Sicilian Dreams (29 page)

‘I will be mistress of this estate and no one, especially you, is going to stop me.’ With that, she flicked back her crop and gave Diavolo a sharp slap on the rump, causing the big stallion to rear up and snort with fright. Laughing like a madwoman, she yelled her parting words as Diavolo came crashing back down and started to bolt forward. ‘I have your shoes.’ and the big horse shot off through the trees.

It took Cassie a while to stop shaking, and she sank down onto the soft sand, hugging her knees to her chest, and weeping tears of anger, betrayal, loss and most of all, shame. She wanted to crawl into a dark hole and cover herself up. The humiliation of Francesca’s words bit deep. Whether she was telling the complete truth was debatable, but regardless of that, she had sown the seeds of doubt in Cassie’s mind and that was all that was needed, because Cassie had been hurt badly before and the feeling of betrayal had washed over her like an ice cold shower. Francesca had effectively shamed her, and the feeling was ghastly. How could she hold her head up for the remaining few days they had at the villa? She knew she would have to talk to Marco, but right now, it seemed like the last thing she could ever bring herself to do.

Wiping her eyes finally and feeling like her heart was breaking in two, she picked up her iPod and cap from the sand, and finally, the offending G-strings; mere scraps of fabric which had caused so much trouble; and flung them as far as she could into the lake. She wanted no reminders later on of her doomed holiday love affair and she turned her back on the lake and started walking back through the trees, uncaring that she had no shoes and not feeling the sharp stones as they cut into her soles.

As she walked, she started to feel a little better and with that feeling came a sense of righteous anger. She had been painted the villainess here, but in fact, it took two to tango and she’d be damned if she would be blamed for all of this. She strode along the path uncaring that she had no shoes to protect her feet and that she was actually in her underwear. At least she still had her hat, she th
ought. Anyway, it looks like a two-piece so what the heck. She had never, ever been ‘easy‘ in her whole life and to have someone call her that made her furious. I have always towed the line, thought Cassie. I studied hard for my degree, and since then I’ve worked hard to build my professional reputation and my integrity. How dare she call me loose, a slut, a whore. Cassie clenched her teeth in rage and almost started jogging until her foot came down hard on a sharp stone and she yelped in pain. Being angry sure beat being sad, she thought. She had allowed herself to feel sad and beaten in love for too long after Rick and she was not going to let it happen again. Okay, I might be permanently unlucky in love, but just wait until I get hold of that lying bastard Marco.

She was so busy being angry that at first she didn’t hear the cry ahead of her on the track. It sounded like someone whimpering. She started to jog, regardless of the pain on her feet and as she rounded a bend in the track she saw Francesca lying prone, one leg bent unnaturally up behind her. It looked broken, and Francesca looked up at her and said. ‘Oh God, help me, please,’ she said moaning and then started crying again. Her hard hat was still on her head which was a good thing thought Cassie; at least she hasn’t cracked her skull open; as she knelt down beside her and lifted her slightly under the shoulders so she could release one of Francesca’s arms which was trapped underneath her torso. ‘My leg, I think it is broken’ she whimpered as Cassie gently lay her flat again.

‘Yes, I think it is.’ she agreed, her tone even. ‘I need to go for help.’

‘No, don’t leave me.’ she said, clutching at Cassie’s arm as tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘The pain is dreadful, don’t leave me, don’t leave me.’ Despite her state she held Cassie’s arm in a death tight grip as she begged her not to leave alone.

‘Where is Diavolo?’ said Cassie.

‘He ran off when I fell.’ said Francesca.

‘With my shoes.’ muttered Cassie, extricating herself with difficulty from Francesca’s clutches. ‘You have to let me go Francesca, now. I have to go and get help. You need to go to hospital, it looks like a bad break.’ she couldn’t resist saying. She felt mean, but it did look like a bad break and Francesca needed urgent medical attention before she went into shock or worse.

