Semi-Detached Marriage (22 page)

'Hush, hush! Don't cry,
baby.' Cassie marvelled at its tiny hands, the fingers no bigger than her
smallest fingernail but each one perfectly formed. She held it closer to her,
tucking it inside her jacket, afraid its cry would carry to its mother and
alarm her; it had been hard enough to persuade her to leave it behind as it
was. The pilot had almost had to use violence in the end.

Tiny hands touched her breast, exploring,
seeking, and she looked down and saw that the baby had its mouth open.

Cassie laughed softly. 'Oh, so you're hungry,
are you? Well, you won't find anything there, chum I'm not your mum. Here, try
this.' Tentatively she put the joint of her bent little finger into the baby's
mouth and he began to suck on it happily, his eyes closing in delight. Cassie
stood looking down at the baby for a very long time, her eyes full of sadness.

Water lapping round her bare feet made her
look up to see that the sea had reached the foot of the cliffs. There was no
sign yet of the pilot coming back. It would have taken him a long time with
Jeannie on his back, he would have had to take frequent rests, and then there
was Bill; for all he said he was all right, he must have been in considerable
pain, the pilot might even have had to leave him part way and then go back for
him. They might even all be stuck up there somewhere.

Cassie waited until the water was up to her
knees, then she buttoned the baby inside her jacket and held it firmly in place
with one hand, then slowly began to climb the cliff at the spot where the
others had gone up.

When the pilot came down he found her about
fifteen feet up the cliff face, standing on a ledge and leaning against a
protruding piece of rock, resting. He scrambled over to her and leant with her
against the rock, getting his breath back.

'Sorry I took so long, had a bit of bother
getting Mrs. Cooper up the tricky bit.' He glanced down at the sea. 'Getting a
bit wet down there, was it?'

'Just a bit,' Cassie agreed.

He grinned. 'We'll go on up in a minute.
'Fraid I'm a bit out of condition, I don't usually get this much exercise.
How's the baby?'

'Asleep, I think.' Cassie glanced down at the
child and settled it more comfortably in her arms. 'Are the others all right?'

'I don't think Bill Harris is very good-he
passed out when we got to the top, that's another reason why I was so long, but
at least looking after him is taking Mrs. Cooper's mind off her baby. And
another good thing is that the mist's lifting,' he added cheerfully.

He rested for a few minutes longer, than took
off his jacket and shirt, putting the jacket back on and fashioning the shirt
into a sort of sling for his back, into which they put the baby, rather like
the North American Indians used to use.

'There, it should be all right in there for a
bit.' He looked at Cassie quizzically. 'Ever done any rock-climbing?'

'No. But if you can get up there, I can.'

He smiled approvingly. 'Good girl! Just
follow me and try and put your hands and feet where I do. If you get stuck or
panicky just yell and I'll come back for you.'

They went up slowly, with several rests, for
the pilot as much as Cassie; after climbing the cliff twice already he was well
nigh exhausted. Strangely enough the mist helped because they could only see
the piece of cliff immediately around them, but it lifted as they neared the
tricky bit, an overhang that had to be circumvented over loose, jagged rocks.
Without shoes, Cassie found it extremely difficult. A piece of rock cut into
her foot and she glanced down to look for a better foothold. She found herself
looking down a sheer drop of fifty feet to the boiling sea and rocks below.
Panic filled her and she gave a gasp of terror, clinging to the rock face, and
too paralysed with fright to move.

Dimly above her she could hear the pilot
calling her name, urging her on, but she couldn't move, could only weld herself
to the cliff in an agony of fear.

