Page 55 of The Runaway Wives

‘There is, but they’d be bored stiff after a day. What would they do here?’ she pointed out.

‘There is the pool,senora.And all this fresh air is good for the children. They can run around and play,’ Santiago said persuasively. He and Alonso led the way around the land – there was too much of it to call it a garden – pointing out the various trees. Geoff hung on to every word.

‘What’s this?’ Babs asked as they came to a small concrete shed.

Santiago asked Alonso who replied in rapid Spanish.

‘That’s the pump house,senora,’Santiago translated.

‘Pump house?’ she repeated.

‘Si, the water, it is pumped up from the well and then sent to the house. All the… workings… are in here.’

‘“Well”? You mean we have to pump the water up in a bucket?’ Babs asked faintly. She looked over at the house. How many times a day would they have to carry buckets of water over? ‘There is no running water?’

‘No, no.’ Santiago sighed and was silent for a moment as if wondering how to explain. ‘There is no town water. We are too far. The water, it is pumped up from the well.’

‘How?’ Geoff asked. Even he looked worried now.

‘By the electric. Then it is sent to the house. You turn on the taps and the water, it comes out.’

‘And if the electric goes off there is no water?’ Babs asked, just to make sure she’d fully understood.

‘Sadly, no. But it will soon come back on again. Let me show you.’ Santiago spoke to Alonso and they both led the way back to the house. Babs and Geoff followed. They walked into the kitchen and turned on the taps. Water came gushing out. ‘See. It is no problem.’

Suddenly the kitchen light went off and water stopped running out of the taps.

‘Ah, the electric, it goes sometimes.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘It will be back on soon.’

Babs shot Geoff a look of dismay and was relieved to see that he was alarmed by this too.

The next house was nearer to the town and had town water. It also had a chicken run and a cockerel. This time the owners were out. ‘The seller, he say that you can have the animals,’ Santiago said. ‘They give many eggs.’

Geoff’s eyes lit up. ‘Imagine that, Babs. Our own fresh eggs.’

Babs wasn’t impressed, hens were noisy and messy. ‘How far away are the nearest shops?’ she asked.

‘Very near, maybe ten minutes,’ Santiago told her. ‘Come see the views from the terrace.’

He led them up the terracotta steps to the huge terrace. Babs tried to ignore the cracks in the walls and the balustrades, there had been cracks in most of the houses they’d seen, Santiago had said that it was normal because of the heat. She looked across the land. It did look beautiful from up here, she had to admit. She imagined herself sitting on this terrace with a glass of wine, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Suddenly a cacophony of barking burst through the silence. It sounded like at least a dozen dogs were all vying with each other to be heard. She peered over the balustrade. ‘Whose dogs are those?’

‘They are from the rescue centre over the road. You will soon get used to the barking. You will ignore it and sleep on,’ Santiago assured her.

‘You mean that they bark at night too?’

Santiago shrugged. ‘They are dogs,senora.Who knows when they will bark?’

Chickens, a cockerel and now dogs. This certainly wouldn’t be a peaceful life. Babs looked over at Geoff who was still gazing in awe at all the land.

Suddenly there was a screech below and a scrawny black cat went running past, a rat dangling from its mouth. Babs screamed and clutched Geoff’s arm. ‘That cat, it’s got a rat!’

Santiago studied her thoughtfully for a moment. ‘Perhaps a town house would suit you better,senora?’ he suggested.

Babs nodded.

Santiago took out his phone. ‘My friend, Maria, she has town houses. I will contact her for you.’ He dialled a number and started to speak in rapid Spanish.

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