The Emerald Eagle

by Jane Corrie

  Chloe was highly indignant. 'Well ! ' she declared. 'We can soon put that right. If that's the impression he's labouring under, some of his behaviour starts to make sense.' She patted Sonia's hand. 'It's George's fault, dear, he should

  have explained the relationship. I'll see that he does !'

  `I'd rather you didn't,' Sonia said hastily. 'I like things as they are—this way I can retaliate with no backlash on George. As Rory Maragal kindly put it, I've backed out of the assignment. I shall just keep-out of his way until Saturday. Kirk wants to see me again, and I quite took to him, so I think I shall take him up on it.'

  As she spoke, a car drew up in front of the house. Sonia glanced outside. 'It's a blue Mercedes,' she said.

  `Rory,' said Chloe.

  Sonia dived for the stairs. 'I'm out, Chloe. You've no idea where—or when I'm going to be back either. Tell him I'm with Kirk. That should get rid of him,' she whispered as she disappeared.

  It seemed a very long time to Sonia before she heard the car depart and was able to venture down to the lounge again. 'All clear ?' she asked as she entered.

  Looking up from the magazine she was idly turning over, Chloe complained, 'I'm not cut out for this sort of thing. I'm sure he didn't believe me. I'm a rotten liar.'

  Did you tell him I was out with Kirk ?' asked Sonia.

  `I didn't dare, not after last night. I didn't like the look in his eyes when he mentioned him

  then,' answered Chloe.

  `Never mind,' grinned Sonia. 'He's gone now.'

  But he left an invitation for the garden party, for all of us. It's this afternoon,' wailed Chloe.

  `Sudden, wasn't it ?' said Sonia. The garden party, I mean? Does he always do things on the spur of the moment?'

  Chloe shook her head. 'Not this time,' she said. 'We've known about this for some little while. It's just that recent events have taken precedence. Rory's entertaining some V.I.P.s from the mainland. It's an annual event, they stay for a couple of days.'

  The news pleased Sonia. 'That should keep him occupied,' she said. 'He's not likely to know whether I'm there or not.'

  `Want a bet on it?' Chloe asked miserably.

  Sonia sat down, and gazed out of the window. `I'm not going, Chloe,' she said. 'I promised myself last night I'd taken all the insults I was going to take from that man.'

  The phone rang before Chloe could reply. As Chloe got up to answer it, Sonia murmured, 'It might be Kirk. He said he'd ring.'

  It was. Sonia took the receiver from Chloe. `How's your head?' he asked.

  `Fine, thank you,' Sonia replied. 'It was mostly tiredness.'

  `You'll be at Soya Sands this afternoon, then?' he asked.

  `Er—no,' Sonia replied. 'I'm catching up on my rest, and I've some mail I must get off,' she added hastily, unable to think up a better excuse.

  `Gee, that's too bad,' Kirk murmured disappointedly. 'I'd skip it myself, but you know how things are.'

  Sonia did know. Again she felt that spurt of sympathy for him.

  `I was kinda hoping to see you before I went to Hamilton,' he went on. `Dad's got a couple of jobs he wants seeing to. You did say you were going Saturday, didn't you?' he asked.

  `I'm afraid so,' replied Sonia, thinking that Kirk's father was not slow on the uptake. She somehow didn't think it coincidental Kirk was being removed from the scene.

  `With any luck, I should be back on Friday evening,' said Kirk. 'Would you try and keep it free for me?' he pleaded.

  `I'll do my best,' answered Sonia. She looked thoughtful as she replaced the receiver. A germ of an idea was beginning to float about in her brain. If Kirk didn't have to wait for the ferry to get to Hamilton, why should she ? He must have his own transport. Her thoughts raced ahead. Supposing she did go this afternoon? She could tell him she had changed her mind. All she had to do then was ask him for a lift to the mainland. She frowned. It would, of course, place Kirk in a very awkward position. He had already

  incurred Rory's displeasure, his father's sudden

  move to get him out of the way bore out this

  theory. It wouldn't really be fair to ask him.

  Chloe, watching her with narrowed eyes, asked, 'What are you cooking up?'

