Summer of the Weeping Rain

by Yvonne Whittal

  They were some distance from the house when a flash of light caught Lisa's eye and, focussing her attention on it, she was surprised to discover a modern swimming pool nestling among tall, shady trees. The water shimmered in the sunlight, almost blinding her, and then a flicker of anxiety stirred within her when she noticed the absence of any sort of protective fencing.

  'Can you both swim?' she asked the children at once.

  'Yes,' they nodded vigorously, 'but Uncle Adam says the water is still too cold now for us to swim.'

  'I should imagine so,' Lisa nodded thoughtfully. 'The days are already getting warmer, but you won't be able to swim for another month or two.'

  'Oh, look!' Josh and Kate cried excitedly in unison as they pointed to a grazing camp beyond the pool. 'There are the lambs!'

  'Keep the children away from the grazing camps,' Adam Vandeleur's thundering command echoed in her ears as the children rushed towards the fence to watch the woolly merino lambs frolicking in the sun while the ewes continued to graze calmly on what was left of the bushy vegetation.

  Lisa hesitated with momentary indecision before following the children. Their uncle would surely not object to their presence if they remained on this side of the fence, she decided firmly, and as she stood there beside them, listening to their exclamations of delight, a newly born lamb ventured inquisitively towards them on unsteady legs. Josh and Kate wriggled their hands through the jackal fencing, encouraging it to come closer, but the lamb retreated nervously, bleating softly as it returned to its anxious mother's side.

  Kate tugged at Lisa's skirt. 'Isn't it beautiful, Miss— Miss—'

  'Just call me Lisa,' she suggested helpfully.

  'Isn't the lamb beautiful, Lisa?' Kate repeated her question, using Lisa's name a little shyly.

  'Beautiful,' Lisa agreed readily. 'It looks so soft and silky.'

  'There comes Uncle Adam,' Josh exclaimed a little anxiously, and Lisa looked up sharply to see Adam Vandeleur riding across the veld towards them, his body moving in perfect rhythm with the magnificent-looking black stallion beneath him. The animal, like its master, was in perfect physical condition, Lisa thought as she saw the powerful muscles rippling beneath the shiny black coat, but it was the man himself who finally caught and held her rapt attention.

  Seated astride that ferocious-looking animal, Adam Vandeleur projected an image of power and ruthless strength and, even at a distance, Lisa could feel the impact of his personality. For some reason she could not explain, this man frightened her, and her body tensed involuntarily when he reined in his horse just beyond the fence. His dark eyes, shaded by the broad rim of his felt hat, gave Lisa no more than a cursory glance, but she felt certain that every detail of her appearance, from the golden sheen of her hair down to her comfortable, low-heeled shoes, had been noted.

  There was a strained silence as they waited for him to speak, and when he did, it was Lisa he addressed in that deep, rumbling voice of his.

  'The grazing camps are out of bounds, as you very well know, Miss Moreau, so I take it the children are showing you around the farm?'

  'Yes, Uncle Adam,' Josh said before Lisa could reply, and then, after a moment of careful deliberation, he asked: 'Uncle Adam, may we hold that baby lamb just for a little while?'

  Lisa went cold at Josh's request and stole a quick glance at Adam Vandeleur. It looked for a moment as if he was about to utter a harsh refusal, but then, to her relief, he dismounted, and the lamb was caught swiftly and with a practised ease to be placed gently into Josh's eager little hands.

  While the delighted twins took turns to cuddle the lamb, Lisa found herself staring unobtrusively at Adam Vandeleur's hands where they rested comfortably on the wire fence. They were large hands, broad, strong, and well-shaped, with surprisingly clean fingernails. They were hands that could crush without the slightest effort, she thought, and a little shiver of fear made its way up her spine.

  She looked away then, trying to concentrate on Josh and Kate, but she was now intensely aware of that tall, imposing figure standing a little more than a metre away from her, and when the children eventually placed the wriggling woolly body in her arms, she felt those dark, piercing eyes scorching and dissecting her until her slight body felt heated and decidedly uncomfortable.

