Page 20 of Hold On

Dominic turned round.

Col was on his feet and heading towards him. “Your arm.”

Dominic cursed himself. The T-shirt was short-sleeved and some of his bruises were on display. No longer as red but still obvious.

“What did you do?” Col asked.

“Fell, it’s fine.”

“Did someone hit you?”

“No.” Dominic chuckled. “I’ll see you later.”

“Take this.” Col pressed a key into his hand. “This is your home now.”

The gardens at Asquith were beautiful. Dominic knew the names of most of the plants and trees. He might only have seen them in books or on TV, but he’d made an effort to learn everything he could, playing endless mental games of naming animals, trees, cities and plants from A to Z. He knew the name of every bone in the body, ten interesting facts about most countries in the world, famous people’s pseudonyms, eight curious deaths of Burmese kings, lightyears distance of stars from Earth…

Most of it was useless unless he was ever needed in a pub quiz. Then again, he’d come unstuck because he’d never watched the popular TV shows nor kept in touch with modern music. He’d not wanted to buy one of the music systems sold in the canteen. The number of CDs allowed was limited, no MP3s with recording facilities were permitted, no this, no that…

Music was something he’d missed. But it was also something he’d been able to do without. Now, he was happy just listening to the distant sound of people chattering, children laughing, birds cheeping, even the noise of a lawnmower. But if he saw anyone coming towards him, and the place was full of visitors—he turned and walked in another direction. He knew he was being stupid. No one would recognise him. No one could guess where he’d spent the majority of his life. The most he’d need to say to anyone washello.He could manage that. Couldn’t he?

He’d rather not test himself.

Dominic made his way down past a lake, then up to a wood and his heart lightened with every step he took.Thiswas being free, walking with no one to stop him. If it had been pouring with rain, he wouldn’t have felt disappointed. In fact, he was looking forward to being out in the rain. And snow. He’d missed that. Nothing was going to get him down. He refused to let it. Even his half-panicked shopping trip this morning, when he’d freaked out crossing the car park, had been an achievement. Though Christ knows what he’d do if he had to walk across a busy road. Wait for a little old lady to help him? The thought made him smile.

He stopped at a gate markedDig in Progress. Enter only by invitation.Was Ren there? He was another first for Dominic, someone he’d met on his own, someone who had no idea who he was, someone he wanted to see again. Dominic looked at the notice and hesitated. At fifteen, he’d have hopped over the gate and not thought twice about it. Now he stalled. He’d leave if he was told to, but maybe he could offer to help. He wasn’t going to get reported to the police for that.

Ren was the first person he spotted. He was working alone in a spot closest to where Dominic had entered the field. Dominic took a deep breath and headed over. Almost as if Ren had felt him coming, he looked up, smiled and rose to his feet, brushing his hands on his trousers.

“Hi,” Ren said. “Survived the night then?” Then his face fell and he gulped. “Shit. I thought you said…”

He was looking at Dominic’s bruised arm.Damn.

“Just your arm?” Ren narrowed his eyes.

“Possibly a bit more. I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“God, now I’mgoingto worry. I should have called an ambulance.”

“No, you shouldn’t. Thank you for not calling the police either. It would have been a lot of fuss over nothing. Found anything interesting?”

“Nothing exciting. Not today anyway. Only that.” He pointed to a pot shard.

“Samian ware?”

“Yeah, it is. Yesterday I found a triclinium.”

“Complete with threechaise longuesand a table?”

Ren laughed. “Just the mosaic floor. So you know what Samian ware is and a triclinium? Not just a pretty face then.”

Dominic felt himself flush.

“That’s where most of the team are, drooling as they uncover more of the mosaic.” He pointed to where a group was working. “This job is 99% boring and 1%Oh my God, this is the best day of my entire life.” He groaned. “Please don’t tell me that you’re an archaeologist or I’ll have to gouge my wrists with this dirty trowel.”

“I…did a degree in Classics and Ancient Civilisations.” Was that showing off?

“And you’re not an archaeologist? Well, I can see you’re not. Those hands have not spent years handling soil, and judging by your colour, you seem to have an aversion to sunlight.”

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