by Jane Corrie
Taking one look at the graze, Della asked for the first aid box and proceeded to clean up the area. Bits of dirt and gravel had got embedded in the flesh, and she made him hold still until she had thoroughly cleaned it out.
Although he wouldn't admit it, it had probably given him a lot of pain during the night, and as Della put the bandage on, she scolded him for not reporting the accident to Cal, for she wasn't too sure he, ought not to have a tetanus injection, and advised him to let Cal see it later that day when he returned from the muster.
Della's ministrations had considerably eased the pain and a relieved David had grinned back at her.
'It's only a scratch, Della. Guess I'll be okay.' 'Promise me you'll tell Cal?' Della insisted. 'If you don't, I will! '
His blue eyes met hers. 'Gosh, Della, you're beaut, and I'm only a kid,' he said shyly.
Not quite understanding, Della grinned back at him. 'Well, that's settled, then,' she said as she began to tie the knot on the bandage.
'You might give Silas a rub down,' cut in Cal, who stood a little way behind them. 'And when you've finished being mollycoddled, there's work on the west field for you.'
No sympathy whatsoever, Della had thought scathingly. Cal hadn't even asked what had happened to David's arm, and thinking about it now, Della was glad she had obeyed her instincts and kept quiet. If she had leapt to David's defence, she was sure she would not only have made things worse, but cause him much embarrassment.
CHAPTER TEN
CORA timed it to a nicety, and Della saw it as an answer to her problem, and a way out of what was becoming an intolerable situation.
David's company had now been denied her, and for a while she was convinced he was deliberately avoiding her, until she learnt he had been detailed to work on the outer fencing of the vast acreage that made up Rimmer's Way.
Thrusting the printed sheet of paper at her, Cora commented, 'There's two that might suit you.'
For a moment Della couldn't think what she was talking about, and then on glancing down at the paper in her hand, she found it was a land agent's brochure. Her eyes skimmed down the page until she came to the two properties Cora had put a mark against. Both the premises for sale were in the nearby township and, Della thought with a small spurt of happiness, near Alice.
Turning to the silent Cora beside her, she impulsively caught her hand. 'Oh, thank you, Cora I'm certain one of them will do.' She hesitated. 'Do you think Cal will lay on transport for me to go and see them? I think I ought to go soon, don't you?' she asked worriedly.
Cora thought about this for a while. It was obvious she hadn't given much attention to this side of the business, and now that she put her mind to it it appeared to present a few difficulties.
'Well,' she said slowly, 'I don't see why Cal should be bothered, do you? I mean, until everything is fixed. If one of them is suitable,' she shrugged carelessly, 'he'll have to see to things, then, but I'd rather he didn't know I'd given you those addresses,' she gave Della a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. 'He likes to do things his ·way, and he's so busy right now, even if you told him about it, he'd forget, and you'd probably lose the premises. Leave it to me, I'll get one of our boys to run you into town. Just give me a day or two to arrange it.'
When Cora had gone, Della studied the details of the properties and saw that one was over a cafe, and consisted of two rooms, the other had been a turf accountant's office, and had much larger premises.
Of the two, the rooms over the café seemed the more suitable, price-wise at least, for Della didn't think she ought to be too choosey; there would be other items to purchase, such as office equipment. On this thought she frowned. It could cost a lot of money. Then her brow cleared. It would be worth it to Cal, and whatever else he was, he was not mean. She would be more likely to find herself having to refuse his generosity rather than to seek it.
At dinner the following day, Cal gave the girls a shock by casually asking Della why she wanted to go into town the following day, and Della's glance went straight to Cora, wondering whether she had spoken to him about the trip, but Cora's surprised expression was evidence that she had not.
Cal's keen eyes went from Della to Cora as he awaited an answer.
'Oh, I just thought I'd look around,' Della said hastily, trying to keep Cora out of it. 'You'll remember my wanting to find premises for that scheme I had in mind?' She spoke as if it were a private matter between them and not to be discussed in front of Cora. But her efforts to protect Cora proved useless, as Cal turned to her, remarking mildly, 'And you know just the place?'
Cora flushed and looked down at her plate. 'I happened to hear of a place going,' she said sulkily, adding, 'We didn't want to worry you, Cal, not when you're so busy. Jack's taking Della in tomorrow, so there's no need for you to alter your schedule.'
'I don't think we need to call on Jack, do you?' he asked, still in that mild voice of his that Della was beginning to recognise as a preliminary notice of trouble in store for someone—in this case, Cora!
'As for altering my schedule, I wasn't aware I had one,' he remarked, looking directly at Cora. 'However, tomorrow is not convenient.' This time he looked at Della. 'Will Saturday suit you?' he asked dryly.
Della flushed. He meant to take her in to town, and she didn't want his company—a fact he had already astutely gauged, but there was no help for it, and she had to accept with as much grace as she could muster, for if she took up Cora's explanation of not wanting to bother him, she knew she would receive precisely the same treatment as he had meted out to Cora, and she did not want to add fuel to the fire.
Whoever Jack was, it was evident he had contacted Cal and advised him of the proposed trip; Cora, it seemed, had not gained the allegiance of her staff.
Cora's temper was not improved by the news that she was to be excluded from the Saturday trip, and even though she tried all she knew to inveigle Cal into taking her, it was to no avail, and she had to accept defeat.
