The golden valley Page 12

  CHAPTER XII

  SALLY was hugging herself tightly, trying to stop shivering and keep herself from screaming as she sat crouched in the damp cave, listening to the increasing drip drip of the rain as it came through the holes, when suddenly there was a glimmer of light where before there had only been darkness, and a voice shouted urgently: "Sally. ..Sally!" Sally managed to stand up. "Jonathan! Oh, Jonathan !" she called weakly. In a moment he was down the few steps and by her side, picking her up and carrying her out into the grey downpour. She clung to him tightly, as if afraid he would vanish, and the tears slid down her cheeks. "Oh, Jonathan'." she gasped. "Jonathan darling!" He looked down at her. "Don't talk. We'll soon have vou in bed and warm." She was trembling as she lay in his arms, and she saw that he could feel it. "I thought I'd drown " she gasped, sobbing. "It was so cold, Jonathan. I was so frightened, the walls seemed to . . ." She choked for a moment. "Don't try to talk. Sally," he said gently. Suddenly she remembered and her body stiffened in his arms. "Put me down, Jonathan," she said. "I'll be all right. You must . . . he's found the treasure you must catch him. The diamonds . . ." she gulped miser ably. "I know, and I have," Jonathan told her. So stop worrying." She stared up at him. "But how?" 174 THE GOLDEN VALLEY "Don't talk," he said sharply. "Everything's under control." Everything seemed to be. Sally thought, except herself, as a big mackintosh cape was wrapped round Jonathan to partially shelter her from the drenching rain. She had caught a glimpse of the swollen river as Jonathan waded across, and then they were suddenly at M'Lita where the big blue car was waiting and Douglas came to meet them. "What are you doing here?" she gasped. "Looking for you," he said in a matter-of-fact voice, as he helped Jonathan get into the car with Sally still in his arms. "I . . ." Sally sobbed. "I can't stop crying . . ." "Then don't try," Douglas said gently. "We don't mind, and it won't hurt you. Sally." "Did you?" Jonathan asked him. "Yes. As soon as they brought word that you'd found her, I phoned at once. He'll be with us as soon as he can," Douglas said. Their voices seemed far away to Sally, and as if she lived in another world as she lay in Jonathan's arms and let herself cry. There were so many things she wmted to say, to explain, even to have explained to her, but she couldn't talk properly. Everything seemed blurred. The car journey the swish and roar of the rain beating against the windows and windscreen, the slow tack-tack of the wipers as they rubbed small patches of vision in the rain-drenched glass. Then a house vaguely she saw a big Colonial-type house and Ouma's worried face and Sally was carried upstairs, and Ouma herself was there, helping Sally undress, giving her an old-fashioned calico nightdress to put on, putting her into bed where hot water bottles waited for her. THE GOLDEN VALLEY "There, there," Ouma kept saying. "Don't try to talk." "I can't stop crying," Sally wailed. Ouma wiped her face gently with a warm flannel. "You will, in time. Now here's a nice strong cup of coffee." Sally thought there must be something stronger than coffee in the cup, for it burned her throat and gave her a warm comforting feeling inside her. She found the tears stopping, and managed to speak coherently to Ouma. "I wasn't helping them find the treasure, Ouma," she said earnestly. "Netta had told me it was the family Bible, and I thought once he'd seen it he'd be satisfied and go away." "Don't talk, dear," Ouma said gently. "The doctor's coming and he'll give you something to make you sleep. We'll talk about it later." "Is Jonathan . . ." Sally hesitated, but she had to know. "Is he very angry with me?" Ouma looked startled. "I don't think so. Should he be? I got the impression he was very worried about you." Sally relaxed, the tenseness leaving her. Perhaps Jonathan could let her explain, perhaps this time he would understand .. . The doctor was suddenly there, speaking gently as he examined her. "You really are getting yourself involved at the moment, my child. More headlines in the paper," he said, teasing her. "Girl traps villain and his gang!" "But I didn't . . ." Sally began, and winced slightly as she felt the prick of the needle. The doctor patted her cheek gently. "Just close your eyes. Sally, and forget everything. Tomorrow is another day and you can talk then." THE GOLDEN VALLEY 177 She obeyed, and felt herself lifted on a cloud, floating along, everything warm and slightly blurred. When she awoke, a great curtain of grey rain shut out everything, and even in bed with hot water bottles it was chilly. Breakfast followed, and after a little argument, Ouma said Sally could get up. "Douglas got your clothes from M'Lita," Ouma told her, and smiled. "If they're warmer, wear trousers. I must get used to them, I'm told. You really feel strong enough?" "I feel fine," Sally said quickly. But she was not so sure as she bathed and