Grimly he climbed back down to her. `Come on,
there's nothing to be afraid of. I'll hold you.' He tried to prize her fingers
from where they were gripping a piece of rock, but Cassie moaned in fear and
held on tighter than ever. His voice grew urgent. `Come on, you've got to move.
You're almost at the top. Come on,' he repeated. `Your husband's waiting for
you.'      Slowly Cassie's fingers unfroze. She moved a
tentative hand upwards and began to climb again, the pilot encouraging and
helping her. It seemed a thousand miles to the top, and even then she could
hardly believe that they were safe until she crawled across the grass to where
the others were waiting. Jeannie Cooper grabbed her baby and burst into tears.
Cassie didn't blame her; she felt like having a good cry herself. She lay there
for some time trying to still her pounding heart, then rolled over and saw that
the mist had almost cleared and that, wonder of wonders, the grey cloud was
breaking up and revealing patches of brilliant blue sky through which rays of
golden sunlight were shafting down to the sea.

It was through one of these patches that they
first saw the helicopter. They heard it first, then Jeannie Cooper gave an
excited shout and pointed, and the pilot immediately sent up a flare. Then it
seemed no time at all before the craft, from R.A.F. Rescue, had landed and
picked them up, was taking them on to Kinray.    

Cassie looked out of the window as they flew
over the site, experiencing that Gulliver in Lilliput sensation again. They
seemed to have progressed quite a lot since she had been here in February, two
more of the jetties appeared to be completely finished. Simon's doing? she
wondered. His drive and energy pushing the work on?    

There were two ambulances waiting by the
helicopter pad so that Jeannie Cooper and Bill Harris could be taken by
stretcher and hurried away to the local cottage hospital. The pilot jumped out
and she followed more slowly, her feet cut and sore. She grimaced wryly as she
realised what she must look like, with her hair loose and windswept, her
clothes torn and sea-stained. One of the R.A.F. men went to lift her down, but
then he was shouldered aside and Simon was there.

He was staring up at her, his face white and
drawn, more haggard than she had ever seen it. He said urgently, 'Cassie,' then
reached up and lifted her down. For a long moment he gazed into her face, then
he made a small sound in his throat and pulled her roughly into his arms to
hold her very, very tightly. Neither of them moved or spoke for some time, both
too choked by emotion to do more than just cling to each other.

But then Simon put his hands up to her face
and asked unsteadily, 'Are you-are you all right?'

She nodded and tried to
smile. 'Yes. Except that I lost my shoes.'

He glanced down at her feet, then stooped to
pick her up in his arms. There was a car waiting nearby and he carried her
across, ignoring a doctor who wanted her to go to hospital for a check-up and
some reporters who tried to ask questions and take pictures. After putting her
in the passenger seat, Simon got in beside her and drove firmly through the
crowd of people, accelerating out of the oil terminal and along the road to his
house. Cassie leant back in the seat, content just to look at him, knowing that
this wasn't the time for words. Not yet. That time was still to come, but now
it wasn't so important any more.
         At the house he lifted her out
of the car and carried her upstairs to the bedroom. No one came to see who it
was; they had the place to themselves. He set her down and helped her to take
off her ruined jacket and skirt, then knelt and gently took off her torn
tights. Cassie couldn't help a tremor running through her as she felt his hands
on her legs, and his eyes came swiftly up to meet hers. But then he helped her
into a chair, went into the bathroom, and coming back with a bowl of warm water
began very tenderly to bathe her feet, then dry them on a soft towel.

Cassie sat in the chair, her eyes closed,
feeling drained of strength and emotion. That there was still a great gulf
between them she knew, but for the moment she thrust all thoughts of it aside,
feeling only his hands tending her, taking care of her, knowing that he was
close.

Simon moved away and she slowly opened her
eyes. He was standing watching her, the drawn look still in his face but not so
pale now.

Cassie tensed nervously and sat up her eyes
and troubled. 'Simon, I…'

But her words were broken off as he beat down
and caught her by the arms, pulling her to her feet, he kissed her then, so
fiercely that he hurt her, bending her head back so that she had to cling to
him to stop herself falling. And then his hands were at her clothes, pulling
them off, clumsy in his haste. She tried to speak, but he silenced her with his
mouth, picking her up and carrying her over to the bed.

