Welcome To Crete - Regreece (100 best novels of all time txt) 📗

Just when Adam had finally got a smile out of Fay and there'd even been a few moments of, dare he believe it, warmth between them, something in her had snapped and they were back to square one again. Well in truth, being back to square one at that moment in time would have been preferable, if back to square one had meant that they'd never entered the cave in the first place. Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have teased her in there. But then maybe, once in there, she shouldn't have gone all cold on him again, turned on her heel and headed back to the exit without him! She was supposed to be his guide after all.


He stood, contemplating the dark abyss in front of him. It was what bridged the gap between the relative reassurance of the light at the back of the cave, which was streaming in through an opening in the wall of rock, and the exit. There was no escaping the fact: he would have to navigate himself through the darkness alone if he were to ever get out of there. The belly of the cave loomed ominously before him. He sighed; he wasn't exactly over the moon about the thought of stumbling back alone. What a nuisance. Perhaps he should give up on the idea of employing Fay after all, no matter how well she had been recommended to him... or how much he just itched to make her lose her cool. That thought went some way to healing his injured pride, but he knew he'd keep her on in the end; she was too much of a temptation for him. The truth was that he had enjoyed teasing her intensely and, well ... it wasn't just that... the more time he spent with her, the more intrigued he became...., not to mention the moment just before she had backed away from him and disappeared from sight.


Taking a deep breath, he finally ducked to account for the lower ceiling which he knew was ahead and edged forward into the darkness. He had to disagree with Fay's parting comment at that point, for it was just as difficult getting back out of the cave as it had been entering it: or worse now that they hadn't got the support of each other's steadying hands. It was then that it dawned on him just how precarious that section of the cave was and he began to wonder how she had coped on her own. It must have been the earlier blow to her head that had prompted her to disappear without him because no one in their right mind would want to face this eerie darkness on their own! Without doubt it had been an irresponsible move, no matter what tension had been between them, and he hoped to God that she had managed on her own without further incident. The ground under his feet was extremely uneven and as he moved forward his feet were constantly slipping and twisting on the grooves in the weathered rock.

What was that? Bats?

He could make out nothing. Had Fay reached the exit yet? How much further? He pressed on, his eyes straining to find light. It was only moments later when the sudden sound of a scream shattered the silence. Adam froze. It wasn't just a scream; it was the sound of utter terror. Panic prompted him to move then and in his urgency to reach light he gave up trying to inch forward and got down on his hands and knees, ignoring the way that the rocks bruised his legs as he scrambled out of the cave.

"Fay!" he bellowed, struggling to focus his eyes as the brilliant sunlight hit them. With his vision finally returned, and his heart thundering, he frantically scanned the mountainside for evidence of her.

"Fay!" he called again. "Where are you?" Still there was silence. He ran a little further down the mountain path but she was nowhere to be seen.


Oh hell! What had happened?


A multitude of unthinkable explanations as to what might have happened to her flooded his mind then and he felt suddenly nauseous. Faced with her ambiguous absence he had no choice but to assume the worst and, anxiously holding his breath, he went to the wooden barrier at the edge of the mountain. He peered over. She hadn't fallen! He let out a sigh of relief and with it another anguished shout.

"Fay!"

For heaven sake why didn't she just answer him?

"Fay!"


His anxiety soon turned into angry frustration and he bolted down the path then, determined to find her. He stopped when the road came back into sight, turning his head towards the cave again with uncertainty.

Damn it, if she hadn't gone that way then he should go back. But she wasn't there either. It made no sense!

He stood there on the side of the mountain, willing her to reappear and running his hands through his hair, unable to think of what to do next.


THE PREVIOUS DAY


What on earth was Sal doing?

Fay watched as her friend emerged from the Arrivals door of Heraklion airport, trying to juggle a huge suitcase, backpack, sports bag and a rug! Sally's long, auburn hair fell over face and the small frame of her body began to buckle with the weight of her load. Fay cringed as the rug began to slip from under Sal's arm, after which she attempted to catch it on her knee but failed miserably. It skidded down her leg, landed on the floor with a thud and rolled towards Fay, who caught it under her foot.


