Page 52 of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt

‘Righto. Come on, Grizzly Bear, why don’t we take you upstairs? You go on ahead, Ally. We’ll see you later.’

Maia felt physically sick. Awful memories of the smarmy, oily Zed Eszu – Kreeg’s son – filled her mind, and the thought that a generation before, Pa had been forced to flee from his father made her want to cry. Did Zed know their family history? He must have done. Perhaps that explained why he seemed to target the D’Aplièse sisters. She was well aware that he and Electra had been together, and Tiggy had told her all about his arrival in the Scottish Highlands. Zed’s presence in the girls’ lives must have caused Pa a lot of pain, and it was all too much to bear.

‘Bastard!’ Maia cried, throwing the pages of the diary to the floor.

‘Maia?’ Star said. She and CeCe had appeared at the door of the reading room just as Maia put her head in her hands and began to sob. Her two sisters ran and wrapped their arms around her. ‘I’m so sorry, Maia. How awful for you.’

‘For what it’s worth, I agree with you, Maia. What a vile piece of shit,’ added CeCe.

‘He knew, didn’t he? He knew about Kreeg and Pa. That’s why he’s buzzed around our lives, like a wasp that can’t be gotten rid of. I feel so used. I had hisbaby!’ Maia shrieked.

‘I know, sweetie, I know. It wasn’t your fault.’ Even though Maia had only ever told Ally, her other sisters had always suspected, given her move to the Pavilion at Atlantis under the pretence of ‘glandular fever’ for nine months. ‘We came up as soon as we’d read it.’

‘Thank you, Star.’ Maia sniffed. ‘Oh dear. It’s all soemotional, isn’t it? I hate to think of Pa so desperate and alone.’

‘At least he’s found Elle now. She’s changed his life. Even his handwriting seems to be more... twirly. Do you know what I mean?’ CeCe said.

Maia gave a half sob, half chuckle. ‘Weirdly I do, yes. Andit makes me happy to read about how kind the Landowski family were to him.’

‘Gosh, of course. I hadn’t properly considered that. It must have been odd enough for you reading about Pa’s time at the atelier, and his interactions with Laurent Brouilly,’ Star said softly.

‘Yes. He was the silent little boy I’d read about in Bel’s letters. I couldn’t believe it.’

‘It explains how he got the soapstone tile that Pa left you in your letter, too,’ Star continued.

‘It does, yes.’

Ally entered the room and approached her sisters. She took Maia’s hand and squeezed it. ‘Oh darling. We’re all here for you. Whatever you need.’

‘I know. Sorry, I’ll pull myself together.’ Maia wiped her tears on the back of her sleeve. ‘Zed’s a piece of work, what’s new?’ Ally handed her a tissue from her pocket. Maia took it gratefully and dabbed her eyes. ‘So, Pa knew Kreeg.’

‘I think that “knew” is a bit of an understatement,’ CeCe added sharply.

‘Why didn’t he eversayanything about it? He must have had a heart attack when I first mentioned that I’d met a boy called Zed Eszu,’ Maia snivelled.

‘I don’t know, sweetie. Maybe they resolved their grievances? We only know part of the story after all,’ Star added, stroking her sister’s hair.

‘Something tells me that didn’t happen, Star,’ Maia replied. ‘We all know that on the day Pa died, Kreeg committed suicide. And Ally, you said that you saw theOlympusnext to theTitanthat day too?’

‘I didn’t see it myself, but Theo’s friend mentioned it over the radio,’ Ally confirmed. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. ‘Actually, I think it’s time that I brought everyone up to speed on something.’

‘What do you mean, Ally?’ CeCe asked sharply.

‘Do you remember that Merry’s coordinates led to Argideen House in West Cork?’ Her sisters thought for a moment, then nodded. ‘Well, even though the house is long abandoned, it belongs to the Eszu family. Jack found out when he was looking into it on our behalf.’

There was a silence as the women tried to process the significance of the connection. ‘What does that mean?’ asked Star eventually.

‘I honestly don’t know yet. But one thing is clear – with Zed, Argideen House and the presence of theOlympuson the day of Pa’s death... the relationship between Pa and Kreeg is the key to understanding everything.’

‘Agreed,’ sniffed Maia.

‘I’ll round up the others and check where they’ve read up to in the diary. Then we can discuss the connection over a couple of bottles of rosé.’

‘Good idea, Ally,’ nodded Star. ‘There’s so much of the story we still don’t know. Where Pa came from, why Kreeg believes he murdered his mother... the diamond...’

‘We can only hope that things become clearer as we all read on,’ Ally said, putting a hand on Star’s shoulder.

Georg Hoffman swirled the whisky in his hand and focused on the clink of the ice in his glass. From the upper sky lounge, he looked across the Mediterranean Sea at the Italian coastline, which burnt a bright gold in the setting sun. He could just make out Naples, and beyond that, the ancient city of Pompeii, its citizens frozen in time for thousands of years. He thought it an apt metaphor for this trip – as the events of the past were still somehow shaping the present.