TIME LIKE WATER

A David Blaine Story

Directly continued from Regeneration of the Heart

By Atonia Walpole

(Picture creations also by Atonia)

Chapter 1

“She can’t be unhappy,” you said (Snowfall-S. Teasdale)

“I’m only here because Renee advised me to come. I have no wish to be part of your games, Sir Brennan.” David Blaine settled in the comfortable leather chair by the fire.

Sir Brennan settled across from him, crossing his legs and tenting his fingers. He looked closely at Blaine. “You look well. How’s the hand?”

Blaine flexed his fingers. “It serves me.” He would never make a fist but constant therapy had at least given him use of the hand again. “I can change a diaper, which is where I am at the moment.”

Sir Brennan smiled. “I am in contact with Renee. He says you haven’t moved in with him yet. Why is that?”

“Is this what you brought me out to the country to discuss?”

“It is not. I was just curious as to why you’re living in a hotel in London when you have a house in the country and a ready-made nest with Renee? Are you not sure, Blaine?”

“I realize he is your nephew, Sir Brennan, but my private life is my own and does not concern you.”

“Well said. I’ve asked you here because I have a little situation I’d like for you to handle for me.”

“Well, Sir, you have wasted your time in summoning me out.”

“At least listen. You may change your mind. This is a private affair. A friend of mine’s wife and daughter have gone missing. She and the little girl were on holiday in Greece. He last saw her in Athens when he went down for a few days.  We know for a fact that she left Athens with a group of friends. She was on the yacht Kyros when it put into Corfu. She had not been seen since. Of course the local authorities were alerted but so far no trace of her has been found. We’ve rattled the usual channels and no request for ransom has been received. She has simply disappeared.”

“Perhaps she does not wish to be found.”

“I don’t believe that is the case, Blaine. They are a high profile couple. There has never been a hint of a domestic problem. I know them both and know them to be good people who love each other and their little girl.”

“How long has she been missing?”

“Four weeks. He’s given up on the local authorities and came to me in a rather desperate state. It’s not my area and he knows it, but he asked as a friend to see what I could do. And so I thought of you since you’re not officially under my wing.”

“I am under no one’s wing.”

“I know you aren’t and I respect you for that, Blaine. I’m asking you as a favor to me, as a friend.”

“I did not know we were friends, Sir Brennan.”

“Well, you learn something every day, don’t you?” Sir Brennan smiled and reached over and patted Blaine’s knee. “I trust you and I know you can be discreet.” He rose and went to his desk, bringing back a folder which he handed to Blaine. “Have a look.”

“I did not say I was going to help you.” But he opened the folder to an 8x10 picture of Lara Holdridge. He knew her. He’d met her at some dinner affair he’d attended with Ali. “Lord Malcolm Holdridge’s wife?”

“I thought you might know her.”

Blaine looked again at the picture, remembering her. Tall and slim with long blond hair. They’d been introduced by Ali. “Lara.”

“Yes, she was Lara Churchill before she married. I’ve known her and her family for a long time. She’s not the kind of woman to disappear without cause.”

Blaine looked up at him. “She may have cause. We do not ever know exactly what goes on between people.”

“I’ll ignore that on the grounds that I know her well. If she had cause she would have contacted a member of her family or a friend.”

Blaine was looking at the next picture, one of the little girl. She appeared to be about Lyssa’s age. “How old is the daughter?”

“Five. She’s five years old with flaming red hair, be hard to miss if you’re looking. She’s my godchild.”

“I see why you have taken a personal interest, Sir Brennan. I don’t see what I can do for you that anyone else could not do.”

“You have good instincts. You I would ask to find my godchild and her mother.”

Blaine closed the folder and ran a hand through his hair. He looked over and met Sir Brennan’s gaze. “All right. I will see what I can do for you.”

“You can take your man with you if you’d like. You may need help.”

Blaine hesitated, “I do not have a man any longer. Billy is in New York at present.”

“Oh, really?” Sir Brennan looked at him a minute. “What’s the situation there? Have you let him go?”

“We have parted.”

“Sorry to hear that. I quite liked Billy Beason. He was totally devoted to you, as I recall.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think you can handle this alone? Are you able to take care of yourself now?”

“I am able to care for myself. I have a trainer and I go to the gym daily.”

“Still using the sticks, though.”

“I can walk without them if I have to. I can walk the length of my room and it is a rather large room.”

“That’s good to hear.  I expect you’ll be fine, Blaine.  Now let’s go and have some lunch, shall we?”

On the way back into London Blaine sat in the back seat of the automobile with his head resting on the seat and his eyes closed. Sir Brennan had brought up Billy. He still missed Billy, daily, minute by minute he missed him. He still talked to him on the phone. Billy called regularly to check on Willy. When Billy returned to London Blaine would give up Willy for awhile to his father. It was a strange situation and one of his own making.

He sighed and looked out the window. He didn’t really have an answer for why he hadn’t moved in with Renee. He needed time, time to get past Billy, time to learn to stand alone. Had he gone immediately to Renee, he knew he would have begun to rely on him to prop him up. He loved Renee and spent more time at his house than he did at the hotel where he and the children and Toomes were living. It was ridiculous; he should have stayed in the country. Lyssa was already asking why she had a bedroom at Renee’s house and couldn’t stay in it. It wasn’t the right time…not yet, and he believed he’d know when the right time came.

He leaned up and gave the driver a different address. He’d go to Renee’s first.

Renee made him a drink while he sat down on the blue and white sofa. “What’s the old man up to now?”

“He’s given me a job to do.”

“I thought you were through with that.” Renee handed him the glass.

“Thank you, love. It’s a personal favor to him. His godchild is missing.”

“Ah, Janine and Lara.”

“You know about it?”

“Yes, I know. They’re almost family. I actually dated Lara’s sister in my younger days.”

“You?”

“It was a friendship thing. We were both trying to protect ourselves.”

“All right, tell me what you know of Malcolm Holdridge.” Blaine sat back on the sofa, comfortable.