dressed, choosing a warm russet-brown woollen frock. She looked in the mirror and was shocked by her red-rimmed eyes and pale look. She certainly had cried the day before, she remembered guiltily, but it had been beyond her power to stop it. The staircase was curved and luckily had a banister Sally could hold on to, for it was absurd how shaky she felt. Douglas met her at the bottom of the stairs. "You're sure you feel all right?" he said. "I'm fine," Sally assured him. "But what are you doing here? Mr. White told me he'd he'd got rid of you." Douglas's lean face creased into smiles. "He certainly did in no uncertain terms. I was tempted sorely tempted," he added with a smile, "to punch him on the nose. Instead ..." "Instead?" Sally was glad of his arm as she walked across the wide hall with its highly polished floor and dark red rugs. THE GOLDEN VALLEY "I came to my old friend Jonathan Nesfield," Douglas told her. "You knew Jonathan?" Sally stood still, trying to sort it out. "Yes, that's why I worked for White," Douglas said. "Jonathan met you just as you were getting that job, you remember? He was worried about you said he felt Malcolm White was a real criminal. He knew I had six months to burn it was true what I told you, for I was recovering from a tropical fever so he asked me to tag along and keep an eye on you." Sally's cheeks burned as she looked up into the lean humorous face she liked so much. "He didn't trust me?" "You've got it wrong. Sally," Douglas said gently. "It was Malcolm White he didn't trust. Jonathan was fearful for your safety. We can see now how right he was. If we hadn't been there yesterday . . ." "Was it only yesterday?" Sally asked. Suddenly she felt weary and everything was too involved. Jonathan must have really liked her then in the beginning, if he had got Douglas to look after her and be her bodyguard, yet he had behaved so strangely. "Yes. Come and sit by the fire," said Douglas. There was a huge log fire burning at the far end of the lofty attractive room Douglas led her into. Vaguely Sally was aware of wallpaper that looked like pale yellow silk of mahogany furniture, beautifully carved; of oil paintings on the walls; tall flowers in graceful vases; thick carpet under her feet but all she saw clearly was Jonathan's face. He was sitting at a small writing desk made of satinwood. He looked up and the fair hair and piercing blue eyes had their usual effect on Sally. She wanted to run across the floor and throw herself into his anus. She wanted to hold him tight, to press THE GOLDEN VALLEY her mouth against his, to whisper how much she loved him, how very much. Instead, she smiled stiffly. "Hi, Jonathan. Thanks to you once again, I'm still here," she said, trying to be gay. Ouma was sitting in a deep armchair, her hands busily engaged knitting. "Come and sit by the fire, dear. Don't overdo things." Sally obeyed gratefully. It was shocking, and irritating, how weak she felt. She looked at the old lady, whose white head was bent over the knitting. How different Ouma was when you knew her, she thought, remembering the angry little old woman waving a shotgun about, and calling her a liar it seemed incredible that it was the same Ouma. Jonathan left the writing-desk and came to sit near the fire. "Well, Sally," he began. She was startled. "Well what?" "I got the impression yesterday that you had a lot of questions to ask," he said, his voice amused. Sally sank back into the soft cushions and enjoyed the feeling of warmth from the log fire. "Douglas told me . . ." she began. Jonathan smiled. "Yes, that he was your bodyguard? Good idea, as it happened." "Only he wasn't there when I needed a bodyguard," said Sally. "I most certainly was. I was following you all the way to the tree, Sally," Douglas told her. She turned to look at him, startled. "I wish I'd known. I felt so horribly alone." "Actually," Jonathan said dryly, "you
were very far from alone. Sally. There were at least six of us." He was looking at her so strangely that Sally felt sure he was angry with her. THE GOLDEN VALLEY "I ... I thought if they he Malcolm White, 1 mean," she said, wondering why her tongue stumbled over the words, "saw for himself that there was no real treasure, he'd go away. Netta told me it was the family Bible, but . . . but it was diamonds . . . real diamonds," she faltered, her voice rising with distress. "When I saw them, I wanted to die. I thought I'd done a terrible thing." "You hadn't much choice," Jonathan said quietly. "It couldn't have been pleasant when you got back to M'Lita and found yourself on your own." "Oh, it wasn't," Sally said earnestly. "And those two huge men they scared me. And Piet, they said, was out." "He's in hospital," Douglas told her. "Not badly hurt, but they beat him up quite a bit, trying to make him talk, and left him at Ubito to make it look like a drunken brawl. They thought he'd hold his tongue for fear of getting involved, but he told the police. That's why they were here today." "But they might have got the diamonds," Sally said