Anne Weale Islands of Summer [HR 948, MB 826] (pdf)

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with her.
She put them on. "What a scorching day! There'll be some red faces
in the salon tomorrow."
"Yes, it's a regular Sally Bassett," he agreed. Then, noticing her look
of enquiry, "Haven't you heard that expression before? It's quite
common in Bermuda. Sarah Bassett was burned at the stake during
the witch-hunts in the seventeenth century. According to the stories,
she was executed on an exceptionally hot day, and heatwaves are stiH
referred to as Sally Bassett weather."
"I see ... how grim." Caroline shivered slightly. To change the
subject, she said, "I didn't realize at first that Benjy couldn't hear what
I was saying. Has he always been deaf?"
"Yes, there's congenital damage to the middle ear. It can never be
cured, but he isn't as cut off from the rest of the world as he would
have been some years ago. He attends special classes for the deaf, and
we've all picked up enough sign language to be able to communicate
with him."
"We?" Caroline queried.
"My mother is an invalid, and Benjy's parents run the house for us,"
Ian explained. "He usually tags along when I come over to the island.
It's a change for him, and he's no trouble."
"It's quite a large island. I'm surprised it hasn't been built on. But I
suppose the Government want to preserve some parts of the colony in
their natural state."
"This isn't Government property. It belongs to us," Ian said casually.
She gave him a dismayed glance. "Then I'm trespassing. I'm sorry... I
had no idea."
"It doesn't matter. There isn't a notice saying 'Keep Off.' We don't
mind who comes here as long as they don't leave beer cans all over
the place."
"All the same, I'm sure you prefer to have it to yourself. Well... thanks
for the tea."
She was already on her feet when he said, "You're marooned. You
don't want to be becalmed for an hour, do you?"
It was true, Caroline realized. The breeze had completely died away.
The sea was as smooth as glass.
"We get these lulls sometimes in the early afternoon. It'll freshen
again about three," Ian told her. His mouth twitched slightly. "Don't
look so perturbed, Caroline. I'm aware that you find my company
something of a strain, but you can always go off and swim if it
becomes too much for you."
Caroline bent to remove one of her beach shoes. "Why do you say
that?" she asked evenly, shaking the sand out of it.
"Isn't it true ?" His tone was amused.
"I was not aware of it," she said, with a slight shrug.
He raised a quizzical eyebrow. 'Well, I won't call your bluff for the
moment. Later, perhaps." And he sprang to his feet and signalled to
Benjy to join them.
The three of them swam together for over an hour, plunging off a
natural groyne of rocks to see who could retrieve the greatest number
of coins from the sea bed in a single dive, and playing a hilarious
game of water-ball which came to an abrupt end when the ball
suddenly burst a seam and deflated like a pricked balloon.
After they had rested on the rocks for a few minutes, Benjy had a new
idea.
"He wants to play catch. Are you up to it?" Ian asked.
"I think so." Caroline was still panting from their previous exertions.
"In you go, Benjy." Ian gave the boy a playful shove into the water.
"You'll find it's quite a job to grab him," he told Caroline. "He shoots
about like a young squid."
"Oh, to be eight years old again!" She shook back her streaming hair
and took a header after him.
As Ian had warned, catching Benjy was not easy. He was as supple as
an eel and twisted out of her reach half a dozen times before she was
at last able to seize him.
"Your turn now," Ian called.
Treading water, laughing and gasping from the strenuous chase after
the boy, Caroline turned her head and saw him standing on the rocks,
his hands on his hips, his , tall figure outlined against the deep blue
sky.
And in the moment before his arms swung up for the plunge, a queer
kind of panic seized her and she looked wildly about for some way of
escaping from him. He came for her under the water and, when he
was almost on her, she drew a deep breath and dodged him by
jack-knifing sideways. She knew he would have to surface to gulp
down air, and that the only way to evade him was by using young
Benjy's tactics.
But the next time she dodged his hand brushed against her leg and she
had to somersault down to the sandy floor. And then, as she twisted
over and kicked herself upwards, she saw his dark face close to hers,
and his arms clamped round her. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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