by Kay Thorpe
'I'd already planned to do that,' said her son, meeting Eve's eyes across the table. 'There are many places Eve must see while she's here with us. I'll be pleased to put myself at her disposal at any time when business is not too pressing.'
His mother looked from one to the other, and smiled. 'There is no reason why Juan cannot deal with business affairs alone for a while,' she said. 'Two weeks is such a short time in which to see all that is to be seen, and Eve cannot be allowed to travel the island alone.'
'I wouldn't be alone,' Eve put in quickly, sensing that things were getting away from her. 'Lynn would come with me.'
Senora Perestrello shook her head. 'Your sister does not appear very much interested in sightseeing, and two young women need the protection of a man just as much as the one. No, Ramon will accompany you wherever you wish to go, then I shall be at ease in my mind.'
'So that's settled,' he said with a gleam of derision.
'What's settled?' asked Lynn, entering the room at that moment. She looked fresh as a daisy in a white linen dress, but there was a frown behind the blue eyes as she looked from Ramon to her sister inquiringly.
'Oh, Ramon was just offering to take us both to see the island,' Eve said swiftly before he could speak. 'Isn't it good of him?'
'Very.' Lynn sat down in her place, still without having offered a word of greeting to Senora Perestrello (just thoughtlessness, Eve told herself, and hoped that the others realised it too). 'I heard you all out on the terraces a while ago. Did you go swimming with Juan?'
'No.' It was Ramon who got in first this time. 'Eve and I have been walking for over an hour. A very enjoyable hour. She and I appear to have many interests in common.'
Eve didn't dare to look at Lynn. She could have murdered Ramon. He was doing this with such deliberation, telling Lynn in every way but the actual words that his attention to her was not to be misunderstood. It was cruel and unnecessary. Lynn
wasn't dense; she wouldn't need it spelling out for her.
Juan came in, his face lighting up when he saw his fiancée already seated at the table. It took so little to make him happy, thought Eve, watching him drop a kiss on her sister's slightly averted cheek before taking his place. Perhaps too little. If only he wouldn't make it so obvious that Lynn was the light around which his happiness revolved.
Lynn disappeared after the two brothers had left. Eve spent the morning with Señora Perestrello in a shady corner of the upper terrace, until the growing heat drove her to fetch a bathing suit and descend to the pool to cool off. The water was deliciously refreshing. She swam a couple of lengths, floated a while and swam again, surfacing at the narrow end of the egg-shaped pool to find Lynn standing on the side waiting for her.
'I suppose you think you've been very clever,' she said bitterly as Eve climbed out of the water and squeezed out her streaming hair. 'What did you say to Ramon this morning?'
'I asked him what his intentions were towards you,' Eve admitted. She added appealingly, 'I don't want you to get hurt, that's all, Lynn.'
'You mean you want to make sure I don't get Ramon, don't you? I suppose you trotted out all that stuff about Juan being his brother, and the family honour and all that. Oh, I can just hear you! ' Lynn was working herself up into a rage. 'You want him for yourself, that's the trouble with you!'
Eve had to laugh. 'I've known him less than twenty-four hours. That's hardly long enough for me to decide on something like that.'
'You've known Juan even less than that, yet obviously long enough to decide that I should go ahead and marry him. But that's different, isn't it!
Eve hesitated. 'I think,' she said at last, 'that if you're going to marry anyone at all just yet, then Juan would definitely be a good choice. But I'm not sure that marriage is the right thing for you. You're only nineteen, Lynn. There are years ahead of you before you ought to start thinking of settling down.'
'Who said anything about settling down? With Ramon I wouldn't have to. He's modern. He doesn't think that a wife should be bound to the home like most of his countrymen—like Juan, for instance! Do you really think I'd even consider a life like his mother's? She's been into Puerto once since I've been here. Once!'