  Sonia started, then stared at Chloe. 'Is there any other way of getting to the mainland apart from the ferry?' she asked.

  `Why?' asked Chloe unhelpfully.

  Sonia sighed. 'Well, I thought it would be a good idea if I decamped,' she said. 'Once I've left everyone can get back to normal. George knows he's not going to get that contract, so there's no point in prolonging the agony, is there?'

  Chloe thought about this for a moment or so, then surprised Sonia with, 'I think I could get Sammy to take you over. He does the trip several times a week.'

  Sonia brightened. 'You could? You're a dear ! When? Tomorrow?' she asked eagerly.

  `Maybe,' replied Chloe. 'He'll be up at Rory's place this afternoon helping out. I'll sound him on it.' She looked at Sonia. 'What did Rory say they did with old hags?' she queried dismally. `I only hope I'm doing the right thing—the silver mines would never suit George.'

  Sonia chuckled and hugged her. 'You're not in the old hag class, darling, so I'm sure you won't get thrown off Spanish Head cliffs. As for

  George,' she frowned, 'I guess a few weeks in

  the silver mines wouldn't come amiss at that !'

  It was Chloe's turn to grin. 'He could do with losing a bit of weight,' she laughed.

  At lunch, George did not say much. He seemed preoccupied, and Sonia did not go out of her way to gain his attention. Chloe said nothing about Sonia's proposed flight the next day. Soon enough for that if it could be arranged. Not, thought Sonia darkly, that he would object. Until her arrival he had stood a reasonable chance of success. He would probably wave her off with much relief.

  She darted a glance at him across the table. Chloe had informed him that Sonia would not be attending the do that afternoon, and he had slightly lifted his brows, but apart from this had accepted the fact. As he looked up, Sonia hastily concentrated on her food. He had been remarkably reticent since returning from his office, and the few scathing comments she had been expecting on her behaviour the previous evening were not forthcoming, and this puzzled her. If she didn't know him better, she'd think he was up to something, then she choked, and hastily reached for the water carafe. Of course ! Chloe and George thought alike Chloe had been of the opinion that Rory Maragal had fallen for her ! And poor George was probably labouring under the same delusion! He must still have

  visions of success.

  She was no longer cross with him. He was going to be once again disappointed, and she was sorry about it. It wasn't only the loss of the contract, but the chance of a chairmanship he would be losing. She sighed. Of all the projects to hinge such an ambition on, he couldn't have chosen a worse one from Sonia's point of view.

  After waving Chloe and George off, Chloe wearing a coffee lace tea gown and picture hat, which Sonia duly admired, George in a light beige linen suit was also commended on his appearance and gave Sonia a light nod of acknowledgement for her compliments. As she watched the car disappear round the bend of the drive, Sonia gave a sigh of relief. The rest of the day was hers. She could just please herself —sunbathe, or go for a walk. Her hair wanted washing, and she made this her first chore. Chloe had informed her that they would not be back until the early hours. The garden party was followed by a dance held on Soya Sands' lantern-lit terraces.

  It did not take long for her hair to dry, and after a brush, she changed into a lime green linen suit, ready for the next item on her agenda. She would go for a walk. Placing the coolie-style straw hat Chloe had left out for her use on her head, she left the house and made her way

  down the drive. She knew a wonderful sense of freedom; her particular bogeyman with entertaining visitors, thus was out of her hair for a whole day, and tomorrow, if all went well, she would never ever be plagued by him again.

  Reaching the
end of the drive, she stood and tried to get her bearings. By all means she had to keep away from Soya Sands. It was not that far away from George's house. Screwing up her eyes, she went back to the night of the bathing party. The car had turned left, hadn't it? Yes, she was certain of it—so she would turn right.

  As she walked, she gazed around her. The road curved and dipped every now and again, and on either side of her were verdant slopes on which shrubs with brilliant flowers grew in profusion. Leaving the road, she made her way up one of the slopes towards a brilliantly coloured pink-clustered shrub. When she examined the blossoms she noted with some little surprise they had yellow throats. Her gaze wandered to yet another bush with similar leaves, but this time with larger flowers of an orange red colour. She remembered seeing something similar before, then recalled the short tour Chloe had taken her on, and with the recollection came the name of the shrubs. They were sage bushes. Chloe had said they grew everywhere on the island, particularly thriving on uncultivated land.

