Anne Hampson

by Beyond the Sweet Waters [HR-1467, MB-433] (epub)

  A profound silence. A breeze fluttered in, catching up some heady perfume and spreading it across the garden. Craig spoke at last, his anger gone, replaced once again by that cold indifference which had characterized his attitude on first becoming acquainted with her several months ago.

  'Certainly you must do as you please - I shall neither interfere nor advise again—' And then, as if he couldn't help himself, 'You did intend assisting me, Jeanette, but something has happened - something you refuse to bring out into the open.' Bitterness crept into his voice as he added, 'I wouldn't have expected you to go back on your word.' He shook his head as if still unable to accept it. 'No, not you.' He rose, moving his glass to the centre of the table. 'Say good night to Mark for me, will you?' And with that curt request he was gone. She stared after him, watching his long strides as he covered the distance down the garden, making for the narrow strip, of shingle that fringed the waterfront. She understood his disappointment. He had aimed to finish the book by the end of the year. On his own admission he had not made a great deal of progress lately. Naturally he had hoped that her assistance would help him to finish the book on time - but she had let him down; let him down after making a sincere promise. No wonder he had regarded her with that icy-stare of disbelief! Tears began to blur her vision and she left the patio and walked round to the front of the house. Mark was in the hall, still on the telephone; she whispered Craig's message and her own good night, then went upstairs, hoping for the solace and forgetfulness of sleep.

  The three girls were enchanted with Bursa, for it was a beautiful city, built on the foothills of Uludag and commanding a magnificent view across the wide and fertile Plain of Bursa. After the long car journey they would have been content to stay in the city, for there was so much of interest to see; beautiful mosques, the famous towel market and, to their surprise and delight, it proved to be an antique hunter's paradise.

  'I want that copper tray,' Sally stated firmly, and would have proceeded to bargain for it had not Cetin caught her arm.

  'Don't be ridiculous; we've come here to climb. You can't carry that thing about with you.'

  'Must we climb?' put in Gwen, her eyes on a superb porcelain group. 'I'm quite content to potter around here.'

  'So am I,' put in Jeanette hopefully, but the girls' words were greeted with stares of amazement by Cetin and his two friends.

  'It seems crazy climbing a mountain when there's a perfectly good road one can drive along,' said Gwen, almost stooping under the weight of her pack.

  'And why bring sleeping bags when there are such wonderful hotels?' Sally wanted to know as both she and Jeanette trudged along in the rear. Cetin turned, his lips compressed; clearly he had never taken out a party such as this. Noting his expression, the girls began to giggle. The Turks were so stolid, and so unswerving. If they set out to do something they did just that. The idea of abandoning one idea in favour of another - which, to the girls at least, promised to be much more exciting - would never have crossed Cetin's mind. He had come to climb, and that was what he intended doing.

  Jeanette could never afterwards remember the route they took. She scarcely remembered the pine woods, the curious rock formation - but she did remember the icy water through which they had to wade, the scorpions, the terrifying thunder storm which drove them from their sleeping bags to the shelter of the rocks where debris came hurtling down, carried by the torrential rain which drenched them to the skin and caused their teeth to chatter with the cold. Yet through it all Cetin and the other two young Turks remained calmly unmoved. It was easy to see that to them these occurrences were all part of the trip, uncomfortable, perhaps, but not unduly disturbing. When the three girls had stood by the icy stream, hopefully believing that the project would have to be abandoned after all, Cetin had curtly told them to take off their jeans and wade across. He and his friends were already clad in high rubber leggings.

  'Wade across in - What do you think we are, Cetin? You can put that idea right out of your mind!' Sally, usually so good-humoured, was at last beginning to lose patience with Cetin.

  'Do you think we are going to look at you?' he rasped, his anger rising. 'We're here to climb, I've told you!' He meant that, the girls were quite convinced. To him the way he suggested was the obvious one, the most sensible. Nevertheless, the girls rolled up their jeans above their knees and, their boots in their hands, stepped gingerly into the water. When they reached the opposite side their legs were blue and their jeans were dripping wet.

