‘We’ve managed to get two seats on a flight to Heathrow. Christian is taking us to the airport in an hour.’

‘Then I might see if I can get a flight to Athens and come with you. Don’t forget to write out the quotation for me, will you, Maia?’ I said as I left to go in search of my
laptop.

Having found a last-minute evening flight to Athens, I packed hurriedly. Checking round my bedroom to make sure I had everything, my eyes alighted on my flute, sitting snugly inside its
protective case on my shelf. It had remained unopened for a long time. On a whim, thinking about Pa’s mention of it in his letter, I pulled it down and decided to take it with me. Theo had
said he’d like to hear me play, and perhaps, after a practice, I would. Then I went downstairs to find Ma to say goodbye.

She hugged me tightly, setting two warm kisses on my cheeks. ‘Please take care,
chérie
, and come back to see me when you can.’

‘I will, Ma. Promise,’ I said. Then Maia and I walked down to the jetty together.

‘Good luck in the race,’ she said, and handed me my envelope containing the translated quotation Pa had chosen for me.

Giving her a last embrace, I climbed aboard the launch, where CeCe and Star were already waiting for me. We all waved to Maia as Christian pulled away from the jetty. Setting off across the
lake, I thought of how Pa Salt had always told me that one should never look back. Yet I knew I would, time and time again, at what
had
been, and was no longer.

I walked away from CeCe and Star to the stern of the boat, still clutching the envelope, feeling it was fitting to read Pa’s quotation while I was on Lake Geneva, where he and I had sailed
together so many times. I opened the envelope and eased out the piece of paper inside it.

In moments of weakness, you will find your greatest strength.

As Atlantis receded into the distance, the house disappearing behind the trees, I begged Pa’s words to flow through me and help me find the courage I needed to carry on.

Theo had texted me to say he’d meet me at Athens airport. As I appeared out of arrivals, he walked towards me looking anxious, then took me in his arms.

‘Sweetheart, I’ve been so worried about you. How are you? You must be shattered, you poor thing. And you’ve lost weight,’ he added as he felt my ribs.

‘I’m okay,’ I told him firmly, breathing in his wonderful, reassuring smell. He took my rucksack and we went out into the dark, stifling heat of an Athens evening in July.

We climbed into a taxi, with its sticky plastic seats and smell of stale tobacco, apparently heading for a hotel in the harbour at Faliro, where the Cyclades race would start.

‘I’m serious when I say that if you’re not up to this, really, we can manage without you,’ Theo said as we motored along the city streets.

‘I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult,’ I retorted.

‘Definitely a compliment, given that you’re an integral part of the crew. But because it’s you and I love you, I don’t want you to feel any pressure.’

I love you.
Every time he said those words with such naturalness, I felt a small thrill. And now he was here, next to me, holding my hand and still saying it. And I loved him too for
his honesty, his openness and his refusal to play games. As he’d said to me once during those wonderful few days on the
Neptune
before I’d heard about Pa Salt’s death, if
I broke his heart, he’d just have to find another one instead.

‘Really, I know it’s what Pa would want me to do. Get back onto a boat and into my life and not sit around moping. And, of course, win.’

‘Ally.’ He squeezed my hand. ‘We’ll do it for him. I promise.’

When I went aboard the Hanse the following morning with the other members of the crew to begin our last few days of training, they also seemed infused with a real urge to
triumph. And I was touched that every one of them tried to make my life as easy as possible. The Cyclades was nothing like as arduous as other offshore races I’d crewed on: eight days
overall, but with a twenty-four-hour stopover and a rest day at each island we’d sail to.

Theo had noticed I’d brought along my flute. ‘Why don’t you bring it on-board? You can serenade us all to spur us on,’ he’d suggested.

As we sped through the water in the glorious sunset on our first day of racing, I lifted the instrument to my lips and smiled at Theo before launching into an improvised woodwind version of
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
, a piece made famous by the epic seafaring movie
Master and Commander.
Theo grinned back at me from the helm, silently acknowledging the joke
as we sailed into Milos harbour. The boys all applauded me graciously and I felt as if I’d paid my own small tribute to Pa Salt.

We won the first leg of the race outright, then came third in the second leg and second in the third. Which put us joint first with a Greek crew. The penultimate night of the race found us in
the port of Finikas on Syros, a small and idyllic Greek island, the residents of which had laid on a celebration in the harbour for all the crews. After supper, Theo gathered us all together.

‘Gentlemen – and lady – I understand you’ll think I’m a killjoy, but your skipper is commanding all of you to have an early night. While the competition’
– he nodded in the direction of the Greek crew, already half-drunk and clasping each other by the shoulder, dancing a Zorba routine to a bouzouki accompaniment – ‘are making
merry, we will get our beauty sleep and awake refreshed in the morning ready to kill. Okay?’

There was the odd groan, but everyone dutifully returned to the boat and went to their respective cabins.

Given the proximity in which we were living with the rest of the crew, Theo and I had developed a night-time routine so that we could snatch a few moments together without arousing suspicion. As
the only female, I had my own stuffy cubbyhole in the prow of the boat, while Theo slept on the bench in the galley-cum-sitting area.

I would wait until I’d heard the others use the tiny locker room containing a sink and a loo. Then, when all was quiet, I’d creep upstairs into the darkness, where a warm hand would
be waiting to pull me towards him. We’d have a nervous five-minute cuddle, like teenagers scared to be caught together by their parents. Then, in order to establish an alibi in case anyone
should hear me creeping about, I would tiptoe back down to the galley and open the cooler box, grab a bottle of water, then walk back to my cabin and shut the door noisily. We were convinced
we’d performed the charade so well that no one on the crew had the faintest idea of what was happening between us. As he pulled me to him on the last night before the finish, I felt extra
passion in his goodnight kisses.

‘Jesus, I hope you’re prepared to spend at least twenty-four hours in bed with me to make up for all the frustration I’ve suffered in the past few days,’ he groaned.

‘Aye, aye, captain. Whatever you say. But it’s hardly fair to order the rest of the crew to bed early and the skipper to then disobey his own orders,’ I whispered into his ear
as I removed a roving hand from my left breast.

‘You’re right, as always. So go, my Juliet, remove thyself from my sight, or forsooth, I shall be unable to restrain my lust for thee.’

Giggling, I kissed him one last time and extracted myself from his embrace.

‘I love you, sweetheart. Sleep well.’

‘And I love you,’ I mouthed in return.