CHAPTER NINE

  THAT evening, Mrs. Landseer had dinner with the family. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shining with happiness. Even Cara's presence seemed unable to upset her as she chattered away, lifting her glass of champagne with the others. It was a strange party. Sue tought, trying to be gay herself. Ailsa obviously had no patience for Danny, yet still loved him. Cara almost completdy ignored Danny, devoting herself to Rolf, who, in turn, devoted himself to Sue. Occasionally Danny glanced at Sue with a strange look that disturbed her, but generally speaking, it appeared to be a happy evening. Rolf walked down to Sue's rondavel with her. The ram was still pelting down mercilessly, the ground already Aick with mud. Funa was wet, but the weather seemed to exhilarate rather than depress him and he kept racing off after exdting noises or smells. At the rondavel, Rolf hesitated, looking down at Sue. 'Is Danny angry with you? Does he still think you told me about him?'he asked. Sue shrugged. 'We haven't spoken to one another, really. 158 When's Cara going, Rolf?' 'When? Oh, Cara? Soon, I expect. Why? Eager to get rid of her so that we can end this farce?' Sue looked up at him from under the shelter of her umbrella. 'Well, aren't you?' she asked bluntly. She could see from the light she had switched on in the rondavel that he was frowning. 'Naturally, but ...' 'You don't want Cara to go ?' 'It isn't that.' He sounded annoyed. 'When the right time comes, she will. Good night.' 'Good night,' said Sue, and whistled to Funa, who came running, shaking himself all over her, and following her into the rondavel. After she had closed the door. Sue stood for a moment. Was Rolf in love with Cara, she wondered, as she had wondered so often before, and had he some kind of plan? That was a strange remark to make: 'when the right time comes, she will.' As she undressed, showered, and got into bed, she shivered. How the weather changed in Africa, she thought. This was something she had never expected. Somehow you didn't associate the word 'cold' with the word 'Africa'. Yet Ailsa had told her that in mid-winter up here at Ais height, you could get black frosts. Well, she told herself, as she curled up into a tight ball to get warm, that was one Aing she'd never see - a black frost in Africa. She'd be in London, rushing to the Park in the lunch hour if the sun shone, moaning because it always seemed to rain on Saturdays. It was still raining next day. Sue stayed in bed longer than usual, for there was no sunrise to rush up to see. She pulled on a warm dark blue pullover over her serge slacks, and socks on under her Wellington boots. Funa was racing round, as if chasing his tail, scattering mud everywhere, then came running to meet her as, bent under the umbrella, i59 the huge yellow mackintosh round her, Sue waded up towards the house, sliding and skidding in the mud. Rolf wasn't there, nor was Cara or Danny. Jock Landseer wheeled himself in, his face red and cheerful. 'Four inches of rain already,' he reported cheerfully. 'We have as much rain here in three or four monAs, Sue, as you have all the year in England. What's your rainfall? About forty-six inches a year, isn't it?' Sue laughed. 'I'm afraid I don't know, only that it seems to rain an awful lot.' 'So it does here, my girl. This is heavy rain. What we all like is the misty rain, often rains for three weeks.' 'Oh, no!' Sue was shocked. He chuckled. 'Yes, but it's so fine it hardly wets you. But it's the best for the soil. Sinks in without erosion, you know. Rolfs gone off to Phulate, Sue. He asked me to tell you. A phone call came through early Ais morning.' Ailsa, busy eating fried steak plus eggs and bacon, looked up. 'Oh, dear, I did want Rolf to drive into town. We've got to get some more drugs. I've got the vulture now in sick bay, it's that wing of his. And Reno, that's the Alsatian who was ill, Sue - well, her pups are due any moment. I've got her inside and warm, but I can't go and leave them ...' Sue hesitated. Rolf had told her she was not to drive. But Rolf... 'I'll drive in,' said Danny, walking into the room. 'I find Ais place depressing when it rains. Caretocomealong,Sue?' Ailsa beamed. 'That solves it. You go. Sue, get the drugs and do the shopping for me. Save me going in tomorrow.' So Sue found hersdf sitting by Danny's side in the Land Rover, skidding and sliding over the earth road that was now a sea of mud. At the gate the ground was like a bog, 160 but They got Arough. Danny was obviously used to driving in mud, for he was quite unconcerned, but Sue's heart kept lurching sickeningly as the Rover slid sideways along the road. Then' Danny began to talk. 'You don't love Rolf, do you. Sue?' he asked. 'I'm engaged to him,' she said stiffly. He put his hand over hers for a moment. 'That doesn't mean you love him, does it? Look, Sue, why not marry me instead?' he said eagerly. 