  Later, the three girls had a little conference to decide whether or not to leave Cetin and his companions to carry on alone.

  'But how will we get back?' asked Gwen doubtfully.

  'I expect we could hire a car. The tourists obviously do.'

  'Is it worth the trouble?'

  'We're going to look pretty foolish if we turn back now.'

  'I hadn't thought of that.'

  'No ... we would look foolish,' Jeanette agreed, for all their friends and acquaintances knew of the trip. And one or two, aware of Cetin's reputation, had grinned, saying they hoped they wouldn't regret it. 'Perhaps we've got over the worst.' They were sitting in a clearing, having a snack, and the way ahead did not seem too bad at all. Wooded slopes, with no sign of any sheer rock faces.

  'Yes - oh, let's go on,' said Gwen. 'After all, it does add to one's prestige to say one has climbing among one's accomplishments.'

  Jeanette's optimism as to the worst of their troubles being over soon proved a forlorn hope. After Cetin had decided on a clearing on the mountainside as their resting-place, and told them to get out their sleeping bags, Gwen suddenly jumped high into the air and screamed, 'Scorpions! We can't sleep here, Cetin!'

  Looking swiftly down, Jeanette and Sally both moved, but the scorpions were all around them.

  'Don't mind them,' said Qetin calmly as he and Ali began to tread the scorpions down with their heavy boots. 'Come on, clear a place. Don't stand there!'

  There was nothing for it but to do as they were told.

  'Oh, well,' said Sally with a shrug of resignation, 'it's adventure - and I expect we'll have a laugh about it later on.'

  The storm began at midnight, and raged for hours; they all stood huddled into the tiny space under the cliff which rose starkly above them. But the next morning the sun shone brilliantly, gleaming on the snow-capped summit of Uludag. Everyone's spirits rose, as, packing up, they continued their ascent of the mountain.

  It was only a couple of hours later when, roped together, they were tackling the rock face. To her surprise Jeanette was thoroughly enjoying it. Being sensible enough not to look down, she experienced no fear at all. The mountain air was cold and invigorating, and Jeanette began to feel the pride of achievement as, now and then, Cetin would throw them a word of encouragement or, more grudgingly, a word of praise.

  Then suddenly someone shouted, 'rocks!' and always afterwards Jeanette remembered her reaction. What did it mean? There were rocks all around. In any case, she had not connected the shout with her own safety. This reaction must have been experienced in a flash, however, for the next moment, with a second cry echoing in her ears, she felt the searing pain in her thigh, was conscious of its being ripped open, of blood everywhere - and that she had released her precarious hold on the narrow protruding ledge....

  CHAPTER SIX

  Her eyes fluttered open and Mark was there; Mark, looking pale and drawn and very tired. Jeanette closed her eyes again; her leg was twice its size and throbbing with pain.

  'I remember it,' she murmured. 'They couldn't get me down....' She shuddered. 'I wanted to go down - but they brought me up.'

  'Cetin thought it would be easier.' Her brother's voice came soothingly, and as if from a, distance. 'You're in the hotel.'

  'I did want to go down...' She remembered her terror at the idea of going up. Down seemed safe. It was the solid ground beneath her feet and she had implored them to take her down. 'I'm such a long way up.'

  'But quite safe, dear. We
shall take you down soon, by road.'

  'I wanted to go down—' Her hands clenched till the knuckles shone white beneath the skin. 'Why didn't they take me down?' She looked at him, a dazed expression on her face.

  'It would have been too difficult, dear,' Mark answered patiently. 'You're going down very soon, very slowly and safely, in the car.'

  She opened her eyes wide, and saw again how drawn he looked. Something else there too; such deep anxiety worried her.

  'Am I very ill?' she asked, and instantly he shook his head.

  'It's only the leg. That's bad - very bad, but the doctor says it won't take too long to heal. You've had several stitches—'

  'Have I? I didn't know.' Vaguely she remembered an injection, and the blessed release from pain. 'I'd be conscious when they did it.' She paused, again wondering at the trouble in his eyes. 'What is it, Mark? Is something worrying you ?'

