White Heat (13 page)

‘Admiring your new image, little one? I don’t expect it would make a big impact on the experts, but I think it’s extremely attractive. I wouldn’t worry about your separation from the refinements of life. You’re doing splendidly without
them ...
you can take my word for that!’

She flushed more brilliantly than ever.

‘You know perfectly well that I look a mess,’ she said.

The quizzical smiled remained.

‘Then I like you looking a mess.’

Green eyes and grey ones had their glances locked for a moment, and then as the result of an extraordinary feeling of embarrassment she looked quickly away. It wasn’t that he embarrassed her because he was smiling at her
—
not even because she suspected he might be making fun of her (teasing her with a gentleness that was new to him wher
e
she was concerned)
—
and it wasn’t even because she hated to be at a disadvantage and he was the kind of man who looked for perfection in his women friends ... when he condescended to acknowledge them as friends. It went far deeper than that, and it had a great deal to do with the two nights she had spent lying not merely close to his side, but practically in his arms.

No woman could open her eyes after hours of sleep to find him watching her with a strange, intent look in his eyes and forget the experience hurriedly. Not when she was young, and vulnerable
—
dangerously susceptible despite the effort she constantly made to be entirely the reverse. She had started off by disliking him thoroughly; had followed that up by hating him violently for a time ... and now she never ceased to be aware of him. And it wasn’t because fate had so arranged things that he and his manservant were the only two people she could cling to in this rather terrifying new life she was leading.

Without them she would be lost. But without Rolands she would not be entirely lost. She was beginning to suspect that, without Kent Willoughby, she would be plunged into an abyss of such dismay that she couldn’t even bear to contemplate it. She knew very well that there would never be any question of her creeping closer to Rolands in the night and allowing him to place a protecting arm around her and hold her close, so close that she could hear the deep, measured beating of his heart.

If she and Rolands were on the island alone she might dislike letting him out of her sight, and she would almost certainly keep as close to him as possible ... within limits. But there would always be several feet of space between them, particularly when night closed down and they composed themselves to sleep.

Rolands himself would recognize the importance of that, without suffering any sensation like humiliation because it might place a kind of emphasis on the difference in their social positions. Social positions had nothing whatever to do with it.

And now that she stood face to face with Kent, in the brilliantly clear morning sunlight, and she knew he also was inclined to ponder a little on the abrupt alteration in their relationship, she felt as shy and awkward as if she was a very young girl who had just been introduced to her first date.

It was ridiculous
—
and, no doubt, before many days (when, presumably, they would have been rescued) this new situation would have righted itself, and once back in the world of men and women and conventional behaviour their old attitudes would be restored to them, and he would be as rude and inconsiderate to her as he had been on board the
Ariadne
,
and she would not hesitate to let him see how much she very frequently despised him.

But for the moment there was a sort of armistice between them. They both knew it, and in the case of Karin it made her behave as if there never had been that period of getting to know one another in the wrong manner. In the case of Kent, his reaction was a little unbelievable. His eyes nowadays never reminded her of green ice floes, and even at his grimmest he was not cruel. He was even, in odd moments, amazingly considerate and as tender as he would be towards a very young sister.

Rather a favoured sister.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her
gently.

‘Anyway, why bother about your appearance?’ he demanded. ‘It’s you who should be complaining about my appearance.’

And he freed her and automatically started feeling his two days’ growth of beard.

Karin experienced a surge of unfamiliar boldness, and laughed up at him.

‘I like it,’ she said, putting her head on one side and regarding him with dancing grey eyes. ‘I even think it improves your appearance!’

‘You do?
’

She nodded.

‘It gives you a sort of a
—
well, a Viking look. A strong-man look.’

He regarded her as if he was not entirely gratified. ‘And I hadn’t a strong-man look before?’

‘Not
—
quite in the same way!’

She felt his hands descend on her shoulder again, and she was pulled a little towards him, not roughly, but impulsively. Purposefully.

