A Plume of Dust

by Wynne May

  While he was away Michelle moved about the room, marvelling at the beauty of everything and then he came back and said lightly,

  ‘Well, shall we go?’

  Liza was at the desk when they got back. Locking up, she said, ‘I was wondering when you’d get back.’

  ‘I’ll go straight up and change, Liza,’ said Michelle, ‘and then I’ll come and take over here for you.’

  ‘Is that all you have to say? Well,’ Liza let out a long breath, ‘that might not be such a bad idea, after all. I’m exhausted. I’ve been on my own all afternoon. Debbie had to go to the doctor again. She’s slow in picking up, isn’t she?’ Liza looked at Lyle. She managed to sound patronizing.

  Michelle turned to Lyle. ‘Thank you once again, for everything. I think you’ve been very patient with me.’

  ‘It’s been a pleasure.’ He smiled. ‘I’m not in a position to do anything about the rickety bridge - I’m afraid it’s there to stay - but…’ his eyes met hers, ‘you know the bypass.’

  ‘Yes. I hope you don’t have to walk back,’ she said.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m not.’ He sounded businesslike.

  That was that, she thought. The mood had passed. Lyle Cunningham was just being kind as he tried to help her to settle down in a new country, she told herself, determined to dismiss him from her mind -if she could.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  DURING the following week Michelle was kept busy in the salon, but when time permitted she helped out at the desk. On her afternoon off she took Laney to Thabana to see her doctor.

  ‘See what buying the Mini has done already?’ she said to Laney. It’s saved Pete a trip and it gives you and me a chance to go into town together.’

  ‘You can’t shop with a man around,’ Laney answered. ‘I’ve still got the nappies to get, plus a hundred and one other little items. Pete thinks he’s helping, but honestly, he just succeeds in getting in the way.’

  Turning her head, Michelle said, ‘Look, there’s Lyle Cunningham’s marvellous house. Every time I go there I feel like a film star.’

  The Mini rattled over the corrugations. ‘Am I going too fast for you, Laney?’

  ‘No. I’m used to this sort of thing,’ Laney replied. She glanced at Michelle. ‘But tell me - this sounds interesting. Have you been to Lyle’s house again - apart from the night of the party?’

  Michelle hesitated, then said, ‘Now you’ve caught me out, haven’t you?’ She laughed lightly. ‘But yes, I have. He took me there after we’d gone into Thabana to see the Mini and then again on the day I took delivery of it. The first time we went he wanted to collect something for his father and the second time he thought that there was going to be a spectacular sunset - which there was, as it so happens - and he wanted me to see it from the house.’ She had tried to keep her voice casual.

  ‘How times have changed,’ Laney’s voice was dry. ‘Can you imagine our mothers - or our Aunt Vera, for instance - approving of this?’

  ‘You’re direct enough, I must say. Don’t you approve, Laney?’

  Michelle gave a startled little laugh. ‘But what about you - always going up to Lyle Cunningham’s bedroom?’

  ‘Pete is always downstairs, talking to Lyle, and you know it,’ Laney’s voice was teasing. ‘Anyway, I was just pulling your leg. I’ll tell you something, though. I wouldn’t visit Glen Hayes. A girl would have her hands full - I mean, if she has any reservations at all, that’s all I can say. I’ve heard that he’s quite a lad. I shouldn’t listen to gossip, of course.’

  ‘I haven’t met Glen Hayes. We’ve spoken on the phone, of course.

  Liza Monatti is very friendly with him and he often phones for her.

  He also phones in connection with arranging for a Land-Rover to take people from his chalets up the Pass.’

  ‘He’s known around these parts as a bit of a shark,’ Laney said.

  ‘How do you mean, a bit of a shark?’

  ‘Well, he has the reputation of being a bit of a twister, one way and another. He’s put through some shady business transactions, from what I hear - but,’ Laney shrugged and laughed, ‘there I go again, gossiping! Look, there’s going to be a storm. The clouds are gathering.’

  Looking in the direction of the clouds, Michelle laughed. ‘Do you know, Laney, that’s all I seem to hear around here - there’s going to be a storm, people say.’

