Miranda frowned. ‘You mean—you mean he—usually comes through our bedroom?’
Caroline licked her lips which had suddenly gone dry. ‘Well—er—yes—and no!’ She paused, aware of David watching her closely. ‘I expect sometimes he comes this way, and sometimes he goes some other way, but today just happened to be the day for the Laceys’ bungalow.’
Miranda suddenly let out another little scream as the lizard, clearly tired of waiting any longer, darted swiftly towards the window, ran up the wall and disappeared through the shutters. Even Caroline could not completely hide the desire to gather her skirts more closely about her legs, but at least now it had gone and the atmosphere eased considerably.
‘There you are,’ she managed, with as much nonchalance as she could muster. ‘He’s gone, and after today’s performance I doubt very much whether he’ll want to come back.’ Miranda breathed a sigh of relief, and David sat cross-legged on his bed, watching her as she picked her way gingerly across the linoleum.
‘I’m glad I’m not frightened of lizards,’ he remarked disparagingly. ‘I expect there are millions of them here——’
‘David!’ Caroline’s tone was sharp. ‘I will not have you deliberately frightening your sister like this! Now, I’m going to make some tea. If you two want to come along, you can. But put on your dressing gowns—and please be quiet! I don’t want to wake your mother and father.’
‘Oh, Daddy’s gone,’ remarked David airily. ‘He left about half an hour ago.’
Caroline frowned. ‘Left? For where?’
‘For work, he said. He came in to say goodbye to us. They start terribly early here because it’s too hot to work later on.’
That made sense. Caroline nodded. ‘Well, don’t wake your mother, then,’ she advised dryly.
‘I expect Miranda’s done that already,’ replied David practically, and Caroline gave him another exasperated look before turning along the passage towards the kitchen.
She filled the kettle from the tap which Charles had explained the night before was attached to a large water tank outside. When the tank was empty, it had to be refilled from the nearby stream, and if it should rain, water was collected in barrels to be used as well. Plugging in the kettle, Caroline felt her spirits reasserting themselves. In spite of her broken night’s sleep, things seemed infinitely brighter this morning. It was all an adventure, and in spite of his attitude towards her yesterday, the knowledge that Gareth Morgan was only a few miles away filled her with an unreasoning excitement.
While the kettle was boiling she took her first real look at La Vache. From the kitchen-windows there was little to interest her in a patch of scrubby grass and a belt of jungle-like undergrowth, although the purple-shadowed mountains beyond had a remote beauty. But the living-room windows overlooked the lawn at the front of the house, and beyond it the hard-baked track which served as a road.
It was much bigger than Caroline remembered from the night before, with perhaps a dozen bungalows similar to the Laceys’ set at intervals beside the track. It seemed strange to see smoke rising from open fires in the African village when already the sun was spreading a golden rose colour over everything and washing the white-painted buildings with it warmth. Across the track, in the garden of the house opposite, a tall flowering tree drooped orangey-red blossoms, strange and exotic, a reminder of the burning heat of the sun at noon. A movement near the tree distinguished itself as a white-throated monkey, and a smile lifted the corners of Caroline’s mouth. The beauty she had sought to find in Ashenghi, and which had proved so elusive, was here in plenty if one chose to look for it, and only the whistling of the kettle dragged her away from her contemplation.
By the time David and Miranda appeared, Caroline had found cups and a teapot, set them on a tray, and was on her way back to Elizabeth’s room. Making as little noise as possible, she opened Elizabeth’s bedroom door, but then saw that her employer was awake.
Elizabeth lay on her back, the mosquito net thrust aside, staring broodingly up at the fly-marked ceiling above her head. When Caroline entered, her eyes turned in her direction and widened appreciatively when she saw the tray of tea. Struggling up on her pillows, she patted the bed beside her, and Caroline went forward and put down the tray, bending to pour tea for both of them.
David and Miranda hovered near the doorway. They knew better than to come bounding into their mother’s bedroom without first ascertaining what kind of mood she was in, and although she was sipping her tea with evident enjoyment, Elizabeth did not look particularly happy.
‘Charles has gone,’ she remarked unnecessarily. ‘He must have woken the children as well as me before he left, because there’s been the most ghastly racket coming from their bedroom ever since.’
Caroline glanced at the children, still hesitating beside the door, and took pity on them. She felt like asking why, if Elizabeth had heard Miranda screaming, she hadn’t gone to see what was the matter with her. Had she no maternal instincts whatsoever? But she decided against creating any more friction, and said instead:
‘A lizard frightened Miranda, that was all. It ran away when I went in to them.’
‘I see.’ Elizabeth looked rather warily about the room as though expecting to find the unwelcome visitor in her room now, and then looked at her son and daughter. ‘Well, come on in, if you’re coming, can’t you?’ she cried irritably. ‘You know I can’t stand people who won’t make up their minds what they’re going to do!’
Miranda moved slowly over to her mother’s bed. ‘It was the most ‘normous lizard, Mummy,’ she began, and then paused as David snorted derisively.
‘It was not!’ he declared. ‘It was a harmless little thing, Caroline said so.’
‘Yes, well, that’s enough about the lizard,’ said Caroline sharply. ‘Miranda had a fright. But she’s over it now.’
‘I was very scared,’ went on Miranda, clearly intent on deriving the maximum amount of sympathy from the incident, but Elizabeth wasn’t listening to her.
‘Charles said he’ll be back as soon as he can,’ she was explaining to Caroline. ‘And in the meantime we’re to have breakfast and look around.’ She shuddered. ‘Although what he expects us to look around at I can’t imagine.’
‘Oh, but there’s lots to see,’ replied Caroline, trying to arouse her enthusiasm. ‘It’s a wonderful morning, not too hot yet, and I’ve already seen the most beautiful tree in the garden opposite.’
‘How exciting!’ Elizabeth was sarcastic. ‘Caroline, I’m beginning to wonder what kind of fool I’ve been in coming here! I mean—well, back home in England it all sounded quite easy—a holiday almost. But what kind of a holiday can anyone have when there’s no hot water, hardly any bathing facilities, a houseboy who hasn’t the first idea how to cook food, and no distinguishable sign of civilisation!’
‘Try and look on it as an adventure,’ said Caroline. ‘After all, what’s the point of coming to Africa and expecting it to be like an extension of England? It’s not. There are no similarities, not in climate, or vegetation, or culture. You’ve got to take what there is and, for want of a better phrase, make the best of it.’ She sighed. ‘Oh, I know that sounds trite, but honestly, Elizabeth, there are more things in life than hot water and well-cooked food!’
Elizabeth’s lips twisted. ‘What a pity you’re not Charles’s wife, instead of me,’ she remarked. ‘The battle would have been won without a single shot being fired!’
Caroline bent her head. ‘Why does there have to be a battle, Elizabeth? Heavens, Charles works here because he has to, because it’s his way of providing for you and the children. The least you can do is try and see it his way. How would you have felt if Charles had