‘Beware, young woman,’ he warned her, ‘of a strong man without shaving tackle or any of the essential equipment of a gentleman in civilized surroundings! The restraining influences a gentleman wouldn’t dream of attempting to overcome if he were not on a desert island, shall we say?’

His green eyes were very close, and before them hers fell, abashed ... although only temporarily.

‘What,’ she inquired a trifle breathlessly, ‘are you
trying to warn me of, Mr. Willoughby?’

‘Kent,’ he ordered. ‘Say it!’

She said it, shooting a swift glance up at him.

He smiled.

‘It’s the first time in my life I’ve liked the name. But I think Karin is adorable. Yes, quite adorable!’ She felt his hand slip round her throat, and he held it strongly ... while his other hand tilted her chin and her smooth, golden-brown face up to him. He regarded her oddly. ‘Don’t, Karin, place too much temptation in the way of a strong, bearded man on an island! Now,’ as the red suffused her cheeks, ‘let’s go. Rolands is waiting for us, and we have to explore this island.’

They explored it thoroughly during the course of the better part of the day, and by the time they had made a complete circuit of it, and penetrated as far inland as was practicable, they were in a better position to appreciate fully how lucky they were that their tiny lifeboat had carried them as far as it had, and brought them within reach of such pleasant greenness, variety and shade.

The island was predominantly green, but there were many exotic flowers growing on it, and quite a few exotic fruits. As for the bird
li
fe, it was brilliant ... gaudily plumaged, vociferous, and inclined to fly out of apparently dense thickets at unsuspecting moments and curdle the blood with high, protesting shrieks. More than once Karin was so badly startled that she turned blindly and hurled herself at Kent for protection ... and on each occasion his arm closed round her comfortingly, and despite Rolands’ grins and occasional comments (full of Cockney humour) reassured her in a perfectly understanding manner, and always with sympathy.

They heard monkeys chattering in the branches above them, but failed to catch so much as a glimpse of one of them, and there were evidences of wild pig ... an animal, however, which Kent decided it would be best if they did not meet face to face. There were plenty of coconuts
—
easily dislodged by aiming something upwards into the feathery foliage of the coconut palm and a sufficient supply of bananas to ensure that they would not starve, although the diet might become monotonous after a time. Rolands thought he was able to identify the sweet potato, and a form of mushroom which Kent decided definitely it would be dangerous even to attempt to prove was edible or otherwise ... unless a restricted menu should at some time drive them to make the experiment.

As for the wild orchids that seemed to be growing everywhere, Karin was enchanted by them. She picked so many that, after a time, her hands grew hot and sticky as a result of holding them, and she had to curb her enthusiasm whenever a new variety encroached on the path. There was also a scarlet trumpet-shaped flower, rather like a flame of the forest flower, that grew too high for her eager hands to reach it, and while she was making various attempts Kent kept his head slightly cocked and his ears alert for other noises apart from bird calls and that tireless chattering of the unseen monkeys; and he and Rolands made an intensive search for fresh water, which they at last stumbled upon by accident as it came bubbling out of a hollow opening in a tree-clad bank, and plunged with a happy murmuring sound towards the sea.

The water was so clear and sparkling that Rolands sampled it at once, and then he filled the couple of containers they had brought with them. This meant that their drinking problem was solved, and the only query that now hung over their heads was what did the matted growth inland conceal? It was impossible to penetrate
it ...
At any rate at this late hour of the day, with the light already fading within the solid congestion of the trees. Some of the trunks were so tall that they reminded Karin of the pillars of a cathedral soaring upwards to the unseen sky, and between them, and about them, every type of thorny bramble looped itself and clung closer than a limpet, particularly a vicious type of poisoned ivy which Kent warned Karin not to touch.