  ‘You’ll laugh on the other side of your face when we do have one, I can tell you that much. Quite frankly, I’m terrified of them. I’ll never get used to the storms.’

  They had entered Thabana now and were passing Little Switzerland Motors. Michelle tried not to turn her head, but Laney said, ‘By the way, what did you think of Lyle’s flourishing little business?’

  ‘The premises came as a surprise, I must say,’ Michelle answered.

  ‘Such decor, for such a little town.’

  ‘Well, a lot of tourists go there,’ Laney answered. ‘Apart from that little showroom affair there’s the tours side of things. His Land-Rovers don’t just go up the Pass, by the way. There are other trips of interest to choose from.’

  ‘He showed me the yard, as he called it,’ Michelle told her. ‘It told a different story. There were motors running and drums piled high and petrol pumps, not to mention spare parts lying about. I don’t know why it is, Laney, but the sight of a Land-Rover baking in the sun always has the power to excite me.’

  Laney laughed. ‘You’re easily excited, I must say. Are you sure it isn’t Lyle who excites you - or one of the drivers, maybe? They’re tough and very handsome.’

  Michelle looked for a parking spot. ‘There,’ she said, ‘how was that for parking? It’s a super little car to handle, I must say. Now,’ she turned to Laney, ‘let’s sort things out. Do I come with you? Or do we part company?’

  They decided to part company while Laney visited her doctor and arranged to meet afterwards, when they would do a little shopping together and then have tea somewhere before going back to the farm.

  ‘Where will I buy a pair of scissors?’ Michelle asked. ‘All I seem to see are farm maintenance businesses, hardware stores, a butcher and baker shop…’

  ‘Over there,’ Laney told her. ‘They stock everything there.’

  When Michelle knocked over a stack of small paint tins stacked to one side of the entrance to the shop which Laney had pointed out, she felt a surge of dismay followed by a sense of foolishness.

  ‘Here, let me help you with that.’

  Turning, she found herself looking into the almost tawny eyes of the speaker. The eyes were magnified by horn-rimmed glasses.

  ‘I must have knocked one with my bag,’ she murmured, ‘and then when one fell the whole lot followed.’

  Looking at her with something like disbelief, he said, ‘No problem.

  I’ll have them stacked in a minute.’ He went on searching her face with his eyes, then said, ‘Pardon me for staring, but when one sees a sight like you in Thabana one just keeps on gazing. I must be dreaming.’ Michelle was aware of the hard interest in his eyes. He had the ability to make her feel beautiful and yet ruffled at the same time.

  She gave him a direct look. ‘Sight? I don’t think I follow.’

  ‘I’ve just become aware of a very beautiful girl,’ he told her. ‘By the way, I’m Glen Hayes - from the holiday chalets.’

  ‘In that case, I have spoken to you - on the telephone. I’m Michelle Abbott, from the hotel.’

  ‘So?’ Glen Hayes stood back and smiled at her and as she looked at him she was aware of an arrogance about him. ‘Tell me, how did you get here?’

  ‘I came by car.’

  ‘Your car?’

  ‘Yes. I’ve just bought a Mini,’ she told him.

  ‘Then,’ he began stacking the tins, ‘I can’t drive you back?’ He straightened up and gave her an easy grin.

  ‘No - thank you, very much.’

  ‘I can phone you, though, at the hotel?’

  ‘We often do
talk,’ she said lightly.

  ‘Yes, I know. As a matter of fact, I thought I knew the voice.

  Anyway, that was different. Tell me, where are you going when you leave this shop?’

  ‘I’m going to meet my sister-in-law. We have some shopping to do before we go back.’

  ‘Your sister-in-law?’ He sounded interested.

  ‘Yes. Laney Abbott. I believe you’ve met her - and my brother Peter.

  Everybody seems to know him as Pete.’

  ‘Ah, yes, I remember now. Well, that didn’t take long, did it?’ Glen Hayes stood to one side and surveyed the tins. ‘Let’s get out of here before they fall down again.’

  When they were out on the pavement Michelle said, ‘Well, thank you so much for coming to the rescue. I felt such a fool. I’ll have to be going, though. I promised Laney I’d meet her on the next corner.’

