Lisa felt as though she was being strangled slowly but surely, and she asked stupidly, 'How—how will you get in?'
'I have the key to the back door,' he said, and then mockery curved that hard mouth into the suggestion of a smile when she still hesitated. 'There's no need for you to fear anything, Miss Moreau. The house will be patrolled all night, or until the danger has passed.'
'It's not myself I'm afraid for, but I'm afraid for you!' the words seemed to leap from the hidden and mysterious depths of her soul, but they never passed her lips, for she bit them back with a horrified gasp.
'Goodnight, Mr Vandeleur,' she managed somehow and, without looking back, she entered the house and locked the door behind her as he had instructed.
She was shaking so much that she could hardly climb the stairs, but she stubbornly refused to analyse the reason for her startling thoughts. She banished the entire incident from her mind and went to bed, but she was still awake when she heard the. low murmur of voices beneath her window well after midnight.
She was out of bed in a flash and, although the verandah roof obscured her vision, she could not deny her relief when she recognised Adam Vandeleur's voice amidst those of his labourers. Judging by the animated tone of their lowered voices, their efforts had been successful, and only then did Lisa go to sleep, to have Erica Vandeleur confirm, at the breakfast table the following morning, that Adam and his men had caught the convicts without suffering any casualties.
As the weeks passed and lengthened into a month, Lisa made every effort to stay out of Adam Vandeleur's way as much as possible. He was far too disturbing, and much too aggressively masculine for her to ever feel at ease in his company, and between them there was also the knowledge that he had considered her incapable of looking after the twins.
Despite all her initial misgivings, Lisa had settled down quickly to this new way of life. The fresh air and the long daily walks with the twins had strengthened her hip to the extent that she no longer needed her walking-stick, and, as she relaxed on her bed one afternoon towards the end of that first month on the farm, her thoughts turned involuntarily to Josh and Kate resting in the room next to her own. They had accepted their new routine without a murmur of protest, and their behaviour had been almost impeccable, while at the same time they had attached themselves to Lisa with a fierce fondness which she had found a little frightening at times. It was almost as if they had found in Lisa the mother they had lost, and this perturbed her very much.
Erica Vandeleur frequently entertained visitors from the neighbouring farms, but the most frequent visitor was Willa Jackson, who came and went more or less as if she knew the place would one day belong to her. Tall and slender, with thick auburn hair hanging straight down on to her shoulders, she won Lisa's admiration for her un-deniable knowledge of sheep farming. Willa was undoubtedly extremely capable, but this in no way detracted from her femininity. She was beautiful, but cold, Lisa discovered on closer acquaintance, however, but she also decided that Willa was exactly the right kind of wife for a hard-bitten farmer like Adam Vandeleur—if he should choose to marry her.
Once, when Willa had joined them for afternoon tea in the garden, Lisa had seen Adam's eyes dwelling on the beautiful, unscarred face of the girl lounging in the chair beside his own, and it had filled Lisa with the most peculiar feeling of despondency. Thinking of it now, she could still not explain to herself why she should have felt that way, and, turning over on to her side, she allowed herself to be lulled by the restful silence in the house.
Lisa slept for almost an hour before she awoke with the feeling that something was wrong. Josh and Kate were not in their room, she discovered a few moments later, and, after a fruitless search of the house and the garden, Lisa was forced to seek the assistance of Erica Vandeleur's most trusted servant.
'Have you seen the children anywhere?' Lisa questioned Daisy when she found her in the kitchen giving her usual care and attention to the evening meal.
'No, Miss Lisa.' Daisy closed the oven door and straightened, a frown on her face as she turned to Lisa. 'They're not in their room?'
'No.' Lisa felt her stomach muscles tightening with anxiety. With only a few days to go before her probationary period expired, she could imagine Adam Vandeleur's cutting remarks if anything untoward happened, and she could no longer reject the suspicion that was thrusting its way to the surface of her mind. She had overheard the twins discussing an old well on the farm and, precipitating their natural tendency to explore, she had warned them severely to stay away, but their sudden disappearance was beginning to imply that they had ignored her warning. 'Daisy, if the children wanted to get hold of some rope, where would they find it?'
