Page 26 of Not in a Million Years

‘When charities trap feral cats and neuter them so they can be released and not cause a cat population boom, they clip the tip off one of their ears,’ he explained.

‘Why? Isn’t that cruel?’

He looked up at me, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. ‘I don’t suppose they love it. But it’s for the best long-term. Otherwise there’d be loads more of them, and they’d be starving and sick. That would be a whole lot crueller.’

‘Oh.’ I squatted next to him and extended my hand as I’d seen him do.

He made the clicking noise again. ‘Come on then, say hello to Auntie Kate.’

I attempted the noise, but what came out sounded more like I was trying to suck in a strand of spaghetti. ‘It doesn’t understand English, anyway,’ I pointed out.

‘True. We should try Google Translating, “Who’s a good cat then?” into Turkish.’

In spite of myself, I laughed, startling the cat, who squirmed back onto all fours and regarded me suspiciously, then turned and stalked off, its tail at half-mast.

‘It didn’t like me,’ I said, feeling absurdly offended.

‘More like it knew you didn’t like it,’ Daniel replied, then added under his breath, ‘Kind of know how that feels.’

‘What did you say?’

‘You heard me.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake! Look, Daniel, we’re here for a reason. We’re here to find Andy. Or to try and find him. We don’t have to be best mates, right? We just have to get the fuck on with it.’

Still squatting, I eased the strap of my flip-flop away from my skin. The plastic had rubbed blisters on the tops of my feet, and then the blisters had burst and left raw patches, so that every step, for the past half hour or so, had hurt. The base of my neck between my hair and my T-shirt felt hot and angry, and I knew I had sunburn. I thought longingly of the pool and my dimly lit, air-conditioned room where there were no cats and no Daniel.

‘So let’s get the fuck on with it then,’ he said, rising effortlessly off his heels like someone had fixed a string to the top of his head and setting off in the direction of the next hotel, leaving me limping and sweating in his wake.

Eleven

We stopped for a bite of lunch shortly after that, but it was too hot to eat much. Daniel had a chicken kebab and a beer; I picked at some salad then had an ice cream. Again, I thought longingly of my cool bedroom and the turquoise water of the hotel pool. Even the sea looked inviting, but I dreaded to think how badly the salt water would sting my poor shredded feet.

Daniel noticed me limping and asked if I was okay, but I kept my game face on and insisted I was fine.

‘Sure? You don’t want to head back for a break? And maybe pick up a hat? It’s hot as hell out here.’

Of course I need a break – and a damn hat. But we needed to find Andy, who for all I knew could have far worse problems than sunburn and blisters.

‘Nope, let’s push on.’

And so on we pushed. Gradually, we were checking off the places on the map that were nearest to our home base; Daniel was having to zoom out on his phone to make out our next destination, and the one after that was even further, inland a bit, towards the forested mountains that reared up behind the town.

‘Who even stays there?’ I asked. ‘Why would you want to be so far from the beach?’

‘Not everyone comes here for the beach,’ Daniel pointed out. ‘There’s other stuff too. Adventure sports, archaeology. People like different things.’

I thought of Claude and wondered if adventure sports were his thing when he went on holiday. I suspected they would be.

‘We can go and get the car if you’d rather?’ Daniel said. ‘Picking holes in my driving skills might cheer you up a bit.’

‘Look, I’m fine,’ I snapped. ‘I’m not some pampered princess who can’t even walk on her own two feet, you know. And you’re not my chauffeur – and if you were, I’d sack you.’

Daniel’s face said quite clearly that a pampered princess was exactly what he thought I was, but he replied, ‘All right. Sorry I asked.’

At the next hotel, the only person we could find was a chambermaid pushing a cart laden with sheets, towels and cleaning products along a cobbled walkway between rustic-looking chalets. I showed her my phone and she smiled sweetly but shook her head and raised her hands in helpless incomprehension, before turning back to her work.

‘Next one’s a way away,’ Daniel warned. ‘Back down on the seafront, but right on the other side of town.’

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