Private Lives

Sam shrugged.

‘I guess. I asked Josh to book us somewhere off the tourist trail.’

They were surprised when Raj turned the car out of the town and off the main road, swinging on to a series of dusty tracks where the jungle pressed in so far that palm fronds and creepers were brushing the sides of the taxi.

‘Certainly off the beaten track,’ said Anna, beginning to wonder where they were being taken. Finally they pulled up next to one of the canal-like waterways. Anna looked out of both sides of the car. She couldn’t see anything like a hotel anywhere.

‘Raj, where are we?’ asked Sam anxiously. The driver just grinned and held the door open.

‘Ajunta,’ he said, pointing to a boat. ‘In Kerala we call them ketuvallum. They’re the best places to stay when you are in this part of the world.’

Sam didn’t look convinced until they stepped on board.

‘Wow,’ he whistled, looking around at the interior of the sumptuously crafted longboat. It was around one hundred feet in length with a curved roof made of jackwood and thatch. Arched windows were carved out of the beautifully panelled walls and it had an open stern and port. At the bottom of a short gangplank, two smiling women in cream saris were waiting for them with elaborate cocktails festooned with fruit.

Raj brought the bags aboard and went over to talk to an ancient-looking man in a blue and white cap.

‘This is Captain Sanjiv, he will look after you tonight. I will meet the boat tomorrow, but if you need anything – anything at all,’ he added with a knowing wink, ‘just ask the Captain.’ He bowed and disappeared up the gangplank.

‘Sam, this is amazing,’ breathed Anna as they walked the length of the boat. There were two bedrooms; the largest had a dark wooden bed facing the open window, covered by just a thin curtain of voile, which looked out on to the still green waters.

‘You have this one,’ offered Sam. ‘I’ll slum it in the servants’ quarters,’ although the smaller room was no less luxurious, with a claw-foot bath and a walk-in shower room.

They walked back and up on to the main deck, where a table had been set for dinner. Anna noticed that they were already moving down the waterway and they climbed some wooden stairs to the bridge, where the Captain was at the wheel, his eyes fixed ahead as they motored along the white waterlily-strewn waters.

They both went to change before dinner, Anna putting on a turquoise dress she had picked up as they had rushed through the airport. Sam came on to the deck barefoot in a pair of chinos and a pale grey T-shirt. The sun had tanned his face, bringing out the blue of his eyes; it reminded Anna of that first time she had seen him standing at the rail of the yacht in Capri. She wondered how it was possible for one person to be so handsome.

‘Well I don’t know about you, but I need a drink,’ she said, sitting at the table, where chilled wine had been left for them in an ice bucket. They clinked their glasses together and watched the padi fields and coconut groves slip past, ancient temples silhouetted in the growing dusk. Anna felt herself shiver at the magic of it all. There was a platter of fruit on the table – starfruit, lychees, pineapple – and they picked at it in silence as the sun set below the horizon, sending the clouds pink and mauve and turning the ripples in the water a shimmering lavender, while the women lit candles along the length of the boat, spilling warm light across the deck.

A steward brought out sweet-smelling curries in earthenware pots and laid them on the table. Anna tried a vegetable dish made of melting cubes of aubergine flavoured with lemongrass and coconut. She closed her eyes in delight.

‘This is just amazing,’ she said.

‘The food or the setting?’ asked Sam.

‘Both.’

She looked at him, feeling that shiver again.

‘Apparently these things used to transport rice from the padi fields to the port. And not one nail was used to make the entire craft,’ she said quickly.

Sam chuckled.

‘I like how you gather facts about where you visit.’

‘I wanted to be an explorer when I grew up. My dad used to be in the army and had travelled all over the world before he met my mum. The places he’d been stationed – Hong Kong, Cyprus, Brunei – they all sounded so exotic. I had this big globe in my bedroom that lit up at night and I’d dream about all the places I’d go one day. Funny thing is, the furthest I’ve been on holiday in the last three years is Crete for a week.’

She stopped, knowing that she was babbling. She felt as if she was parachuting into a date situation for which she was woefully unprepared. She wanted the easy banter and jokiness of the aeroplane trip back, but it seemed to have been replaced by something else. Sexual tension? She was both terrified and thrilled by the prospect.

They had finished eating. Sam went to sit on the white cushion at the bow of the boat and beckoned Anna to come and join him.

‘So do you think Peter had Amy killed?’ she asked, sitting down beside him. She said it both as a way of defusing the tension and because it had been weighing on her mind since they’d left Louise’s house.

Sam took a sip of wine and looked thoughtful.

‘Possibly. It certainly sounds like Amy was prepared to cause him a lot of trouble to get what she wanted.’

‘I found that part of it a bit sad,’ said Anna. ‘She was in love with this guy and wanted him so much that she couldn’t see that blackmailing him to be with her was going to send him the opposite way.’