The atmosphere was drenched with perfume, and in the middle of the day the steamy heat was rather difficult to bear, as well as the constant attentiveness of mosquitoes. Karin, who was seldom troubled by insect bites, acquired one or two nasty ones on her bare legs and arms, and in addition she was badly scratched by brambles, and her unfortunate linen dress was ruthlessly torn in two or three places. When the time came for them to return to the beach, and they emerged into the open, she looked down at herself in horror, because
part of the hem of her dress was fluttering loosely as if it was an attachment, and not an essential part of the dress itself.

If this kind of treatment continued she would be without a dress to wear in a few days.

She looked at
K
ent warily to discover whether he was affected by her wild appearance, for she knew very well that her hair was practically standing on end, and she had been tempted by so many luscious fruits that there was probably juice all round her mouth. But when she met Kent’s eyes he was shaking his head ruefully at his own appearance, and in order to keep her company one leg of his trousers had sustained a rent about a foot long. His smile grew twisted as he held it together.

‘We shall need safety-pins before long,’ he remarked. ‘And unfortunately, we don’t possess any.’

Rolands, whose appearance was rather more spick and span than
t
hat of the other two, since he had an instinctive ability for insinuating
h
is meagre person in and out of temporarily difficult situations, with
t
he result that he appeared to be less clawed at than either his employer
o
r Karin, shielded his eyes with his hands when they drew near to the
b
each and studied the overhanging bluff beneath which their boat was
t
ucked away. The evening sunlight was in his eyes, and although it
w
as much more mellow and golden than the fierce, white-hot sunshine
o
f midday it had the effect of enlarging things that were near at hand,
a
nd darkening them as they stood out etched against the liquid blue of
the sky. Rolands was fascinated by the bluff, and he announced
h
is intention of exploring it more fully than they had hitherto done the following day.

‘There might be some caves under there that we could use as a kind of headquarters,’ he mused. He glanced around him. ‘If we’re to be here for any length of time we’ll have to provide ourselves with something in the nature of shelter. Miss Hammond can’t be exposed to the elements all the time,’ his eyes resting thoughtfully on the girl, who was looking weary after their long day devoted to making themselves acquainted with the island, and dragging along in their rear. ‘If another hurricane blew up, for instance, we might not be as lucky as we were before!’

‘Agreed,’ Kent returned soberly. He, too, glanced backwards at Karin. She was limping along, because her sandals had been cut through by stones, and one of her toes was bleeding. He held out his arms to her, offering to carry her, but she shook her head.

‘I’m all right. It’s been a long day, that’s all.’

‘A very long day. Too long for you.’ He grasped her firmly by her forearm, and helped her over the remainder of the rough ground. His face was very sober. ‘I can’t bear to think of all that’s happening to you, Karin,’ he said shortly. ‘It’s too much.’

She smiled up at him gamely.

‘Sometimes I think I’m enjoying myself,’ she confessed. ‘Sometimes I’m not so sure.’

Rolands looked at her sympathetically.

‘Don’t you worry, miss. We’re bound to be taken off here some time, and things could be worse. At least we’ve found a source of food and water, and I’m fairly certain there are caves under that bluff. I’ve a kind of recollection I saw an opening somewhere. Tomorrow we’ll explore.’

‘
You’ll
explore,’ Kent said firmly, when they had arrived back at the point from whence they had started out. ‘Miss Hammond will have to rest this foot,’ and he was down on his knees examining the small, bloodstained foot and wiping it tenderly with his handkerchief. He dipped the handkerchief several times in the cool water of the lagoon, and although the salt content caused Karin to wince and clutch at his arm in an effort to deter him he assured her that it would have antiseptic qualities ... and it was the only antiseptic they had.

His voice sounded grimmer than she had ever heard
it.

‘As she can’t be left alone, I’ll stay here with her.’

‘Very good, boss.’

Rolands was already opening a tin of beef, and because he, at least, was hungry, he also opened one of beans. Karin was growing a little revolted by the sight of those beans, congealing on a tin plate, and she announced that she would prefer a fruit
diet ...
at any rate, for that night. She ate a couple of small, ripe bananas, drank some coffee
—
that was always lukewarm because they didn’t dare to overwork the Primus
— a
nd then stretched herself out wearily on the hot sand.

