sense that he was taking mental notes, just as I had been doing all my life. If she had no feeling in her legs, her mind had made some claws that were pricking her feet.
It was like he was Sherlock and I was Watson – or the other way round, given I had more experience. I could see the sense of him testing her apparent numbness by inviting the village cats to join us for lunch. When I looked under the table again, I saw a tiny prick of blood on her ankle. She had definitely felt that claw dig into her skin.
Now I understood why he gave her permission to drive the hire car.
Someone was hovering by our table. Matthew, who was now clean-shaven, was standing behind my mother. ‘Excuse me,’ he said to Rose, as he leaned over her to pass me the car keys and a purple plastic wallet. ‘You’ll find all the paperwork in there.’
‘Who are you?’ Rose looked mystified.
‘I am the partner of Ingrid, a friend of your daughter. She told me you were a bit strapped for wheels so I picked up the hire car for you this morning. It drives pretty smoothly.’ He glanced at a cat chewing a polpo tentacle and grimaced. ‘These street cats have diseases, you know.’
Rose blew out her cheeks and nodded slyly in agreement. ‘How do you know this man, Sofia?’
I had been forbidden to speak so I was silent.
How did I know Matthew?
I’m on the beach, Matty. Can you hear the sea?
I’m on the beach, Matty. Can you hear the sea?
I need not have worried because Gómez took over.
He formally thanked Matthew for delivering the car to us and hoped that Nurse Sunshine had made sure the insurance was in order.Matthew confirmed that all was well and that it had been a pleasure to walk through the ‘insane’ gardens of the clinic with the colleague who had been kind enough to give him a lift. He had more to say but was interrupted by my mother who was tapping his arm.
‘Matthew, I need some help. Please escort me home. I need to rest.’
‘Ah,’ said Gómez. ‘You could be lying in bed, resting! But why? It is not as if you have been breaking cobblestones with a pickaxe from dawn to dusk.’
Rose tapped Matthew’s arm again. ‘I can barely walk, you see, and I have just been attacked by a cat. Your arm would be appreciated.’
‘Certainly.’ Matthew grinned. ‘But first I’m going to see off these scabby moggies.’
He stamped his brown two-tone brogues on the cement. With his pageboy haircut, he looked like a short European prince having a tantrum. All the cats ran off except one fearless tomcat, which Matthew started to chase in zigzags across the plaza. When he had seen it off he beckoned to my mother, who had already slipped on her shoes.
Matthew was standing four yards away from our table but he did not understand how long it would take Rose to walk to his arm. He glanced twice at the watch on his wrist while she hobbled in his direction. It was painful to witness the effort it took her to walk towards a man who did not particularly want her to arrive in the first place. At last she attached her arm to his arm.
‘Have a good rest, Mrs Papastergiadis.’ Gómez lifted his hand and waved two fingers in her direction.
When Rose turned round to take one last look at Gómez, she was appalled to see he was finishing off her soup.
After a while he congratulated me on my silence. ‘You did not speak on your mother’s behalf. That is an achievement.’
I was silent.
‘You will notice how in anger, or perhaps with a sense of grievance, she is walking.’
‘Yes, she does walk sometimes.’
‘My staff will be conducting various investigations to test her bone health, in particular the spine, hips and forearms. But I observed that on the way to the restaurant, when she tripped, she did not strain or sprain or fracture anything at all. Osteoporosis can be ruled out on this observation alone. It is the vitality she puts into not walking that concerns me. I’m not sure I can help her.’
I was about to beg him not
It was like he was Sherlock and I was Watson – or the other way round, given I had more experience. I could see the sense of him testing her apparent numbness by inviting the village cats to join us for lunch. When I looked under the table again, I saw a tiny prick of blood on her ankle. She had definitely felt that claw dig into her skin.
Now I understood why he gave her permission to drive the hire car.
Someone was hovering by our table. Matthew, who was now clean-shaven, was standing behind my mother. ‘Excuse me,’ he said to Rose, as he leaned over her to pass me the car keys and a purple plastic wallet. ‘You’ll find all the paperwork in there.’
‘Who are you?’ Rose looked mystified.
‘I am the partner of Ingrid, a friend of your daughter. She told me you were a bit strapped for wheels so I picked up the hire car for you this morning. It drives pretty smoothly.’ He glanced at a cat chewing a polpo tentacle and grimaced. ‘These street cats have diseases, you know.’
Rose blew out her cheeks and nodded slyly in agreement. ‘How do you know this man, Sofia?’
I had been forbidden to speak so I was silent.
How did I know Matthew?
I’m on the beach, Matty. Can you hear the sea?
I’m on the beach, Matty. Can you hear the sea?
I need not have worried because Gómez took over.
He formally thanked Matthew for delivering the car to us and hoped that Nurse Sunshine had made sure the insurance was in order.Matthew confirmed that all was well and that it had been a pleasure to walk through the ‘insane’ gardens of the clinic with the colleague who had been kind enough to give him a lift. He had more to say but was interrupted by my mother who was tapping his arm.
‘Matthew, I need some help. Please escort me home. I need to rest.’
‘Ah,’ said Gómez. ‘You could be lying in bed, resting! But why? It is not as if you have been breaking cobblestones with a pickaxe from dawn to dusk.’
Rose tapped Matthew’s arm again. ‘I can barely walk, you see, and I have just been attacked by a cat. Your arm would be appreciated.’
‘Certainly.’ Matthew grinned. ‘But first I’m going to see off these scabby moggies.’
He stamped his brown two-tone brogues on the cement. With his pageboy haircut, he looked like a short European prince having a tantrum. All the cats ran off except one fearless tomcat, which Matthew started to chase in zigzags across the plaza. When he had seen it off he beckoned to my mother, who had already slipped on her shoes.
Matthew was standing four yards away from our table but he did not understand how long it would take Rose to walk to his arm. He glanced twice at the watch on his wrist while she hobbled in his direction. It was painful to witness the effort it took her to walk towards a man who did not particularly want her to arrive in the first place. At last she attached her arm to his arm.
‘Have a good rest, Mrs Papastergiadis.’ Gómez lifted his hand and waved two fingers in her direction.
When Rose turned round to take one last look at Gómez, she was appalled to see he was finishing off her soup.
After a while he congratulated me on my silence. ‘You did not speak on your mother’s behalf. That is an achievement.’
I was silent.
‘You will notice how in anger, or perhaps with a sense of grievance, she is walking.’
‘Yes, she does walk sometimes.’
‘My staff will be conducting various investigations to test her bone health, in particular the spine, hips and forearms. But I observed that on the way to the restaurant, when she tripped, she did not strain or sprain or fracture anything at all. Osteoporosis can be ruled out on this observation alone. It is the vitality she puts into not walking that concerns me. I’m not sure I can help her.’
I was about to beg him not
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