“Not that much. I’m more familiar with Lara’s family. He’s older, quite a bit older I believe…ten years maybe. He sits in the House of Lords, has a large estate in Devonshire.”

“Have you been there?”

“Um hm, not my taste. Too many dogs and talks of hunting expeditions. He shoots. I don’t know him as a man. He’s conservative.”

“Is he unfaithful to his wife?”

“I wouldn’t know, Blaine. I never asked him. When necessary she is always at his side, smiling.”

“I met her once at a dinner.”

“Was she smiling?” Renee sipped his drink.

“She was. The reason I asked is that there is no evidence of foul play, nothing amiss except that she is missing.”

“So you are off to...?”

“Corfu.”

“I hear it is beautiful there. I wish I could go with you but no passport. Will you be all right on your own?”

“I should think so.”

“Speak any Greek?”

“None.”

Renee smiled, “I’m not sure they do either.”

“Some Italian, some Spanish, some French, some German.”

“Oh, well then,” Renee chuckled.  “Am I to have the kiddies whilst you’re traipsing about Corfu?”

“Would you mind? I can send them to the country if you’d prefer.”

“No, I wouldn’t mind. I’d love it. When are you off?”

“As soon as arrangements can be made. Sir Brennan is making them for me but I think I will have the Medea sent around to the Ionian Sea. I’ll sail back, perhaps with Lara Holdridge and her daughter…or not.”

“I’m sure you’ll find her, Blaine.”

“I may find her. I will not force her to return if she does not want to...if I find her well and unharmed. There is no reason to expect she is in trouble but we do not know. Sir Brennan says it is not like her to walk away like this.”

“Maybe she met one of those Greek gods that walk around brown and intense.”

Blaine grinned, “How do you know they walk that way?”

“Watch out for yourself. I’ve seen them on TV and in the movies.” Renee lit a cigarette and passed it to Blaine.

“You saw Troy. Brad Pitt is not Greek.”

Renee grinned. “He could have been. How do you go about it? I’m interested.”

Blaine swirled his drink. “I do not know. It happens as it happens. I try to walk in her steps where possible. She may find me if she remembers me. I was with Ali at a dinner when I met her.”

“Hmm, I’m surprised you remember her.”

“I do notice attractive people. I have a good memory for faces.”

“I’m glad you remembered mine.”

“So am I. You are not someone I would forget, Renee.”

Renee looked down into his own drink. “Will you stay tonight?”

Blaine caught him with a look. “Yes.”

Chapter 2

Not by the sea, but somewhere in the hills (Not by the Sea-S. Teasdale)

He’d come from Athens to Peloponnese and there boarded a ship for Corfu. As near as he was able to determine this was the same track Lara had taken with her friends, except, of course, she’d been on a private yacht and not the Greek cruise liner he had taken.  It was a small liner as cruise ships go and he’d bought a ticket with the intent of getting off in Corfu and ending his shipboard experience there. He’d gone over the statements taken from the guests aboard the yacht and saw nothing to help him in his search. Lara had gone off alone with a backpack and her daughter to see the local sights instead of kneeing up to the bar and restaurant the rest of the party had chosen. She’d not returned and the yacht spent three days in dock waiting for her before sailing off for Crete. Blaine thought it rather callous of them to leave without knowing what had happened to Lara and Janine. He’d spent three days in Athens and three more getting to Corfu. He decided to see the sights.

He left his bag at the hotel and with a small shoulder bag and a sturdy walking cane he set out on foot going in the direction Lara’s traveling companions had last seen her and Janine. He stopped and bought a map of the island, casually asking if anyone had seen a woman with a little red-headed girl about. It was on the second day of his tourist trek that a street vendor said he’d seen them some weeks ago. She’d bought an ice cream for the little girl. The man could not put down a date. Some weeks ago. It could have been the same day she disappeared. The man had not noticed which way they went. Blaine stood on the street and looked around. A kafenion (coffee house) caught his attention and he sat down and ordered a coffee.

He still had a feeling she’d disappeared of her own free will. There was nothing to say that she had; it was just an instinct he had. With that thought in his mind he began to think how it could be done. Lady Holdridge in Corfu. All the hotels and inns had been questioned and she hadn’t checked in to any of them. With a child she wouldn’t have stayed on the streets for long.

A group of young people took a table next to him, apologizing for their backpacks and knocking his cane to the pavement. Something occurred to him.

“Excuse me, please. Is there a hostel in Corfu?”

The man who ran the hostel was an expatriated American. He looked at the photos and then at Blaine.

“Why are you looking for her?” he asked.

“Her family is worried for her and her daughter. They have not heard from her in some time.”

“Who are you?”

“A friend of the family. I said I would do what I could.” He shrugged. He knew the man had recognized her. “I’ve been asked to find her. What she does after that is up to her.”

He looked Blaine up and down and then asked him to come inside. “She was here.” He pulled out a metal folding chair and sat down.

Blaine took a green-painted bench. “When was she here? She’s been missing for nearly six weeks now.”

“She spent two weeks here. Nice lady and cute kid. She did the breakfast while she was here. Everyone is supposed to do some work.”

“Why did she leave?” Blaine asked.

“I don’t know why, really. I think she’d found another place to stay.”

“Not in a hotel?”

“I couldn’t say where. She didn’t say.”

“She was reported missing by her traveling companions. The police did not come here to ask questions?”

“No, nobody’s been here asking anything about her until you showed up.”

“What date did she leave?”

“Um.” He poked around on the old wooden desk and gave Blaine the date. “She liked being outside, spent a lot of time exploring the island. She didn’t say where.”

“She explored on foot?”

“Sometimes she had a scooter.”

“Thank you.”

The next morning Blaine had a scooter. He was actually enjoying Corfu. The scooter allowed him to explore the higher regions of the island. It wasn’t often he traveled alone. It wasn’t often he was alone at all. It brought back memories of Hong Kong and the house he had there. Here on the top of a rocky outcropping he sat down with the bread and cheese and warm beer he’d brought along for his lunch. Far below, the sea bashed about the rocks and a little farther along lay a white strip of sand.