worriedly. "If you hadn't been there . . ." "They were fake," Jonathan told her. "As soon as White came out from England, and I was suspicious, I had the trunk opened and . . ." he paused and smiled at Ouma, "after a lot of arguing . . ." "I was foolish," Ouma said complacently. "I know it now, Jonathan. You were right, but I felt the family treasure had stayed there safely so long it could never be found." "Anyhow, I changed the real diamonds for fake ones. The real ones, which incidentally Netta will inherit, are in the bank. I put fake diamonds in the trunk, for we wanted to catch White in possession of the goods. Which we did." "But Netta was so sure it was the family Bible," Sally said. THE GOLDEN VALLEY Jonathan looked at Ouma and laughed. "Netta had a little trick of sitting on the banisters and listening to us. Sally. She thought we didn't know. When we found she'd heard from the servants about Malcolm White, we thought it wiser to let her think the treasure didn't exist. She was quite capable of looking for the treasure herself or of talking too much to tease people." "Me," Sally said flatly. Jonathan gave an odd smile. "What I can't understand," Sally said slowly, "is how you found me. I was sure I'd die. Netta told me never to use the cave when the rains came as the river would flood it. It was all an accident, you know. I ... I saw Malcolm's face, when he found the diamonds, and then looked at me, and I realised ... I realised I'd ... well, they couldn't risk me talking, and the lightning bird shrieked, which seemed to wake me up I was very tired and I ran. Then . . . then just as I got to the river, I heard a man shout . . ." "It was me," said Douglas, "trying to catch you. I saw a flash of you and then you vanished." "I remembered the cave," Sally said. "I got inside and meant to leave it open, but I accidentally bumped something and it shut." Her voice was unsteady. "I didn't know how to open it." "Wasn't that rather foolish?" Jonathan asked dryly. "I mean, surely common sense would tell you . . ." "Netta wanted to shut it to show me how it opened," Sally said simply, "but I wouldn't let her. I get claustrophobia." There was a sudden silence that seemed prolonged. "I didn't think anyone would look for me," Sally went on. "Malcolm, perhaps, for a while, but he'd be glad I'd gone. I thought Douglas was miles away and Jonathan .. ." "In Ubito," he said. THE GOLDEN VALLEY She had nearly said, "Jonathan wouldn't be interested," but had stopped in time. "No, I sleep here," Jonathan said. "Actually that pretty little nurse, Patricia Moreton, phoned me. She was worried because she said the man who had fetched you was obviously a bad type and she wondered if you were being kidnapped. I got in touch with Petrus at once and he was within earshot when you were all talking on the verandah. He saw you leave and got through to me on the phone at once. The police happened to be visiting me talking about Piet and so were on the spot. Everything worked out well. We caught White and his thugs red-handed, with the fake diamonds. We'll probably find he's got a police record overseas." "But how did you know where to look for me?" asked Sally. Jonathan smiled. "Pure good luck. I remembered when you were so angry with me that you'd said you couldn't understand how, if we were so worried about Netta, we could let her play in the house in the trees and the river-cave. Douglas had seen you near the river so the two matched. The river was rising fast, so thanks be, I did think of it." Sally shivered. "Yes, thanks be." So the home truths that she had found courage to tell Jonathan while she was still angry had paid off. If she hadn't mentioned the rock cave, she might have been dead by now, she thought. A clock in the hall chimed melodiously. Ouma folded her knitting and stood up, smiling at Sally. 'You will forgive me, dear, if I leave you for a few hours. I must go in and see Netta," she said. "Give her my love," said Sally. Sally was surprised to see Douglas rising. "See you later. Sally," he said, and left the room with Ouma. "Douglas hasn't met Netta yet," said Jonathan, his THE GOLDEN VALLEY voice dry. "I thought it might be an idea for her to meet another man so that she could compare him with the outsize knight on a white charger!" Sally flushed as she looked at him. As if anyone could compare with Jonathan, she thought. He was silent as he lighted a cigarette, first offering her one, which she refused. And now what, she was thinking. She would have to get her things at M'Lita packed and book a ... Jonathan interrupted her thoughts. He came to stand near her, his back to the roaring log fire. "I'm arranging for Douglas to fly back to London with you," he said curtly. "You've had several bad shocks, Sally, and the doctor doesn't think you should travel alone." It was like a slap in the face with a wet cloth or a stab in the heart. Sally thought in dismay. How eager he was to get rid of her. He couldn't wait to see the last of her. "That would be very nice," she said, trying to keep