The Man at Mulera (10 page)

He sto
o
d up quickly.
“
Not on your life. I
’
ll face Ross in daylight after I
’
ve had a bath and a change of clothes. I
’
ll
manage.
”

“
And catch a
chill,
if you haven
’
t got one already! Mr
.
Allwyn
.”

“
Call me Greg. And stop fretting. I've slept out in all sorts of weather.
”

“
But I haven
’
t known about it
,
”
she said firmly,
“
and this time I do know. Where
’
s your luggage?
”

“
In the car.
”

“
Then you must stay here till the ram stops. She looked about her,
thinking
quickly.
“
Spend the night here in this room,
I’ll
lock the door on the other side and you can sleep on the couch. Do you think the rain will last much
longer?
”

“
Two or three hours, perhaps.
”

“
Well, all I ask is that you disappear before the servant comes into the house—at about six-thirty. You
’
ll be quite shut off from the rest of the house. Will that help?
”

“
Tremendously. You
’
re such a sweet little Goldilocks that I wouldn
’
t dream of putting you in a spot
.
I
’
ll go just before dawn.
”

Lou hesitated, with her fingers on the tray handles.
“I’
ve a feeling that you need a doctor. Will you promise to find one when you leave here?
”

He smiled easily.
“
Yes, I promise. You
’
re quite a
girl
Lou Prentice.
”

“
You could be quite a man,
”
she said quietly,
“
if you liked yourself a little better. Can I get you anything?
”

“
No more whisky?
”

“
Only the spot in the bottom of the bottle.
”

“
I
’
m afraid I
’
ll have to rob you of it, but I
’
ll make it up to you some day.
”

“
You
’
re welcome to it, but I do hope it won
’
t
make you oversleep.
”

He smiled and winked.
“
My system is hardened to it— won
’
t cave in to less than half a bottle. I
’
m not sleepy, anyway; only a bit whacked.
”
He moved and patted her shoulder.
“
Sorry I had to be way below normal the first time we meet, but I
’
ll put in a few days
’
rest with friends, and come back fit I
’
ll leave the room tidy in the morning.
”

“
Th
anks
.
Goodnight
.
”

She slipped out with the tray, set it down while she turned the key in the lock and then took it along to the kitchen. She listened at Keith
’
s door, went into her own room but was too disturbed to get into bed at once. She stood near the window and imagined the look of the garden, with the rain still tumbling into the lake it had become. She could feel moisture bouncing through the wire screen, and she thought of all the rivers forming in the gulleys and their headlong race over grass and boulders and hillsides into Lake Nyasa.

She went to bed, listened to the concerto of the rain and eventually fell into an uneasy sleep. She awoke to a cloudless sunrise, remembered instantly and crept along the corridor to the living-room. Slowly, she turned the key and edged open the door.

The room was neat and untenanted; he had even emptied and dusted the ashtray. Lou opened a window, breathed in the rain-washed, scented air. This was the day of Ross Gilmore
’
s party.

Ross came to the bungalow at about ten, walked into the living-room and called lazily,
“
Anyone at home?
”

Lou heard him in her bedroom, hurriedly blotted the letter she had been writing and went through to see him.

She was wearing a blue sunfrock and a row of white beads, and her hair was brushed into a careless cap of short deep waves. She stopped and looked at him, standing outlined near the window. He was incredibly tall and broad, and a light shone upon the tight skin of his jaw. For some reason Lou
’
s heart skipped a beat that it was never to pick up again.

“
Did you want me?
”
she asked, with a curious huskiness.

“
Want?
”
He savored the word, and let it drop. Negligently, he said.
“
You
’
ve been here about ten days and haven
’
t seen the Lake. It
’
s worth the trip after a good rain. How would you like to go down there for a pic
ni
c?
”

“
Today? What about your party?
”

“
That
’
s hours away. I
’
ve stowed a box of food in the car. We can bathe and have lunch, and get back here in time for you to shower and have a rest before dressing. I promised Keith we
’
d do it one day.
”

“
Just the
...
three of us?
”

“
That
’
s right, little one,
”
with a narrow smile.
“
Think you can stand it?
”

“
I
’
ll try.
”

“
Fine.
”
He jingled something in his jacket pocket, pulled it out and showed it in the palm of his hand.
“
Know anything about this?
”

It was a man
’
s stainless steel wristwatch; the worn leather strap had dragged away from its metal anchorage, and was stiff and dark.

