Soon her arms felt as if they were coming out of the sockets and her legs ached unbearably. She stopped, panting, to take five minutes' rest, but knowing that the men were watching her, she gritted her teeth and picked up the scythe again. The horrible thing felt like lead in her hands that were starting to blister. She thought of how she could have been back home in London planning her wedding to Richard by now if it hadn't been for that beast Max von Reistoven. Thinking of him made her swing the scythe viciously and she found that it helped a lot. So with every swing she thought of all the things she'd like to do to him, and the area was cleared far more quickly than she had expected.
Rather proudly she went over to tell the builder that he could now build his bonfire, but after a conversation in his broken English and her very broken German gathered that she was expected to do that too. She looked in dismay at the mouldy wood and then at what had been an expensive shirt and jeans. She sighed: at least she'd learnt enough to bring a scarf for her hair today. All afternoon she dragged the heavy timbers across the field and built an extremely ragged- looking bonfire. Before long her clothes and arms were stained and filthy and there was a large smear of dirt across her face where she had wiped away the perspiration that ran down her forehead. The workmen went home, but Lee was determined to finish stacking the rubbish that day, so went on to add the last few pieces to the pile.
She had just gaspingly lugged another wall timber on to the stack and turned to go for another when she looked up to see a horseman astride a big black stallion riding easily up to her. Max reined in the horse only a few feet away and looked her up and down slowly, taking in every detail, then lifted one mobile eyebrow.
'I had heard that the British were enthusiastic— how do you put it—do-it-yourself experts, but I hadn't realised that it extended to Austrian chalets. I must congratulate you, Fraulein, you seem to be quite throwing yourself into your work.'
Lee glared at him. 'Don't you know you're trespassing?' she countered, deciding to ignore his sarcasm.
'So I am.' But as he spoke he dismounted and set the horse loose to graze. He came across and stood, tall and powerful, just in front of her. 'So why don't you throw me out?' he taunted her.
Lee stared up at him for a moment and then turned her back on him to walk away, but he came to walk along beside her.
'Aren't you going to show me how the work is progressing?'
'Certainly not! Why should I?'
'Well, it is my house,' he said in the tones of one who is patiently trying to explain something to a simpleton.
Swinging round to face him, Lee retorted angrily, 'That's a lie and you know it! My great-uncle had a perfect right to this house.'
'Had he? You know that for a fact, do you? You've read all the papers in the case, checked my grandfather's will that entailed it originally, and all the other relevant documents? You know without any doubt that you're the rightful owner, do? you?' he asked sharply, his eyes watching her intently as she tried to mask the dismay his questions had aroused in her.
Biting her lip, Lee turned away. It was quite true that she hadn't done any of those things herself, but Herr Kreuz must have done so for Uncle Howard and found them sufficient proof, or they would never have had a chance in court. Max was just trying to undermine her resolve by putting doubts in her mind. Bending down, she picked up a couple of planks to take over to the bonfire.
'Here, let me do that for you,' Max said at once, and went to take them from her.
'Take your hands away,' Lee said angrily. 'I can manage perfectly well and I certainly don't need your help!'
He stood back at once and went to lean against a tree trunk, his arms folded, as he nonchalantly watched her working. At length she couldn't stand his gaze any longer.
'Why don't you just go away?' she demanded, goaded into exasperation.
'But I'm enjoying myself,' he said mockingly. 'Tell me, does your fiancé approve of what you're doing?'
'Richard? Yes, of—of course.' She tried to sound positive, but was afraid he might have noticed her hesitation so added for good measure, 'He's a hundred per cent behind me. He doesn't like intimidation either.'
'Really?' Max's voice was heavy with irony. 'I should have thought that he was used to it.'�
Lee dropped the planks and confronted him angrily. 'And just what is that supposed to mean?'
'Merely that anyone who is willing to take on a spoiled brat like you must be either a lovesick fool or a masochist.'