  He smiled then, and shook his head, but Jeanette knew instinctively that he was only trying to reassure her.

  'Nothing is worrying me - and you mustn't worry about a thing, either. Would you like to close your eyes and rest again now?'

  'I'm not tired. When are we going home?' and before he could reply, 'Where are the others?'

  'They've already gone - all except Sally. She insisted on staying; she'll come down with us.' That was good of her.'

  'I'm going to phone the doctor now,' he told her. 'He did say there would be no difficulty - that you could be moved tonight, but he also said he'd like to see you first.'

  'What time is it?'

  'Almost five o'clock.'

  'Still Sunday?'

  'Still Sunday.' He smiled, smoothed the bed cover, and left her. A moment or two later Sally came in and sat on the side of the bed; she too looked troubled, but at the same time relieved.

  'So you've come round. How do you feel ?'

  'Fine, if my leg didn't hurt so much. How did you manage to get Mark here so soon ?'

  'We phoned him right away, and by some miracle there was a plane from Istanbul and he managed to get it. He was here in no time at all.'

  'He didn't come by car? How are we to get home?'

  'Mark's hired a car, an outsize one. It's been waiting quite a while. We'll be going soon; the doctor didn't foresee any hitch at all.'

  'Sally....' Jeanette hesitated and then, 'Sally, is there anything else wrong? I mean, Mark seems so very troubled about something.'

  'Troubled?' Sally looked rather blank. 'I expect he's dreadfully worried about you, naturally.'

  'It isn't that.' She moved her head against the pillow, a frown upon her brow. 'I know it's silly, but he looks -sort of - shattered.'

  A frown touched her friend's brow at that.

  'I don't understand. You're probably imagining things, being as you are.'

  'You mean I'm not quite myself?' Jeanette said, smiling faintly.

  'Well, you have been drugged, you know. And you were rambling - I didn't hear you because the doctor sent us all away, but Mark said you were rambling. He seemed somewhat put out by the things you said,' she added, her frown deepening slightly in sudden recollection. 'Yes, now I come to think of it, he did seem rather shaken as he was telling me.'

  'Telling you?' She looked at her friend curiously, lifting her head from the pillow. 'What was I saying?'

  'Oh, he didn't tell me that - just said you were rambling.'

  'And he seemed... shaken...?' What could she have said to affect Mark in that way? What else had been in Mark's expression? What else besides anxiety? She tried to think, to see his face again— Pity, compassion, yes, those had been there...! She shook her head in bewilderment, then laid it back against the pillow. 'I wonder what I said. I must ask him.'

  The doctor having announced her fit to be moved, Jeanette was carried to the car and settled comfortably along the back seat, with her friend on the seat opposite. Mark sat in the front with the driver who went slowly and with extreme care along the mountain road. It was very late when they arrived in Istanbul. They dropped Sally first; Jeanette thanked her and so did Mark. Sally brushed off their thanks and said she'd be over to see Jeanette the following day after school.

  Jeanette was put straight to bed, Tony stayed with her and Mark for a while and then left them alone. The silence seemed strange and after having a little difficulty in framing her question, Jeanette asked her brother what she had said when under the influence of the drug. He glanced up, startled for a moment, and then his eyes softened and assumed that compassionate expression of which she had been vaguely aware of a few hours earlier.

  'It was very much of a jumble,' he replied non-committally. 'You were just rambling, Jeanette... it didn't make very much sense.' And then, getting up from the chair, 'I'm turning in now. Don't forget to ring the bell if you want anything. Mrs. Baydur has been told to come, up at once. Good night, Jeanette.'

  'Good night, Mark.' She watched him go to the door. 'Mark...'

  'Yes?' He turned, his hand on the edge of the open door.

  'Does - does Craig know about this?' She spoke with difficulty, aware of her heightened colour, but more profoundly aware of the sudden movement in her brother's throat... almost as if he were trying to swallow a hard little lump there.

  'He went to the yali, as you know. I left a note; he would get it on his return.' He paused and went on with seeming reluctance. 'I thought he might have called - or phoned.'