'Because Senora Perestrello is happy to stay at home it doesn't necessarily mean that it's expected of her,' Eve pointed out. 'And while I daresay it was once the accepted way of life for the womenfolk to stay in the background, I'm sure that most of them today live more or less the same kind of lives as we do at home.'
'That's all you know. You haven't met any of them yet. Juan took me to meet some friends of The family who have two daughters round about my age. You should have seen them, sitting there
with their sewing, speaking only when spoken to, and then only to agree with everything said. Like a couple of zombies ! One of them is engaged—to a man chosen for her by her parents. I ask you!'
'From what I've heard, these arranged marriages often work out better than our own method,' Eve said mildly. 'So all right, some families still cling to tradition; I'm not going to condemn them simply because I don't understand their ways. But you're not going to persuade me that Juan comes into that category either. If he did he'd have made sure to choose himself a nice submissive little Spanish bride rather than a flashing-eyed English virago.'
Her attempt to raise a smile from her sister failed miserably. Lynn was in no mood for humour. 'He didn't choose me,' she said with a sniff. 'I chose him. And I've changed my mind.'
'Then you'd better tell him so. It isn't fair to go on letting him think you're in love with him when you're not.' Eve picked up a towel and began to rub her shoulders, although the sun had long since dried them off. 'We could perhaps get a couple of seats on a plane tomorrow. I can always send the Perestrellos the money for my own ticket when we get back.' It would leave her completely cleaned out of the savings she had managed to accumulate over the years, but that was something that would have to be faced later. For the present it was more essential that the two of them stop abusing the Perestrellos' hospitality as soon as possible.
'You can go if you want to. I'm staying put.' Lynn's mouth was set and mutinous, and Eve gave
a sigh. It was impossible to do anything with her in this mood; she knew that from long experience. But she had to try.
'Ramon won't marry you,' she said frankly. 'Even if you did break things off with Juan the most you could hope for is an affair with him—and somehow I think that even Ramon would draw the line at his own brother's ex-fiancée.'
'All right then, I'll have an affair with him.' Typically Lynn ignored the last remark. 'That would really give you something to worry about!'
Eve watched her stalk away with a feeling of helplessness. She had been wrong, it appeared; Lynn did need it spelling out for her. And what about Juan? What about the plans for the wedding even now taking shape in Senora Perestrello's mind? She had been here on the island less than twenty-four hours, and already she was right in the centre of a situation she couldn't even begin to know how to deal with.
CHAPTER THREE
IT was a smiling Juan who announced after dinner that as the following day was a Saturday, and there was nothing of any urgency requiring attention, both he and Ramon had decided to take the opportunity of showing the girls some of the island's places of interest.
'We shall use one car only,' he said. 'With two
drivers the day will not be as tiring.'
'I shall have to sit in front all the time,' put in Lynn swiftly. 'I get sick in the back on long journeys. Eve doesn't mind, do you?' with a challenging look which dared Eve to deny it.
Eve murmured the only response she could make under the circumstances. Setting down her cup, she caught Ramon's amused glance, and thought sourly that he was being little help, although quite what she expected him to say or do she wasn't at all certain. The only thing liable to convince Lynn of the hopelessness of her dreams was some pretty plain speaking from Ramon himself, and that seemed unlikely unless he could be persuade
d to take the whole situation more seriously than he appeared to be doing.
As it was she had spent a couple of hours with Señora Perestrello after siesta dreading the moment when the other would mention the wedding date again. As she hadn't, Eve could only assume that her acceptance of the time previously mentioned had been taken for granted, which was a relief for the time being, but hardly a matter she could just forget.
They set off right after breakfast next morning, with Juan driving on this first leg of the journey. Vibrantly conscious of the man seated beside her in the rear of the car, Eve took a great interest in the scenery she had first seen two days ago on her way to the villa, sticking rigidly to her own corner of the seat until a particularly tight bend caught her unawares and sent her sliding into his shoulder.
'Sorry,' she said confusedly. 'I didn't see that corner coming.'
