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stinging.

DAY FOUR

Chapter 6
    When Angie peeped through the curtains the next morning, it was to find the ship drifting into a sun-filled harbour. This must be Malaga. Angie needed to go ashore and shop, hopefully to find something special for Gil’s upcoming birthday. They were at sea for another two full days after that and she’d never been to Malaga before. She’d heard it was lovely.
    Gil struggled into his shorts but it was quite obvious that walking around in the sunshine was something he really didn’t want to do. They went to The Buttery for breakfast, but Gil couldn’t eat more than a couple of spoonfuls of Rice Krispies – and normally he could eat half a box of them. He joined the long line of passengers waiting to get off the ship though, not moaning at all, not wanting to spoil it for his wife. Angie pulled him out of the queue just before they presented their cruise cards to log them off board.
    ‘I’m not bothered about going into Malaga,’ she said. ‘Let’s just go and read or something.’
    Gil shook his head. ‘You are a rubbish liar,’ he said with a fond smile. ‘I’m okay.’
    ‘Yeah, and I’m Kelly Brook.’
    ‘Why don’t you go and have a look around without me?’
    Angie gasped open-mouthed at his suggestion. ‘You’re joking.’
    ‘No, I’m not. You were so looking forward to it.’
    ‘Holding up the queue, are we?’ Vernon’s head butted between them.
    ‘Vernon, please tell my wife to go into Malaga without me,’ pleaded Gil. ‘There’s a shuttle bus to take you into the main part of town. You jump back on it at the point where you get off, it couldn’t be simpler. Just have an hour or so to say you’ve been there.’
    ‘Come with us,’ said Doreen, threading her arm through Angie’s. ‘We’ll show you around.’
    And with that Angie found herself being swept forward in the queue away from Gil.

Chapter 7
    The shuttle bus dropped the passengers off at the edge of the city.
    ‘Want to come and look at churches with us?’ asked Vernon.
    ‘Thanks,’ smiled Angie. ‘But I think I’ll hit the shops.’
    ‘Thought so,’ replied Vernon and pointed across the road. ‘You need to head in that direction, where all the other people are going. The shuttle buses leave from here and are pretty frequent.’
    ‘We don’t usually come into this part of the harbour, do we Vernon?’ asked Doreen, looking around with some confusion.
    ‘No, my love, we don’t.’ He pointed into the distance. ‘That’s where we’ve always docked before.’
    ‘I thought so.’
    ‘I must say I do like to have a full day in Malaga,’ replied Vernon with a small sigh. ‘Anyway, ecce agnus Dei , as the Romans say. Enjoy your day.’
    A full day. Well, Angie didn’t intend to stay that long. She’d head back about two o’clock. She followed other passengers into town and wished she hadn’t worn trousers. Thin as they were, her legs were baking in them. And a shirt with no sleeves would have been a better idea too. It was a little after ten o’clock and the sun was already volcano-hot. She ought to have brought a hat as well. She could have fried eggs on the back of her neck.
    She found a beautiful shop selling watches. It took her half an hour to pick one which she thought Gil would love as a fortieth birthday present, but the shop assistant wouldn’t take her credit card without evidence of a passport, which Angie had left in the safe on the ship. Her cruise card acted as her passport to get her back on board, so she hadn’t taken it out with her in case it got lost or stolen. Angie didn’t have enough euros on her so she left the shop to search for a hole in the wall. A cash advance on the visa wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but she knew Gil would love that watch. She walked back to the shop and bought it and then found a café to sit in and have a cold drink as it was getting too hot to walk about the streets. She decided to have a toasted sandwich too but wished she