'Danny, are you out of your mind? I hardly know you.' Sue twisted in her seat to stare at him, forgetting the cold, the ram, and the mud. He gave her a quick smile, the sort of 'little-boy-lost' smile she knew all women fall for. 'Well, we could have a lot of fun together, Sue. I've got five thousand pounds. We could go on a tour round the world if you like. I've always wanted to see the world.' 'But that's not reason enough to marry someone you don't know.' 'D'you know Rolf? I don't. And I'm his brother. What sort of life will you have as his wife, Sue? He'll always boss you around, make use of you. We'd have much more fun.' The Rover skidded sideways, but Danny seemed quite unconcerned. 'Soon be on the macadamized road. Gosh, it's good to be away from that mud-hole! How I hate it out there. Seriously, Sue, how about marrying me? We could just walk out and send Rolf a cable. Then we need have no unpleasantness, if that's what you dread.' Sue studied his face thoughtfully, the lean face with the sulky mouA and the hooded, unhappy eyes. No, she tought, it's you who fear unpleasantness. You don't want to marry me at all. All you want to do is to hurt Rolf, to steal his fiancee from him, to make him look a fool. That's all poor Danny wants. R@T.S.S.@F 161 'Danny, please, I know you're fooling,' she said lightly. He looked startled. 'I'm not fooling. Are you seriously turning down a husband with five thousand pounds who's promised to take you round the world on a honeymoon?' 'I don't marry for such reasons,' she said stiffly, then smiled. 'All right, Danny, I know it's a joke, but thanks for asking me.' He scowled. 'The answer, then, is no?' 'Quite definitely,' she said, 'the answer is no.' He drove silently, his mouA sullen, as she tried to make conversation, and she was relieved when They reached Malooki and its main street with cars parked either side of the road, and the shoppers hurrying along, hidden under umbrellas. How different it all looked, she thought, now the sun had gone. The sky was grey and overcast with low dark clouds. The rain just fell, wide streams of water running down either side of the road, pools of water on the pavements where there was only earA, for not all the pavements had concrete slabs. Everyone looked cold and miserable, huddled in mackintoshes. 'Let's have a coffee first, Danny,' Sue said cheerfully. He parked the car close to the cafe and Sue led the way into the shop with gay tropical murals on the walls. A girl got up from the other side of the room. She wore a bright red mackintosh and a matching scarf on her head. 'Sue, what a day!' she began, then her voice changed, rose with excitement. 'Danny? Danny, is it really you?' Danny's face came alight. 'Why, Vonny!' 'Long time no see, Danny,' Vonny pretended to scold. 'But it's good to see you. Can I join you?' 'Of course,' Danny smiled. 'We're having coffee. Like a cup?' 'Love it, and They have some gorgeous chocolate edairs 162 here.' Vonny turned to Sue. 'And how's everyAing?' 'Just fine. I had to get some drugs and do some shopping,' Sue began, but Vonny wasn't listening. She had turned to talk to Danny, her eyes sparkling, her face eager. Danny was smiling, too. He sat, relaxed and content, answering Vonny's questions, making statements to which Vonny listened, eyes wide with interest. Sue saw what Mrs. Landseer had meant. If you believed in Danny, he could cope with anyAing. But to believe in him you had to love him. Why, Sue wondered, if he'd met Vonny before and liked her, had he done nothing about meeting her again? Was Danny the kind of man who must be pursued? she wondered. Which made him the exact opposite of Rolf, who had to do the pursuing. But then They were exact opposites, weren't they? she tought. No one would ever have believed they were brothers. After she'd drunk her hot sweet coffee and eaten two eclairs. Sue said she must shop, and she'd come back. Vonny and Danny smiled and nodded, but she knew They were hardly aware of her existence, and most certainly would not miss her. She had to wait quite a while at the chemist's as some of the prescriptions had to be made up, then she did the other shopping. When she joined the others, Danny bought them more coffee and Sue, sitting silently as an onlooker, listened to Vonny's clever way of talking, her habit of giving Danny the chance to make a statement, and her opportunity to listen. 'I think we should go, Danny. Ailsa wants these medicines,' Sue said. Danny looked up with a frown. 'Oh, for crying out loud! One can't get away from that place for a day. Let's phone her and say we'll be late.' 'I think she needs the medicines.' 163 'Couldn't you go alone. Sue?' Danny asked. 'I'm sure Vonny would drive me out later, wouldn't you?' Vonny smiled. 'I'd love to.' She glanced at her watch. 'What about coming home for lunch, Danny? I don't think you've met my brother Bill. I wish you could stay, Sue.' Sue stood up. 