`So I gathered.' His voice was dry. 'If you'd lean against me you'd have little difficulty in rounding the bends.'
'Thanks, I can manage,' she replied hastily. 'Which part of the island are we visiting?'
'The north-west coast. At Icod there is a dragon tree which you should find particularly interesting,' he added mockingly. 'It's said to be over three thousand years old.'
'Why dragon tree?' asked Lynn from the front, obviously feeling that it was time she made her presence felt. 'Does it look like one?'
`It looks like anything one wishes,' Ramon answered with lazy good humour. 'And it bleeds red when it is cut. If you're very good I promise not to throw you to it ! '
'The tree gives off a resin which is used in the manufacture of varnishes, among other things,' explained Juan. 'The resin itself is called dragon's blood.' He turned his head to give Lynn a smile Which faded abruptly when she refused to meet his glance. 'You are feeling well, amada?'
'Of course.' Her tone was short. 'Don't fuss, Juan.'
From where she sat Eve could see Juan's face through the driving mirror and her heart ached for him. He was so obviously trying his hardest to believe that everything was as it had first been between the two of them, but Lynn's attitude left little room for self-deception. She wanted suddenly
to take her sister by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. Didn't she care at all about the way she was hurting Juan?
No, it wasn't that she didn't care, came the thought. Simply that she failed to realise just how much he cared for her. Crazy about her, she had claimed on that first afternoon, and to Lynn that said it all. It wouldn't have occurred to her that some emotions went a great deal deeper than her own.
Today the skies were clear over La Laguna, and this time Eve was able to get a better look at the old city with its balconied houses and many churches contrasting sharply with the modern hotels springing up on its outskirts. From there they took the road out to the airport, continuing on past it through several villages of varying sizes and importance until they came within sight of the sea again on the western side of the island and entered the lovely Valley of Orotava. Down to the right lay the town of Puerto de la Cruz, dazzling white against the blue of the sea beyond.
They spent an interesting couple of hours at the Orotava Botanical Gardens viewing the many and varied plants originally brought to the island from America and Asia in order to acclimatise them for eventual transplant to the mainland. Interesting, that was, to Eve, who was delighted to recognise several varieties of plant life without having to refer to the catalogue. Lynn was frankly bored, and didn't bother to conceal her relief when they were on their way again.
At Icod there was a pause to drink coffee at one of the cafés in the shady main square with its panoramic views over the valley, before continuing on through the town to see the famous dragon tree and marvel at the grotesquely twisted trunk and tremendous height and breadth. Then it-was on again to the lava-covered town of Garachico, where the few old buildings remaining included a tiny fortress called the Castillo de San Miguel which had no less than five coats of arms carved over its doorway. Some short distance out to sea there were two rocks surmounted by crosses signifying the prayers of the inhabitants to be spared another disaster.
Even here the eye of enterprise had seen possibilities, and attractive bathing places had been constructed in the lava covering the sight of the former harbour, with a café thrown in for good measure. Food had been packed for them at the villa, and with a couple of bottles of wine from the café the four of them adjourned to a quiet spot to enjoy a swim before they ate.
'We're not going to stay here for the rest of the day, are we?' said Lynn in some disgust when neither of the men showed any signs of preparing to move after the meal. 'There's nothing here ! '
'There's the sea,' remarked Ramon lazily without bothering to open his eyes. He had his back against a shady rock and looked quite content to stay there indefinitely. 'And the thoughts of what once was here where we're sitting now. Under the lava flow are buried people who lived and laughed
and loved just as we do today until that night almost two hundred years ago when Teide claimed them.'
'Oh, don't! How awful! ' Lynn looked at him askance. 'Was it really like that?'
'Well, probably not. I imagine they would have warning enough at this distance to be clear of the town before the lava reached them.' He opened on eye and grinned at her expression. 'I was simply adding the interest you wanted.'