'Why, you…!' Lee's hand, with all her strength behind it, came up to strike him across the face, but he had anticipated her action even before she had made it and caught her arm before it was anywhere near him. Struggling wildly, she tried to break away, but Max caught her other wrist and pulled her roughly against him so that she could feel his hard, lean body against her as she twisted to get free. Realising the futility of it, she stopped struggling to stand, quivering and helpless, but furious with rage, in front of him.
'You little tigress! I ought to do what that fiancé of yours should have done long ago and put you across my knee. A good spanking would do you the world of good.'
'As I've said before,' Lee replied sarcastically, 'brute force is your answer to everything. You're so big and you wield such power that I don't suppose anyone but Uncle Howard and I ever dared to stand up to you before, with the result that you think you can ride roughshod over everyone you meet, push aside anyone who gets in your way, and you couldn't care less if people get hurt in the process. Well, you can threaten and bully me all you want, but it won't get you anywhere, because I'm not afraid of you! I'm not a helpless old man to be kicked out of the way! And as for Richard—he's kind and gentle. Compared to him you're just a—a king-sized moron!'
Max had been watching her frowningly, his lips a thin line of anger during this tirade, but as she finished his look changed, his lips twitched and quite suddenly he began to laugh with genuine amusement. Irrationally this annoyed Lee more than ever and she again tried to break free, but he took both her wrists in his left hand and put his right under her chin so that she had to look at him. Hard blue eyes looked deep into her hazel ones.
'No,' he said in a strangely odd voice, 'I don't feel either kind or gentle towards you.'
For a moment longer he held her, then he bent and picked her up in his arms to carry her across to the Beetle and dump her unceremoniously in the driver's seat.
'Go home and get some rest. You've had enough for one day.' But whether he was referring to her work on the chalet or her argument with him, Lee didn't know.
She eyed him suspiciously, unwilling to leave while he was still there. He sensed her thoughts, for he said sarcastically, 'It's all right, Freiulein, you needn't be afraid. I'm hardly likely to burn down my own property.'
Angrily Lee started up the car and turned it in the direction of the village. She didn't even look to see if he was leaving, she wouldn't give him that much satisfaction. But as she drove back to the hotel her thoughts somehow returned to that moment when she had been held close to him. There had been a strange look in his eyes then that she couldn't understand and she had been afraid, but with a fascinated fear that had held her still, unable to prevent what he would do, not really wanting to. She shivered. God, how she wished she'd never met the man, never come to Austria. If only she hadn't listened to Richard everything could have been conducted by letter and she would never have got mixed up in old feuds, old hatreds. She tried to dismiss Max for what he was; a greedy, despotic brute of a man, but always she remembered how charming and— and downright nice he had been when they first met.
Next morning she got to the chalet early before the workmen arrived so that she could complete her, unfinished task of the night before. But when she looked for the rest of the old wood it had disappeared. Her ragged pile of timbers had been pulled down and instead rebuilt into a neatly stacked bonfire with a wind tunnel full of small kindling. A note had been stuck on to a nail and when Lee took it down she read, 'Even
morons sometimes have their uses—especially king-sized ones!'
CHAPTER FOUR
Moodily Lee watched the workmen's lorry as it disappeared towards Ausbach in a small cloud of dust. The builder had just told her that an emergency had cropped up at another building site and he would need all his men for two days. It was now nearly a week since they had started repairing the chalet and the walls, stairs and balcony were all finished, but they had yet to complete the roof. Instead they had spread a big tarpaulin over the gap to keep out the weather. The results of her own handiwork could be seen in the newly painted window frames and shutters at the front of the house, the new glass panes gleaming in the sunlight. Lee understood that the builder had to answer the emergency, but she was worried about her growing hotel bill Herr Gruber had taken her aside only the night before and explained that he had to increase his charges in the summer season, and asked her to decide whether she would prefer a smaller room without a bathroom.