“
No.
”
she said with a flutter in her throat.
“
Where did you find it?
”

“
On the path. It must have been out all night in the rain,
”
He dropped the watch back into his pocket
“
I
’
ll find the owner some time. Run along, Louise, and bring Keith back with you. Don
’
t forget your bathing kit
.
”

She left him, rather hurriedly, paused for a moment before entering Keith
’
s bedroom. The child looked up from playing with a train and said yes, he
’
d like to go down to the Lake. He found his briefs and trotted through to the living-room, and five minutes later Lou joined them. She had a swim-suit rolled in a towel under her arm, and dangled
a
white cap from her fingers.

“
Are you sure
this
is all we
’
ll need?
”
she asked.

“
Quite sure,
”
Ross told her.
“
Ali knows we
’
re going.
”

He swung Keith into the back of the car—not the estate wagon but a streamlined saloon—and put Lou into the front seat. He took his place and they were off, crunching down the lane towards the main road.

Lou
’
s uneasiness wore off. She felt the breeze through her hair, and Keith leaning over the back of the seat between herself and Ross, and she saw that they were turning away from the Chekwe stores and towards the misty blue valley between the hills. They ran between the Mulera coffee trees, and down the edge of the cotton fields, crossed a wooden bridge which spanned a swamp where rice grew.

“
I
’
ve wanted to come this way,
”
she said.
“
The views here are so tantalizing that you feel you must investigate them. At least, I do.
”

“
Plenty of time,
”
Ross commented.
“
Not getting bored, are you?
”

“
Of course not, but I would like to be able to get about and see more of the country. Where
’
s the great Shire River?
”

“
South, from here. Our river is the Kolana, and it runs out into Kolana Bay. Several of us have shacks above the beach and keep canoes. Our tastes,
”
with faint mockery,
“
are fairly civilized.
”

“
You
’
re all civilized people,
”
she said.
“
Surprisingly so.
”

“
What
’
s surprising about it? It
’
s the
modern
amenities that keep white people sane in faraway places. We have to get along without television, but in other ways our homes are ahead of the majority in England. It
’
s always the same where white people settle a fairly new country.
”

She nodded.
“
There
’
s such a difference in incomes. The government officials here seem well-off.
”

“
They do fairly well. The D.C., of course, comes from a rich family.
”

“
Does he?
”
She paused.
“
Is Miss Craddock here to keep house for him?
”

“
Not really. If you get a good head boy in this country you don
’
t need a housekeeper. Paula has plenty of cash in her own right; she has an estate in Hampshire, but generally spends the dry season here in Chekwe.
”

“
You must know very well.
”

“
Oh, yes,
”
non-commitally.
“
I know her place in Hampshire, too. It
’
s probably one of the most
efficiently
-run estates in England. That comes of having a manager there who
’
s crazy about her.
”

Lou said evenly,
“
I should think a good many men have been in love with Paula Craddock. She
’
s very beautiful.
”

“
Sure is,
”
he replied laconically, and left it at that
.
They had climbed a small hill beyond the rice swamp and from its eminence the Lake was visible, vast and very blue and fringed with lush green growth. They came down the hill and the view was cut off, and for some time there was nothing but the roadside hedges of acacia, which shone with the many shades of red in the new leaves which the rain had miraculously brought forth. Then the trees began to vary; musuku, with their heavily-ribbed leaves and clusters of scarlet fruit, clumps of tall bamboo, the indigenous Mlanje cedar and an occasional gigantic and grotesque baobab. A tangle of banana scrub came next, and then the beach, fringed with coconut palms and looking for
all the world as if it belonged to a South Sea island.

The car stopped just above the beach under a tree and Lou leaned forward, her glance wide and rapturous.

“
I never imagined anything like this,
”
she breathed.
“
It
’
s really like the sea. How far is it to the other side of the Lake?
”

“
About twenty miles, just here. It might well be two hundred for all you can see of it
”
He looked at her.
“
You must have seen the Lake from the air when you arrived. Didn
’
t it impress you then?
”

“
Yes, but I had so much else on my mind. The plane was a bit bumpy, too.
”
She shone round at him.
“
It must be the loveliest country in the world!
”

“
Not bad,
”
he conceded.
“
It
’
s practically all Lake and mountains but we
’
ve plenty of fertile land.
”
Again his glance rested upon her.
“
You make me want to remember how I felt the first time I came this way. I
’
m afraid the sensation is lost in the mists of time.
”

“
You probably didn
’
t feel a thing,
”
she said gaily.
“
I
’
d rather be me, and feel it a little too much.
”
She turned to Keith.
“
Come on, darling. We
’
re going to bathe!
”