BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. VIOLET
  3. VIOLET
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Prologue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. Epilogue
  48. Acknowledgements
  49. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  50. Copyright

Her head is lolling a bit, but it snaps up when she hears her name. I give her a hard stare, hoping I’m getting the message across. She gives me a half-smile and lifts her hand in a placating gesture. Rory is smirking now, but Martin looks annoyed. Carrie seems to slide back into coherence for a moment, glancing at me, then at both men. Then she pulls herself up straighter and shuffles along the booth seat towards the wall, so that Rory is no longer touching her. She slides the jug and the glasses along the table towards the end, and I feel Martin bristle beside me. Rory is still smirking, still thinks he’s got the upper hand. But he hasn’t.

Carrie leans across the table; she puts one hand on top of mine on the table, puts her other hand on my cheek, then leans in and kisses me softly on the lips. It’s only a moment, but it feels like it is going to go on forever. I open my mouth slightly, press against her. She tastes of aniseed and salt.

Martin makes a small noise. Rory swears under his breath.

Carrie pulls away, but her hand is still on mine. She speaks to them without addressing them. Without taking her eyes off me at all. She smiles.

‘You know what, lads? I think the two of yous need to get tae fuck right about now.’

10

Our guide, Sarnai, turns up at the guesthouse to collect us. She is early twenties, fresh-faced and smiley.

‘Good morning, ladies,’ she says, in an accent that has been learned from MTV. ‘Are you excited about the trip?’

Carrie and I are at the kitchen table, eating toast and jam. It’s the worst hangover cure of all, but stupidly, we ate all the supplies we got yesterday in the shopping centre, last night when we rolled in.

Geriel, our pissed-off landlady, says something to Sarnai and she looks over at us and hides a giggle behind her hand. Geriel woke us at 6.30am, and clearly hadn’t expected us to still be drunk. The other guests had been up already, awaiting breakfast – and there is still a hint of what might have been fried eggs in the air, taunting us. Toast and jam it is, then. No doubt we’ll get some decent food on the trip.

‘How far is it to the camp?’ Carrie says, with a mouthful of toast.

‘Oh,’ says Sarnai. Smiley, happy Sarnai. ‘About four hours, hopefully. It’s such a fantastic journey. We’ll stop off once on the way, to see the wild horses, and we’ll be at the camp before dark. We’re going to have such fun!’