The man at Kambala (8 page)

When, after about half an hour, Steve finally announced that he would have to be going, she made a swift decision without waiting to be asked.

`I think I will come with you and save Temu the journey later on.'

`Then you'd better get some clothes on,' was the reply. 'And make it snappy. I've got some reports to make out before tonight's radio call.'

Smarting, she went to get her things from the little locker room she always used, sliding into jeans and shirt over the bikini and running the usual hand

through her hair. When she got outside again the Willards had moved down to this end of the terrace with Steve, and were watching a herd of zebra moving down to the waterhole two hundred yards away and some twenty feet below. Chipper had disappeared during the previous conversational interlude, but he reappeared again as if by magic to remind them about the proposed visit the following day.

`We won't forget, old son,' promised Steve. 'It's all laid on.'

Sara waited until they were in the car and bouncing down the track away from the Lodge before saying tentatively, 'Thanks.'

He glanced at her and away again. 'For what?'

`You know what. For not getting on your high horse over my asking them over tomorrow.'

`Is that what you were expecting?'

`Well . . .' she made a small movement of her shoulders . . you do like doing it where I'm concerned, don't you?'

He considered that for a moment before answering. `Only when it's called for, and I don't happen to think that it was this afternoon — unless you only invited them in the hope of getting at me.'

`Of course I didn't,' she came back with alacrity. 'If I wanted to get at you I wouldn't rope anybody in to help me do it !'

He grinned. 'That I can believe. Miss Independence herself !'

Sara took a hold on her temper. He was deliberately trying to rile her, but she wasn't going to rise to it. Not this time. 'What would you prefer?' she asked sweetly.

Vide-eyed worship?'

`Heaven preserve me !' He gave her an amused look. `You're like a Kelly. You can be put down, but you don't stay there long. Not building up to another kick over the traces, I hope.'

`I wouldn't dream of it. We have to preserve your image'

`Thoughtful of you. You certainly do a good enough job on your own.'

She was startled enough to reveal it. 'What does that mean exactly?'

`Exactly what it says. You got a jolt the other afternoon and you didn't like it, so once you'd got over the initial setback you immediately set out to convince me that my opinions don't matter one way or another to you.'

`That's not true !'

`Oh? Then they do matter?'

`No! At least . . .' She stopped, said crossly, `Do you always have to be so blasted sure about everything!'

`Only when I am.' He swung the wheel. 'And don't swear. It's not ladylike.'

`According to you I'm not ladylike anyway.'

`That's not to say you can't be with a little effort. Why don't you give me a real shock tonight and come in to dinner in a dress?'

`No, thanks,' she responded after a moment. 'You'd probably have some crack ready for that too.'

`Your trouble is a suspicious mind, my girl. You want to try showing a little trust in a man's better side'

`I might if I thought he had one.' She caught a
movement out of the corner of her eye and put a hand on his sleeve. 'Elephant.'

`I've seen them.' Steve was already slowing. He brought the car to a halt as the first great beast moved slowly out of cover, ears fanning in and out, trunk raised to quest the wind. Behind came a group of cows and young close up together, followed by a pair of young bulls who kept pushing one another like arguing schoolboys as they followed the rest across the road. One of the babies gave a squeal as its mother hurried it along with a well-aimed swing of her trunk, trotting on with its over-sized ears flattened to its skull to dissolve into the treed on the other side along with its fellows. As the last grey bulk melted silently away, Sara let out an entranced breath and turned bright eyes on her companion.

`Aren't they the most...'

`Quiet.' He said it softly. 'The rear-guard is just a mite close.'

There was further movement in the bush on their left, fifty feet nearer this time, and another three bulls broke cover abreast of each other to plod slowly and ponderously across the track in the wake of their companions. Last of all came one of the biggest cows Sara had ever seen, her massive head waving from side to side as she came to a full stop right on the track itself and looked directly at the car some forty feet away. It was obvious that she had got wind of them, obvious too that she didn't like the smell of them, for her trunk went up suddenly and she trumpeted, her spreading ears signalling the impending charge.

Steve restarted the engine with a quick flick of his
wrist, slammed into reverse and pushed back down the track at a steady speed, never taking his eyes off the challenging animal up ahead. The cow made a short run of a few paces, paused and trumpeted again, then shook her head as though dismissing them as hardly worth the trouble and angled off into the forest with contempt in the sway of her huge hindquarters.

`Nice to know you don't try to lord it over everything female,' remarked Sara innocently as Steve .put the car into forward gear again, and he grinned.

`When they come as big as that I always give best. What were you going to say a moment ago?'

`I've forgotten,' she returned untruthfully. 'That was quite exciting.'

`Stop being so
blasé
. It was too damn close, and you know it. That cow could have caught us up without trying at that distance.'

`She probably didn't fancy you.' With some relish she tagged on, 'If you don't like to hear me swear you could try setting me a good example by way of a start. We kids learn by imitation.'

`So do monkeys. Incidentally,' he added before she could think of a reply to that one, 'you had young Willard really giving forth back there. How much do you know about architecture?'

`A great deal more than I did,' she admitted ruefully. 'I didn't expect a lecture on the subject.'

`That'll teach you not to cock a snook at me in future ! I thought he seemed a nice boy.'

`Oh, he is!' She gave him a bright glance. 'Do you think he'd make me a good husband?'

Steve laughed.
wouldn't know whether he wasstanding on his head or his heels after a week with you. The man you eventually marry will have to be permanently on his toes !'