As she sat and pondered over the problem Lee realised what a fool she had been. Why pay for a hotel room when she could live at the chalet? And if she lived on the premises she wouldn't need the Beetle to take her back and forth; if she did need to go into the village for supplies she could always hitch a lift with the workmen. The more she thought about it the more attractive the idea became, so within a few hours she had collected her luggage and checked out of the hotel, had bought herself a sleeping bag, camping stove and utensils, and enough food to last her for several days. These she left at the chalet while she drove the Beetle to the nearby town of Bergheim where she was able to leave it with an agent.
It took a long time to travel back by bus and an even longer time to tramp back to the chalet, but once there she felt a thrill of excitement; for the first time in her life she was going to spend the night alone in her own house. Come to think of it, it was going to be the first time she had ever spent a night so completely alone anywhere, but she pushed that thought resolutely aside and set to work to scrub out the chimney recess in the bedroom. When she had finished it smelt fresh and clean and she was able to spread her sleeping bag out in it without any fears of bugs or spiders sharing it with her.
Opening a couple of tins, she cooked herself an adequate meal on the little stove and rinsed the plates in the stream before making sure that all the doors were safely locked. It wasn't that she was nervous, she told herself firmly, but she lay awake for a long time listening to a gentle breeze lifting the corner of the tarpaulin and making it flap eerily against the wall, rather like the soft tread of footprints, and the cries of the screech owls as they hunted through the woods, before she eventually dropped into a restless sleep.
All the next morning she spent on cleaning out the rest of the bedroom, washing the walls and ceiling and scrubbing the floor. She had intended working on in the afternoon, but she suddenly found that she needed a break, to get right away from the chalet for a while. Taking the saddle that Herr Schneider had lent her, she caught the chestnut and was soon letting him have his head in a long gallop that took them far across the hill to the forest on the other side of the Schloss Reistoven. It was wonderful to feel the cool breeze in her hair after the heat of the valley and to sit astride the powerful animal as it carried her surely along, the ground flying beneath his hooves.
At length Lee reined in and bent to pat his neck in praise and gratitude. 'Well done, boy, that was fun!'
The horse whinnied as if in agreement and she laughed aloud, her voice echoing around her. For a while longer she continued to ride on, but the horse was lathered and she decided to cut through the forest below her and make her way back by a shorter route. They carried on easily down through the woods and she was just reaching the lower edge of the line of trees when the path she was following ran along beside a waterfall, swollen with melted snow, that plunged noisily out from the side of the rock face and jetted down into a narrow ravine before cascading on to the rocks below. Suddenly the horse pricked up his ears and snorted, stopping to paw the ground.
'What is it, boy? Does the waterfall frighten you?' Lee tried to urge him on, but the animal obstinately refused to move however much she encouraged him. Exasperated, she climbed from the saddle and tried to lead him past. 'Come on, old fellow, it won't hurt you.' She tugged on the bridle, but the horse merely put his ears back and neighed. It was then that Lee heard it! From somewhere close at hand someone was shouting, a cry of desperation which she hadn't been able to hear before because of the noise of the waterfall. The shout came again and seemed unbelievably to be coming from inside the deep ravine. Quickly Lee went to the edge and looked over. Two small faces gazed hopefully up at her from a narrow ledge about eight feet down. One belonged to a dark-haired, freckle-faced little boy of about eight years old, the other to a floppy-eared, long-haired dog of decidedly mixed parentage who was held tightly in the boy's arms.
'Good heavens!' Lee exclaimed. 'How on earth did you get down there?'
'Bitte, Frdulein. Mein Hundchen…' Then realising that Lee had spoken in English, 'Please, my dog fall,' the boy managed.
'And I suppose you went down to get him and couldn't get back again.' Lee examined the side of the ravine carefully. It was an easy enough climb with both hands free, but it would be difficult carrying the boy; still, he looked pretty sensible, she decided. 'Hang on, I'm coming down,' she called. Cautiously she climbed down until she had a secure hand and foothold just above him. 'All right, pass me the dog.'