'I wish I could, too, Vonny. Some other time?' She walked out to the Land Rover, now packed with shopping. Rolf had forbidden her to drive, but then that was stupid, for if she was a good driver, why should a bit of mud worry her ? ^ Later she mentally called it the understatement of the year. A 'bit of mud', indeed! Was that all it was? she tought as she leaned forward, peering through the windscreen, trying to see, for the wipers, Aough working overtime, could hardly dear the glass of rain before it was covered again. It was after she left the macadamized road and was on the earth that she got really worried. It seemed almost impossible to control the Rover, it kept sliding about. The distant mountains were hidden in grey clouds, the rain pelted down, churning the muddy roads into channels of water. Going Arough the drifts, she was startled by the difference; where there had been quiet trickles of water, now there was a river, churning with surf as it roared along between and over the flat stones. Luckily the drifts were still low enough to drive through, but she wondered how long it would be before this road was closed to traffic. She didn't mind driving up the mountainside roads, it was the driving down that frightened her. Sliding sideways with a sheer drop on one side made her feel sick and helpless to do anything with this heavy clumsy Aing she was supposed to control. Just as she was half-way down one mountain, the road turned abruptly and the Rover 164 skidded, turning in a circle once, twice, then lurching drunkenly off the road, coming to an abrupt halt with the radiator flat against a huge round boulder. The engine was still running. Sue switched'off the ignition. There was a terrible silence that seemed to fill the air. Just a foot to the right was a sheer drop of what must surely be a Aousand feet. She shivered, tucking her hands under her arms to try to warm them. She wondered what she should do. She turned and glanced up at the road. Anyone driving along there was bound to see her and would come to her aid. But would anyone be driving along there today? The road only went to the game reserve. Of course there were Danny and Vonny, but They'd be along very much later. She got out of the Rover, shoulders hunched under the mackintosh, and saw how near disaster the skid had been. How on earth could she reverse the Rover? She was too scared to try. It needed another person there to help, perhaps even to haul her back up the slope to the road. She sat in the Rover and shivered. It seemed hours before she heard a voice shouting and could turn, relieved and yet not relieved in the same moment, for it was Rolf. He had left his car and was scrambling down the slight slope. 'Sue .,.' he began, then he paused, glandng from the Rover resting against the huge boulder to the drop at the side of it. 'In trouble?' he said gently. 'I just skidded and... and...' He smiled, 'Easy to happen,' he said cheerfully. 'Like to hop out?' He turned and shouted, 'Israel!' and added someAing in Zulu. The African, half hidden in his yellow mackintosh, came scrambling down with a rope in his hand. 'Wait up on the road. Sue,' Rolf told her. 'This may 165 take a few moments.' She obeyed, scrambling up the slippery wet bank, standing near the Jag, shivering in the rain. She watched as the Jag slowly towed the Rover backwards up the slope and on to the road, then saw Rolf untie the rope, toss it to Israel and come to her side as Israel drove off. 'That didn't take long,' Rolf said cheerfully. His mood surprised her, because she had expected him to rant and rave, to remind her that he had told her not to drive in the rain under any circumstances. Instead he was being kind. He opened the door of the Rover and she began to walk round to the other side. But he put his hand on her arm. 'You drive,' he said quietly. She stared up at him, anger and fear all churning inside her. How could he be so crud? she wondered. 'I'd rather not.' 'I'd rather you did,' he said coldly. 'Either you drive or we wait here.' She bit her suddenly trembling lip. How she hated him! She turned away quickly. Whatever happened, he mustn't know how scared she was. She got into the Rover behind the steering wheel and waited until he was by her side. As she switched on the engine, she looked at him. 'You're taking a risk,' she said quietly. 'I haven't a due. It just got out of hand.' He looked at her. 'I know. That's why I want you to learn how to drive. I'll tell you what to do. Now ...' She drove as he told her, occasionally catching her breaA with fear as the wheels skidded in mud, but his hand occasionally went on the steering wheel to correct it. 'You follow up the skid,' he told her. 'Never fight it.' Later he said, 'Whatever happens, don't use the brakes.' 166 Gradually she began to feel less tense, and slowly very slowly - she began to feel she had control of the heavy machine in her hands. And at last she saw the sign and the gates being opened for her. As she stopped outside the house, she went completely limp. ^ 'Well done, Sue,' Rolf said quietly. She turned her head. 'I was scared stiff,' she confessed. He grinned. 'So was I. Always am, but it's one of those Aings.' His face changed. 