is so exciting,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I’ll call you as soon as I’ve been to the bank. Have a good time, won’t you?’
And I had. Until the second day, when I hadn’t heard anything from anybody.
‘Have you had any problems with your phone?’ I asked Maria over breakfast.
The children were nearby, eating their porridge, albeit begrudgingly. When the ‘chef’ overheard one of them complain that it tasted like cardboard, he said he’d do the teachers something ‘a bit more grown-up’. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he served up the same porridge, with a jar of strawberry jam slammed down on the table between us.
‘Service here is murder,’ said Maria, and for a moment I didn’t know whether she was talking about the phone network or the meal we’d just been given. ‘Jimmy sent me an email to say that he’d been trying to call and text, but nothing got through. I don’t think I’ve received anything from anybody since we got here.’
‘That explains it then,’ I said, feeling relieved, though I still couldn’t shake off the queasiness in the pit of my stomach. I pushed the bowl of what looked like cement mix away from me. ‘I expected to hear from Mum and Thomas, but I’ve not heard a peep.’
‘Give them a ring on the landline at reception,’ she said.
‘Good idea.’
I called Thomas first, but it went straight to answerphone. He normally had a personal voicemail greeting, so I put the phone down and redialled when I heard an automated message.
A robotic-sounding woman answered. ‘. . . Leave a message after the beep.’
‘Oh hi,’ I said, still unsure I’d called the right number. ‘It’s me, Beth. Just wanted to let you know that no messages or calls are getting through to me here. I hope everything’s okay and the deal went through. If you could call the hostel and leave a message for me, just so I know that all is well, that would be great. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you’ve trashed my flat and run off with the money.’ I forced a laugh before putting the phone down.
When I called Mum, she picked up straight away. ‘Oh, thank goodness,’ she said, her voice a little panicky. ‘I’ve been calling you and texting you. I got a little worried when I didn’t hear back.’
I didn’t know whether that was because she thought I’d fallen down a mountain, or something had gone wrong with the deal.
‘No, everything’s fine,’ I assured her. ‘My mobile’s not working up here, so I’m calling you off a landline.’
‘As long as all is well,’ she said, before adding, ‘Has Thomas received the money?’
‘Yes,’ was my immediate response.
‘So, did it all go okay? What did we get in the end? I’ve been dying to hear.’
‘It went fine,’ I said, not knowing why I was lying. ‘I’ve not managed to speak to Thomas this morning yet, but he’ll have the final numbers for me when I do.’
I heard her exhale down the line. ‘Well, that’s a relief. I barely slept a wink last night for worrying.’
‘There’s nothing to worry about, Mum. As soon as I speak to him I’ll give you a call back.’
‘Okay darling, I feel better for having talked to you.’
Nausea continued to swirl around, slowly snaking its way up towards my throat.
‘Excuse me,’ I managed to blurt out to Maria as we passed each other at the door to the ladies. A second later and she’d have been wearing the contents of my stomach.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked gingerly through the flimsy door.
‘Er, no,’ I managed, stating the obvious. ‘I don’t feel so good.’
‘Oh God, you don’t think it was that porridge, do you? We’ll all be in here in a minute.’
‘I don’t think I’m going to manage canoeing this morning,’ I said, just before the thought of it brought along another wave of nausea.
‘No worries, do you want me to stay here with you?’ she said.
‘No, I’m fine,’ I said, opening the cubicle door.
‘Jesus, you look like shit,’ she exclaimed. ‘What do you think’s going on?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said honestly, doubting that the growing feeling of trepidation about the deal could cause me to be physically sick. ‘If you could cover for me I’d be really grateful.’
‘Of course,’ she said, rubbing my back. ‘Did you manage to get hold of Thomas?’
It was all I could do to shake my head. ‘Not yet, I’ll try him again later.’