He did so somewhat reluctantly, but it took Lee only a moment to lift the whimpering animal on to solid ground. Then she went back down for the boy. Carefully she hoisted him on to her back.
'Hold tight and don't look down,' she instructed, hoping that he would understand.
In a very few minutes they were back on the path with the puppy joyously licking his young master's face. 'I call, I call, but no one come,' he said as relief gave way to tears. Bravely he wiped them on the back of his hand and sniffed loudly. Lee found a clean hanky in her pocket and handed it to him.
'Here, try this.'
'Danhe.' He blew his nose hard and wiped his tear- stained little face, then politely offered the hanky back.
'Er—you keep it,' said Lee, looking at the screwed-up piece of linen. 'The puppy seems to be limping. Is he hurt?' Taking the animal from him, she examined it gently. 'He seems to have hurt his leg. I think we ought to take him to a vet.' Then seeing the look of incomprehension on the boy's face, she added, 'Animal doctor. For the dog.'
He seemed to understand, for he nodded eagerly, so Lee lifted the urchin up into the chestnut's saddle and climbed up behind him.
'What's your name? Name?' she repeated, pointing to him.
He grinned at her, revealing large gaps where his second teeth hadn't yet grown through. 'Rudi.'
'And I'm Lee Summers. And the dog;?' Pointing to the puppy this time.
'Das ist Prinz,' the boy said with some pride.
'Prince, huh?' Lee looked at the tangled and rather dirty puppy with its tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth. 'Well, I suppose he is in your eyes, honey.'
Herr Schneider looked at them in some astonishment when Lee rode into his farmyard with Rudi, having decided that that was the best and nearest place to take him, but the boy broke into a torrent of excited German with much pointing to the dog and to Lee. The farmer looked at the dog and then seemed to be giving Rudi some directions, for he wrote a name and address down for him. Lee had been watching them until Rudi came and looked pleadingly up at her.
'Please, Fraulein, you take animal doctor?'
Lee smiled at him reassuringly. 'Of course.' She hoisted him up in the saddle again and followed Herr Schneider's directions to the vet's house. She was thankful to find that he spoke some English.
'Is not too bad, Fraulein. Is not broken,' he told them. 'Keep strapped up for one week, then bring the Hundchen back.'
Rudi beamed at him and carefully lifted the bandaged Prinz into his arms, but his face swiftly fell again wh
en the vet named his fee. 'Please,' he looked imploringly at Lee, 'I no money.'
'Well, I have enough, so we don't have to worry, do we?'
. Once outside Lee turned to look at the boy. 'I think I had better take you home now. Where do you live?'
'Bitte?' Rudi looked at her uncertainly.
'Home? Where is it?'
His face cleared and he gave his gap-toothed and thoroughly engaging grin. '1st Schloss Reistoven.'
For a bewildered moment Lee could only stare at him, then, looking at Rudi's faded shirt and patched leather trousers, realised that there was probably a small army of servants at the Schloss and that Rudi must be the son of one of them.
'Good, I'm going that way myself,' she smiled. The boy obviously hadn't understood, but her smile was all the assurance he needed. Two minutes later they were all three once more sitting on the poor horse's back, but this time, instead of taking the fork in the track leading to her own house, Lee took the left fork that led to the Schloss Reistoven; to the lair of the king of the castle, she thought wryly, and sincerely hoped that she wouldn't encounter him on the way.
The track led to the back of the castle, to a large old gate that stood wide open and was obviously a sort of tradesmen's entrance, if a castle could be described as having such a thing. A wide, tarmac road started from this gate and ran round the outside of the high stone ramparts of a medieval curtain wall towards what Lee guessed must be the gatehouse of the castle, and then on down the steep hillside to the village. Looking through the open gateway, she could see a cobbled way leading to a large stable area and vast coachhouses, all well maintained and clean as a new pin. Not wanting to linger longer than necessary, she dismounted and took Prinz from Rudi while he scrambled to the ground.
Sally Wentworth - King of the Castle Page 6