'Sue, I did forbid you to drive.' 'I know.' He helped her out and called to the kitchen for someone to fetch the shopping, then turned to Sue. 'Sometimes I wonder if you'll ever grow up,' he said coldly. 'You're exactly like a child who, if you want him to do something, you forbid him to do it. You seem to be the same.' Then he walked off. Still shivering, partly with cold, partly with shock. Sue took the medicines to Ailsa. Then she hurried to her rondavel and had a hot shower. Pulling on dry woollen trews and a white Aick sweater, she looked at the papers on her desk. Rolf still hadn't given her the finished and corrected course to type. When she had finished it and Cara had gone, she'd be on her way too. In some ways, she told herself, it would be better when she had gone. Loving a person, who obviously despises you and who must never find out the truth, was harder than she'd thought it would be. Harder, and more heartbreakingShe put on her yellow mackintosh and sou'wester and battled Arough the rain and mud to the house. A huge log fire crackled cheerfully and Sue hurried to warm herself by it. 'Where's Danny?' Ailsa asked. 'I left him with Vonny and he's going there to lunch,' 167 Sue told her. 'You drove home alone?' Ailsa said. Rolf walked in. 'And nearly killed herself,' he said, his voice grim. 'Oh, Rolf, I...' 'Oh, Sue, you did,' he snapped. 'So Danny drove you in? Why didn't he bring you back?' 'Well, he and Vonny got talking and ...' 'You're not quarrelling again?' Cara asked gently, drifting into the room in a rose-pink dose-fitting pullover and deep-red tight slacks. She came to stand by the fire, too, and smiled at Rolf and Sue. 'What's it Ais time?' 'NoAing,' Sue began. 'Simply that she nearly killed herself .,. skidding,' Rolf said curtly.Cara shivered daboratdy. 'How terrible! I'm scared stiff driving in the rains. I should have gone earlier, Rolf. I wonder how long before it stops raining.' 'Three weeks or four, I hope,' said Jock Landseer, wheeling himself towards them. Cara smiled at Rolf. 'Three or four weeks!' she said softly. 'Just think of that.' The gong rang and They went to the dining-room for lunch. Afterwards, Rolf asked Sue to go with him to the office. 'The course is practically finished and ready for typing finally,' he said, and gave her an odd look. 'This time, I do mean finally,' he added. 'I've got to get it off to London.' He waited in the office while she took off her mackintosh, then told her to sit down. He stood up, walking about the room restlessly, sometimes pausing by the window to stare out at the bleak wet landscape, sometimes to stand in front of her towering above her. 'Did you and Danny have a fight?' he asked abruptly. 168 'Not exactly, but...' 'He's angry about ... about our engagement?' She nodded silently. 'You didn't tell him the truth ?' Her head shot up and she looked indignant. 'Of course I didn't!' 'If you had, he'd have told Mother. I suppose you know that.' Again she nodded. 'That's why I didn't tell him.' 'Thank you,' he said. There was one of the long silences Rolf seemed to enjoy so much and that Sue had always hated. Now, conscious that he was staring down at her, she fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair. 'Sue, Danny's in love with you?' Rolf asked abruptly. Her cheeks hot, she hesitated. 'He proposed to me.' She paused, not sure whether to tell him that she knew Danny had only asked her to marry him so that he could hurt Rolf. Probably Rolf guessed that, she thought. 'I'm sorry,' Rolf said surprisingly. 'I didn't know you and Danny were in love or I wouldn't have involved you in these lies. You are in love with Danny?' 'I ...' Sue began quickly, and again she hesitated. If she let him believe she loved Danny, wouldn't that keep him from the ever-present danger of knowing that she loved him? She tilted her head back to stare up at him and suddenly he came dose, leaning down, his hands on her shoulders so that she found herself staring at the reflection of herself in his eyes. 'You love Danny?' he repeated slowly. She swallowed. It wasn't easy to lie to him. 'Yes, I love Danny.' In a way, it was true, because she was sorry for Danny and love and sympathy were very 169 much the same. Rolf straightened, lifting his hands from her shoulders, turning away to the window. 'Thanks for telling me the truth, Sue,' he said. His voice , sounded strange. 'Leave it to me. Cara will be going soon and then we can tell the truth, or perhaps it would be better if you and Danny just eloped and sent us a cable.' 'That's what ...' Sue began, then her hand flew to her mouA in dismay. Rolf turned from the window. 'That's what Danny suggested? I imagined so. I can quite understand your impatience. Sue, to be rid of me and any involvement with my affairs, but just be patient, and in a few days the matter will be cleared up.' He picked up the folder of papers. 'If you could get these typed for me...' 