Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,86

as wherever that was she would be by David’s side.

Back at the clinic later that evening, she found Rahel sitting up in bed and looking much better. Lucy sat and chatted to her for some time, listening with rapt attention to her first-hand account of the arduous journey she had had to undertake to get away from the war zone with her elderly parents. They came from the ten percent of Syrians who were Christians and things had been getting increasingly tough for them in their home town of Aleppo by the time they left. Lucy was also fascinated to learn that Rahel had been a trainee nurse.

Rahel told Lucy her plan was to try to enrol in a course here in Italy so she could finish her nursing studies and make enough to look after her parents. The problem was that almost all the precious money she and her family had, had been used to pay the extortionate fee the people-smugglers had charged to cram them onto a frighteningly overloaded inflatable for the crossing to Europe. In consequence, she had had to take any job she could find until she could save enough money to let her carry on with her plan. Lucy knew it was going to be an uphill battle and urged her to waste no time in applying for asylum. She also offered to act as a referee if necessary. In the meantime Ahmed had managed to find modest accommodation for her and her parents which was much better than the squat.

Lucy thought about the Syrian woman a lot during the final days of the week and when it was time for Rahel to be discharged on Friday morning, she pressed several hundred euros into her hands. Brushing away her protests, she told her to consider it a loan that she could repay once she was a qualified nurse with a full-time job.

Chapter 25

David was due to return on Sunday lunchtime and Lucy spent the morning in the garden, anxiously waiting for the call telling her he was home. She had food and wine in the fridge in the hope that she would see him. She hadn’t heard from him since the day he was scheduled to have his meeting with his wife and she was desperate to know how it had gone.

She soon found that she had company in the shape of Barolo the Labrador from next door, who stood up on his hind legs, snuffling at her over the wall, tail wagging. As she was petting him, his master appeared.

‘Ciao, Lucy. All well?’

‘Ciao, Guido. Yes, all good. And you?’

They chatted over the wall for a bit and then he gave her a fascinating piece of news.

‘We think we may have a candidate for the “Englishman” who used to own the Castelnuovo.’

‘You have?’

‘In Hawkwood’s mercenary army, the White Company, the next most important man was the treasurer. It turns out he was another Englishman: William Thornton. Very little is known of Thornton or of the fortunes of the White Company after the death of Hawkwood, but it’s clear they continued to operate for some years, no doubt amassing a considerable amount of wealth in the process. As treasurer, Mr Thornton would have had access to this. For all we know, he might have taken Hawkwood’s place as leader.’

‘So you think the castle might have belonged to him?’

‘That’s the theory we’re investigating. As this is Siena territory, there may be mention of it in the Siena archives and my student is diligently sifting through the records in the hope of finding confirmation.’

Lucy thanked Guido and asked him to pass her thanks to his postgraduate student and then had to rush indoors as she heard her phone start ringing. It was David.

‘Hi, Lucy, I’m in the car and on my way home. I should be back in an hour or so.’

Lucy resisted the temptation to query how it had gone on Friday afternoon and instead asked if he would like to come for lunch. He accepted readily and she felt a sensation of relief. Hopefully, if he was about to announce a rapprochement with his estranged wife, he would hardly have agreed to have lunch with her. Nevertheless, she awaited his return with apprehension.

Any doubts she may still have harboured were swept away when he arrived, jumped out of his car and immediately picked her up and hugged her tightly to him.

‘God, Lucy, it’s so good to see you again. I’ve really missed you.’ He kissed her