'Rope, Miss Lisa?' Daisy's eyes were wide and questioning, but at the look of impatience on Lisa's face, she said quickly, 'There's a rope hanging up against the wall on the back stoep.'
A hasty inspection revealed nothing but a leather thong draped carelessly over the hook and, cutting across the Coloured woman's exclamation of surprise, Lisa said hurriedly, 'There's a disused well somewhere on this farm. Do you know where it is?'
'Yes, Miss Lisa. It's just otherside that hill you see there,' Daisy replied, pointing to the brush-covered hill beyond the shearing shed. 'It's not very far.'
'Thank you.'
'Miss Lisa?' Daisy's voice sliced anxiously through the afternoon silence. 'Do you think the children have gone there?'
'I think they may have, but—' Lisa raised her finger to her lips in a silencing gesture, 'not a word to anyone until I've made sure.'
Daisy nodded mutely, and Lisa shot up a silent prayer as she set off in search of the twins.
It seemed to take an eternity before she reached that particular hill, but it had, in fact, taken her less than ten minutes to get there. Her breath was rasping in her throat, however, and her heart was thudding painfully against her ribs when she paused for a moment on the crest of the hill, but something red caught her attention, and her heart leapt into her throat as she recognised Kate's crouching figure beside what was obviously a gaping hole in the ground. With a total disregard for the stabbing pain in her hip, Lisa almost ran down the other side of the hill.
'Lisa, Lisa, come quickly!' Kate's anxious little voice spurred her on, and a few seconds later Lisa was on her knees beside the child, clutching her tightly in her arms.
'Where's Josh?' Lisa asked unnecessarily, for a rope was tied inexpertly but firmly to the stem of an old thorn tree. Her horrified glance followed it down the hole, and from deep within the bowels of the well a whimpering sound confirmed her worst fears.
'His h-hands slipped on the rope, and he f-fell,' Kate explained sobbingly, but Lisa was already lying flat on her stomach and peering down into the darkness.
'Josh, can you hear me?' Lisa questioned sharply, her eyes seeking out the little body huddled more than five metres down on the floor of the well.
'Yes, Lisa… I can hear you,' Josh's voice floated up towards her.
'Have you hurt yourself?'
'I bashed my head a little, and my hand is scratched, and I can't stand on my foot.' A stifled sob reached her ears and tore at her heart. 'Lisa, get me out… please!'
'Can you reach the rope?'
'No, it's too high,'
Close to despair, and much as Lisa disliked the idea, there was only one thing left to do and, getting to her feet, she took Kate firmly by the shoulders and prayed that the child would do as she was told.
'I want you to listen very carefully, Kate. Go back to the house and tell Daisy exactly what happened. Ask her to send for your uncle, and she's to tell him to bring a longer rope with him. When you've done that, you're to stay at the house, do you understand?'
Kate nodded tearfully. 'Yes, Lisa.'
'Off you go, then,' Lisa smiled at her with as much reassurance as she could manage, giving her a gentle push in the direction of the homestead.
'Lisa, where are you?' Josh demanded anxiously the moment Kate had gone.
'I'm here, Josh,' she called to him reassuringly while she retied the rope around the tree-trunk, then, testing it to make sure that it would take her weight, she swung her legs over the edge of the well. 'I'm coming down to you.'
'You'll fall!'
'No, I won't,' Lisa insisted, thinking that It was just as well that she was wearing her old denims and sensible shoes. She was grateful, too, for the experience she had gained when, as a student, she had gone on several expeditions up into the mountains, and using her feet as leverage against the rough sides of the well, she climbed down carefully, but the musty stench almost succeeded in taking her breath away before her feet touched the bottom. Josh, trembling and whimpering softly, was in her arms the next instant, and Lisa pacified him, waiting until his tears ceased before she held him a little away from her. 'Let's have a look at you.'
The late afternoon sun sent a slanted shaft of light into the opening of the well, but it was sufficient for her to see the bump on his forehead, and the streaks of dirt on his face and clothes. His hand was fortunately only grazed, but his badly sprained ankle was obviously causing him considerable discomfort, for he winced when her fingers gently explored the swollen areas.
