The Man at Mulera (11 page)

As he lifted Keith from the car and held the door for Lou, Ross looked uncaring and full of sardonic amusement He took her elbow and Keith
’
s hand, very firmly.

“
You won
’
t want to explore after a bathe so we
’
ll do it now,
”
he said.
“
Slightly to the left here we should find a waterfall. In the rainy season there are dozens of them round the bay—drainage from the uplands. Keith knows the waterfall—don
’
t you, old chap?
”

Keith seemed to be sliding into the sort of child he had been before losing his parents. He nodded and said with engaging patronage,
“
But we
’
ll show Lou—she hasn
’
t seen it yet
.
I don
’
t suppose there
’
ll be any trout
.
”

They trod between palms, found a footpath which led over a couple of hillocks and down to a cleft where a river coursed swiftly over stones and bushes. They followed the river to where it poured in magnificent abandon over a ledge and down past rocks and saplings into the Lake. The water leapt and made rainbows in the sun, it roared and gurgled, and Lou found herself getting down as Keith did, and lying flat so that she could watch and feel the spray over her face and hair.

Ross s
ank
down to one knee, tweaked a curl so that she had to turn her head and look up at him. Her face was pink and sparkling, her red lips had a tender excited curve and her lashes and brows were wet with spray.

His expression changed slightly.
“
Don
’
t look so darned young,
”
he said abruptly.

Her excitement faded. She blinked and turned back to contemplation of a waterfall which had lost its appeal. Her heart was beating unevenly into the earth, but she made herself answer Keith
’
s queries and ask him a few questions in return. She turned and sat up, saw that Ross had straightened and moved along the ledge. He stood with his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts, studying the shimmering water.

She got up with Keith, flicked grass from her skirt
.
Ross joined her, casually, and without speaking they went back to the car and along to a log hut which stood among cycads and thorn trees.

“
This is mine,
”
Ross said.
“
You and Keith can use it. You
’
ll find some towels, if you need extras. Got all your gear?
”

“
Yes, thank you.
”

“
We didn
’
t explore much,
”
commented Keith.

Ross
r
uffled his hair.
“
It
’
s all been done before,
”
he said, and his smile, narrow-eyed and cryptic, rested upon Lou.
“
Meet you in the water. All right?
”

She nodded, and took Keith into the hut
.
Perhaps because her throat was a little tight and her movements jerky she did not give much attention to the picnic furniture and heavy orange curtains. She let the child undress first, and sent him out, got quickly into her own daffodil yellow swim-suit and picked up her cap. The sun beat warmly upon her skin, the beach burned her feet so that the water, when it lapped over them, felt icy cold. She pulled on her cap, saw Ross swimming back through the mild waves and braced herself against whatever he might say.

But he didn
’
t speak at once. He emerged from the water, big and as brown as the coffee-berries he produced, raked back his hair, gave her the sort of glance that roves and sums up in two seconds and nodded back towards the Lake.
“
Do you swim or play at it?
”

“
I can swim
,”
she said briefly.

“
Go ahead, then. I
’
ll watch Keith.
”

She was glad to leave them. She swam out floated, and swam again. It was tiring and she was glad. As she turned back towards the beach Ross came beside her,
swimming
effortlessly.

“
You
’
re doing too much. Come on in,
”
he said.

She moved slowly through the swell, and he hooked one arm under hers and gave her his strength. They reached the sand and he let go of her. She stood up and waded ashore, dragged off her cap. Keith was away under the trees, playing some game of his own, and had her legs not felt so weak she would have gone to
him.
Ross touched her shoulder and she shivered. He asked sharply,
“
Don
’
t you feel well?
”

“
Of course I do,
”
she answered, without much spirit
.
“
Keith needn
’
t dress, but I will, before we eat.
”

“
Have a rest first
”
He found a towel and flung it round her shoulders.
“
Come into the shade and sit down.
”

She went with him, sank down under a thick tuft of palms and pushed back her hair. Ross went off for his jacket came back, and with movements that were forceful and deliberately masculine he got out cigarettes and lit them. Then he leaned back on one hand, and for some minutes there were only the sounds of the breeze in the leaves and the humming birds, and the soft lapping of the waves over the pale beach.

“
You wish you hadn
’
t com
e
down here with me, don
’
t you?
”

“
Yes, I
’
m afraid I do.
”

“
Why?
”

She answered quietly and frankly,
“
You
’
re not a very comfortable person to be with.
”

“
You mean I disturb you?
”
he asked in those soft, gibing tones.

