Page 49 of Never Tear Us Apart

Chapter Forty-Seven

When we come out of the shelter under the church on the hilltop, we can see columns of smoke rising in the sky from the direction of Valletta. Danny stares at them as if he can somehow discern their cause. Perhaps he can.

‘I got to get back to base,’ he says, looking at me. ‘I’m due on duty.’

‘Can we fit David on?’ I ask. ‘There’s no sign of his mother here, so I’ll take him to Sal. He’ll know what to do.’

‘You gonna come and fly with me on my motorbike?’ Danny asks the boy, who nods, hopping from one foot to another. ‘Come on then, kiddo. We got places to be.’

‘Miss Borg!’ At first, I don’t pay attention to the male voice calling out the name. ‘Maia, Maia Borg.’

It’s Nicco who approaches me, in a pristine white suit. I don’t suppose he took shelter with everyone else and still stayed so clean. He must have a private shelter somewhere.

‘Nicco.’ I smile, uneasy, confused as to where he’s sprung from. I wonder what he’s doing here in Mellie ? a, but I suppose his black-market exploits must take him all over the island.

My association with Nicco feels dirty and secret, and it is.

Danny doesn’t know what I am trying to find out, and that feels wrong.

I want him to know everything about me, even the things that he won’t be able to believe.

So even being in the proximity of this duplicity makes me feel sordid and unworthy.

‘How fortuitous to see you.’ Nicco takes my hand and kisses it. ‘What brings you to Mellie ? a?’

I might ask him the same thing. I don’t reply. I look towards Danny and David, leaning on the bike, waiting, but Nicco completely ignores them.

‘As it happens, I wanted to ask you to come and see me at the palazzo in the morning, if you will. I have a favour to ask of you.’

‘Of course, if I can,’ I say.

‘I will send my car,’ Nicco tells me. His gaze passes over David to Danny.

‘I hear you caused quite a spectacle the other day, Flight Lieutenant,’ he says coolly.

‘Active duty will do that,’ Danny replies.

‘We all have our ways to serve.’ Nicco gives me a little bow. ‘Tomorrow, my dear,’ he says, vanishing into the crowd as quickly as he appeared.

‘I do not like him,’ Danny says. ‘Something is off about him. Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I’d be real careful about doing favours for a guy like that.’

‘Don’t worry,’ I tell Danny. ‘I have the measure of him. I’ve met a hundred like him. He’s the kind of man who thinks he is the main character.’

Danny laughs, kisses me lightly on the cheek, the warmth in his eyes telling me he wishes we could be alone.

‘We need to go,’ he says. ‘I hate to say it, but we do.’

As I lift David onto the bike, Danny grabs my hand, pulling me close. His blue eyes search mine for a second. I feel the thrill of possibility bubble up from my stomach.

‘I’m in love with you, Maia,’ he says. ‘I know it’s fast and stupid, but I’m not gonna pretend it’s not true – not gonna not say it every chance I get. You came out of the blue and knocked me flying. And that’s just the way it is.’

‘Same,’ I say.

‘Same?’ He laughs in delight. ‘That’s all you’re going to say: same ?’

‘I’m in love with you, too,’ I relent. ‘No one is more surprised than me.’

‘You are a real piece of work, Stitches,’ Danny tells me.

He releases my hand and gets on the bike, David sits between us, both of us winding our arms around Danny’s waist. My heart is racing, my skin is singing.

The drive back seems shorter, perhaps because all three of us are heading towards uncertainty. Danny doesn’t turn off the engine when we stop outside Sal’s half-house; he steadies the bike with his boot. I lift David off and hold his hand.

‘Stay alive,’ Danny says as he drops us off.

‘You too,’ I tell him. ‘I mean it.’

He’s turned the corner at the end of the street in a matter of seconds, clouds of dust flying up behind the bike’s wheels. I would like to stand here waiting until he comes back again, but David needs help.

‘Well.’ I look down at David, who looks up at me. ‘Let’s get you something to drink and see if we can find your mum, shall we?’

Sal is in the kitchen of the half-house, sitting at the table, his hair and jacket covered in a film of dust. There is a selection of open books spread out before him, and he is scribbling furiously in his notebook. The stump of his pencil is now barely more than the width of his fingernail.

‘There you are,’ he says without looking up.

‘I’m glad you weren’t in Valletta today – two British pilots lost. Our boys shot down three Italian fighters – the airmen went into the sea.

The army has gone to pick them up. There’s more bad news, too .

. .’ Sal stops when he sees David peering out from behind my skirt.

‘You remember David?’ I say brightly. ‘I found him all alone and lost on the other side of the island. We’re not sure where his mummy is, so I brought him back with me until I find her.’

‘Do not worry, little one,’ Sal says kindly to David. ‘I know where your mother is.’ He turns back to me. ‘Christina came in today to ask me to help find her. Christina has the baby at her lodgings. Stella is at a house in the Gut. My former pupil, Vittoria – she is in terrible trouble.’

‘Vittoria?’ My heart drops as I remember her sweet smile the last time I saw her. ‘What happened?’

‘Christina will tell you.’ Sal waves his hand, turning his face away as his voice breaks.

Whatever has happened, it’s serious.

* * *

Christina opens the door with the baby in her arms and bends down to kiss David on top of his head.

‘Oh, I am glad you are here,’ Christina tells him. ‘We are putting on a play and we need a leading man. Run upstairs, will you, and get fitted for your costume? You can take this great lump with you.’

Christina sets Eugenie down, and David lifts her as best he can as they make their way slowly up the stairs together, Eugenie tottering with her brother’s arms around her waist.

‘Dr Borg said someone would bring him,’ Christina says, watching the children.

‘That’s all she said?’ I ask, incredulous. ‘Like he’s a bag she’s left behind somewhere? He was crying his eyes out, poor little mite.’

‘You’re right, of course,’ Christina says regretfully, watching the children meet Alex at the top of the stairs, where he immediately wraps them both in something satin.

‘But I am rather afraid we get hardened to all the tears. Perhaps the children’s tears especially.

As if all this terror and death have become just another part of life.

But he’s safe now, thanks to you. He can stay with me until the doctor collects him. ’

‘Where is she?’ I ask. ‘What was so important she didn’t go back for her son?’

‘It’s my fault,’ Christina says. ‘Vittoria is in a bad way. She wouldn’t let the women she lives with call for help, so things got worse and worse.

Then one came to me and told me the trouble.

I knew Stella was in Mellie ? a today, so I telephoned a friend there and asked her to fetch her.

I begged the doctor to see Vittoria. There was nothing I could do to persuade her to go to the hospital – she was too ashamed.

The poor thing.’ Christina lowers her voice.

‘Seems she’s pregnant. Her friends tried to help her get rid of it yesterday.

With a bottle of gin, a coat hanger and a hot bath.

But the bleeding wouldn’t stop, and infection’s set in so quickly. ’

‘David said she wasn’t feeling well yesterday, but I had no idea . . . Why didn’t she ask Stella to help?’

‘Shame, fear,’ Christina says, with a sad shrug. She points down the street. ‘Right at the top, on the left – the house with the red door. It will be open. Stella is with her now.’

‘Right,’ I say. ‘I’ll see if I can help.’

‘Maia, darling.’ Christina pulls me back. ‘The boy is safe. No harm done – he’ll forget all about it by teatime. But what you’ll find in there . . . It will be harder to forget.’

‘I know, but I’m not afraid,’ I tell her. For the first time in my life, I think that might be true.