Sapphire Moonlight

Chapter 25

Ce chapitre dédicacé côté Bordeaux

Chapter 25

'When are you leaving?' Elaine asked. 

'After dinner,' Marcelo answered.  

They were walking in Church Square. Soon after the rain had stopped Marcelo had gone to Elaine's house. He invited her to come to the square with him for a walk. It was now around half past five. The heavy leaden dullness had dissipated. It had become clear again, though not very much as the sun was going down. It would be a starry night. 

'Father wants to leave at eight, so we can get there around midnight,' Marcelo went on. He was going to Ponte Loureiro, a town three hundred kilometres west with his father that night. There was some land his father intended to buy in that region. His father had asked him to come if he wished and he had accepted. 

'Joaquim is coming with us.' He touched her shoulder lightly with his, inadvertently, while walking. She was wearing a navy blue skirt and a sky-blue T-shirt. 

'Yes, I know. He told me.' She looked at him. 'Who's driving?' 

'Father. But I may drive part of the journey.' 

'Be careful.' 

'I will.'  

She took his hand and came closer to him. They bumped into each other lightly as they strolled. The warble of a tyrant flycatcher echoed nearby. 

'When do you expect to be back?' she asked him. 

'Day after tomorrow night, maybe, that is, Saturday. If everything goes all right. But if there's some delay, then we may come the following day in the afternoon.' He saw her attentive expression. 'But that's unlikely.' 

A car passed. The driver waved at Marcelo. Marcelo waved back at him. Other people were walking in the square. In the adjoining streets and in Marechal Clemente Antonio Joao Bras Street, where the Town Hall was, traffic was normal. The rain that had ended had cooled the air. The earth in the flower beds was damp and wet leaves lay on the cement ground. No amount of rain water was flowing anymore in the kerbs or along the sidewalk but the ground was humid and so were the benches. This prevented them from sitting.  

'What are you doing tonight?' he asked her. 

'I'm staying home. Tomorrow I'm going to Arbela with Denise, Thais and Juliana, maybe.'  

'Will you miss me?' he asked her. 

'Of course I will.' 

He kissed her. They stared at each other. 

'You know I will,' she told him. 

'I do,' he said. Then he added, 'But one never knows.' 

'How can you say that?' she said in a mock reproachful tone. 

He had a look around, then he looked at her again.  

'You're good to hold,' he said.  

'And you.' she said. 

'Am I?' 

'Of course you are. Will you miss me?' 

'I'll miss you terribly.' 

'Poor darling,' she said. 'I'll make up for it when you're back. I promise I will.' 

'Well that's a consolation,' he said. 'I'm not sure I should have accepted father's invite.' 

'You did the right thing.'  

'Do you think so? Well, let's walk.'  

The birds in the square fluttered wings and moved swiftly. Their singing stretched from one tree to another and then another. Marcelo and Elaine went along one of the many different paths that could be followed in the square, among lawns, trees and flowerbeds. They passed in front of the church, then turned left towards the Town Hall.