Monday 21 Oct.

It was a quiet weekend. They all agreed to lay low after the close call they had on Friday night. Bobbie couldn’t believe someone would try to hurt them on purpose but Clive worked on the car all weekend and grimly confirmed, the brakes had been sabotaged.

“Who would ever want to hurt us? I can’t think of anyone that feels that much animosity.”

“Peabody hates both of us Bobbie. Last Spring, we stopped him from mining Rook Mountain and we just blocked his oil deal. Remember his temper? Didn’t Townes get good deal on Stargazer Green for his big development at Peabody’s expense?”

“Yes, it was a tax sale or something. Do you think that Peabody rigged Townes’s brakes back in Crow Harbour so he could initiate a hostile takeover of Carson Oil.”

“Carson Oil was one of the few smaller oil companies that was still family owned. That accident did wipe out the two biggest shareholders.”

“I already texted Harry back home; maybe he can get the car checked out.”

It was still early. They decided not to cancel the planned trip to Gozo. They would tour around and have lunch and be home in time to find some great pizza for dinner. Clive joined them with assurances that his car was safe. So, they had coffees and muffins and set out for the boat to Gozo.

It was a short drive. They scheduled a private boat tour that would visit Gozo and the small Island of Camino and made their way down to the dock.

They sailed around all morning and stopped for lunch. They visited the blue lagoon and Clive, who was silent for most of the voyage took a lot of pictures. They toured ancient ruins and hiked around the small island of Camino.

On the way back, the sea got a little rough. The small boat rolled this way and that. Everyone was holding on but at one point Barb lost her grip. The boat lurched and Barb went flying, landing face first on the gunwale (side) of the boat.

Bobbie freed up one hand. “Oh my god Barb, are you OK?” Barb got up unsteadily and sat down beside Bobbie. Bobbie helped steady her and looked at her. “Barb, you’ve struck you cheek. It looks like you’ll have a black eye. I’m a little worried that you may have hurt your orbital bone. We’ll need to get ice on that to stop swelling.”

Bobbie was glad that they were approaching the wharf and Trixie and Clive came over to check on Barb.

Trixie looked concerned. “That was quite a bad fall Barb.”

“I know, I just lost my grip and my footing at the same time. It happened so fast.”

Clive nodded. “Maybe we should get it looked at.”

Barb shook her head slowly. “I think I’m OK. If I broke any bones, I’m sure it would hurt more. I can see fine and move my eye around in all directions. It’s just a bad bruise.”

“Well, let us know if you get double vision or otherwise impaired vision, OK?”

Trixie and Bobbie went to the car and dug into the cooler. They found a soft gel cold pack and Bobbie wrapped it in a linen napkin. “Here Barb, put this over your eye.”

They all got in the car. “I don’t think we’re going out for an Italian pizza tonight. Clive, can we stop at the grocers? I’ll get some yeast for dough and some toppings for pizza and I’ll do my best at making pizza when we get home.”

Barb sat quietly in the front seat as Bobbie ran into the store and emerged a short while later with supplies. “I’m starting to get hungry Bobbie; I can’t wait for you to make the pizza.”

“That’s good Barb, at least you’re hungry. If you had a concussion, you’d feel nauseous, I think.”

Tired, hungry and a little worse for wear. It was a relief to head into the kitchen that was freshly cleaned and Bobbie set the things down.

Trixie came in and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Bobbie, do you hear someone?”

A tall, grey haired, casually dressed man came down the stairs. “Trixie Daring. I had some business in Tripoli and I just had to pop over and meet your friends.”

Trixie smiled and walked over to the man and kissed the air on each side of his face. “Arie, darling it’s so nice to see you. I can’t thank you enough for the use of this villa, we’ve been enjoying it so much. This is my cousin and best friend Bobbie and our dear long time friend Barb.

“Oh dear, have you been giving Barb a hard time?”

Barb put one hand self-consciously over her eye and shook Arie’s hand with the other. “No, I didn’t get beat up. I lost my footing on the small boat we booked to visit Gozo and Camino. It was such a nice visit until I fell.”

Arie let go of her hand. “It looks swollen, I’ll go get you a fresh Ice pack and drink of water. Sit, sit.”

Arie was taking over as a medic so Trixie and Bobbie wet upstairs to change. Bobbie sat in the small lounge and scrolled her phone. Trixie came out in Yoga pants and a tee-shirt. Bobbie looked up from her phone. “I think the music video is trending ahead of the black widow thing. I didn’t think that would die down until after Halloween.”

Trixie smiled. “Let’s go down and see how nursemaid Arie is treating our patient.”

Barb was on the couch, one hand holding the ice on her eye and the other holding a glass of water.

“How are you feeling Barb? Are you dizzy or anything?”

“No Trixie, I don’t feel bad. I’m just a little embarrassed and I’m not sure I want to go touring around like this.”

“Oh Honey, you could wear a big floppy hat and dark glasses and nobody would know the difference.”

Arie returned with a first aid box. “Did she show you her knee? Show them your knee Barb.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad. I think I scraped it more than anything. She lifted the blanket on her lap and stuck out her leg.” Arie tut tutted and sat down beside her and wiped the area with a soapy washcloth.

That’s feels nice

I’m just going to put some gauze on it and tape it down.

“My knee is a bit stiff. I’m pretty sure I can’t go tomorrow. I’ll give you all the check in information…”

“Oh, no? I’m so sorry Barb. That sucks.”

“It is for the best. She should rest and I will stay and make sure she is good. I have some business to do here anyway.”

“Thanks, Arie.” Bobbie went into the kitchen and started the dough recipe for the pizza. While it was proofing, just a little, she cut up all the toppings and shredded mozza and crumbled feta. Then she divided the dough and made 5 individual pieces. “OK, everyone can come dress their pizza.”

“Arie came over. “This is great Bobbie.”

Trixie laughed. “She makes this for her grand kids.”

“I used to do it this way for my boys too. I’m having some olive oil, some chopped spinach, some pine nuts and a mixture of mozza and feta.”

“Arie looked over at Barb. “I’ll make yours Barb, what would you like?”

“I can come over…. I like the olive oil base with chopped tomatoes, chopped spinach a few pine nuts and some mozza.”

They ate pizza and drank wine and chatted and laughed and Barb went to bed early.