The Storm Sister (The Seven Sisters #2) (5 page)

As I climbed back up to the deck and sat tensely waiting for the
Titan
to appear on the horizon, I wondered how I would feel about the man I loved most in the world meeting the man I
was growing to love more as each day passed. I thought back to whether Pa had ever met any of my previous boyfriends. Perhaps I’d introduced him once to someone I’d been having a fling
with during my time at music school in Geneva, but that was as far as it had gone. To be blunt, so far there’d never been a ‘significant other’ who I’d felt I wanted to
introduce to Pa or my family.

Until now . . .

Twenty minutes later, a familiar-shaped vessel came into view, and I trained my binoculars on it. And yes, it was definitely Pa’s boat. I turned over and knocked on the glass window of the
bridge behind me and gave Theo a thumbs up. He nodded and picked up the radio receiver.

Going below to the cabin, I tamed my wind-strewn hair into a neat ponytail and donned a T-shirt and some shorts, suddenly excited to be able to turn the tables on my father and surprise
him
for a change. Back up on the bridge, I asked Theo if Hans, my father’s skipper, had radioed back yet.

‘No. I just put out another message, but if we don’t get a response, it looks like we’ll just have to chance it and turn up unannounced. Interesting.’ Theo picked up his
binoculars and trained them on another boat close to the
Titan
. ‘I know the owner of the other superyacht Andy mentioned. The boat’s called the
Olympus
, and it belongs
to the tycoon Kreeg Eszu. He owns Lightning Communications, a company that’s sponsored a couple of the boats I’ve captained on, so I’ve met him a few times.’

‘Really?’ I was fascinated. Kreeg Eszu, in his own way, was as famous as Electra. ‘What’s he like?’

‘Well, put it this way: I couldn’t say I warmed to him. I sat next to him at dinner once and he talked about himself and his success all night. And his son, Zed, is even worse
– a spoilt rich kid who thinks his father’s money means he can get away with anything.’ Theo’s eyes fill with unusual anger.

My ears had pricked up. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard Zed Eszu’s name mentioned by someone close to me. ‘He’s that bad?’

‘Yes,
that
bad,’ he reiterated. ‘A female friend of mine got involved with him and he treated her like dirt. Anyway . . .’ Theo lifted the binoculars to his eyes
again. ‘I think we’d better have another go at radioing the
Titan
. It looks like she’s on the move. Why don’t you put out the message, Ally? If your father or his
skipper is listening, they might recognise your voice.’

I did so, but there was no reply and I saw the boat continue to pick up speed and sail away from us.

‘Shall we give chase?’ Theo said as the
Titan
continued to head into the distance.

‘I’ll go and get my mobile and call Pa directly,’ I said.

‘And while you do, I’ll ramp up the knots on this. They’re almost certainly too far ahead, but I’ve never tried to catch a superyacht before and it might be fun,’
he quipped.

Leaving Theo to play cat and mouse with Pa’s boat, I went below to the cabin, hanging on to the door frame as he upped the speed. Searching through my rucksack for my mobile and trying to
switch it on, I stared impatiently at the lifeless screen. It stared back at me like a neglected pet whom I’d forgotten to feed, and I knew that the battery had run out of charge. Rooting
back through my rucksack to find the charger, and then again to find an American adapter suitable for the socket by the bed, I plugged it in and begged it to come back to life swiftly.

By the time I’d gone back up to the bridge, Theo had slowed our speed to a relatively normal pace.

‘There’s no way we’re going to catch up with your father now, even at top speed. The
Titan
is going at full blast. Have you called him?’

‘No, my mobile’s charging at the moment.’

‘Here, use mine.’

Theo handed his mobile to me, and I tapped in Pa Salt’s number. It immediately went to voicemail and I left my father a message explaining the situation and asking him to call me back as
soon as possible.

‘Looks like your father’s running away from you,’ Theo teased me. ‘Maybe he doesn’t want to be seen just now. Anyway, I’ll radio Andy to find out his exact
location and we’ll go straight to meet him instead.’

My confusion must have shown on my face, because Theo took me in his arms and gave me a hug.

‘Really, darling, I was only joking. Remember it’s just an open radio line and the
Titan
may well have missed the messages. I’ve certainly been known to do that. You
should have just called him on his mobile to begin with.’

‘Yes.’ I agreed. But as we sailed at a far more leisurely pace towards Delos to rendezvous with Theo’s friend, I knew from my many hours of sailing with Pa that he insisted on
the radio being on at all times, with Hans, his skipper, always alert for any messages for the
Titan
.

And in retrospect, I remember how unsettled I’d felt for the rest of the afternoon. Perhaps it had been a premonition of what was to come.

And so I awoke in Theo’s arms the following morning in the beautiful deserted bay of Macheres, my heart heavy at the thought of heading back to Naxos later that
afternoon. Theo had already talked about his plans to prepare for the race that would start in a few days and it seemed our halcyon time together was almost over, at least for now.

As I came to from my reverie, lying naked on the sun deck next to him, I had to force my mind to reboot outside the wonderful cocoon that was Theo and me. My phone was still charging from the
day before and I made to get up and retrieve it.

‘Where are you going?’ Theo’s hand held me fast.

‘To get my phone. I really should listen to my messages.’

‘Come straight back, won’t you?’

I did and then he reached for me and ordered me to put the phone down for a little while longer. Suffice to say, it was another hour before I switched it on.

I knew there would probably be some messages from friends and family. But as I manoeuvred Theo’s hand gently from my belly so as not to wake him, I noticed that I had an unusually large
number of texts. And a number of voicemail alerts.

