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Yet again Lilith had known something about me when I had no idea myself, but this time I couldn’t have been happier.
I could swim.
It was as if my body had just been waiting to be immersed in water before it could prove it to me, and I spent the rest of the afternoon in heaven. Lilith proved to be an excellent teacher, giving me gentle guidance without ever forcing me to do something that felt wrong whilst encouraging me to take more and more risks.
The warm, crystalline waters of the Mediterranean covered me, supported me and took all the weight off my damaged knee and for the first time I could remember I felt truly whole as I took a deep breath, pushed off from the rocks and let myself glide under the waves.
Lilith
I’d sensed that Finn had the capability to be a proficient swimmer, but even I was amazed at his natural talent. I watched his lean frame cut through the water and it were as if he had finally found his home, my darling selkie returning to the sea.
He showed no fear, not even when I dared him to swim out far past the point where he could put his feet on the seabed, or try diving from a rocky outcrop, and by the end of the afternoon I was no longer his teacher but his swimming companion.
So it was that three hours after he had unwillingly entered the water, Finn walked to the shore with a similar reluctance. “Can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but I don’t think I want to go home.”
“Good.” I linked my arm through his as we made our way back to the jeep. “Because this was only the first part of our adventure, my beautiful man.”
Finn
For the next half an hour we followed a dusty, winding road that led up to the hills that sheltered Santa Marita and in truth I didn’t particularly care about where we were heading; it was just wonderful to sit next to Lilith as she expertly manoeuvred the little jeep around a series of hairpin bends and blind corners.
The sun dried my hair into salt-crusted spikes and I shut my eyes for what felt like seconds. When I opened them again Lilith was taking us down the second driveway of the day, and this time we pulled up outside an immaculate terracotta-hued villa surrounded by fields. Sleek, beautifully-groomed horses cropped the grass and an elderly donkey stood at the gate and placidly watched us approach.
A slim young woman with short, sandy-blonde hair and a pleasant smile walked down the path from the villa to meet us. “This is Annie Rojas,” Lilith said. “Another ex-pat Brit, married to Ricardo, a sergeant in the Spanish army. She opened this place about two years ago.”
“‘This’ being?”
“Finca de Cuatro Patas.”
I frowned, trying to work out the Spanish. “Four… Paws – um, Estate?”
Lilith gave me an approving nod. “Swot. Yep, it’s an animal rescue centre. I gave Annie a call this morning; if I’m going to be abandoning you for days on end you deserve some decent company so I wondered if you might want to choose a dog? I mean, I know it could never replace Bran…”
Bran had been the elderly little lurcher who’d adopted me in Albermarle. She’d been shot by Coyle O’Halloran to punish me for my disobedience, and I could still feel the weight of her loss all these months later.
“Oh God.” I made an odd little choking sound and brought my hands up to my face as if that could hide my idiotic response.
“Only if you feel ready,” Lilith said. “This isn’t meant to put you under any kind of pressure.”
“Yeah, yeah – I mean, that would be, well it would be fuckin’ amazing to be honest. But are you sure you can deal with a dog in your apartment?” I thought of the pristine floors and white upholstery.
“Our apartment. And yes; now I’ve realised I can share space with a two-legged creature I reckon I can probably deal with a four-legged one as well. Anyway, I can’t imagine that there’s an animal here that can make the kind of mess you’re capable of.”
She gave me a brisk pat on the back. “Right, I’m going inside to have a coffee with Annie while you have a look around the pens. Take your time, and choose wisely. And for fuck’s sake don’t get a stupid one.”
Lilith
When Annie and I emerged from her kitchen, Finn was nowhere to be seen. I was just wondering if we might have to search the paddocks when I heard him softly calling my name from the nearest pen. I walked over to find him sitting on the concrete floor of the enclosure with his back to the mesh door.
“What on earth are you doing down there? Have you been taken hostage by a rogue corgi or something?” I asked.
“Shh,” Finn whispered. “You’ll scare him, and I’ve only just coaxed the poor little bugger out of his kennel.” He turned slightly and let me see the little form huddled on his lap.
I stared at it. “My God, is that a rat in a collar?”
Finn actually covered the creature’s ears with his hand. “And don’t hurt his feelings, either. He’s got character, that’s all.”
“He’s certainly got something,” I said. “Mange, I suspect.”