He stood looking down at her, his breathing
unsteady. 'Oh God, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful you are.' His hand came
down to touch her breast and she shuddered and gasped.

Simon began to pull off his clothes, throwing
them down anyhow, and then he was beside her on the bed, pulling her to him.

Suddenly there was so much Cassie wanted to
say, wanted to tell him before he made love to her, so that everything was
straight between them. She got as far as, 'Simon, please let me…' but he mistook
what she was going to say and stopped her roughly.

'No,' he said savagely, 'I'm not going to let
you go. Now or ever. You're mine, Cassie. You belong to me. And I should have
done this weeks ago!'

He took her then, with a savage hunger, his
need for her so urgent that there was no time for gentleness. Cassie moved
under him, taking his body as fiercely as he gave it, wanting him so badly, her
insides on fire with passion and desire. She dug her nails into his back,
crying out his name, her body arching under him as she felt his body shudder
with pleasure, and ecstasy engulfed her. They lay, then, clinging to each
other, panting and breathless, their bodies burning hot, but it had been so
long since they had been together that soon Simon's hands and mouth were on
her, touching, kissing, and Cassie was moaning, `Love me again. Oh, Simon,
please, please love me again!'

He was more gentle this time, lifting her to
the heights of desire and holding her there until she cried out for him and
pulled him fiercely down on top of her, giving herself to him in complete
surrender.

Afterwards they lay together, their bodies
for the moment exhausted but still very close together. Cassie's cheeks were
wet with tears of joy and gratitude and Simon tenderly kissed them away. He looked
into her face searchingly, his fingers gently exploring every feature all over
again. When they reached her mouth he grew still, then said fiercely, 'I meant
it, Cassie, I'm not going to let you go! It doesn't matter what happened
between you and Tom. Not any more. God, when I thought that you'd been killed…'
He broke off, his face twisted in remembered pain.

Quickly Cassie put her hands on either side
of his face. 'Simon, listen to me. There was nothing between Tom and me. I was
never unfaithful to you.'

His eyes flew to meet hers, incredulous,
vulnerable. 'You're not just saying that to…'

'Nol Oh, okay, we kissed a couple of times,
but when he asked me to go to bed with him I said no. I couldn't, you see.'

Simon tensed and his hand tightened. 'I saw
you together, Cassie.' He didn't say it accusingly, almost sadly.

'All you saw,' Cassie said urgently, 'was Tom
dropping me off at the flat. I hadn't been with him that weekend I'd gone away
alone to try and think things out. You can check with the hotel where I was staying,
if you don't believe me. I phoned him and asked him to pick me up at the
station when I got back to London because I- well, because I'd made up my mind
that I wasn't going to sec him any more.'

'You mean…'

Steadily Cassie said, 'I told him that night.
He wouldn't accept it at first, but in the end he had to.'    

'Oh, Cassie!' A look of relief and
thankfulness came into Simon's eyes. 'If you only knew how hard it's been to
try and live with the thought of you together, of you in another man's arms.'

'Don't! Oh, please don't. I'm sorry, Simon.
I've been such a fool. But I was so lonely. I missed you so much!'

He pulled her to him almost violently and
held her tightly in his arms. 'We've both been damn fools, me more than you. I
thought that if we loved each other enough we could weather any separation, any
problems. But it was wrong of me to expect so much.'     

'No, you weren't wrong. It was my fault. I
was so lonely without you that I got angry and wanted to hurt you. But really
it was just saying that I needed you. You see, I missed you so much, Simon, so
very much.'

'Darling!' He kissed her gently, but then
frowned and said, 'But if you'd decided to end it with Tom, why did you say you
wanted a divorce? Because I jumped to the wrong conclusion?'

'Partly that,' Cassie paused and added with
difficulty, 'and partly because you were with a woman when I phoned you.'

'With a woman?' Simon's eyebrows flew up in
incredulous surprise.

'Yes. I heard her start to speak and then
stop.' Simon began to laugh.