  'And he hasn't.' The words came out against her will; her brother spoke with an odd urgency, telling her that he might not yet be home.

  'He sometimes does leave it until Monday - even Tuesday, as you know.'

  'Yes.' Her eyes pricked suddenly. "You remember he wanted me to help him with his book?' And, when he nodded, 'If I'd gone to Buyuk Ada this wouldn't have happened.'

  A tightness touched the comers of his mouth.

  'It wouldn't,' he agreed, 'but on the other hand—'

  'Well?' She waited a while for him to continue. 'What were you going to say ?'

  'Nothing, nothing important.' He bade her good night once more and went out, closing the door softly behind him.

  For the next fortnight Jeanette had to stay in bed, but the gash in her thigh was healing rapidly and without any sign of complication.

  'You'll carry a scar, I'm afraid,' the doctor told her, 'but you're very lucky not to be left with anything worse. Climbing's all very well for those who have studied the technique, but damned silly for a novice like you.' The doctor was a tall and slender Turk who had a permanent scowl and thick black eyebrows that met over his nose giving him a most ferocious appearance. He spoke English better than many an Englishman, for he studied languages, and it was said that he spoke over twenty. Jeanette was rather scared of him, expecting him any day to pronounce the need for the 'evil spirit' to be released. This would mean a quick incision, probably on her brow, and as Jeanette had heard many accounts of this attack with a scalpel — for he permitted no resistance - she always viewed his departing figure, with the utmost ■ relief.

  'I don't think you need worry,' Gwen said, trying to reassure her. 'It's the village folk, mainly - they expect it Wouldn't think they were cured unless the evil spirit was allowed to escape.'

  'But he cut Sally's head, didn't he?'

  'Yes, he did,' Gwen owned.'

  'We'd only been here a couple of weeks when she contracted jaundice, and he insisted that she have the evil blood released. Don't know what the difference is, but apparently if you have one thing wrong with you it's the evil spirit that must be cast out, and with some other ailment it's the blood. Terribly superstitious these people are - they seem to be like this in all these eastern countries.'

  'Sally tells me you're both going home for the summer holiday,' Jeanette said, changing the subject. 'I shall miss you terribly.'

  'It's our mums — you know what they are; always worrying because we're so far from the safety of their loving care. In their day girls didn't go running off all over the place; there wasn't the sam
e chance, I suppose. But although they accept our being away they don't like it. Sally's mum's worse than mine because of course she's an only one.' She paused as Jeanette moved, finding a cooler place for her leg under the thin linen bed cover. 'All right?'

  Jeanette smiled faintly and nodded, going on to say she wished she was back at school.

  'It's so miserable here all day on my own. Still, I suppose I should be thankful that I'm no worse.'

  'Yes, indeed.' Gwen's face paled slightly at the recollection of those terrible few moments when the great rocks came hurtling down the mountainside. 'I'll never forget it as long as I live. I thought you were going to be killed.'

  'I didn't actually see them. I think I must be a complete idiot, for I didn't even think of getting out of the way. I had no idea what they meant when they shouted the warning.'

  'It was Cetin's fault. Apparently that's his main trouble; he takes it for granted that you know — and also that you know how to act in these sort of situations. An experienced climber would have easily avoided the accident.'

  'So would I, had I thought; because it was only my leg. Had I moved only slightly to one side I'd have escaped any injury at all.' Again she changed the subject, depressed by the prospect of her friends' departure for England and wondering what she would do with herself during the long summer vacation. 'Are you spending the whole nine weeks away?'

  Gwen nodded, reluctantly.

  'We're travelling by car, so that's going to cut out a week at either end of the holiday. We could do it quicker, I know, but we want to see a few places on the way. We have to take the car in order to bring back all the things you can't buy here. If there's anything you want you must tell us.'

  'I find it's clothes, mainly, they're not very nice here, and you can't buy those for me.' Not that she would need many clothes, she mused, still unable to throw off her dejection at the idea of being without Sally and Gwen for so long at a time. Her sun-suit would suffice, for she could see herself spending the whole of the vacation sitting in the garden with a book.