He finished his lunch and took the scooter farther up the hillside off the road. It protested but he insisted. Finding a grassy spot, he stopped and again sat on the ground enjoying the warm sunshine. He temporarily forgot about Lara and Janine. He lay back, looking at the sky, letting his mind wander where it would and before long he was asleep.

It was a soft sound that woke him, a tickling of his nose. He reached up to brush it away and encountered something warm and alive. He came awake immediately and looked into the face of a donkey.

He sat up, rubbing his face and glanced down at his watch. He’d been asleep a little over an hour and the sun was gone behind dark clouds blown in from the sea.

“Where did you come from?” he asked the donkey. He got to his feet and brushed off his back and jeans. Above him was a barn of sorts. Before he could make up his mind, the rain began in big drops. He pushed the scooter up to the barn. The little donkey followed him.

“This where you live?” The donkey did not reply.

He explored the barn while the weather did its job outside. Settling by a window, he looked out and noticed someone had drawn a little smiley face on the dirty window. He gave it some hair and a stick body.  A little further exploration of the barn revealed a door that led to a living quarters. He poked around for a bit since nobody was home. He’d already determined it was uninhabited. Nothing was in the cupboards or the trash bin. It was a neat and tidy little dwelling of two rooms. He went into the bedroom and looked about. There he stepped on something and picked it up. It was a hair clip. Lyssa had such things. He took it over to the window and found a long curly hair still attached to it.

His heart began to beat a little faster. A flaming red-headed child, Sir Brennan had described Janine. She’d been here. He searched the dwelling but found nothing else. Once the rain stopped he would find out who owned the place. Perhaps this was the place Lara had found when she left the hostel. He sat down in one of the chairs by the wooden table in the kitchen/living area. “I wish you would talk to me,” he said to the walls.

He’d been walking about without his cane and when he stood up he felt it in his back. It might have come from pushing the scooter up the hill. He rubbed it and thought he’d take a painkiller when he got back to the hotel. So far on his travels he’d felt fine and was able to get about easily. He went back to the barn and looked down the hillside. Already shafts of sunlight were touching the water. It wouldn’t be long before the storm blew away.

He thanked the donkey for his hospitality and back on the scooter, he hit the road again. Just around a sharp turn he saw a dirt road that led up the hillside. He followed it.

It led him up above the barn and to a gate still hanging on the fencepost. No trace of the fence remained except the posts. An overgrown path led down to a house and this one was occupied. Wet washing was hanging out on the line.

A knock on the door brought an old woman, who looked at him fiercely and said something intelligible.

“Do you speak English?” he asked.

She called out to someone else in the house and a woman with auburn hair came to the door. His heart sank at the sight of her hair.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hello. I have just taken shelter in your barn from the storm. I found this.” He held out the hair clip. “I am looking for a woman with a child. The child’s hair is perhaps the color of yours.”

She touched her hair. “I don’t think so. You’d better come in. Mamma…something to drink. She understands but does not speak English.”

Blaine entered the farmhouse. “You speak it very well.”

“I live in America. I come home for Mamma. Here is some lemonade. Please sit down. You are looking for this woman?”

“Yes, Lara is her name and the child is Janine. Her family is worried because they have not heard from her in six weeks now. I saw the hair clip and I thought it might be Janine’s.”

“Let me see.” She took it in her hand. “Well, it is not mine. Mamma said someone had been staying in the barn.” She turned and questioned the woman and then turned back. “She said a woman and her daughter were there for about two weeks. I say why you don’t have them in the house…pah…to put a woman in the barn. It is what she wanted.” The woman shrugged. “My name is Antonea and you are?”

“David Blaine. Does she know where the woman went with the child?”

Antonea asked her mother the question. There followed a lengthy conversation while Blaine drank his lemonade.

“She says there are some people looking for this woman and she don’t want to say where she has gone. The police, you see, no one wants to help them here, especially if you have done nothing wrong.”

“I am not the police. I am a friend of her family.”

“I will see what...." Antonea spoke with her mother again. “I say to her she will not be involved. No troubles will come to her.”

“You are correct.”

“She has gone over to Mathraki. It is an island, about a 45 minute boat ride. There is not much there. I don’t know why she want to go there.”

“Maybe that is the reason she wanted to go.”

“Could be. You will stay for dinner.” She rose and went to help her mother in the kitchen.

Blaine finished his drink and looked about the whitewashed room. Lara was on the run.

He enjoyed an authentic Greek meal and learned Antonea had her own hair styling salon in America. She had three children in college and her husband, also Greek, owned a restaurant. She came home once a year to see to her mother.

Once back at the hotel, he took his pain pill and got into a tub of very warm water to ease his back. He debated with himself about calling the number Sir Brennan had given him. In the end he decided not to call until he had made contact with her and knew the other side of the story. If she was running away there had to be a reason for it. Instead he called Renee and asked about his children. He told him about the meal he’d eaten.

“Now you are making me jealous. Fish with lemon sauce? Aubergine and peppers?”

“And the bread, still warm and crusty with butter.”

“I won’t tell you what we had. I cooked for Lyssa.”

“Well then, I know what you ate. The ouzo is good.”

“Enjoy yourself, Blaine. Just don’t tell me about it.”

Blaine laughed, “Night, Renee.”

Chapter 3

They sent you in to say farewell to me. (Erinna-S. Teasdale)

Early the next morning he was down at the harbor looking for a trip out to Mathraki.

He tossed his bag to the man on the boat and climbed aboard. He wondered how the Medea was making time to the Ionian Sea. Blaine was in no hurry. He knew Toomes and Renee would look after Lyssa and Willy. For now he was free to enjoy the place, the food and the people. He found it a very friendly place and the people at the hotel had been helpful about Mathraki. With a population of around 300 and 3 square km, it shouldn’t be hard to find her. If she was still there. He’d been advised there were only three places he might stay. All of them were a combination of stores, inn, rooms to let and restaurant. Should be interesting, he thought.