This brought on fresh wailing and crying from Francesca, but she finally released Cassie’s arm and allowed her to go. Cassie set off a run and cursed the woman for taking her shoes. It seemed to take forever to get to the stables and when she found it deserted; apart from Diavolo standing forlornly in the cobble stone courtyard, the sweat on his coat drying crusted and white, his head drooping in exhaustion; she gave a cry of frustration. Poor thing, thought Cassie racing off again on the road. I bet she whipped him all the way and he finally retaliated and threw her off. If that was the case, Cassie couldn’t help commending Diavolo for his behavior.

She was drenched in sweat herself by the time she ran around the back of the main villa and found Marta in the kitchen.

‘Francesca’s fallen off Diavolo on the track to the lake and her leg is broken.’ she blurted it out, leaning over and resting her hands on her legs as she gasped for breath, unaware that her feet were bleeding and her face was red and she didn’t look too good herself.

‘Madonna.’ said Marta, shocked, putting her hand over her mouth for an instant before recovering her composure and yelling out the kitchen door in rapid Italian to Guido. He hurried off and Marta came over to Cassie and put a hand on her shoulder.

‘What has happened to you Cassandra? Look at your feet, they are cut.’ She led Cassie to the table and sat her down while she filled a basin with water and asked Cassie to soak her feet in it. ‘Then I will dress the wounds’ she said, inspecting the undersides of Cassie’s feet. She filled a large glass with water and brought it over.

‘Drink it, now’ she commanded. The water felt so soothing on Cassie’s poor feet and it was only when she began to get her breath back and relax that she remembered what Francesca had said about finding the G string on the chandelier. She hung her head and stared down at her feet, suddenly ashamed to meet Marta’s gaze, however the older woman gave no indication that anything was amiss as she sat down beside her and started to dry her feet one at a time.

‘You will have to have bandages on them for now.’ said Marta, carefully applying an evil smelling ointment and then strapping Cassie’s feet with stretchy bandages. She neatly fixed each end just above the ankles with a strip of plaster and then examined her handy work.

‘Thank you Marta, they feel much better,’ said Cassie, putting each foot down tentatively on the floor and testing the pressure.

‘Keep your feet up for now. Do you know Liz’s number? I will call her now and ask her to come and pick you up.’ Cassie recited the number and Marta called Liz on the landline. ‘She is coming now’ said Marta. ‘Have you eaten? Are you hungry?’ She didn’t wait for Cassie’s response, going into the larder and returning with a large cake from which she sliced an enormous chunk onto a plate and brought it over to Cassie. ‘You need the sugar,’ she said.

‘Is Guido going to get Francesca?’ asked Cassie, breaking off a little bit of the cake and eating it. It was delicious and she gobbled down the rest of it.

‘Si, he is taking the truck to get her. I asked him to phone for an ambulance on the way but they are always slow. It is better he goes and picks her up now. By the time he has done that, the ambulance may have arrived.’ She looked doubtful, as if an ambulance was the last thing one should have faith in. She made no comment about the fact that Cassie was half clothed and Cassie was grateful for her tact. Marta was a gem, she thought. Liz burst into the kitchen a few moments later.

‘What in God’s name happened to you Cass?’ she said, shocked at the state Cassie was in.

‘Well…when I couldn’t find you this morning, I went for a run and someone took my shoes and here I am.’ she smiled forlornly at Liz, who was looking at her in astonishment. ‘Thanks for coming to pick me up.’ She stood on her feet and hobbled over to the door.

‘Here, put your arm around my shoulders,’ said Liz.

‘Make her lie down this afternoon,’ said Marta, following them outside. ‘Make her rest.’

‘Thank you Marta, I will be fine,’ said Cassie, smiling at her.

‘I will come to the villa tomorrow morning and refresh your bandages.’ replied Marta, firmly. ‘Feed her Liz, she needs her strength.’

‘Okay Marta, I got it, I’ll take good care of her.’ said Liz, laughing and helping Cassie into the passenger seat of the mini.

Half an hour later she was reclining comfortably with her feet up on the long, soft sofa in the sitting room, sipping a cup of green tea. Liz had helped her wrap her bandaged feet in plastic wrap and she had taken a bath with her legs hanging over the side. At least she felt clean on the outside, if not on the inside, she thought, and curled her feet up to make room as Liz came to sit beside her. She needed some comforting to soothe the raw edges and Liz was the perfect person to talk too.

