A Handful of Pebbles Read Free Page B

scampers across the sloping square towards the village. Everywhere are whitewashed walls and houses, blue shutters and pots of geraniums. If the dog doesn’t stop to be petted before the square, Sarah decides she will turn back. The sloping square speeds her steps and she turns, hoping to see the mutt in the road. It is there, sniffing at a stone. Sarah holds out her hand to approach; if she startles it now, it will run off into the village centre.
    Her hand reaches out, stretches. The animal hesitates, sniffs, making up its mind. It edges towards her, nervous. Sarah stays motionless, arm extended. It stares, sniffs, lifts a paw to take the final step to make contact.
    ‘No way! Sarah, is that you?’
    The dog scampers away. Sarah looks up , startled, and is engulfed by arms that wrap around her. The years drop away, her head drops and tears fall.

Chapter 3

    ‘Oh my God, it’s not that awful to see me, is it?’ Liz wipes away Sarah’s tears, then wraps her arms even more tightly around her friend, rocking her as they stand.
    It ’s dark against Liz’s dress with her eyes closed; Liz’s perfume is dusky and aromatic and reminds her of baked apples. Liz has worn the same fragrance for years, ever since she married Neville and could afford it. Sarah has smelt it so seldom since Neville’s work moved them, and his mother, to London, it’s like a dream remembered.
    ‘ It’s brilliant to see you.’ Sarah’s laughter mixes with the lump in her throat and they pull apart.
    ‘ So stop crying then, you silly moo.’ Liz pulls her in for another hug.
    ‘ Your accent’s changed.’ Sarah sniffs as they break again and brushes up the end of her nose with her finger and raises her chin. ‘I heard it on the phone, but it’s more noticeable in real life.’
    ‘ Yours hasn’t,’ Liz retorts, lifting her own chin and looking away.
    Sarah ’s laughter chases away the last of her tears. They stand looking at each other, confirming that nothing has changed.
    ‘ You look great for forty-nine,’ Liz announces.
    ‘ Says you!’ Sarah always knew Liz was going to age better than her; she has always had a slight roundness to her face, giving her a youthful look. When they were teenagers, Sarah’s angular looks had been to her advantage and she was often mistaken for being older than she was. Liz, of course, at the time, hated her own youthful appearance, but now she looks amazing. People would never believe they are the same age.
    They stare into each other ’s eyes, the years disappearing, the children within surfacing.
    ‘ Where’s Laurence?’ Liz asks, her head sinking into her shoulders, her eyes narrowing as she looks left and right.
    ‘ He’s back at the house. Shall we go up?’ Sarah points the way she has come.
    ‘ Better idea.’ Liz picks up a plastic bag by her feet, which clinks with the sound of glass. ‘Let’s avoid Laurence and go to mine. I have the cure for all ills in these bags.’
    ‘ Well, I don’t know. I didn’t tell him ...’
    ‘ Come on; he’ll manage.’ Liz raises her hand as a sun visor.
    ‘ Yes, but he won’t know where I am, he left me ...’
    ‘ Oh, text him as soon as we get to mine. Come on. We have wine, we have sun.’ She lifts her face to the sky. ‘What more can a woman want?’ Sarah feels the return of the knot in her stomach, that same old familiar feeling. Her smile grows watery. Steadying her breathing, she induces calm. The feeling does not grow.
    ‘ I sometimes wonder, you know, if, perhaps we possibly made a mistake all those years ago,’ Sarah says.
    Liz sniffs. A moped putters past them . The farmer has a dog across his knee, and he is texting as he drives. ‘Different world here,’ Liz says, watching his progress before slinging an arm around Sarah’s shoulder, forcing her to walk. ‘God, it’s good to see you. Come on, it’s this way. It takes us through a really steep olive grove and you can see the whole village from the top.’
    The lane