He arrived at the port of Mathraki called Plakes and along with a few others he walked up the narrow road to the village. They had to be locals with their bulging shopping bags. This was the smallest island in the Ionian chain. Not much shopping to be had here. It was way off the tourist grid.

He rested for a minute after the climb and took in the settlement, a few houses scattered about the port. He chose the most promising combination building and went in and asked for a room. He was ready to complain about the third floor until he saw the view from his room. “It’s beautiful…the most beautiful place.”

Unlike Corfu with its automobiles and buzzing scooters, it was quiet. He had been assured it was the best room in the house, simple and clean with its own bathroom. The windows were open and a breeze blew the short, faded blue cotton curtains around like flags. He changed into a pair of khaki shorts and sandals and carefully navigated the steep narrow steps down to the travena. He ordered an orange juice and found a place to sit outside. Behind his sunglasses, he studied the people coming and going. No one paid any attention to him.

After he finished his drink he went into a store and bought a pack of English cigarettes. He asked about a woman and a red-haired child.

“And if I do?” The insolent young man stared back at him.

“Nothing at all,” he replied and walked out, lighting a cigarette. So…she was here. He would make no more inquiries. He would let her find him.

He spent the rest of the morning sitting out at a table. He had a book, the sunshine, a drink and contentment. That was a word that needed further contemplation. Why should he be content thousands of miles from his family? He didn’t know…only that he was. He lifted his face to the sun and he felt blessed.

“There’s a bee in your glass.”

He opened his eyes a slit and looked at the little girl standing by his table. “He could be thirsty. Perhaps he likes orange.”

She grinned and placed her hand over the top of his glass. “Now he can’t get out.”

“Why do you want to trap him?”

“Because if he gets out he might bite me.”

“He might bite your hand.”

She quickly removed her hand and screwed up her face, looking at the bee in the glass. “I think he’s finished drinking.”

“Janine, please come.”

“There’s a bee.” She made no attempt to mind the woman who called to her from the door of the inn.

Blaine removed his sunglasses as she walked over to his table.

“I’m sorry. Come, Janine, don’t bother the…” she stopped, recognizing him. “Do I know you?”

“We have met. I am David Blaine.” He stood up.

“But  how ridiculous to find you here.”

“It is, yes.”

“Ohh, he flew away!” Janine looked down into his juice glass.

She wore sarong around her, covering up her bikini. The sun had touched her face and her shoulders. She pushed her sunglasses up on her head. “Why are you here?”

He shrugged, “I am waiting for my boat to arrive.”

“Here? But no one comes here.”

“I did. I like it here.” He looked around. “It is very peaceful and quiet.” She was suspicious of him. He sensed that. “I have come from Corfu.”

“Well, I hope you will enjoy your stay.”

“We’ve been to the seaside,” Janine said.

“Have you? Is it a good beach?”

“It was good .” She reached in the pocket of her little toweling jacket. “I found this.”

“Sea glass, a treasure.” He smiled and handed back the fragment of azure glass. “I have only just arrived this morning. How far is the beach?”

“Not far at all and there’s a good path.”

“Perhaps you will show me sometime.”

“Can we go back, Mumma?”

“Not today. You’re staying here?”

“Yes.”

Lara looked into his eyes for a moment. “Maybe we’ll see you later.”

He put his palms together and  bowed slightly. “I will look forward to it.”

She took Janine’s hand and walked toward the door, turning once to look back at him. He bowed again and then sat back down. Putting on his sunglasses again, he picked up his book. Contact made.

He had lunch then went up to his room. The bed called him and he fell across it and was soon asleep. He did not fear that she would flee or she would not have mentioned later. He woke feeling a little disoriented as one does when napping during the day. He rolled over in the bed and looked at the windows. The breeze was still steadily blowing but the sun was casting shadows about. He looked at his watch and sat up.

He bathed and dressed in linen trousers and a soft pale blue shirt. His feet in sandals, he gave his still damp, curling hair a half brush and picked up his walking cane. He stood at the top of the stairs, taking a breath. Stairways were still a problem for him. He took it slowly and made his way down to the street again.

He heard Janine’s high-pitched voice before he was able to scan the seating outside. “Mumma, there he is! It’s Mr. Blaine.”

He ducked his head and smiled, slowly making his way through the tables.

“My daughter seems to have a crush on you.” Lara removed her bag from the extra chair.

“I am truly sorry for you if she does.” He hesitated behind the chair.

Lara looked up at him and wasn’t sorry at all. He was very attractive. “Won’t you join us or do you have other plans?”

“I have no plans. This is not a place to make plans. It is a place to forget plans.” He pulled out the chair and sat down.

Lara smiled a little. “I like that idea. We were about to order dinner.”

“It is early for dinner, is it not?” He picked up a menu.

“Not for Janine.”

Blaine looked at Janine. “And what is Janine going to have for dinner? Ah, I know! Octopus. Maybe you will share with me. Four legs each…no?”

“Eweeow!” Janine made a  face. “You don’t eat octopus.”

“Oh, but you do. Calamari is excellent if it is cooked properly.”

“Nooo!” she laughed.

Lara took in his interaction with her daughter. He was very easy with her, teasing her and at the same time telling her things she should know. They discussed several other things on the menu and she listened to him, smiling.

“You are very good with her,” she said.

“It comes easy for me. I have a daughter about the same age. Her name is Lyssa.” He didn’t look up from the menu. Janine was now standing by his side while they talked about the different things they might eat.

Lara was intrigued by him. “I didn’t know you were married with children.”

“Part of that is correct. I am no longer married and I do have children. They live with me.” He flashed a smile and went back to Janine.

“Where are your children?”

“They are in London with their nanny.”

She looked at him a moment and then down at her menu. She wondered what he was doing here.