'Of course!' Sue jumped up, turned sideways and fell over the waste paper basket. This time she fell straight into Rolf's arms. He held her for only a moment - but she felt the ecstatic quiver go through all her limbs, and felt a bit dazed as he helped her stand on her feet. He was laughing. 'I tought you'd got over your carelessness,' he said, 'but I see I was wrong.' Enveloped in her yellow mackintosh. Sue hurried to her rondavel, clutching the folder dose to her. What a strange man Rolf was ... and oh, how much she loved him! She had never believed those romantic tales of an electric shock going through you when the one you loved took you in his arms, but if that casual accidental contact with Rolf could have affected her like that, how would she feel if he loved her and held her dose to him? She typed furiously to drown her thoughts. She forgot about tea, and it was just before seven when the door opened and Ailsa, a mackintosh draped over her head, 170 stood there. She was wearing her prettiest frock, an amber-coloured silk, and her eyes shone. 'Sue, come on! Danny and Vonny and ... and Bill are here. They're wondering where you are.' 'I didn't know it was so late.' Sue stood up. 'Must I change?' 'You look very nice. Cara's in trews, too.' Sue struggled into her big mackintosh, and Wellington boots, and They walked Arough the rain and darkness to the house. 'Why did Bill come?' Sue asked. 'Only to see you?' Ailsa laughed happily. 'I'm afraid not. Sue. It seems his parents refused to let Vonny drive Danny out if it meant she had to drive back alone. So Bill came along.' 'A likely story!' Sue teased. 'Look, Ailsa, I've something I want to leave in Rolf's office, so I'll go there first. See you in a moment.' 'Okay.' Ailsa waved farewell and ran off towards the house. Sue walked round the back to Rolfs office. The windows were bright with light so he was working. The blinds were never drawn. As she got closer. Sue stopped dead. Rolf was standing in the middle of the room and Cara's arms were round his neck as she stood on tiptoe, pulling his head down so that he could kiss her. Sue turned blindly away and stumbled, nearly falling into every puddle in sight, to the house. She put the papers, which had to be signed, on the hall table, hung up her mackintosh and made herself smile before joining the others in the group round the log fire where the red flames were dancing and the log was giving loud pistol-like cracks every now and then. It was some twenty minutes before Cara and Rolf joined them, twenty minutes during which Sue somehow managed 171 to talk and laugh and joke and listen and behave normally. Inside her, someAing had died. So Rolf had lied to her all along! He did love Cara. Had they, all this time, been sharing amusement in pretending that Cara was jealous of Sue, and in trying to make Sue look silly? A slow but strong anger grew inside her. At least Rolf could have told her the truth. But she hadn't told him the truth, she reminded herself, but that was different, of course. Surely Rolf could have admitted he loved Cara, Aough he didn't feel Ais was a wise time to tell his invalid mother. Then there'd have been no need for Cara's cattiness, for her attempts to belittle ... if that was the right word for it. Sue asked herself, belittle Sue in Rolfs eyes. They had made use of her and, in addition, made her look a fool, acting a part too dramatically. How They must have laughed! It was after dinner that Cara made her announcement. 'Please, everyone, silence. I'm afraid Ais is my last meal with you,' she said gaily. 'Bill here has been kind enough to offer to drive me to Malooki. We'll follow Vonny and see that she's all right, only I just can't drive in mud. I'll stay at the Carlton Hotel tonight, and tomorrow I'll drive back to Mahamba. I've got to fly to New York immediately.' 'New York?' Danny almost breathed the word, then glanced at Vonny by his side. 'That sounds exciting.' 'It is.' Cara's beautiful face was aglow with happiness. 'I've landed that job, modelling for Gerippa. I can't wait to start.' Puzzled, Sue glanced at Rolf. He turned his head and smiled at her. 'I told you so,' he mouthed with his lips. Sue couldn't understand it. First he'd been kissing Cara, now she was wildly excited because she was leaving him 172 and going to America. It didn't make sense, Sue tought. That night, the frogs kept her awake. She told herself it was the frogs, their incessant croaking nearly driving her mad. She kept stroking Funa's wet coat, tossing and turning in her bed, hugging the hot water bottle Ailsa had given her, trying to sleep. Why, oh, why was Cara going to New York, Sue kept asking herself, if she and Rolf were in love? Suddenly Sue understood. Or thought she did. Rolf and Cara had a plan. The first stage was to get the course finished, then Rolf could fly to New York, marry Cara and cable his mother and explain that Danny and Sue loved one another so she would still have Sue for a daughter-inlaw. What a solution to it all!

 

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