Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,28

to catch even a distant glimpse of anything that might have been a ruined castle, and even the villa itself was well screened from sight by rows of vines, olive trees and woodland. Lucy shrugged off her disappointment. After all, the view in every other direction more than made up for it. As rain clouds began to bubble up, the landscape was dappled light and dark as the clouds moved across it. An ancient chapel on a distant hill was bathed in bright sunlight in stark contrast to the darker shades of the woods around it. This piecemeal illumination lent an almost magical air to the panorama before her and she found herself smiling.

After fifteen minutes of steady climb, she emerged onto a flatter bit of hillside where she knew the villa and the remains of the castle lay. The trees here were thicker and she followed a series of animal tracks through the woods, pleased that she didn’t need to worry about stepping on a deadly snake or being attacked by a ferocious carnivore – animal or human. Certainly Tuscany had its advantages compared to the Congo.

However, a few minutes later, as she was sitting on a fallen tree having a rest and nibbling her banana, she suddenly found that she was indeed confronted by a large carnivore – albeit not ferocious by any stretch of the imagination. She barely had time to turn her head towards the sound of something heavy crashing through the dry undergrowth in her direction when a big black shape emerged from the shadows and hurtled towards her. To her immense relief it was a familiar face that greeted her.

‘Ciao, Boris. Fancy seeing you here.’

Boris the Labrador clearly recognised her as he bounded up and did his best to climb onto her lap, emitting happy little grunts and whines as he did so, his tail wagging furiously. After a struggle she managed to persuade him to get off her and sit down, but it took the bribe of a piece of banana. Needless to say, this disappeared down his throat in a flash. He licked his lips a few times, checked to see there wasn’t any more coming his way and then stretched out on his back at her feet, his tail sweeping the pine needles beneath him into a fan-shape.

She bent down and scratched the young dog’s tummy, wondering how he had managed to get through the fence. This gave her an idea. After finishing her banana – and giving him the last piece – she took a big swig from her water bottle and stood up. Boris leapt to his feet and beamed at her.

‘Right then, Boris, let’s see if we can find your way back home. Off you go, home!’ For the avoidance of doubt, she also added the translation: ‘A casa!’

She set off back in the direction from which the Labrador had come and he immediately took the lead, pausing only to mark his territory from time to time as he went along. It took only two or three minutes for her to spot how he had managed to get out. A tree had fallen across the fence, flattening one of the posts and bringing down the wire, producing a simple way of getting in and out of the estate. She stopped by the breach and stared into the shadows of the woods ahead of her, but without seeing anything but trees. A vestigial path disappeared into the undergrowth and Boris happily skipped over the flattened wire and disappeared into the trees. Presumably home – and the ruined castle – were down this way.

Lucy stood there for a few moments, debating whether to trespass or not. Much as she would have liked to see the castle, she decided not to risk it. It would be highly embarrassing to be caught wandering about on private property and this might even enrage the owner so much he might turf her out of her new house and refuse to sell it to her after all. There was no further noise from the dog, so presumably he had headed off home so, regretfully, she turned away and carried on around the perimeter.

As she walked, she gradually became aware that it would have been a good idea to go to the toilet before setting off. No sooner did she start thinking about it than the urge got stronger. She stopped by the fence and listened. All she could hear was the incessant buzzing of the