Janine dominated most of the conversation during dinner. Blaine ordered the calamari. It was early for him to eat a meal, especially here. He leaned  his head back and looked at the stars.

“I’m going to take her up and get her ready for bed. Will you be around later?” Lara asked, picking up her purse and hanging it on her shoulder.

“I will be here. I have nowhere to go.” He looked up at her with a look that invited her back.

“Right…well, Janine, say goodnight to Mr. Blaine.”

He watched them walk to the door and smiled to himself.

It was two hours before she returned. During this time Blaine walked  down to the harbor and back, smoked a few cigarettes and was working on a carafe of red wine.

She had a shawl around her shoulders when she sat down next to him in the travena.

“Janine wants to know why you walk with a cane.”

“Janine wants to know?” He put out his cigarette. “I walk with a cane because my back was broken in an elevator when it fell.”

“That must have been painful.”

“The pain came later, after the many surgeries and therapy. I’ve spent several years learning to walk again.”

She frowned and then looked aside. “There is something I want to know. Who hired you to find me…was it Malcolm?”

“I do not know your husband, Lady Holdridge.”

“You didn’t just turn up here by accident.”

“How do you know? You do not know me or what I might do.” He poured her a glass of wine.

“It’s true, I don’t know you…or what you’re capable of.”

“None of us know what we are capable of until we are tested.”

She took a drink from her glass. “Where are you from? You’re not English, are you?”

“Half of me is English the other half is Chinese. I have lived in both countries.”

“It was the accent.” She turned her glass by the stem as it sat on the table. “Be honest with me, Mr. Blaine.”

“Why don’t you call me David?”

“I’m Lara.”

“What kind of honesty do you want from me?”

“I…have you come here to find me…to escort me home?”

“I came here to find you but where you go from here is not my concern.”

“I’m not lost, David.”

He picked up his glass. “Well, you are very fortunate, for most of us are lost in one way or another.” He took a drink and still held it against his lips. “Very fortunate indeed.”

“Have you reported to whoever it is? Is he now on his way to the airport?“ Her voice held anger.

“I have told no one of your whereabouts.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because you asked of me…honesty.”  He looked into her eyes. A very troubled woman.

Chapter 4

You have taken a drink from a wild fountain… (S.Teasdale)

“When you are ready to talk to me, when you think you can be honest with me and trust me, then we will think about what is to be done.” Blaine turned on his chair and looked her full in the face.

Lara nodded slightly and moistened her lips. His eyes went to her lips and then he smiled a little and met her eyes. She looked back for a moment and then looked away. He made her uncomfortable and she shifted in her seat.

“So, let us talk of other things. Do you speak Greek?”

“N-no, so far I have not needed to. It seems everyone speaks some common language.”

“I have found it so in my travels.”

“Do you travel a lot?”

“For some reason it seems to happen. It’s been different this time…I don’t know why.”

“How is it different?”

“Many things, I think. I am alone and I find that is agreeable to me.” He looked away for a moment. “I cannot explain it. I have not come to understand it.”

She looked down into her glass, into the deep rich wine. “I understand that feeling. It’s called freedom.”

“Freedom,” he repeated. “Yes, but we are never completely free. There is always someone else to think of. I have Lyssa and Willy and…it is all too complicated sometimes. Here in this place where no one knows where we are, let us be honest with each other.”

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “What are you running from?”

“You first.” He took a drink from his glass and reached for the carafe.

“Do you think it is possible to wake up one day and find the person next to you is a complete stranger? You have nothing in common with them and you don’t love him anymore. You wonder what it was that brought you together in the first place. After a while you come to the point where you cannot stand to look at him another moment.”

“I do understand that. I am also trying to understand how you can love someone and yet cut them off like a body part and how you can love and not love at the same time. But this is not the time for my problems.”

“Oh, but it is. You said we should be honest. I told you why I’m running.”

“You have told me nothing except that you do not love your husband.”

“I don’t love him.”

“Why did you stay with him?”

“I must have loved him once, enough to marry him and have his child.” She wrapped her shawl around her shoulders and held it. “I don’t know when it started…some years ago I began to feel like a prisoner. I began not to care anymore.”

“Why now…why here?”

“I took Janine out of school and took her to Athens with me. It began as a holiday. I met some friends there…a couple I have known for ages. He came down after only a week and demanded that I come home.”

“Does he demand a lot?”

“Yes, he does. He’s one of these people who want to control everything, every movement, every thought. I realized before he came to Athens that I couldn’t bear it any longer. We had a tremendous argument and he left. My friends had some visitors that invited me along for a cruise. He kept calling me until I threw my phone overboard.”

“And you decided to disappear. Well, there are other people who care for you and are worried for you. You should at least contact them and let them know you are all right.”

“I suppose I should have. I…wanted some time to think and not have to think of what others were thinking of me. I will be condemned in every rag in England and beyond. He has that power with the press.”

“You have to get to the place where you do not care what others think of you. Sometimes you have to become hard.”

“Did you become hard?”

“Yes…I am not proud of what I have done but I had to do it for me. Like you, I was smothered. Perhaps not with the same intent. I have made many mistakes in my life. I do not trust myself to always do the right thing…other people get hurt.”

“You’ve been hurt, too. It’s in your eyes.”

“Eyes are windows to the soul. Sometimes we close the curtains.”

“Yours are open.”

“It is not always so.” He looked away from her.

He was the strangest person, she thought. One minute vulnerable, giving her a glimpse of him and then pulling back…closing those curtains. She didn’t realize what he was doing because he did it so well. He was a seducer but at the same time he wanted to be seduced. She looked at his profile for a moment and reached out and touched his arm.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to open wounds.”

He looked down at her hand. “No bother. They will never completely heal. I have learned you have to live with pain in whatever form it comes.” He raised his eyes slowly to hers.

She removed her hand. “I have a very low tolerance for pain. I don’t like to cause it nor do I like to endure it for the sake of others.”

“Have you found a lover, has he opened your eyes to what could be if you are willing to risk everything?”

