The Alchemist

63

Ben had called Fairfax to say the mission was completed and he was coming in. There were a few spare hours before the private jet was due to pick him up at the airport near Montpellier.

Father Pascal was tending to his little vineyard when he heard the gate creak and he looked up to see Ben coming towards him with a broad smile. The priest embraced him warmly. ‘Benedict, I knew you would come back to see me again.’

‘I haven’t got much time, Father. I just wanted to thank you again for all your help.’

Pascal’s eyes widened with concern. ‘And Roberta? Is she…’

‘Safely back home in the USA.’

The priest let out a sigh. ‘Thank the Lord she is all right,’ he breathed. And so, your work is done here?’

‘Yes, I’m going back this afternoon.’

‘Well, then it is goodbye, my dear friend. Look after yourself, Benedict. May the Lord be with you and watch over you. I will miss you…Oh, how foolish of me, I nearly forgot. I have a message for you.’

Ben was feeling self-conscious as the nurse showed him into the private room. The police guard had been lifted after his call to Luc Simon earlier.

Anna was sitting up in her bed, reading a book. Behind her, sunlight streamed through her window. She was surrounded by vases of yellow, white and red roses that filled the room with sweet perfume. She looked up as Ben came in, and her face spread into a smile. Her right cheek was covered with a large gauze dressing.

‘It’s good to see you again,’ he said. He was hoping she wouldn’t notice the nervous edge in his voice.

‘I woke up this morning to find all these beautiful flowers. Thank you so much.’

‘It’s the least I could do,’ he said. He looked uncomfortably at the mottled bruises around her eye and forehead. ‘Anna, I’m so sorry for what happened to you. And your friend…’

She laid her hand on his arm, and he bowed his head. ‘It wasn’t your fault, Ben,’ she said softly. ‘If you hadn’t come, he was going to murder me. You saved my life.’

‘If it’s any consolation, that man is dead now.’

She didn’t reply.

‘What are your plans, Anna?’

She sighed. ‘I think I’ve seen enough of France. It’s time I went back to Florence. Perhaps I can get my old job back at the university.’ She chuckled. ‘And perhaps one day-who knows?-I’ll finish my book.’

‘I’ll look out for it,’ he said. He checked his watch. ‘I have to go. There’s a plane waiting for me.’

‘You’re going back home? Did you find the thing you were looking for?’

‘I don’t know what I found.’

She reached out and grasped his hand. ‘It was a map, wasn’t it?’ she breathed. ‘The diagram? It came to me, as I was lying here. So stupid not to have thought of it…’

He sat on the edge of the bed and squeezed her hand. ‘Yes, it was a map,’ he said. ‘But take my advice and just forget everything you know about this stuff. It attracts the wrong kind of people.’

Anna smiled. ‘I noticed.’

They sat quietly together in the stillness of the flower-filled room for a while longer, then she looked at him searchingly with her almond eyes. ‘Do you ever go to Italy, Ben?’

‘From time to time.’

Gently, insistently, she pulled his hand towards her, and he leaned down. She sat up straighter in the bed and pressed her lips to his cheek. They were warm and soft, and her touch lingered for a few seconds. ‘If you should ever find yourself in Florence,’ she murmured in his ear, ‘you must give me a call.’