  Her gaze travelled on past the shrubs and rested on a formidable-looking plant with large wide spear-shaped leaves. If they were as sharp as they looked, she thought, they would make a formidable weapon. Spots of white rock protruded here and there over the hillside, and in the distance other plants caught her eye, peculiar shaped ones that could only belong to the cacti family, but the sage bushes reigned supreme as far as the eye could see.

  She stood for a while drinking in the scenery and the perfumed breezes playing around her. Looking up at the sky, she saw it was a clear blue, not a cloud in sight. Every now and again she caught sight of flashes of pink, red, and once a peacock blue, and knew they were birds, flitting in and out of the shrubs. They were too quick for her to see them properly. Their calls and whistles could be heard, though, and there was evidently quite a number of them. She sighed. No wonder Chloe would be sad to leave the island. It was a place of enchantment. Already Sonia could feel herself going under its spell.

  Making her way back down the slope again, she thought it was as well she was leaving. Several weeks in this environment would ruin her for England's uncertain climate, in spite of her brave words at George's luncheon.

  Continuing her walk, she did not venture too

  far afield, but was content to wander up and down the green slopes, always keeping reasonably close to the road so as not to lose her bearings.

  An hour later she was back at the house, and had just fixed herself a long cool drink, when she heard the door bell chime. The hand holding the glass jerked, spilling a little of the liquid on to the table. She knew she would have to answer it; Danny too had been pressed into service at Soya Sands. However, if it happened to be a certain person, Sonia told herself grimly, it would remain unanswered ! She took the precaution of peeping out of the lounge window first. To her immense relief she saw Kirk's sports car drawn up in front of the house, and went to open the door.

  `Hi ! ' said the irrepressible Kirk. 'You wouldn't by any chance be avoiding someone, would you ?' he asked with twinkling eyes.

  Sonia stole a quick look at him, then grinned. There was no need for further confirmation.

  `Well,' went on Kirk, 'I stuck around long enough to prove I'd attended, then hightailed it back to you.' He grinned again. 'I kinda thought you might be lonely. The crystal caves aren't far from here, how would you like a run out to them?'

  Sonia's eyes lit up. Wouldn't she just ! Within a few minutes she was sitting beside

  him in the car. With the breezes caressing her hair, she felt a spurt of gratitude towards Kirk. She had read about the caves on the islands in a brochure on the plane coming out, and had been longing to visit them. It had looked as if she would be denied that pleasure, but thanks to Kirk she would now see one of them.

  She asked him how long he had been on the island. By mutual consent there was no mention of the contract, although from what Sonia could gather it appeared it was by no means certain that his father had got the go-ahead, judging by the amount of 'ifs' in Kirk's remarks about the future.

  To her question of didn't he think it was a delightful place, and wouldn't he like to live there permanently, he gave another of his quick grins.

  `Is that an invitation?' he teased. 'Now, honey, if you were staying indefinitely I'd really consider it.' He shot her a quick look. 'Are you really a hostess?' he asked suddenly.

  Sonia's eyes twinkled. She hedged a bit. 'What if I am?' she asked.

  He gave her a brief glance, then concentrated on the road again. 'What's George paying you?' he asked suddenly.

  Sonia's eyes widened, then she chuckled. Not enough,' she murmured wickedly.

  He shot her another quick glance, then

  grinned, 'Well, we might be able to do something about that.'

  He did not enlarge on the subject,, and Sonia, beginning to have a stab of conscience, was grateful it had been dropped. She looked down at her hands in her lap and saw that she had forgotten to put the ring on. She sighed inwardly. It didn't matter.. No one had believed she was engaged anyway and it had certainly not been much of a defence against Rory Maragal's attentions. She wondered why she had bothered in the first place.

  Within twenty minutes Kirk was pulling up alongside several more cars on a bare space of land, and Sonia could see the entrance to the caves ahead of them.