“No, the awakening came alone.”

He blinked, “How did you come to it alone?” He wanted to know. It was important that he know.

“Slowly…little things, like seeing things for the first time without someone telling me how I should perceive it. Liking something when I shouldn’t because it isn’t the thing. Doing the difficult thing because the easy way was too familiar. The realization that I no longer loved Malcolm. I’m not good at pretending something I don’t feel. I endured all the accusations. He thought I had a lover, too.

“I looked at myself in the mirror and I didn’t know her. She’d been compromised into a life she hated. I saw lines around her eyes. I saw her in the right little suits going to prescribed functions, chairing meetings, making the rounds on her husband’s arm. I…couldn’t do it anymore.” She looked around the room and out of the door into the darkness. “And so I ended up here to try and find Lara Churchill again.”

He was quiet for a little while and finished the glass of wine he’d been playing with.

“I’m sorry to bore you with my problems.”

“I asked you to tell me. You did not bore me. There is not much to do here…would you like to walk?”

“Yes, but I need to tell the woman who is with Janine.”

“I will wait for you outside.”

He lit a cigarette while he waited. Something she’d said about doing the difficult thing instead of the easy and familiar stuck with him. There was a truth in that and one he needed to find for himself.

“How is she?”

“She’s sleeping soundly. We could walk to the beach if you’d like. It’s not that far.”

“All right.”

“How old is your daughter?”

“She has had her birthday last month. She is six.”

“It’s unusual for a man to end up with custody of his children.”

“There is nothing usual about me. Lyssa’s mother is…she is dead.”

“I’m sorry. I thought you were divorced.”

“I am, second marriage. It was a mistake but it produced a son, Willy. She did not want him when she found she could not have me.”

“How old is Willy?”

“Six months.”

“I can’t imagine giving up Janine.”

“No. What will your husband do about her when you divorce him?”

“You are so sure I will. I don’t know…he’ll want access to her, I suppose.”

“I am sure of nothing, Lara.”

“Who sent you to find me? I know now it couldn’t have been Malcolm. You’re not the kind of man he’d send.”

He looked over at her as they walked. “Sir Brennan.”

“Dear old Bren.”

“Your husband leaned on him a bit, I believe. It was his desire to know you and his godchild are safe that brought me into the picture. I do not work for Sir Brennan but I have done a few things for him in the past."

“He chose well. I can’t imagine I would have talked so freely with anyone else.”

“Here on this tiny island we are free. We may say whatever we wish. No one else will ever know what is said between us.”

She glanced up at him and continued walking. They came to the beach and Blaine stopped, noting how the moon lay on the water reaching toward the shore. There were times he wanted to paint what he was experiencing and wondered why he didn’t carry his paints with him.

“It’s lovely, silver and gold melding into one living, moving body.”

“Are you a poet?”

“No, not I. I fancy myself a painter.”

“What do you do for a living if you don’t work for Bren?”

“I don’t do anything for a living. I was left a fortune by a…a…someone. But I do have a vocation. I was trained as an architect. I design gardens for the National Trust.”

“You’re artistic, sensitive to beauty. It is beautiful here, David. I’ve never seen water like this anywhere.”

“What is down there?”

“A little cove, a natural swimming pool, but it’s deep. I can’t take Janine there.”

“You could take me.” He turned and looked at her.

“Now…tonight?”

“Why not? I have nothing to hide.”

She looked toward the cove. “Yes…yes, let’s do it.”

He waited out in the waves for her. She was not as sure of herself as he was. She kept her underwear on. Once she reached him they began to swim toward the cove. She was a strong swimmer as he was and soon they were out of the waves and into the still cove.  He kept an eye on her to make sure she was with him and he swam to the side. In places it was a sheer wall of stone and others there were ledges and crevices in the rock wall. She pulled herself up on a ledge and watched him swim. He was as much at home in the water as the fishes. Something splashed near and she turned quickly to see a fin slide beneath the water.

“David…David, come out!  It’s a shark!”

He’d seen it too and instead of trying to get out of the water he swam toward it. Treading water, he smiled as the creature surfaced again and swam around him. “It is a dolphin!” he called back to her. “Come in and swim with him.”

She shook her head and then thought when would that opportunity ever come to her again? She slid into the water and swam toward him.

For the better part of an hour they swam and played with the dolphin. David found the whole experience thrilling. Once she let herself go, Lara did too. They both made for the ledge and pulled up.

“That was amazing.” He slung his hair around  and rubbed his eyes.

“Yes, it was, a very special moment. I would never have gone into the water with him if you hadn’t called me.”

“You cannot let things like that pass you by. It may never come again.”

She was still trying to catch her breath. “I’m glad I brought you here.”

He smiled and brushed his hair back.

She wrung out her hair and pushed it over her shoulder, very aware of his nakedness. He was totally unconcerned and at ease. She wanted to touch him, to feel his strong body against hers. The exhilaration of the swim with the dolphin had her blood pumping. It had been a long time since she felt any desire for a man. She felt none for her husband but David Blaine…

He stood up and dove into the water, swam out a bit and then swam to her, reaching up and tugging at the elastic in her bikini pants. “Take them off and come in with me.”

She could barely breathe. Had he read her mind? She took off her panties and let herself down into the water. He held onto the ledge with one hand and brought her to him with the other. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him for a long time. Then freeing herself, she lay back in the water with her legs around him, still holding him inside of her. He played with her breasts for a while and she reached out for the ledge. He grabbed her bottom and pumped hard into her until she came up and grabbed him around the shoulders and found his mouth again. A sweet release and she clung to his body, tasting the salt on his shoulder.

“I…I’ve never done anything like this in my life.”

He placed his fingers on her mouth. “Shh, there is nothing to talk about. It happened…blame it on the dolphin.”

She was inches from his face. “The dolphin.” She ran her fingers over his beard and touched his lips.

“We’d better start back before the tide turns.”

