The Terminators

by Hamilton, Donald

  "You're a treacherous louse!" she said.

  "Did I ever say I wasn't?"

  "You left me there for them to take!"

  "With instructions and a gun," I said. "Don't give it to anybody, I warned you. If anybody tries to take it from you, I told you, consider him hostile and shoot him dead. So you handed it to the first gent who asked. What do you want, sympathy?"

  Diana's smile was slow but wonderful. "That's my Matthew," she murmured. "Thank you, darling. I was so afraid you'd disillusion me. I was terrified that you'd try to explain or apologize or justify yourself or something. I hope your shoulder hurts like hell, like my hand hurts."

  "The pain is adequate, thanks," I said. "What happened?"

  "That nasty little man tied me to a heavy kitchen chair in an old deserted farmhouse and pinned my hand to the table with a big knife and left me there to die. I sat there all night, slowly freezing to death, among other problems, until your friend Denison came and turned me loose. He'd got hold of Elfenbein somehow, and made a deal, sending back the daughter in return for the address. He said to tell you goodbye. Mr. Paul Denison was making .one more public appearance—he said you'd understand—and then he was vanishing from the face of the earth, and never mind who was taking his place, or where. Oh, and he said to tell you he hadn't taken a dive under the railroad tracks, whatever that might mean." I didn't say anything.

  She said, "Matt?"

  "Yes?"

  "I spent that whole night hating you."

  "It probably saved your life. If you'd had nothing to think about but the blackfooted ferret and the fur seal and the whooping crane, you wouldn't have made it past midnight Nothing like a good hate for survival."

  "I know," she said. "That's what I told myself when they first brought me here to fix my hand and I heard you were here. Just keep right on hating him, I told myself, if you know what's good for you. So what am I doing back here?"

  "I don't know," I said. "But I'll make a serious effort to find out, as soon as I get a little strength back."

  I did.