‘Do you believe her?’ asked Liz when Cassie had finished explaining to her what had happened at the lake.

‘Well, there’s no smoke without fire as they say, so I have assume that it is partially true. She has been Marco’s girlfriend in the past and now she wants him back.’

‘Okay, but hang on, it just doesn’t ring true to me. I know we don’t know Marco well, but he seems to me like a genuinely kind and caring guy, not a player.’ said Liz.

‘You never met Rick, but let me tell you, he was charm personified to everyone and yet he lied through his teeth to me. In fact, now I think about it, he was a pathological liar.’

‘Point taken.’ conceded Liz. ‘Marco is very handsome and confident. It’s impossible to imagine him not having broken a few hearts along the way.’

‘Thanks.’ said Cassie.

‘Sorry’ replied Liz instantly. ‘I’m just trying to get some perspective on this whole thing. Just because he has experience it doesn’t mean that he is a serial heartbreaker.’

‘But what say I am just a bit on the side? A holiday fling? That’s the horrible part. I should never have let myself get involved emotionally with him, it’s just too painful.’

‘Well, I don’t know about you, but I think it is pretty hard for women in general to have a sexual relationship with a man and not get involved emotionally. I mean a drunken one-night stand can leave you feeling used and vulnerable. I just don’t think most women are able to shrug off the act of sex that lightly.’

‘I don’t want to see him,’ said Cassie, firmly.

‘You are going to have to talk to him about this. Hiding away is not going to make the problem go away. It may be painful for you, but you need to find out the truth from Marco.’ said Liz.

‘Right now I just want to sit in a dark room and lick my wounds,’ replied Cassie, stubbornly.

‘Okay, for the rest of today anyway. Do you want me to head him off if he comes here this evening?’

‘Yes, please’ begged Cassie, ‘I am just not ready to face him yet. Just tell him I’m asleep, or out, or something, anything.’ she added beseechingly.

‘Well, I don’t think he’s going to like it, but I’ll do my best,’ said Liz stoically.

The afternoon passed uneventfully, and Cassie was grateful for that. Her feet began to ache and she went and lay down on her bed with the shutters closed and drifted off into a fitful sleep. She was woken up by voices outside in the courtyard. It was Marco and Liz in the courtyard, talking softly. Her heart started racing and she stumbled out of bed in the dark room and hobbled over to the windows, turning the latch and opening them so she could listen to what they were saying. She felt like a coward hiding, but the impulse to eavesdrop on their conversation was irresistible.

‘Liz what is going on? Please tell me’ said Marco. ‘I’ve tried to call and text her several times this afternoon but I have had no reply.’

‘I think she has switched her phone off Marco,’ replied Liz. ‘Look, I am uncomfortable saying this, but she doesn’t want to see you this evening. At all.’ she added firmly.

‘But why? What has happened? You must tell me,’ he pleaded with Liz.

‘Marco, you need to talk to Cassie, not me, and she is not ready to speak to you this evening. You have to accept that. You have to respect her wishes.’

Okay, fine, I’ll go,’ said Marco, sounding angry. ‘If she does not wish to see me, I have no choice, but I don’t understand this at all.’ Liz said something too softly for Cassie to hear and then she heard Marco’s car door slam and his car drive off. She felt sick to her stomach hearing his voice and his confusion, but she just didn’t have the strength to face him right now and find out the horrible truth. She opened her bedroom door and met Liz coming down the hallway. Her mouth was set in a firm line and she looked worried.

‘Thanks a million Liz.’ said Cassie. ‘I overheard most of what you said and I really appreciate it.’

‘That’s okay Cass. It’s just that he seemed so hurt and confused and I felt bad telling him to go away. But I understand that you don’t want to face him at the moment so I said what needed to be said.’

Later on, they shared a simple supper of leftovers, followed by a slice of apricot and ricotta tart. It was a warm evening and they sat outside on the terrace, the candles in the center of the table casting a soft glow around them.

‘This just melts in the mouth,’ said Cassie, dreamily spooning the dessert into her mouth and savoring the silky smoothness of the ricotta with the slightly tart taste of the apricots.