She lifted her head and saw the glint in the greenish-brown eyes, was thankful to perce
i
ve that Keith was ambling towards them. She shook her head.
“
Not in the way you mean, Mr. Gilmore,
”
she replied in her most normal tones.
“
All I meant was that when I go on a jaunt I like to feel free and friendly. You tie me up inside, and I don
’
t care for it.
”

“
You were tied up inside before you met me, honey,
”
he said in an undertone, as Keith joined them.

Fortunately, Keith had something on his mind.
“
I
’
m hungry,
”
he complained.
“
Can
’
t we eat now?
”

“
Sure we can,
”
said Ross.
“
Come with me to collect the food box. Stay right here, young Louise. You can dress later.
”

It was an excellent picnic and Lou wished she had more appetite for it
.
Usually after a swim she was ravenous, but today Ross had spoiled things. And throughout the meal he went on spoiling them. With Keith he was good-humored and informative. With Lou he was exactly the same, but as he looked her way there was that experienced, worldly expression in his lean handsome face, the lord-of-the-
u
nive
r
se look which put her back where she belonged, among the young and innocent and negligible. She got the impression that he was telling her he had brought her here for a very simple reason; as Keith
’
s guardians they owed an
o
ccasional treat to the child.

Keith became sleepy, his mind wandered. Ross got up and picked up his jacket; Lou gathered the towel and indicated that she was going to the hut
.
He went with her and opened the door, asked companionably,

“
Feel better now?
”

“
Yes,
I’
m fine.
”

“
Still something missing?
”

“
Missing?
”

He nodded.
“
You
’
re of an age to think a picnic pretty hollow if there
’
s no romance to go with it
.
”

Her cheeks hot she said quickly,
“
I wouldn
’
t expect romance from you!
”

“
That
’
s what I thought, but there
’
s a dash of spice in the unexpected. Don
’
t you agree?
”
Without haste, he held her chin and briefly but firmly kissed her. In a reflex action her fist came up but he caught and held it grinned into her face.
“
Tut-tut we
’
re sober co-guardians!
”
he admonished her.

But Lou hardly heard. She was breathing like someone old who has climbed a staircase. She stepped back into the hut and slammed the door.

For a long moment she stood there in the dimness, one hand to her throat and the other pressing against her throbbing temple. She felt sick and frightened; yet her pulses were leaping unbearably. He wouldn
’
t have kissed her if he hadn
’
t wanted to. But wouldn
’
t he? It wasn
’
t
as
if there had been any
...
any affection in the kiss. He had merely been interested in her reaction; perhaps he had half-hoped she would get really violent—certainly Ross Gilmore was the sort of man who had to subdue his women.

She fumbled her way into her clothes, combed back her hair and rolled her swim-suit in the towel. Then she stood irresolute with her hand on the door catch and her glance on the easy chairs with their emerald cushions. She saw the low wicker table and an ashtray that held the remains of two cigarettes, both of the brand Ross smoked. One of them was pink with lipstick.

Her head was pounding, but suddenly her brain went very clear. No doubt at all that Ross had this place swept and dusted each day, which meant that the cigarettes had been smoked here this morning. He
’
d already bathed once today
...
with a companion who must have been Paula. No doubt he made a habit of kissing the women he brought here!

Lou
’
s teeth became clamped, her chin went up. She opened the door and closed it behind her, trod over sand
and grass to where Keith was lying, and stirred him gently. She didn
’
t look at Ross when he came and picked up the drowsy child. Keith was put into the back seat of the car, Lou took her place and they set off. As far as Lou was concerned there was no conversation. She answered Ross in monosyllables, and when they arrived at the bungalow she thanked him in three words.

“
I
’
ll send down for you this evening,
”
he said.

“
I
’
m afraid I shan
’
t be able to come,
”
she returned.
“
I don
’
t feel up to it.
”

“
Is that a genuine excuse or a feminine one?
”

“
I have a bad head and I
’
m very tired. I certainly can
’
t come.
”

After a short, watchful silence he said,
“
Very well, little one, I
’
ll take your word for it
.
Swallow some aspirin and lie down. So long.
”

Lou led Keith into the house and busied herself with washing the sand from his skin. Everything she did was domestic and soothing, but way down in her consciousness lay a conviction that life had changed drastically for Lou Prentice. She would never feel normal again.