It was difficult working in such a confined space, but as she set about tearing a strip off the bottom of her old cotton blouse in order to utilise it as a bandage, she heard Josh say tearfully, 'I'm sorry, Lisa.'
'Yes, I know.'
'Are you very cross with me for not listening to you?'
'I should be very cross with you,' Lisa admitted, 'but there'll be time enough for that later.'
Leaving his shoe on for added support, she strapped up his ankle with the improvised bandage, and Josh watched her in silence for a while before he asked: 'How are we going to get out of here?'
'I can't get you out on my own, so we're just going to sit here quietly and wait for your uncle to come and help us.'
'Uncle Adam's going to be very cross.'
'I should imagine so,' Lisa replied with an outward calmness, but as she tied off the bandage she felt her insides quaking at the thought of Adam Vandeleur's anger. 'Does that feel any better?'
Josh nodded silently and, slipping her arm about him, she held him against her with his head resting on her shoulder while they waited for help to arrive.
It was an agonising wait, with plenty of time to come to terms with the certain knowledge that Adam Vandeleur would not pass up this opportunity to dismiss her from his service. Lisa had grown fond of the children, and leaving them would be more painful than she had imagined, but, when the earth finally vibrated with the sound of approaching horses, she had prepared herself for the inevitable.
Josh glanced up at Lisa anxiously when the pounding hooves ceased to shake the earth around them, and she summoned a reassuring smile which she hoped would look convincing. A horse snorted impatiently somewhere above them, and then Adam Vandeleur's deep, thundering voice echoed down the well.
'Miss Moreau? Are you down there?'
CHAPTER FIVE
'Are you down there, Miss Moreau?'
Lisa swallowed hard before shouting back, 'Yes, I am.'
Adam muttered something she was thankful she could not hear from down there, and then those ruggedly chiselled features came into her line of vision. 'Are you all right?'
'Yes, I'm all right.'
'And Josh?'
'A bit battered, but he's okay.'
'Good.' Adam disappeared from view, and a soft whining noise made her realise that Rolf was up there with his master, and probably just as anxious about what had happened. 'Look, I'm lowering a longer rope,' Adam said when He returned to the opening above them. 'There's a noose at the end of it. Slip it round Josh's waist, will you?'
The rope was lowered, but Lisa was unable to think or feel, as she helped Josh to his feet and fastened the noose firmly about his waist. Later, perhaps, the nightmare quality of the situation would affect her, but right now Josh, wide-eyed and frightened, needed her love and reassurance, and she gave it to him unstintingly and calmly.
'Have you got the rope around him?' Adam demanded of Lisa.
'Yes.'
'Can you hang on to the rope, Josh, so it doesn't tighten too much around your waist?'
'I—I'll try, Uncle Adam,' the child said unsteadily, clutching at the rope.
'Right!' Adam issued an abrupt command to someone standing beside him, and then his tall figure appeared at the opening of the well once more. 'I'm going to pull you up now, Josh.'
Lisa stood with bated breath and watched the child being raised slowly to the surface. He was almost out, her heart rejoiced, and then he panicked suddenly.
'The rope's slipping, Uncle Adam!' he cried.
'Just hang on as tight as you can. I've nearly got you,' Adam ordered sharply, and a few seconds later Josh disappeared over the edge to the accompaniment of Rolf's excited barking, and then Lisa heard Adam say: 'Take care of Josh, Petrus.'
Now it was her turn, Lisa realised nervously. Climbing down into the well had been reasonably easy, but going up would be a little more difficult, and she only hoped her leg would not cave in under her weight.
'I'm lowering the rope for you, Miss Moreau. Fasten it around your waist.' He waited a few moments, then demanded, 'Have you done that?'
Lisa licked her dry lips. 'Yes.'
'Use your feet as leverage against the side of the well, if you can,' he instructed her unnecessarily, and then she felt the rope grow taut beneath her hands. 'Ready?'
'Ready!' she called back.
