CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MORE PEOPLE crowded in to see the last lap. It was easy to mark the progress of the race thanks to the waves of noise and the shouts of the crowd. Carrie couldn’t see the horses yet; she couldn’t see anything but heads, shoulders and backs. The crowd was pressing in on her as people grew increasingly excited. The heat was extraordinary…There was no air left to breathe, no wind to cool her.
She could see them! Nico was safe! She could see him and his nearest rival, neck and neck…Well clear of the following group, they were thundering towards her. She could smell them now; she could smell the tang of violent struggle. The noise was tremendous and sparks flashed off the ancient cobbles beneath the stallion’s hooves. Nico was lying flat on his mount’s sweating neck…The horse was grimacing with effort, ears back, teeth exposed in his frothing muzzle and the whites of his eyes showing clear round the ebony globes.
Her head was thumping, pounding, people screaming in her ears. Firecrackers erupted in the sky as the end drew close…Streamers flew behind the horses’ heads like flames of red and gold…two stallions tearing towards her, muscles straining to the limit. They were so close she could see their nostrils flaring, and then there was only terror and heat and the press of people at her back…Stumbling forwards, she tried to regain her balance and failed. She didn’t know what was happening, only that her knees gave way beneath her and then she was falling, falling…
And somehow, incredibly, she was safe in Nico’s arms. His voice brought her back. He was calling to people to make way for them as he carried her through the crowd. So many things flashed in front of her eyes. She couldn’t make sense of any of it…There was noise banging in her head, and Nico, Nico holding her as if she were the most precious thing on earth to him…And then the darkness closed over her again.
‘No…no…’ She pushed the cup away, shaking her head with distress. Nico was trying to make her drink something. ‘I’ve ruined it for you…Oh, Nico, I’m so sorry…’As she saw the older woman who had befriended her hovering anxiously in the background Carrie’s pain increased; she had spoiled the day for so many people.
‘Cara mia, have I hurt you?’
Nico had mistaken her distress for pain and was looking at her with such concern in his eyes she explained to him all in a rush that it wasn’t him who had hurt her, but her own foolishness.
‘You were looking for me,’ he reminded her tenderly. ‘This is all my fault. I left you in such uncertainty, who could blame you? Certainly not me, carissima,’ he assured her. ‘I can only thank God you’re safe. I can’t believe I nearly lost you—’ He buried his face in her arms.
‘You saved my life, Nico. You risked your life to save me….’
‘I love you,’ he said, raising his head to stare her in the eyes. ‘What else would I do? If you had been killed my life would be over.’
‘You love me?’ Struggling upright, Carrie stared at him. ‘You love me?’ she repeated softly.
‘When you stumbled out from the crowd my whole life flashed in front of me, and it was a life without you, Carrie.’
‘But I ruined everything for you.’ She stared at him, stared at the familiar, beloved face etched with pain. ‘You lost the race because of me…’
‘The race?’ Nico stared at her, his eyes clouded with bewilderment as if he had forgotten the race. ‘You were all I saw…You, Carrie. You filled my mind…A world without you…’ He shook his head. ‘Have you any idea what that would be like?’ His voice was hoarse with emotion as he stared at her.
‘But the Palio—’
Nico stopped her, putting a finger over her lip. ‘Nothing…nothing is more important to me than you, and I nearly lost you.’ He dragged her close.
‘People are cheering, calling your name. Nico—’ Carrie pulled back to stare at him ‘—what’s happening? I don’t understand….’
‘What can you remember about the race?’ he prompted gently.
Carrie shook her head and sighed. It was so hard to remember anything, and now Nico was dropping passionate kisses on her neck, it was impossible. But she tried, for his sake, she tried. The horses had been charging straight at her…She had stumbled into their path…After that…
‘I must have fainted…’ And if she had fainted then Nico must have leapt from his galloping horse to save her. Carrie went very still. Before he could reply the old lady who had befriended her came forward to see how she was. There were more people, crowding behind her; her family, Carrie guessed. She was instantly paralysed with guilt and shame to think her fainting had cost them the race. ‘I’m so sorry…’