All the text messages were from my sisters.

Ally, please call as soon as you can. Love Maia.

Ally, CeCe here. We’re all trying to get hold of you. Can you call Ma or one of us immediately?

Darling Ally, it’s Tiggy. We don’t know where you are, but we must speak to you.

And Electra’s text sent shudders of terror through me:
Ally, oh my God! Isn
’t it awful? Can you believe it? Flying home from LA now.

I stood up and walked to the prow of the yacht. It was obvious that something dreadful had happened. My hands trembled as I dialled my voicemail and waited to hear what it was that had prompted
my sisters to contact me with such universal urgency.

And as I listened to the most recent message first, I knew.

‘
Hi, this is CeCe again. Everyone else seems to be too scared to tell you, but we need you home urgently. Ally, I
’m sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but Pa Salt
has died. Sorry . . . sorry . . . Please call as soon as you can.
’

CeCe had probably thought she’d ended the call before she had, as there was a sudden loud sob before the beep of the next message sounded.

I stared unseeingly into the distance, thinking of how I’d seen the
Titan
through the binoculars only yesterday.
There must be some mistake
, I comforted myself, but then
I listened to the next voicemail from Marina, my mother in all but blood, asking me to contact her urgently too, and the same again from Maia, Tiggy and Electra . . .

‘Oh my God, oh my God . . .’

I held on to the railing for support, my mobile slipping out of my hand and landing with a thump on the deck. I bent my head forwards as all the blood seemed to drain from me and I thought I
might faint. Breathing heavily, I collapsed onto the deck and buried my head in my hands.

‘It can’t be true, it can’t be true . . .’ I moaned.

‘Sweetheart, what on earth is it?’ Theo, still naked, appeared beside me, crouching down and tipping my chin up to him. ‘What’s happened?’

I could only point at my dropped mobile.

‘Bad news?’ he asked as he picked it up, concern written across his face.

I nodded.

‘Ally, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Let’s get you into the shade and find you a glass of water.’

With my mobile still in his hand, he half-lifted me from the deck and helped me down and onto a leather bench inside. I remember wondering randomly if I was always destined to be seen by him as
helpless.

He hastily donned a pair of shorts and fetched me one of his T-shirts, gently helping my unresponsive body into it, then he armed me with a large brandy and a glass of water. My hands were
shaking so much that I had to ask him to dial my voicemail so I could listen to the rest of my messages. I choked and spluttered as I swallowed the brandy, but it warmed my stomach and helped calm
me.

‘Here you go.’ He handed me my mobile and I numbly re-listened to CeCe’s message and all the rest, including three from Maia and one from Marina, then the unfamiliar voice of
Georg Hoffman, who I vaguely remembered was Pa’s lawyer. And a further five blank voicemails where the caller had obviously not known what to say and had rung off.

Theo’s eyes never left my face as I placed my mobile on the seat next to me.

‘Pa Salt is dead,’ I whispered quietly, and stared into space for a long time after that.

‘Oh God! How?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Are you absolutely sure?’

‘Yes! CeCe was the only one brave enough to actually say the words. But I still don’t understand how it’s possible . . . it was only yesterday when we saw Pa’s
boat.’

‘I’m afraid I can’t offer an explanation for that, my darling. Here, the best thing you can do is ring home immediately,’ he said, sliding my mobile back to me across the
seat.

‘I . . .
can
’t
.’

‘I understand. Would you like me to do it? If you give me the number, I—’

‘
NO!
’ I shouted at him. ‘No, I just need to get home. Now!’ I stood up then, looking around me helplessly and then up to the skies, as if a helicopter might
appear overhead and carry me to the place I so urgently needed to be.

‘Listen, let me go on the internet and then make a few calls. Back in a bit.’

Theo disappeared up to the bridge as I sat, catatonic with shock.

My father . . . Pa Salt . . . dead?! I let out an outraged laugh at the ridiculousness of the idea. He was indestructible, omnipotent,
alive
. . .

‘Please, no!’ I shivered suddenly and felt my hands and feet tingling as though I was in the snowy Alps, rather than on a boat in the Aegean sun.

‘Okay,’ Theo said as he returned from the bridge. ‘You’ll miss the two forty flight from Naxos to Athens, so we’re going to have to get there by boat. There’s
a flight from Athens to Geneva first thing tomorrow morning. I’ve booked you on it as there were only a few seats left.’

‘So I can’t get home today?’

‘Ally, it’s already one thirty, and it’s a long way to Athens by boat, let alone flying to Geneva. I reckon if we do top speed most of the way, with a stop at Naxos for fuel,
we can make it into the harbour by sunset tonight. Even I don’t fancy taking this into a port as crowded as Piraeus in the dark.’

‘Of course,’ I replied dully, wondering how on earth I would cope with the endless in-between hours of the journey home.

‘Right, I’ll go and start her up,’ Theo said. ‘Want to come and sit with me?’

‘In a while.’

Five minutes later, as I heard the rhythmic hydraulic clank of the anchor being raised and the soft hum of the engines purring into life, I stood up and walked to the stern, where I leant on the
railings. I watched as we began to move away from the island, which I’d thought of last night as Nirvana but now would always be the place where I’d heard about my father’s death.
As the boat began to pick up speed, I felt nauseated with shock and guilt. For the past few days, I’d been totally and utterly selfish. I had thought only of
me
, and my happiness at
finding Theo.

And while I had been making love, lying with Theo’s arms around me, my father had been lying somewhere dying. How could I
ever
forgive myself for that?