The rope bit into her waist just above the belt of her denims where her skin had been bared after tearing a strip off her blouse, and, in her attempt to ease the pressure, she lost her foothold against the side of the well. Her body swung forward, and, as her left hip made contact with a jutting stone, a sharp, agonising pain shot from her hip down into her thigh. She could not prevent herself from crying out, and the process of pulling her up was instantly halted.
'What's wrong? What's happened?' Adam demanded.
'Nothing,' she gasped, momentarily blinded by the pain and gritting her teeth against the flow of tears. 'Just pull me up.'
A few seconds, or was it hours later, she heard Rolf barking once more, but he was silenced sharply as strong hands lifted her clear, and then the smell of the sun, the veld, and tobacco mingled, quivering in her nostrils and attacking her senses as she found herself reclining weakly against a broad, muscular chest. Her hands encountered the roughness of soft, springy hair where the top buttons of his shirt had come undone, and her heart felt as though it was pounding in her mouth when she stared up into that granite-like face just above her own.
It was not the first time Adam had touched her, but now, lying in his arms like this, it felt as though she had been wired up to several volts of electricity, and the current that surged through her body was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
'Did you hurt yourself?' his voice vibrated along her sensitive nerves.
'My—my foot slipped, and I—I jarred my hip, but I— I'm all right now.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes—yes, I'm sure,' she assured him in breathless haste when she felt the disturbing touch of one large, strong hand exploring her hip and thigh. 'It's Josh you should look at.'
Adam's lips twisted with faint derision, then he released her and turned to Josh who sat silently and miserably beside Petrus, Adam's Coloured foreman. Adam examined the child's injuries thoroughly before sitting back on his heels and fastening his stern glance on the boy.
'Well, Josh? I think you have some explaining to do.' 'I—I didn't think anything would happen, and we just wanted to see what was in the well,' Josh explained, his bottom lip quivering faintly. 'I'm sorry, Uncle Adam.'
Adam swung round and Lisa experienced the force of those dark eyes pinning her to the dry, dusty earth. 'Was this your idea of an afternoon excursion, Miss Moreau?'
Lisa grew hot under his disparaging glance and stammered,
'I—well, I—'
'It wasn't Lisa's fault, Uncle Adam,' Josh interrupted, surprising Lisa into silence.
'Who gave you permission to call Miss Moreau by her name?'
'I gave the children permission,' Lisa intervened weakly, and once again his disturbing attention was focussed on her.
'It isn't her fault, Uncle Adam,' Josh defended Lisa with childish determination. 'She—she told us not to climb down the well, but—'
'But you deliberately disobeyed her,' Adam filled in for the child with a harsh note in his voice that made Josh flinch visibly.
'Yes,' Josh admitted bravely, his lips quivering as he raised anxious eyes to his uncle's. 'Are you going to—to smack me, Uncle Adam?'
The shrill sound of the cicadas became almost deafening during the tense silence that followed, and then Adam rose to his feet and shook his dark head slowly.
'I think you've been punished enough, and you're very lucky you haven't broken any bones.'
Lisa expelled the air slowly from her lungs and got to her feet unsteadily, her hand stroking the Alsatian's smooth head absently when he brushed up against her. Josh had got off lightly, she thought as she watched Adam lifting the child on to Petrus's horse, but she was certain he would not show the same leniency towards her for allowing this incident to occur.
With Josh safely in Petrus's care, Adam took hold of the reins of his horse and turned towards Lisa. When those dark, penetrating eyes met hers, she knew exactly what he was about to suggest, and she shrank inwardly from the idea.
'I—I'll walk,' she forestalled him.
'With a hip that's giving you hell?' Adam demanded harshly.
'My hip isn't giving me—hell—as you put it.'
'Then why are you massaging it like that?'
To her utter dismay Lisa discovered that she was doing exactly that, and she removed her hand instantly, avoiding the mockery in his eyes. 'It's… habit, I suppose.'
'Really?' he remarked sarcastically, swinging himself up into the saddle, but Lisa did not stay to argue with him, and started limping up the hill in the direction of the homestead.
Summer of the Weeping Rain Page 6