  ‘I’ll phone you,’ he called after her. ‘Now that I’ve found out who the voice belongs to I’m not going to let you go.’

  Laney was already waiting. ‘I’m sorry,’ Michelle apologized. ‘Have I kept you waiting long?’

  ‘No. I’ve just arrived, actually. What did you do with yourself? I don’t see any parcels.’

  ‘First of all,’ asked Michelle, ‘what did the doctor have to say?’

  ‘He’s very pleased,’ Laney answered. ‘On my last visit I’d put on too much weight, but this time the weight gain is just right.’

  ‘Well, I looked around,’ Michelle went on, ‘and then I went into this kind of hardware shop - the one you pointed out to me. There were a whole lot of little paint tins stacked near the door and my bag knocked against one of them, sending it flying, then a whole great number of them started collapsing and rolling all over the place. I felt such a fool - then guess who came to the rescue - Glen Hayes himself! He introduced himself.’

  ‘Oh. What did you think of him?’

  ‘A bit pushing, otherwise quite pleasant. Could be a shark, though.’

  Michelle laughed. ‘I formed that opinion of him, as a matter of fact.’

  They did a little shopping, then had tea at a small shop attached to a bakery. The sky, over the mountains, was black and threatening.

  There were fantastically formed pockets hanging to the clouds. The sun had disappeared and there was a chill in the air now.

  ‘I’ve bought a newspaper,’ Laney said. ‘Listen to what it says in the Stop Press: Violent storm lashes Natal. A violent electric storm, with heavy rain, struck Pietermaritzburg this afternoon, causing a sharp drop in temperatures and flash floods.’ Laney stopped reading and looked up. ‘Obviously we haven’t had it yet, but it’s travelling around

  - one just has to look at that sky to confirm what I’m saying. So we’d better start moving.’

  At the farm, Michelle said, ‘Laney, I’m not coming in. I don’t want to get caught in a storm. Give Pete my love - and look after yourself.

  Keep the weight under control!’

  There was the usual activity in the foyer of the hotel. People were asking questions at the desk, or going along to the small shop which was next to the salon before it closed.

  Eager for a bath before the storm broke, Michelle hurried up to her room. From her windows she was able to see the orange flashes of lightning hemstitching the clouds above the distant mountain peaks and could hear the low, threatening rumble of thunder. The light in her room was gloomy now, so she turned on the lights and left them burning while she had her bath in the adjoining bathroom.

  In the bath, which was her usual place for dreaming, her mind flounced away to Thabana where she had met Glen Hayes and she thought about his eyes and how they had flickered over her with a kind of amusement - as though she had turned up to amuse him just when the time was ripe.

  Directly she stepped out of the bath she was aware that the air had chilled rapidly and a little shiver of excitement raced through her body. There was something wonderful about looking out warm clothing to snuggle into during a leisurely dinner, for she was free until the morning. It was difficult to believe that she was working at the hotel and not a guest, she thought, listening to the radio, which she had turned on.

  From the windows she could look over the immediate mountains and, to one side, the jagged peaks which formed the most striking and distinctive geographical wall between the cold Lesotho plateau and the warm grasslands of Natal. The storm was drawing nearer and the sky was full of menace, and with a little shudder Michelle closed the windows and drew the curtains just as the first rain came pelting in from the mountains, splashing the paved terraces below until they glowed like black mirrors, reflecting the lights of the hotel. A sudden crash of thunder made her rush to the door and open it, then, trying to appear composed, she walked slowly in the direction of the staircase, above which was suspended an enormous crystal chandelier, and made her way down to the foyer.

  In the foyer the sound of heavy rain was easily heard as it splashed down outside. Lightning forked in and out of the area and, behind the desk, Liza and Debbie remained completely unmoved as they went about their business.

  By the time Michelle was eating her dinner at her table in the corner, right next to one of the tremendous windows, it was hailing.

  Lyle Cunningham was in the foyer when she went through. ‘Hello,’

  she said shyly. ‘I’m beginning to see what people mean about the storms here. Isn’t this vicious?’ She put her teeth down on her lip.