`Sounds terribly uncomfortable. Seeing you know so much about it perhaps you'd pick me out a few suitable candidates when you get back to Nairobi and send them up on approval. A girl can't be too careful.' She scratched absently at a fly bite on the back of her neck, caught his amused look and desisted abruptly. 'Is Jill allowed any boyfriends?'

His brow lifted. 'Why don't you ask her when she gets here?'

`I will.' She thought about it for a moment or two, then sighed. 'Sorry. I didn't mean to be sarcastic at her expense. Does your sister have a lot of friends?'

`I'd say so. She lives with some old friends of the family in Mombasa, and as they had two young daughters of their own, plus a son, she moves in quite a large circle. Ever been down to Mombasa yourself?'

Sara nodded. 'It was quite a long time ago, though, before Dad got this job.'

`While your mother was alive?'

'Yes.'

`Still miss her?'

`It depends on how you mean it.' Her tone was careful. 'It was a long time ago, and Dad has been marvellous.'

`It might have been better for you both if he'd got married again, though,' was the judicious comment. 'A girl needs a mother as well as a father. Would you have objected?'

`Not if he'd met somebody he'd wanted to marry.

Anyone he'd chosen I'd have liked.'

Steve's lips twisted a little. 'Life isn't always as easy as that.'

`Well, I wouldn't have been jealous, if that's what you're suggesting. I'm not that self-centred.'

`Don't jump the gun. All I meant was that it isn't always possible to like someone just because someone else does. The qualities a man might look for in a woman don't have to include a strong maternal instinct.'

`Oh?' She looked at him quickly. 'Don't you like children yourself?'

`Can't say I've given it a great deal of thought. What makes you ask that?'

`The way you spoke about what a man looks for in a woman.'

`That was a qualified statement I made, not a hard and fast rule. I daresay I'd be as keen to have a couple of kids as the next chap if I got married.'

Sara made her voice deliberately light and breezy. But you being a confirmed bachelor, that situation is hardly likely to arise.'

His mouth pulled up at the corners. 'I never said anything about being a confirmed bachelor. Just because I've steered clear of the matrimonial bed till now it doesn't necessarily mean that I shan't take myself a wife one of these fine days. It's a pity you're not a few years older yourself. With a little training you'd probably fill the bill very nicely.'

Her heart was beating unaccountably faster, but she kept her smile steady. 'I'd probably put arsenic in your whisky before the week was up.'

`I don't doubt it. Nothing like living dangerously !' He gave a mock sigh. 'Like I said, it's a pity.'

`I wish,' she said with her eyes on the road, 'that you'd stop treating me like a twelve-year-old.'

`How would you prefer to be treated?' on a jeering note. 'As a woman?'

Her chin came up. 'It would make a change. You might even get an adult response !'

There was a screeching of brakes as he brought the car to a sudden and startling halt. He turned sideways in his seat and looked at her, one arm resting lightly along the wheel, his expression speculative. 'All right,' he said, 'let's be adult. Come over here.'

Sara shrank back involuntarily into her corner of the cabin. 'Don't be ridiculous!'

`There's nothing ridiculous about a kiss between a man and a woman,' he returned equably, and took his arm off the wheel to reach out and draw her resistingly towards him, holding her there in front of him with an arm about her shoulders. With the other hand he smoothed back the tousled hair from her forehead, then slid his fingers down the line of her cheek and along her lips. She saw the glint in the grey eyes as he bent his head towards her, felt the brush of his lips at the corner of her mouth, then he was holding her away from him and studying her flaming
cheeks with a satirical smile. B
ut I don't think you're quite ready for the full treatment yet.'

Sara's eyes were blazing. 'You . . . You . . .' she stammered.

`Now don't say anything you'll be sorry for,' he advised. 'Grown-ups don't let their tongues run away
with them. Maybe next time I'll get around to taking things a little further.'

`If you touch me again you'll be sorry,' she managed, low-toned. ... I'll report you to the Director!'

His grin was derisive. 'That's my girl ! Never a dull moment! Are you going to behave yourself until we get back, or shall we do a little more research into this touching business here and now?'

She sat back in her seat with compressed lips, not deigning to answer. It was useless, she told herself furiously. Steve always managed to have the last word no matter what she said.

The moment they came to a stop outside the house she got out of the car without a word and went straight indoors to her own-room. With the door safely closed behind her, she sat down on the bed and pressed a hand to the spot where Steve had kissed her. It had been a rotten thing to do, especially the way he had done it — leading her on to say things she didn't mean just so that he could make fun of her. She had hated it, and yet at the same time it had created a small, gnawing hunger inside her, a need to know what it would be like to be kissed properly by a man like Steve York. The full treatment, he had called it. Sara put both hands to her suddenly hot cheeks and tried to steady the almost painful thumping of her heart. This was ridiculous. She didn't even like him all that much.

She avoided him as much as possible for the rest of the day, but made a special effort at dinnertime to appear her normal unconcerned self. Once or twice she caught Steve eyeing her quizzically, but he made no
comment which could be even remotely interpreted as a reference to the afternoon. Sara was glad when ten o'clock came round and she could make for her room with a plausible plea of tiredness. It wasn't until she heard Steve's voice in the corridor bidding Kimani good night, and then the click of his own door that she finally slept, however.

The Willards arrived at nine with their hired guide from the Lodge. Chipper tumbled from the Land Rover bright-eyed and brimming over with questions instantly forgotten when he saw Kiki perched on Sara's shoulder. Responding as always to attention, the little animal was not at all loth to accompany his new friend on a quick tour of the compound, showing his jealous resentment of Chipper's delight in the fawn by nipping his ear and shrieking indignantly until they came away from the pen.