  For Lisa it was a unique experience holding a newly born lamb in her arms, but, although her fingers automatically stroked the soft, fleecy body, Adam Vandeleur's presence made it impossible for her to savour the moment as she would have liked to. She handed the lamb back to him across the fence so that it could be returned to the ewe who stood nudging his thigh impatiently and, avoiding the sudden gleam of mockery in his eyes, Lisa hurriedly stepped back a few paces from the fence.

  The black stallion tossed its head proudly and pawed the ground restlessly as Adam Vandeleur swung himself into the saddle.

  'Don't stay out in the sun too long. You haven't got your hats on,' Adam warned the children, his hands tightening on the reins as the animal quivered with impatience beneath him. 'I suggest you wear one as well, Miss Moreau, and if you don't possess a hat, then I suggest you buy one. The sun in these parts has a deadly sting to it, and the consequences could be unpleasant.'

  He touched his hat briefly, and then horse and rider went thundering across the veld. Lisa stared after him until he disappeared beyond a small hill, and then the silence was broken only by the shrill sound of the cicadas.

  'We'd better get back to the house,' she sighed inexplicably, gesturing the children away from the fence with her walking-stick. 'It's almost lunch time.'

  CHAPTER FOUR

  'It's our custom, here on the farm, to rest for at least an hour after lunch,' Erica Vandeleur explained to Lisa when they got up from the luncheon table. 'In the summer, when the days are long and hot, you'll appreciate the habit.'

  Lisa did not argue with her, and took the twins up to their room. When she closed her own bedroom door behind her some minutes later she found that she was actually thankful for the opportunity to lie down and take the weight off her leg.

  With the curtains drawn against the afternoon sun, Lisa lay staring up at the brass canopy of the bed. How quiet it was, she thought as a restful silence settled in and around the house, and then, surprisingly, she knew nothing more until Josh and Kate burst into her room an hour later.

  'Did you sleep?' they demanded as they clambered on to her bed and sat there staring at her with those wide, questioning eyes.

  Lisa smiled and stifled a yawn. 'I must have done. I remember thinking how quiet it was, and then… pooff!'

  They giggled at her explanation, and then the final remnants of their reserve seemed to vanish. They were all over her now, talking excitedly and simultaneously as they gripped her hands and tried to drag her off the bed, giving her a clear indication that they were in need of a release for their pent-up energy.

  For the rest of the afternoon, until it was time for their bath, they showed Lisa no mercy, and although their wild, boisterous games caused Lisa considerable discomfort, she loved every minute of it. For the first time in months she found that she could laugh naturally at her own inadequacy when it came to playing 'Hide and Seek'. She was no match for Josh and Kate, who could run like wild hares when she came upon their hiding places, and, consequently, she did most of the seeking while they hid away in the area they had marked off for the game.

  When the children were eventually put to bed that night, Lisa soaked her weary body in a hot bath until she felt the tiredness drain from her limbs. It had, perhaps, been a little presumptuous of her to think she could cope with two lively children, and Adam Vandeleur had been perfectly right to doubt her physical capabilities, she admitted to herself reluctantly while she soaped her body, but she had enjoyed every minute of the day with Josh and Kate, and she looked forward to the following day. The pain and discomfort would diminish in time, and then…! The soapy sponge halted its progress across her shoulder and her fingers absently traced the scar along her jaw.
Surgery would eventually eliminate the scars, and time might erase her unsightly limp, but nothing would ever erase the scars deep down in her soul. In her weakened state of shock, after learning of Sandy Duncan's death, Rory's horror-filled eyes had sliced deeply and cruelly, and his silent acceptance when she had returned her ring had killed her frail hope that his reaction had merely been prompted by concern. He had been only too anxious to leave that stark white hospital ward with the smell of antiseptics hovering in the air, and she had watched him go, dry-eyed, and curiously drained of emotion.

  The soap slid off the side of the bath and jerked her back to the present as it splashed into the water. She had to forget. She must forget! she told herself fiercely, and when she finally went downstairs to dinner there was only the slightest trace of bitterness about her sensitive mouth.

