Under A Dancing Star by Laura Wood

Author:Laura Wood [Wood, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2019-07-03T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Although I would have sworn that my time in Italy could not possibly become more relaxed, it seems I was wrong. My uncle’s absence has a curious and unexpected effect on the atmosphere at the villa. Everyone seems to breathe out a little. As the days pass, melting seamlessly into one another, our tenuous grip on routine is lost completely.

“What time is it?” I ask one morning from the lounger where I am sprawled, my wide-brimmed hat pulled down low on my face. A battered copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover dangles from my fingers. Ursula gave it to me to read, saying that if I was going to take my romantic education seriously then this was the proper place to start. So far it has been quite illuminating.

“I have no idea,” Ursula murmurs from the lounger beside me. “You’re the scientist. Can’t you work it out from the position of the sun or something?”

“I can’t believe it’s so hot,” I moan, ignoring this. “How can it keep getting hotter?”

A trickle of perspiration runs down my chest and I fan myself wearily with the book. We have been enduring a heatwave over the last few days, temperatures spiking so high that it’s impossible to escape the stifling, smothering feeling. The heat is something else: something heavy and pulsing, wrapped suffocatingly around us all and leaving oil-slick shimmers in the air. The villa is unusually quiet, with just Klaus, Ursula and Ben still here with Filomena, Hero and me. There have been no other visitors for days.

“I’m going to swim,” Klaus croaks from the chair he has pulled into the shade. “In a moment, when I can move, I’m going to swim.” He is wearing only bathing shorts, his head flung back, his arms limp by his sides. These days we all wear as little as possible and I’m a bit surprised by how quickly I’ve grown used to it.

Well, almost. I still think it’s rather daring that I lie out in my bathing suit, but that article of clothing is positively puritanical compared to the two-piece costume that Ursula wears. When I first saw it my eyes nearly popped out of my head and Ursula laughed, calling me the “little Victorian”.

“Swimming won’t help,” I groan. “The pool is warm. Everything is warm. I’ll never be cold again.”

“I need water,” Klaus says hoarsely.

“Yes,” Ursula says longingly, “in a tall glass with ice.”

“Ohhh,” I whimper.

“Go on, then.” Ursula kicks her leg half-heartedly in my direction. “You go.”

“I can’t move. You go.”

“Did someone call for drinks?” Ben appears, a tray in his hands.

“Is that … cold lemonade?” Ursula rallies slightly, lifting the sunglasses up from her eyes to squint at Ben. “Are you a vision? An angel?”

“Lucifer, possibly,” I say, smiling up at him.

“Do you want a drink or not?” Ben asks sweetly.

“Yes, please.” I take the glass he hands me, draining the lemonade inside in one long, thirsty draught. It is icy sweet and lip-tinglingly sour at the same time, and utterly delicious.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.