I told them what happened to Dad the night before and got more of a normal reaction from them. Claire said something like ‘Oh my goodness’, while Vic said that Dad was a chuffing good bloke and a right, jeffing inspiration to him.
Claire: I had to tell Vic to mind his language because there were kids right in front of us. He was always oblivious to things like that.
Emma: Claire immediately asked if there was anything she could do. I told her she could probably talk to Julius because he might need a bit of help with the girls if we all had to visit the hospital. She said that wouldn’t be a problem.
I kind of wished Vic wasn’t there because I think Claire and I might have had a proper conversation. From the meal the night before, I’d seen that she was a lot freer without him. Whenever they were together, it was like she was guarding herself. I thought about sitting down by her anyway – but I suppose if I’d done that, I wouldn’t have noticed what happened next.
Daniel: The pool thing? Are you joking?
Emma: I was on my way back to the cottage, but I had to pass Daniel and Liz on the way. Julius had disappeared by this point. There was this guy walking around the pool wearing a suit – and it was obvious he wasn’t a tourist. He said something about a ‘best deal’ and then passed me a card, like people sometimes do when you’re outside a supermarket, or wherever. It’s usually a coupon, or some sort of advert. This was for a car rental place a few streets away from the hotel. I was probably going to bin it – but I didn’t want to do it in front of him, so I ended up thanking him and holding onto it.
I didn’t know his name at the time, although I learned later it was Barak. He carried on for a few steps and then stopped in front of Daniel. He held his hands wide and goes: ‘Good to see you again, Mr Dorsey.’
Daniel: It was all a misunderstanding. That’s what happens when people can’t speak proper English.
Emma: Barak’s English was really good, but he definitely had an accent. That didn’t stop me hearing what he said.
Daniel isn’t one of those men who can hide his feelings. If he’s angry, his chest starts heaving and his face goes red. That’s exactly what happened when he looked back to Barak and replied: ‘I think you’re mistaken. We’ve never met. I’ve never been to this island.’ It was all through gritted teeth.
Daniel: I’d never met that man before in my life and I’d certainly never visited Galanikos before that trip.
Emma: Barak looked so confused, as if he was a puppy whose owner had left him outside a shop. This mix of hurt and bemusement.
Daniel snatched away a card and then Barak moved onto the other side of the pool. I watched him as he went and he kept looking back towards Daniel, wondering what had just happened.
Daniel: That girl’s deluded if she told you that.
Emma: I was wondering what had just happened – then Daniel leapt up and pulled a cigar from his back pocket. He didn’t say anything, just marched away towards the smoking area.
Liz: It was all a big misunderstanding. I think I’d know if my husband had gone on holiday.
Emma: Misunderstanding, my arse.
Chapter Five
THE SINGLE TRAFFIC CONE
Emma: I went back to my cottage after the incident with Daniel at the pool. Mum had asked me to look at flights off the island, but there didn’t seem much point, considering Dad was still unconscious.
I didn’t want to spend time around the pool because it seemed like Daniel and Liz were camped there for the day, plus I wasn’t in the mood. I decided to go for a walk instead.
We’d visited the resort enough times when I was younger, so I had a good idea of where everything was. I also wanted to see how things had changed in the nine years since we’d last been.
Since we’d landed, it had been one thing after another and I thought it might help clear my head.
Julius: I don’t know what happened to Emma later that morning.
Emma: I remember the first ever holiday I went on. I was about five and it was in a caravan at the seaside. Dad drove and Julius and I were in the back of the car. Julius would have been about ten or eleven and couldn’t sit still. We were giving it the full ‘Are we there yet?’ treatment and we’d play I-Spy or these made-up games about spotting number plates, or certain colours of car. It felt like the journey went on for most of the day, but it was probably a couple of hours at most.
I don’t remember much more about the holiday other than that everything felt really cramped in the caravan. We’d all be climbing over one another whenever we had to move around.
When I got back to school, people asked about where I’d been on holiday. I told them about the caravan and everyone laughed.
…
Maybe not everyone, but that’s how it felt. These girls would be talking about how they’d been to France, or Italy. Someone had been to Switzerland and I didn’t even know where that was at the time. It sounded like a made-up country.
I suddenly realised that we were poor. Before that, I obviously knew that some kids had things that I didn’t – but I don’t think I ever understood that the big divider was poor kids versus rich kids.
It feels like something so distant now. Sometimes I wonder if they are false memories – but I know they’re not. That was my life at the beginning.
It must have only been a year on from that when everything changed. I’d not done anything, but I was suddenly one of the rich kids. It was all because of Dad. I didn’t understand what he’d done for a while, other than that it was something to do with buying houses.
Then we came to Galanikos for the first time.
The hotel was the first major building in the resort and we were one of the first visitors. The iron curtain had come down and flights were starting to get cheaper. The other rich kids at school were still talking about France or Italy – but now I had something on them. I had this exotic place, far away from anything any of us could imagine.
It felt like this island was my island.
Mum and Dad came here every summer and so did I for a long time. I missed a few trips when I was in my late-teens and went away with my friends instead – but I was here for most of them.
… That all stopped nine years ago, when Alan went off that cliff. He and Dad were in business from back when they started putting their money together to buy run-down houses. Maybe twenty years? Something like that.
There was a big fall-out after that last trip and I never thought I’d see this place again.
I didn’t think I wanted to be on the island again – but then I walked out of the hotel on that morning after Dad had fell – and I was that little girl again.
Galanikos was suddenly this place of wonder once more.
I thought about going down to the village itself but wanted to save it as a treat. Instead, I walked around the side of the hotel out towards the cliffs. There’s an amazing view where you can stand near the edge and stare out across the ocean. There’s nothing in the way: no trees, no rocks, no other islands. It’s like the view goes on forever, with the blue of the ocean driving deep towards the horizon and then disappearing into the sky.