'Is that what you call it ! ' But Lynn was smiling at him, fully aware of the picture she made in her red bikini against the background of black rock. 'You really are the limit, Ramon! And why this sudden need to rest? You don't usually take a siesta.'
'There are siestas and siestas,' he observed. 'And today I feel idle.' He was looking at Eve now, stretched out on a towel a few feet away; she could feel his gaze even through her closed lids. 'Why don't you copy your sister and relax for a little while?'
'Because I don't feel like relaxing,' she snapped back, the smile vanishing. She scrambled to her feet. 'I'm going to have a look round. Are you coming, Juan?'
Juan didn't need twice asking. Eve sat up to watch the two of them climb down over the lava to reach the path. When she looked round at Ramon his eyes were dancing.
'How did I do?' he asked.
She said dryly, 'You'd do a whole lot better if
you'd try being consistent. One minute you're smiling and joking with her, the next telling her to run away.'
His shrug was easy. 'The sight of your sister would bring a smile to any man's lips. Are you saying I shouldn't even find her attractive?'
`No, of course not. All I meant was ...' Eve hesitated, searching for the right words, and saw his grin come and go.
'You're not even sure what it is you do mean,' he said. 'If I'm to blame for this infatuation Lynn feels for me, then I'm the one who must decide on the best way to deal with it.'
'But you don't think you are responsible, do you?' she came back. 'You still deny that you gave her any encouragement at all.'
Again came the shrug. 'I was naturally attentive towards my brother's novia. A Spanish girl would accept this as her due without reading more into it than was intended.'
'Lynn could hardly be expected to know the rules.'
'I said nothing about rules. Only the immature fail to recognise the difference between admiration of a pretty face and genuine desire. Lynn has the body of a woman, but in many ways she's still a child who wants only what she hasn't already got.'
It was like hearing her own thoughts put into words, but Eve had no intention of letting Lynn down by agreeing openly with him. She said quietly, 'Then why did you say that Juan was the right man for her when according to what you've
just said she isn't ready for marriage with anyone?'
'You're putting words into my mouth again. Marriage is what she does need. Marriage with a man like Juan who will exert a steadying influence.'
'He doesn't seem to be doing very much influencing at the moment,' Eve pointed out. 'Lynn appears to have him wrapped around her little finger.'
'It takes a lot to bring Juan to the point at which he begins to boil,' was the even reply. 'But when he does reach that point then he's a man to be reckoned with. Lynn will learn that much for herself quite soon, I think.'
'You really believe they will eventually get married then?'
'That's up to the two of them. It has nothing to do with either you or me.' He pushed himself into a more comfortable position. 'I think we've talked enough about that. Now we'll talk about ourselves. Tonight I'll take you into Puerto and we'll paint the town into the early hours.' His tone challenged her to refuse him. 'I have a feeling you like to dance.'
'I do,' Eve admitted, and thought fleetingly of Gavin, who hated it. 'But I don't think ...'
'It's settled. I've already told Madre that we'll be out to dinner.' He said it firmly. The others must make their own arrangements. This is supposed to be a holiday for you as well as an opportunity to judge the Perestrellos for yourself. Tell me,' he went on with a return to his usually
lazy tones, 'what you think of us up to now.'
'What you really want to know,' returned Eve on a deliberately light note, 'is what I think of you!'
`So?' The dark eyes were taunting.
'I think,' she said after a moment, 'that you're very Spanish, and that I don't understand you at all well.'
'The understanding is not important as long as the emotions are clear. You don't deny that you're aware of me as a man?'
Eve conjured a smile. 'I imagine all women are aware of you in that way. You make sure of it. But you don't have to be afraid that I'll start taking you seriously too.'
`Ah no. You're far too sensible.' His tone was suddenly enigmatic. 'You see me for what I am, so that is what I shall be. There will be no pretence between us.' He reached out a hand for his slacks and shirt. 'The others are returning, and we have a long drive back. Are you quite dried off?'