  Adam Vandeleur was not in for dinner that evening either. It had something to do with the inoculation of the sheep which would start the following day, Lisa gathered from his mother. There was also something about three escaped convicts, but Lisa was too relieved at not having to face him across the table to pay much attention to the reason for his absence.

  They took their coffee out on to the verandah afterwards, but Erica Vandeleur excused herself and went up to her room when Daisy came out to collect their empty cups. Lisa sat there for a moment longer, drinking in the silent darkness about her, and then a strange restlessness made her wander out into the garden.

  It was a beautiful night, and it was good to be alone for a while. With the moon lighting her way, she knew no fear as she walked slowly and aimlessly from the house, relishing the cool breeze that touched her face and arms with a gentleness that was soothing. Half way across the lawn she paused and raised her eyes to the sky. It was odd how bright the stars were in the Karoo, and on this warm, peaceful evening they seemed to be close enough to touch as they glittered in the dark blue velvety sky. It was a night for lovers, she thought ironically, but love was something she no longer believed in… and no man would want to be the lover of a girl with…!

  'Pull yourself together, Lisa!' she scolded herself loudly as she continued her walk. 'You don't need a man at your side to enjoy the magic of the moonlight.'

  Determined to shake off her restlessness, and to rid herself of the dull ache deep down inside of her for which there was' no cure, she walked on a little blindly, but, when she reached the trees a few minutes later, she realised that she had walked too far, too fast, and without her walking-stick. Her hip was throbbing, sending stabs of pain into her thigh, and, leaning wearily against the broad stem of the gum tree nearest to her, she eased the weight off her leg and massaged herself gently in an effort to diminish the pain.

  How utterly peaceful it was, she thought, closing her eyes and resting heavily against the tree while her hand automatically continued its healing, soothing medication, but the next moment the silence was shattered by the terrifying snarl of an angry animal. Lisa's heart lurched with sickening fear, and her eyes flew open to stare in abject terror at the wolf-like canine storming at her with fangs bared where she stood partially hidden beneath the shadows of the trees. A scream rose to her lips, but it was strangled in her throat, and, closing her eyes tightly, she waited for the moment when the animal's teeth would tear at her flesh. 'Rolf!'

  The dog reacted instantly to the sound of that imperious voice, and came to an abrupt halt less than a metre away from Lisa, but even in the darkness she could still see the hair standing erect on its back while it watched her intently and suspiciously.

  The numbness of relief surged through her as Adam Vandeleur's tall, dark figure came into her line of vision, but she felt too weak to move, and too perilously close to tears. The beam of a torch pierced the moonlit darkness and swept over her briefly, then it was extinguished with a muttered oath that sent a renewed chill of fear through her.

  'You're fortunate, Miss Moreau, that I happened to be in the vicinity. Rolf is never very gentle with unwelcome intruders, and that's precisely the reason why I leave him to roam free at night,' that deep, gravelly voice informed her harshly.

  'I'm grateful that—'

  'Don't move!' His voice, like the sound of a whiplash, made her freeze in the act of stepping away from the tree. 'The slightest movement and Rolf might again consider you a threat,' he warned, moving closer to her where she stood pinned helplessly to the gumtree, her muscles taut, and hardly daring to breathe, but he made no attempt, as yet, to call off the animal. 'What were you doing out here in the dark?'

  The question was shot at her with a suddenness that made her flinch and, disconcerted by the height and breadth of this man towering over her in the darkness, she heard herself stammer foolishly, 'I—I went for a w-walk.'

  'Didn't my mother warn you this evening not to stray too far from the house because some escaped convicts are rumoured to be in the neighbourhood?'

  Lisa went cold with fright and could have kicked herself for not paying more attention to what Erica Vandeleur had said at the dinner table.

  'Your mother did warn me,' she admitted with complete honesty, 'but I'm afraid I—I was thinking of something else at the time, and must have missed that bit about not going too far from the house.'

  'You placed yourself in a considerable amount of danger by not heeding my mother's warnings,' his voice lashed her mercilessly in the darkness. 'I received a report, not ten minutes ago, that there's every likelihood that those three armed men are here on my land.'