The one thing she loved about all this was the feel of the sand once the sun had gone down. It retained its warmth for several hours, and it was only in the dawn that it grew icily chill. But even so, Kent spread his coat over her for protection, and made a pillow for her head of the tarpaulin.

‘Go to sleep,’ he urged, as gently as if he was addressing a child. His shapely mouth twisted a little. ‘At least one can forget one’s troubles in sleep!’

But when Karin awakened about an hour later and saw that he was sitting with his back against a tree-trunk, one of his few remaining cigarettes between his lips, and his eyes fixed broodingly on the dark line of the sea, she wondered why he had not taken his own advice and sought oblivion from his troubles in sleep.

It was quite dark, but there was still a luminous look in the sky where the sun had disappeared, and the stars overhead were like bunches of enormous jewelled grapes suspended by some magical process in the indigo sky. The surge of the sea was like a monotonous chant as it rolled up the beach and slapped itself softly against the hot sand, and then receded. Not far away the persistent roar of the barrier reef was much more sinister background music. Karin lay wondering how long that roar would go on, and whether it would ever end. And, in between thinking this type of thought, and keeping her eyes averted from the blackness inland, she returned to the furtive contemplation of Kent Willoughby, who obviously had a very great deal on his mind.

If ever a man looked quiet, taut and resentful, he did.

‘Why don’t you try going to sleep?’ she whispered to him suddenly
—
since Rolands was snoring near at hand, and she did not wish to wake him, too. ‘What time is it?’

He glanced round at her, and then consulted the luminous dial of his watch.

‘Ten o’clock.’

‘
Only
ten o’clock?
’

‘Yes.’ He understood perfectly why she sighed. ‘It’s a long night, isn’t it? Or will be!’

‘All the same, you ought to be tired after all our exertions today. We must have walked miles!’

‘I’m not complaining of the exercise.’ He declined to desert the support of his tree, but he leaned a little towards her. ‘How’s the foot?’

‘Oh, much better. It’s not throbbing now as it did soon after we got back. In fact, it’s quite comfortable.’

Nevertheless, against the violet depth of the sky, she could see him frown.

‘I should have offered to carry you. I should have
insisted
on carrying you,’ he said. Despite the fact that they were being rationed he tossed his half-smoked cigarette away. ‘Karin, it’s no good,’ he remarked suddenly. ‘We’ve got to get you out of this mess. We’ve got to get you off this island!’

‘Yes, but how?’ She leaned on an elbow, and she spoke softly
—
even with a very faint note of amusement
in her voice. ‘At least it’s better than the open boat, and, as Rolands said, we won’t starve here. We appear to have the place to ourselves.’

‘We’re not certain of that, but I think we have.’

She glanced uneasily towards the dark belt of trees inland.

‘I certainly
hope
we have. It wouldn’t be nice if there were natives, would it?’

‘It would all depend upon the kind of natives.’ He could have added that in the Indian Ocean and the South Seas there were several kinds, but he did not. Her eyes were large and shadowy enough as she studied the belt of trees inland.

‘But you’re not really afraid that there are other people on
the island, are you?’ she said shrewdly. ‘Not people who might do us any harm, anyway.’

‘No.’ He straightened his back against the tree, and she could see the knuckles of his slim brown hands standing out a trifle whitely as he clenched them. ‘The only thing I’m really concerned about is
you ...
You’re a girl. You shouldn’t have to contend with this sort of situation, and in any case, as a young woman you have a right to privacy. You have absolutely none here, and there’s little or nothing I can do about it, because if Rolands and I establish ourselves even a few yards away you’ll be unpleasantly alone, and I haven’t the right to leave you alone and unprotected. So you’ve got to put up with having two men who are virtual strangers to you on hand for almost every one of the twenty-four hours ... and it isn’t good enough!’