“Yes, we’d better go back.” She retrieved her panties and put them on in the water while he held her up.

On the way back to the inn he never mentioned what had happened between them but she couldn’t just put it out of her mind.

“I’ll never forget this night.”

He looked over at her and then back on the path. “Do not attach any special meaning to it, Lara. It is the night we swam with the dolphin, a special experience for both of us. I am glad we shared it.”

It would be some time before she could look at it and understand it was the release she was looking for. She was free. David loosened the bonds that held her to her old life. He’d done it in a way that she would never regret and would never forget.

The night was a revelation to Blaine as well as Lara. He, who thought he was through with women. He, who had decided he would live a gay life with Renee and never look back…had looked. He lay in his bed, hugging the spare pillow, tired but unable to sleep.  He tossed and turned for awhile and then got up, giving up the bed for awhile. He leaned on his balcon, smoking and looking out toward the now-dark sea. The moon had moved, sending only a flash of foam here and there.

It came to him that he was afraid of commitment, afraid he wouldn’t be able to honor it… the evidence being before him now. Why did he seek the easy and familiar? Wasn’t he at his best when he was alone? He’d lived alone for many years and had been content. Love was a double edged sword…a dangerous companion to seek. He’d known bliss and absolute despair in its company. He’d lived his fantasies with Billy and Mandy and then sliced them off for Renee. What about Renee? He just didn’t know.

Chapter 5

If I could keep my innermost Me fearless, aloof and free (S. Teasdale)

He was late coming down the next morning. Lara was afraid he wouldn’t want to see her after what had happened . He’d let her know the night carried no special weight with him but it was different for her.  Oh, it wasn’t as though she’d fallen in love with him or anything…one night did not make a lover of either of them. But it was fresh and new and she had yet to understand it.

Janine had finished her breakfast and was playing with a stray kitten out in the courtyard. Lara lingered over another pot of coffee.

Blaine spotted her and made his way to her table. “Good morning. How are you?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Where’s Janine?”

“Over there by the wall. She’s found a stray kitten.”

He sat down, looked over at the little girl and smiled. “I miss my daughter. She is good company.”

“I’ve been thinking,” she poured him a cup of coffee, “I’m going to call Bren and thank him for sending you to look for me. I want him to know that Janine and I are going to be okay.”

“Do not sing my praises to Sir Brennan.”

“I won’t mention dolphins.” She tilted her head.

He grinned.

“I’m not quite ready to go back and drop the bomb. I think he will understand how it is.”

“Why do you have to go back? Is it necessary that you live in England?”

“No…I just…no, actually it isn’t. If I’m going to make a new start it might as well be different from the beginning.”

“I am glad you are going to call him. It takes the pressure off me.”

“You really haven’t, have you?”

“No, I hoped you would come to that on your own.”

Looking at him across the table it was almost possible to believe that what had happened the night before had been a dream. If she had dreamed it, she couldn’t have improved on it.

“How long will you be here?”

He set his cup down. “Until my boat comes.”

“Oh, that’s right. You said you had a boat coming. What kind of boat is it?”

“It is an antique yacht. The Medea.”

“How appropriate here in Greece. When will it be here?”

“In about a week. I spoke to my captain this morning and all is going well. I will sail home.”

“Where is home for you?”

“Home,” he sighed, “home is Gravesend in Coventry.” When he said it he knew it was true. Not some hotel in London. But what about Renee? He put it out of his mind. “What plans do you have for today?”

“None, I don’t make plans here.”

“No,” he shook his head, “just let it happen.”

“Would you like to…spend it together? We could take a picnic somewhere.”

“I’d like that.”

“Would you mind watching Janine while I go and make my phone call to Bren?”

“Not at all.”

She came back about thirty minutes later. “Well, I’ve done it. I told Bren that I intend to leave Malcolm. Maybe I’ve already left him and I just don’t know it yet.” She looked at her daughter, who had an orange juice beside her and a kitten in her lap, sitting on the pavement.

Blaine took her hand. “Good for you. Now you can begin.”

“Yes,” she took a breath, “I have to find my wings. Janine, where would you like to go on a picnic?”

“Can I take kitty?”

“Oh, I…no, darling. The kitty needs to find its mother.”

“He doesn’t have a  Mumma. I have to be his Mumma.”

“Where would kitty like to go for a picnic?” Blaine asked her.

Lara rolled her eyes and smiled. “You’re a big help.”

“I try,” he smiled.

The three of them  with the kitten set off for the southernmost part of the island. It was the most populated with permanent homes and olive groves. It was among the olive trees that they found their picnic spot, a high bluff with gorgeous views and wildflowers in abundance. By now, Janine had named her kitty Muffin.

“I don’t know what she’ll do when we leave without the kitten. She’s never had a kitty before.”

“How do you plan to leave?”

“I haven’t made plans yet. I think we’ll go back to Corfu and try and get away from there.”

“The police are looking for you there.”

“I know but I hope the search will now be called off.” She turned and looked at him lying on his back.

“If you are not in a hurry, I can accommodate you and Janine on the Medea. There is plenty of room.”

“I’m not in a hurry. There are a lot of things I must work out before I go back…if I go back.”

“The kitten is welcome aboard the Medea.”

She smiled and patted his stomach, thought better of it and took her hand away. They’d been intimate but they weren’t intimate…not really. There was something about him that invited touching, the lazy way he looked at her.  She bent over and kissed him softly on the lips.

“Why are you kissing him?” Janine asked, standing a little to their right.

“Because he needed kissing.”  Lara pulled her daughter into her lap. “And so do you.”

“And Muffin, too.”

“And Muffin, too.” Laura kissed the top of the kitten’s head.

Blaine closed his eyes. He opened them and smiled when the little girl kissed his cheek. She giggled and ran off after her kitten.

Lara tossed her hair and looked out over the sea. How perfect the day was. She couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be or anyone she’d rather be with.

