Page 24 of Under A Sicilian Sky
Luca placed a hand on each of her arms and examined her before leading her towards the house. ‘Merda! Grazie a Dio. Eravamo così preoccupati. Pensavamo che fossi stato rapito! Gesù. Pazza pazza!’ He bombarded her with words she couldn’t understand, although from his tone and demeanour she could tell he was angry with her.
‘I’m so sorry! I know you must be upset with me. I didn’t mean to be out so long.’ She pleaded with her eyes and hoped he understood her apology.
Jacopo appeared. He was red-faced from running and the furrow in his brow was so deep it could’ve easily been filled with concrete. Nero jumped up at his owner and Jacopo crouched to pick up the dog. ‘Merda, Ruby! We are terrified! Where the hell have you gone all this time? Valerie is trying to call you. You should not leave without saying to us. Don’t do this!’ he shouted. ‘And I think Nerone is stolen.’
She held up her hands, guilt niggling at her more for the dog than anything else. ‘I’m sorry, okay? I just wanted to take him for a walk! I was stir-crazy and I’ve seen nothing of the island since I arrived. I just wanted to walk. I really am sorry. But Nero is fine, aren’t you lad?’
Luca stepped forward and addressed Jacopo. ‘Cosa ha detto?’
Jacopo’s expression softened and he sighed. ‘Dice che voleva vedere l’isola e fare una passeggiata.’
Luca shook his head. ‘Fanculo.’
Jacopo took a deep breath. ‘Please, Miss Ruby, stay in the place, okay? We are responsible. Out there,’ he pointed towards the gate, ‘you are not quite safe, okay?’
Reluctantly, Ruby nodded, feeling like a chastised child. ‘I really am sorry.’
Jacopo smiled. ‘Nerone says he like his walk with you.’
Ruby grinned and reached out to fuss the little dog. ‘Aww, I liked it too, Nero.’
Luca stared at them with a crumpled brow and shook his head. ‘Pazza donna inglese.’
Jacopo threw him an annoyed look and then addressed Ruby again. ‘He says he is very sorry for shouting.’
She had a feeling that’s not at all what Luca had said. ‘Okay, thanks. Well, I’m going inside. Is the builder still here?’
Jacopo looked confused. ‘Builder?’
Ruby rolled her eyes and thought back to the note she had left for the ungrateful oaf. ‘Construttore? Working on the house?’
For a moment it didn’t appear her words had done much to resolve his confusion. But then it was as if a light bulb had been switched on. ‘Ah, Miceli. He is in the house.’
Jacopo, the dark horse, could apparently speak more English than he had first let on. And whilst it wasn’t perfect, it was a damn sight better than her Italian. Although she had no clue what a Miceli was, but she certainly wasn’t going to make herself look even sillier under the circumstances, by asking.
‘Thank you. Goodbye.’ She turned and walked into the house, closing the door behind her.
She didn’t bother looking to see where the builder was; instead, she grabbed a chunk of bread, some grapes and some cheese from the kitchen and retreated to her room. Despite pissing off the guards, she’d enjoyed her little wander outside the grounds, but all it had done was make her want to see more of the island. She flicked through the songs she had downloaded to her phone before her trip and hit play on a Stevie Wonder playlist. A smile danced on her lips as she devoured her bedroom picnic and texted Valerie to apologise for going AWOL.
* * *
Ruby was awoken sharply from slumber by a bright flash that lit up the room like the midday sun. She sat bolt upright, and in her confused state, panic set in and her eyes darted around the room looking for the paparazzo that had infiltrated her safe space. She remembered where she was, flicked on her bedside lamp and picked up her phone to check the time. Three o’clock in the morning.
When the flash came again and was quickly followed by an earth-shaking rumble of thunder, she was relieved to realise she was in the midst of the storm that had been threatening for the past two days. She switched off the light, snuggled back down in her bed and lay there, listening to the squall outside, thankful that she was warm and toasty.
She was dozing off again when an even louder, closer-sounding crash accompanied an even more intense flash of dazzling light and she let out a scream.
‘What the hell?’ The whole house shook, and she felt sure it wasn’t just the thunder that had caused it.
She clambered out of bed, grabbed a hoodie and tugged it on as she left the bedroom and ran down the hallway towards the noise. Someone had put the lights on, but they were flickering, rendering the scene something akin to a horror movie. She immediately regretted her decision to runtowardsthe cacophony and was about to turn around.
‘Ahh shit! Why now? You stupid, stupid arse, Mitch! Jesus wept; it was my next bloody job!’ The shouting and swearing was in a distinct, strong Scottish accent and Ruby panicked that an intruder had broken in. Then she reasoned that perhaps the property owner had arrived when she’d been sleeping. Although she’d had no warning that he was coming.
She tiptoed slowly forwards and poked her head around the corner to the covered terrace and saw the hole in the roof. The chimney stack had been struck by lightning and it, along with lots of rubble and bricks, was scattered across the floor. In the midst of it all, staring up at the hole was the Italian builder with his back towards her. No sign of the Scottish owner.Very confusing.
‘How the hell do I sort this out?’ a Scottish voice said from somewhere as the builder ran his hands through his hair and then covered his face and shook his head. ‘Talk about shitty bloody timing.’ This time the Scottish voice was muffled when it spoke, and she glanced around to find out where this intruder or interloper was hiding.
Jacopo appeared out of nowhere and began to speak to the builder in Italian. The security guard was given instructions and ran to another room, returning seconds later with buckets which he began to fill with rubble. Where the hell was the Scot hiding?
