Chapter 56

“Want me to order you one?” Cliff asked him.

Sam hesitated. “I’ve got this Coke now.”

“I can take care of that.” Tom moved the drink over to his place setting.

“Do you think the waiter would mind me having a real drink?” Sam asked.

Cliff shook his head. “They’re pretty liberal about serving alcohol to minors over here, especially if they’re having a meal.”

“And you seem to have charmed the pants off that waiter, talking to him in his mother tongue,” Tom put in.

“Castilian Spanish probably isn’t his mother tongue.”

“Oh?” I queried.

“Many of the islanders speak Menorquin. It’s similar to Catalan which is spoken in the north east of Spain.”

I was constantly amazed by Cliff’s knowledge; no wonder his pupils thought so highly of him.

When Sam’s drink arrived, Cliff proposed a toast. “To friendship. Salud!”

“Salud!” we repeated.