Blaine was totally relaxed. The little girl brought Lyssa close to him and he wished she was there. The two little girls would enjoy each other. He’d been careful with Lara. She was in a very vulnerable state and he didn’t want to inject himself into her life. There was no future there for either of them. She was a smart lady and maybe she realized that herself. He looked at her straight back and her long hair blowing about her shoulders. The desire was there for her but there had to be parameters. This was only an interlude in their lives and it would soon be coming to an end.

He put his arm over his eyes. Sometimes he felt his whole life had been an interlude…waiting for the big thing to happen. And then…maybe it had already happened with Ali and he was free falling.

“Don’t go too far,” he heard her say and then she lay down facing him. “Where are you?”

“Here and now.” He removed his arm and faced her.

“What you said about things between us staying here. I like that. You’re a new experience for me.”

“It will not travel. You must know that.”

“I’m not sure I’d want it to. This place, this time is so special to me. I feel like I’m indulging myself in a fantasy, a beautiful island, a beautiful man and no one knows but me.  Cold hard reality lies somewhere out there over the seas.” She rolled to her back. “I don’t think I’ll sail home with you but if you could get me to Greece I’ll make my own arrangements from there.”

“I will take you to the mainland or anywhere you wish.”

She turned and looked at him. The unspoken invitation was there in her eyes. He moved and kissed her deeply. “I’ll take you,” he whispered against her lips, “tonight in my room.”

“I feel like a teenager about to sneak out of her room.”

He smiled and kissed her again. “Did you do that?” leaning then, back on his arm.

“Of course. It’s exciting…this is exciting for me.” It was the freedom to do as she pleased and with whom she pleased. “I shall be all proper and cool when I leave here but for now…here and now…I want to...I want to fuck you.”

“Then you will.” He sat up and reached for his cigarettes. “All night if you wish.”

“I haven’t offended you, have I?”

“No, you haven’t. I had the same thoughts.”

She sat up too. “I’ve never been so outright brazen. That’s a word I never use even in anger.”

He took her hand, kissed her fingers and then let it go. “Do not worry about it. It is an honest word.”

“I don’t want you to think that I’m using you.”

“Use me all you want to. I am your springboard…I’ll give you wings.”

She put her arms around his shoulders. “Do you have wings?”

Did he? “Broken wings but I believe they are healing fast. I have my own problem…something that has…but I think I know what I must do.”

“Tell me.”

“No, I don’t want to bring you into it. I have been sitting on a fence afraid to commit and now I know I do not have to commit. I am free if I want to be and I believe I do want to be.”

“I never thought to ask if you might be in a relationship with someone. I’ve been rather selfish.”

“I give to you, Lara. You have not taken from me.”

She ran her fingers down his back. “You are a very generous man, a very sweet man.”

“I am not sweet. I have destroyed those that I loved…do not call me sweet. You do not know me, Lara, and I would like to keep it that way.  Here in this place…time is like water. You cannot hold onto it and yet your hand is wet and so you know you had it. I am…learning something of myself. You have helped me along the path I know I must take. I take what I have left, what I know is real and is mine, and I will begin again.”

“Your divorce must have been heavy.”

“It was not the divorce. We should never have married. It is my life that has been heavy. I have tried to be one thing or the other and sometimes both and I think sometimes I am a freak of nature.”

“Bren told me not to get my hopes up about you. He said you were gay. I laughed because I know you are not gay. I know gay men. I’ve worked with them and some are my very good friends. You’re not a freak of nature, David. You’re a beautiful man inside and out. I don’t care what you think you are. When we leave here I’d like to think you’re my friend. I’d like not to lose touch with you.  I don’t have to know all there is to know about you. I don’t want to know. I know what I see and what I feel.”

He rested his head on hers for a minute. “I would like to keep in touch with you. I’d like for our daughters to meet.” He looked up and met her eyes. “Friends.”

“Yes, please,” she smiled.

“We should go find Janine. She may be full of green olives by now.”

It was as close as he’d come to telling her about himself. He was glad now that he didn’t have to. As they walked through the olive grove and spotted Janine in a tree with her kitten, he felt better than he had for some time. He wasn’t confined to coloring inside the lines. He’d never been good at that anyway.

“I wonder if they might have such a thing as a set of paints here on this island.”

“You want to paint it?”

“Yes, I do. I would also like to see if we can find our dolphin again before we leave.”

She smiled and put her arm around his waist. “Even if we don’t, we’ve had that experience together.”

He paused and looked out over the ocean, “I, too, know what is out there on the other side. Something I must do but for now, here and now, Lara, let us hold onto time for as long as we can.”

“Toomes, I wonder if you might, as discreetly as possible, reassemble the staff at Gravesend and have them open the house for us.”

“We’re going home, Sir?”

“Yes, Toomes, we’re going home. I’d like you to take the children there when it’s ready. I should be home in about three weeks.”

“Oh…thank you, Sir. Lyssa will be that happy to get back amongst her things.”

“Yes, and so will I.” Blaine closed his phone and boarded the Medea. Lara and Janine were already aboard, waving goodbye to Corfu.

ON TO IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE

BACK TO REGENERATION OF THE HEART

BACK TO A SHORT CONVERSATION WITH DAVID BLAINE AND HIS AUTHOR

BACK TO THE VELVET TRAP

BACK TO THE EXCHANGE, SECTION TWO

BACK TO THE EXCHANGE, SECTION ONE

BACK TO NINE POUND TEN

BACK TO WATERS OF MY BIRTH

BACK TO THE MEDEA STEAMPUNK'D

BACK TO PART TWO, CHAPTERS 1 THROUGH 6

BACK TO PART ONE, CHAPTERS 3 THROUGH 6

BACK TO CHAPTER 2

BACK TO THE WIND

BACK TO LIFE THERAPY

BACK TO THE FORTUNATE ONE

BACK TO IN A DESERT PLACE

BACK TO NO WAVE WITHOUT WIND

BACK TO A THOUSAND NEW PATHS

BACK TO THE GOLDEN ORB

BACK TO LIBRISCROWE