"Welcome to Crete!" Fay said with a grin as Sal gave up and let all of her luggage drop to the floor in a twist of straps, zips and buckles. She jumped over the luggage enthusiastically and ran to Fay, throwing her arms around her friend and jumping up and down like an excited puppy.


"I made it, I'm here!" she cheered.


"Yes, I can see that," Fay laughed, peeling Sal's arms from around her neck. "Don't you think you should move some of that luggage out of the way though so that people can get past?"


Sal looked behind her to see a family of people trying to steer an airport trolley around her luggage which was strewn across the floor.


"Ah yes, good idea," she said, returning to her bags and giving the family an apologetic smile.

Between them they managed to haul the luggage, and the rug, out of the Arrivals building and across the car park to Fay's car where they squeezed it into the boot. The airport, which was situated in the island's capital city, was located roughly in the middle of the long, thin island and their journey would take them along the north east coast some sixty-five kilometres to Fay's hometown of Agios Nikolaos.

As Fay drove she laughed at the catalogue of events that had characterised Sal's four-hour flight from London. She loved Sal dearly but wherever Sal went, disaster invariably ensued, and she wasn't sure how long she wanted to house 'disaster' in her perfectly organised apartment. Although Sal had asked Fay to help her find an apartment to move into, Fay knew how hard it often was to find somewhere to live in the town and it was likely to be some time before Sal found anywhere suitable.

Before long they began to pass through the tourist resorts of Hersonnissos, Stalis and Malia, which over the years had lost their authenticity and become playgrounds for the British youth market. Although these resorts had the advantage of being placed near to the sea, there was little charm about the rows of bars and nightclubs, flashing neon lights and garish buildings. After passing through Malia however the surroundings became considerably more rural with fields, orchards and olive groves stretching out to the right of the road and a pale, rocky coastline to the left. Such scenery was pleasing to the eye of travellers in the region however it was the magnificence of the rocky mountains ranging across most of the island's centre which left the biggest impression. The road laboured around the mountains, or cut through them at times under the odd tunnel which had been built to reduce journey time to the more easterly towns and villages.

On nearing Agios Nikolaos Fay made her way through the one-way system of roads into the centre of the town, past the harbour and picturesque lake. She continued along the sea front where she eventually turned and drove up a road which cut in between the buildings and lead to the residential areas on the streets above.

Unfortunately however, as she neared her apartment she realized that her favourite parking spot had been commandeered and she was forced to park two roads away from the building. Fay and Sal tugged the luggage out of the boot and began the uphill walk to her home. To make matters worse it was that time of year, about a month before the tourists began arriving, when the local council decided to utterly demolish a number of roads throughout the town in an attempt at improvement. This road was no exception, making it extremely hard to walk over the bumps and rubble but even harder to pull a weighty suitcase. Eventually they rounded the corner of the road on which Fay lived but before they could get much further Sal stumbled on a pothole and staggered out alarmingly into the road. Fay looked on in horror as a car turned the corner and hit the break, stopping inches from her friend.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? Do you have a death wish or something?" the driver shouted out of the window. Sal looked taken aback as the man parked the car at the side of the road, got out and strode towards her.


"Oh, sorry about that, it's these roads..." she began.


He cut into her sentence, "Haven't you ever heard of using the pavement?"


Towering over her, he crossed his arms and fixed her with a steely look. The bag on her shoulder began to slip and he rolled his eyes, catching it before it fell.

"Hey, wait just a minute," Fay came to her friend's defence, "she's already apologised Mister and..."


The man turned his attention to Fay, running his eyes over her as she stormed towards them.


"God help us, there are two of them," he interrupted her.


His condescending remark incensed her further so she moved in between them, snatching the bag out of his hands and glaring up into his face.


"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked angrily.


He looked startled for a moment, but then a smile tugged at his mouth as his eyes scanned her furious, flushed face. At closer range the man was surprised to see that, despite the harshness of her words, the