  As they stepped into the semi-dark interior, Kirk's arm guided Sonia down the rock passages. The ground was uneven and she was grateful for the steadying arm until she became accustomed to the half-light in the caves. By the time they reached the first chamber her sight had adjusted and she stood entranced at the wonder before her. The walls first caught her attention. They glowed with soft pulsating lights of crystal gem-studded beauty—Blues, greens, purples, intermingling, giving a fairytale effect, enhanced by the weird shapes of stalactites hanging from the roof. Her eyes followed the shapes down and saw the stalagmites rising as it were from the

  floor of the cave to meet their -counterparts. They too had a beauty of their own and glowed translucent white, like a magician's wand, she thought. 'It's beautiful, Kirk. Thank you for bringing me,' she whispered.

  `My pleasure, ma'am,' he murmured softly. `When you're ready, we'll move on. This is only one of many.'

  He took her arm again as they moved away. The farther they walked into the heart of the caves, the colder it became. In her light linen suit, Sonia shivered, and immediately Kirk was contrite. 'I'm sorry, honey, I should have told you to wear something warmer. Here—' He slipped his blazer off and placed it round her shoulders.

  The warmth was heavenly; however, Sonia was worried about Kirk. His cream silk shirt would not give him much protection against the icy air circulating around them. 'Now you'll be frozen,' she exclaimed.

  He laughed, and placed an arm around her waist. 'We'll have to stay close, then, won't we?' he murmured.

  Sonia wasn't too sure about this and hoped she hadn't miscalculated Kirk's easy-going nature. The sound of voices reached them as they entered a smaller chamber and she felt a stab of relief ; she had forgotten the other visitors.

  While they stood gazing at the scene before

  them, Sonia noted the colours were different here. Soft translucent pinks shot through with a brilliant orange that no paintbrush could ever reproduce, outshone the muted but still lovely mauves and blues. Glancing up, she saw how this effect had been produced. The sun had penetrated through a tiny chink in the roof of the chamber, giving just enough light to tint the crystal studded walls. The formations of limestone, as in the previous cave, formed fantastic shapes. It would be easy, Sonia thought, to imagine one was looking down on some medieval city, frozen into immobility. Her eye caught one particular formation; that of course would be the castle, she mused. And those delicate fernlike structures where the surrounding gardens. Completely lost in her reverie, she jumped when one of the visitors on their way out spoke to them.

  `It's Mr Dilson, isn't it?' queried a middle-aged lady, peering intently at Kirk.
>
  Kirk started, and looked at the woman. 'Mrs Cape?' he queried, as if not quite sure.

  The woman giggled in a rather affected manner. 'Right first time,' she said. Sonia then came under a hard scrutiny. The fact that Kirk still held his arm round her waist did not go unseen. 'Enjoying your visit, Miss Wells?'

  Sonia started much as Kirk had done. She had no idea who the woman was, however she

  answered politely, 'Very much, thank you.'

  `I should have thought,' went on the woman rather persistently, 'you would have been at the garden party.'

  Kirk answered in a mild voice, but Sonia sensed he was quite furious. 'We just felt like a change of scenery, you know,' he drawled.

  The high-pitched giggle came forth again and the woman moved on after replying, 'Quite so,' in an amused voice.

  When they were alone again, Kirk looked down at Sonia and pulled a wry face. 'That's torn it,' he said. 'We've just met the island gossip. It'll be all over the place by this evening.'

  Sonia was not a bit perturbed. In fact, she rather welcomed the news, particularly if a certain person heard it, but how would it affect Kirk? she wondered. -

  As if answering her unspoken thoughts, he said, 'I'm already in the black my end. How about you?' he grinned. Sonia grimaced and gave a slight shrug. He chuckled and gave her a quick hug. 'Guess you're in the same boat, honey. We're just a couple of misunderstood folk, huh?'

  When all the chambers of the cave had been seen, they walked out into the brilliant sunshine. Sonia blinked for a moment or so, blinded by the light. The warm rays soon reached her and she took off Kirk's blazer and handed it to him with a, 'Thank you.'

  Starting the car up, Kirk remarked, 'We might as well go the whole hog, so we'll make a day of it. I'm going to take you out to dinner.'