  'I—I'm sorry,' she whispered hoarsely, her eyes wide and frightened at the thought of what might have happened if Adam Vandeleur and his dog had not found her. A tense silence settled between them, a silence broken only by the heavy panting of the dog, and then the stabbing pain in her hip forced her to speak. 'Are—are you going to call off your dog, Mr Vandeleur, or am I to spend the night standing motionless against this tree?'

  'It might teach you a lesson you won't soon forget,' he replied cuttingly, with an edge of mockery in his voice. 'It would also be interesting to see how long you could keep it up.'

  'No doubt you—find the situation amusing, but I—don't. I—' She gasped, shutting her eyes against the blinding beam of the torch. 'Must you shine that thing directly into my face?'

  For a moment the light did not waver from her white, strained face, then it was directed to the ground at her feet, and the dog was instantly called to his side.

  'Miss Moreau is a friend, Rolf,' he said, switching off the torch as he spoke, and for a moment Lisa could not see a thing, then her eyes became accustomed to the darkness and she saw the dog shake off his menacing stance only to eye her now with a wary curiosity.

  'It doesn't look very much as though he believes you,' she said shakily, not daring to move a muscle until she was certain it was safe for her to do so.

  'Stretch out your hand to him, but do it slowly,' her employer instructed her calmly, and she did as she was told while he repeated, 'Friend, Rolf.'

  The Alsatian sniffed at her fingers a little warily, then buried his wet nose in the palm of her hand. 'Is it all right for me to stroke him now?'

  'That's what he's hoping for,' came the abrupt reply from the man who was nothing but a dark outline in the shadows.

  'You're a beautiful dog, Rolf,' Lisa spoke soothingly, but with sincerity as she stroked the smooth head gently.

  'Beautiful but dangerous,' Adam Vandeleur warned. 'You needn't fear him again, though.'

  Rolf nuzzled her hand in a docile fashion as if to stress his master's statement, but Lisa was hardly aware of him now as she sensed Adam Vandeleur's eyes on her, and it made her feel decidedly uncomfortable as the silence lengthened between them. She searched her mind frantically for something to say, but found nothing, and then, as the mournful howl of a jackal pierced the silence, Adam Vandeleur moved abruptly.

  'I'll see you safely back to the house.'

  Lisa accepted his offer in silence and walked beside him with Rolf following close at their heels. Adam Vandeleur d
id not touch her, and neither did he offer her any assistance, but he shortened his long strides to match her slow, limping gait, and she was thankful to him for this unexpected gesture of consideration.

  At the foot of the steps leading up on to the verandah, Lisa turned to thank him, but the words dried up in her mouth when her eyes fastened themselves on to those harsh, rugged features etched so clearly in the moonlight. What was it about this man that he could rob her of what little confidence she still had left to reduce her to an insignificant and stammering idiot? she wondered gravely as she stared a long way up into those hard eyes glittering so strangely in the pale light of the moon. There was a powerful aura of masculinity about him that made her feel ridiculously weak and inadequate. She had experienced this feeling on the two occasions they had met that morning, and she was experiencing it again now.

  'I suggest you go inside, Miss Moreau,' his harsh voice interrupted her turbulent thoughts. 'Our nights here in the Karoo can still become chilly at this time of the year.'

  It was then, as he turned away from her, that she saw the lethal-looking weapon slung across his shoulder, and her eyes widened in dismay.

  'You're carrying a rifle,' she stated almost accusingly, an inexplicable flicker of anxiety loosening her tongue. 'You're not going to try and catch those convicts on your own, are you?'

  'Not on my own, no.' There was mockery in every hard line of his face as he turned back to her, but there was also a hint of something else she could not define. 'That jackal you heard howling a few minutes ago was a signal from one of my labourers to let me know they think they've spotted something.'

  'Do—do you think they're armed? The convicts, I mean?'

  'I know they're armed,' he stated quietly and decisively, then he gestured impatiently with the hand that held the torch. 'Go inside, Miss Moreau, and lock the front door behind you.'