  She was aware of his eyes going over her before they came back to her eyes. ‘The temperature has dropped sharply. In the morning you might well wake up to see those deep gullies blotted out and slashed with snow - but then you’re used to snow.’

  ‘Yes.’ She smiled back at him and there was a slight pause.

  ‘Are you off duty?’ he asked. ‘When you were our hairstylist I was always sure, but now that you’ve combined this with helping out on the desk I never know.’

  ‘I’m free until the morning,’ she told him.

  ‘Have coffee with me, in that case. I noticed that you walked right through, without stopping to have it in the lounge.’

  ‘I was going back, later,’ she told him. ‘I just wanted to look through the glass doors to see whether it was still hailing.’

  ‘Fortunately, it’s stopped,’ he said, ‘but it’s raining heavily, as you can hear. Come and have coffee with me.’

  In the lounge the curtains had been drawn against the lightning and already fires had been lit in the stone fireplaces - one at either end of the room. Michelle found herself wondering why Lyle Cunningham was not at his house.

  ‘What have you been doing with yourself today?’ he asked, when they were seated.

  ‘I took Laney into Thabana. She had an appointment with her doctor and then we did some shopping, had tea and drove back to the farm -

  just ahead of the storm, as a matter of fact. Laney bought a newspaper and there was a Stop Press concerning the weather.

  Apparently there was a heavy storm somewhere causing a sharp drop in temperatures and what they termed as flash floods.’

  ‘You didn’t get lost on the way?’ His tone was friendly and his smile suggested a lot of things, and suddenly Michelle knew that his presence here was no accident through being held up by the storm and he was not merely being kind to her - he was more than just a little interested in her.

  ‘It’s difficult to believe that it can be so madly hot one moment and so cold the next,’ she said, trying to control her thoughts.

  Outside, it was obvious that the elements were going wild.

  The lounge seemed full of thunder, wiping out the sound of conversation and the clinking of coffee cups and glasses.

  ‘Would you like a liqueur with your coffee?’ Lyle asked.

  ‘If you choose one,’ she replied.

  After he had ordered the liqueurs he turned to her and said, ‘So you shopped in Thabana?’

  ‘Mostly things for Laney and the baby.’ After a pause she said, ‘I me
t Glen Hayes there - by chance, I mean.’ She sensed Lyle’s quick sideways glance.

  ‘Oh? Did you?’ He sounded interested.

  ‘I knocked over some tins which were stacked next to the entrance of a shop and he came to the rescue and sorted them out for me. I felt such an idiot. We got talking…’

  ‘I see. Well, as I once said, that had to happen. Glen Hayes is always about. It was just a matter of time.’ His voice sounded easy, but Michelle sensed a change in him.

  In the darkness outside the mountains surrendered themselves to the storm. On the terraces the colourful sun-umbrellas would have been folded and stacked away, leaving the terrazzo-topped tables and white cast-iron chairs to the mercy of the rain as it splashed down. In the morning the paving stones would be strewn with battered leaves and petals which had been blown off the plants by the wind.

  Chilled by the sudden change in Lyle Cunningham, Michelle said, ‘Thank you for the liqueur. I’ll have to be going upstairs now.’

  ‘Aren’t you staying to play bingo?’ he asked, giving her a trace of a smile.

  ‘No. I thought of writing one or two letters back home,’ she lied.

  ‘We have a saying in this country, tomorrow is another day.’

  She laughed. ‘Tomorrow is out for letter writing, I’m afraid. I happen to be completely booked up in the morning. Later, when things quieten down in the salon I’ll be helping at the desk.’

  ‘I’m still puzzled as to how involved you’ve got yourself on the desk,’

  he said. ‘Is it because of Glen Hayes?’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Her voice was stiff.

  ‘Well, he’s always phoning, isn’t he?’

  She turned away and watched the colours shifting about the grate as the logs burned brightly, leaping upwards through thin misty-grey veils of smoke. ‘Glen Hayes comes through on the phone either to talk to Liza or to make arrangements for a Land-Rover,’ she said, turning back to look at him.