her voice steady, hoping he would not see the quick betrayal of the tears in her eyes. "Douglas is is . . ." Jonathan turned to the stone mantelpiece, moving a china shepherdess along a little, fidgeting with a silver spoon. "I hope you'll be very happy. Sally," he said, his voice stiff. She stared at his back, puzzled. "I expect so," she said dully. "I'll soon get a job." He swung round and frowned. "Won't your fiance want you to get married at once? Cynthia said . . ." Sally stared at him in amazement. "Cynthia said what?" He looked uncomfortable. "She didn't actually say you were getting married at once, but she . . ." "Implied it?" THE GOLDEN VALLEY Anger suddenly broke over Sally uncontrollably. She stood up. "I don't care if you love Cynthia or not, Jonathan," she began. "It's time you learned the truth about her. She's the most dangerous person I've ever met! " In her anger, she did not look at him, but gazed at the flames licking the huge logs, giving sudden little explosions, creeping hungrily across the dry wood. "First of all," Sally went on, "she told me or rather, implied that Netta was mad. Then she implied to Kay that I was in love with Douglas. Then she told me that you and she had an arrangement . . ." He tried to speak, but with her good hand she caught his arm. "Let me finish," said Sally. "She implied that you were going to marry Netta for her money, but that she would soon die and then you and Cynthia would be free to marry ..." She paused for breath. "It was Cynthia who triggered off the scene with Malcolm White. I told her I was going back to England it was because you'd shown me that he was a thief and a liar but I asked her not to mention it. That's twice she's told people. She told you and implied that I was going back to get married. She rang up Mr. White and told him and then got upset and suggested that I was afraid to tell him, so he got suspicious . . ." Sally realised suddenly that Jonathan hadn't interrupted for a long time. She looked up at him and wondered why he was staring at her so strangely. "I was never in love with Cynthia," he said slowly. "But I didn't realise . . ." "You love Netta, don't you?" Sally demanded. Soon she would be gone, out of his life for ever, but she would like to be able to think of him sometimes. He smiled, a singularly sweet, almost shy smile. THE GOLDEN VALLEY "Yes, I love Netta. I've never had any sisters, but that's how I feel towards her." He startled Sally by suddenly taking hold of her shoulders. He held her firmly but gently. "Sally, what does this all add up to? On my side, it adds up to one thing only. From the moment I saved you from going under the bus in London, I loved you. It took me a long time to realise it ... but I must have loved you at once, otherwise
why did I ask Douglas to be your bodyguard?" Sally was staring up at him. "You . . . love . . . me?" she whispered. "Don't look so startled. Is it such a shock?" he said, smiling. She knew he was laughing at her, but suddenly she didn't mind. "Yes, it is a shock ... a wonderful shock." She drew a long deep breath. "Jonathan, I can't believe it," she said slowly. "I ... I didn't realise how much I loved you until Netta was hurt . . . then when you didn't even see me ..." "Oh yes, I did see you," he said. "It was the hardest thing I ever did, to walk past you and pick up Netta. But I knew she might die she was all poor Ouma had." He smiled. "You're a toughie. Sally, my darling one . . ." Suddenly she was in his arms, her good arm round his neck, while her hand traced the side of his cheek, brushed his hair and stroked his chin. "Say that again," she begged him. He smiled ,and kissed her. "My darling one! " "Oh, Jonathan darling . . . darling'^ . ." she sighed. "Sally, tell me " His arms tightened round her. "In the cave, when I picked you up, you said, 'Jonathan darling'?" "I did," Sally told him. "I didn't mean to, but . . . but it just came out." THE GOLDEN VALLEY "This morning," Jonathan went on, "Cynthia rang me up to hear what all the excitment was about. I told her I'd found you. It was then she said . . ." "Hinted," Sally interrupted, changing the word and kissing him lightly. Jonathan smiled. "She hinted that you were going back to England to be married. I couldn't understand why you'd called me . . ." Sally traced his eyebrow tenderly. "You do, now." "I do. Sally," he said, smiling at her, "what are you doing to my face?" "Something I've longed to do for a long time . . ." she confessed. "You've got such a strong chin, darling." "And yet I'm the most arrogant, impossible, irritating man ..." he began. "No, Jonathan, you're the biggest knight on a white charger I've ever seen," said Sally. Suddenly they were both laughing both so happy that v/ords could not describe it. Jonathan sat down with Sally on his knee. "As soon as your hand is well, we'll be married." "Why wait?" she asked him, stroking his cheek lightly. He chuckled. "Because I like you stroking my face," he said, "and I'd like it twice as much if you could do it with both hands."