Had Della been consulted, she would have preferred to have Cora with them, as she could then have left them to entertain each other and inspected the premises in peace. She sighed inwardly. By now she had learnt to accept Cal's decisions. He was not a man to change his mind, even on small matters.
Although Della hoped something would turn up to prevent Cal making the trip on Saturday, nothing did, and as she sat beside him while he drove her to town, she was reminded of her first journey out to Rimmer's Way when she had still been under shock from her uncle's death. Such a lot had happened since then, and her mind went over her subsequent relationship with Cal, hurriedly skimming over the events following the dance, and she wondered Whether she would ever really get to know him, for he constantly surprised her by his occasional flashes of insight, only to be 'replaced by a studied indifference when she least expected it.
Take the attitude he had taken over this trip to town, she thought crossly. After the indifferent way he had treated her these last few weeks, she was at a loss to understand why he had put himself out to escort her. Was it because he was anxious to get her future settled? She thought it must be; perhaps he had at last come to the conclusion that she would not settle to ranch life.
She couldn't see how he could have expected her to, for with Cora constantly in attendance, Della hadn't stood a chance.
A small lump rose in her throat when she recalled the week Cora had been away, and how she and Cal had spent quiet but contented dinners together. Perhaps—she moved restlessly; wasn't she forgetting a few vital facts—such as the reason why Cal had married her in the first place?
No matter what, she would never be able to forget that—she would never be sure of his true feelings; it was Rimmer's Way that had come first; not only first but second and third, she thought wearily. She was not even a runner-up, for if her uncle had not left her a share in the property, she would not even have been entered in the stakes.
'Aren't you rushing things?' Cal's deep voice broke into her musings.
&nb
sp; Della was not quite sure how to take the question.
Did he mean going to see the properties or her departure from Rimmer's Way? She glanced at him and as he felt her look, his eyes left the road and met her puzzled eyes.
'It's remarkable how guileless you can appear at times,' he commented idly as his gaze went back to the road.
Two bright spots of colour appeared on her cheeks as she took the pointed remark. If he was judging her by Cora's standards ... 'I'm not Cora,' she snapped, wishing a little too late that she had held her tongue.
Giving her another swift glance, Cal asked innocently, 'Now why should you feel it necessary to labour that point?'
'I'm not labouring the point,' Della answered quickly, adding sweetly, 'I think we've got our lines crossed. I'm not rushing things either; I'm very grateful to Cora for her help. At least she remembered to keep a lookout for me.'
She did not look at Cal as she said this, but she knew he had looked back at her. 'Meaning I haven't?' he asked blandly.
'You're a very busy man,' Della answered patiently, determined to keep the conversation, which looked like getting out of hand at any moment, on a safe basis. 'I couldn't expect you to bother about things.'
She saw the hardening of his features on this last remark, and when he shot her a quick look, also saw the glint in his eye as he said softly, 'One day,Della Tarn, you're going to bite off more than you can chew.'
Della's cheeks put out the banner signs again. She had not liked the way he had used her married name, and although she would have liked to have asked him what he meant, she lacked the courage, and decided it was safer to relapse into silence. He would no doubt think she was sulking, and she preferred things that way!
The premises over the café looked, from a distance, to be ideal. Cal had parked the car a few yards down the street, but from a position that gave them a good view of the café and the rooms above. It was not on the main street of the town, but off a side road, and in Della's view was all the more suitable because of this, for what traffic there was would be centred on the main shopping area of the small town and a certain amount of peace should be guaranteed.
Cal gave her a swift glance as he unfolded his lean length out of the car and walked round to open the car door for her, and in silence they walked towards the café.
They did not have to go through the café to view the premises above, but found a side entrance, which again pleased Della as it ensured a certain amount of privacy for the occupier.
After climbing a short flight of stairs, they wandered through the rooms, and she was not disappointed by the size of the accommodation. Although on the small side, it was ample for her needs.
Standing in the larger of the two rooms, she mentally furnished it with the desk she would have to have, and the various office equipment she would need, coming to with a start to find Cal watching her with that enigmatic expression of his. 'It's perfect! ' she said happily. 'And so quiet: It's ideal! '
The words were hardly out of her mouth when an ear-splitting melody blasted into the peace of the room. A juke box had come into action with a vengeance, and the sound reverberated from wall to wall. The thumping of the drum accompanist appeared to make the floor move in rhythm with the so-called melody.
Della's brown eyes opened wide in astonishment, and she turned to find Cal with what could only be called a smirk on his face, which he quickly subdued when he caught her eye.
Giving a firm shake of the head, he said, 'I don't think so, do you?'
Seeing the twinkle in his eye, she was tempted to argue the point; he had been able to compose his features, but not the twinkle that hold her he was enjoying himself hugely.
'Perhaps,' she said slowly, but not very convincingly, 'I could get them to turn it down.'
This time he did grin as he drawled, 'Perhaps. It may,' he added casually, 'be the reason the last tenants left.'
Della was forced to agree with this conclusion. It was almost certain to be the reason. No one but a pop fanatic could possibly stand that battering all day long, and as for trying to work with it ...
She sighed. 'Well, we'd better look at the next property, hadn't we?' she said despondently.
With another of those maddening grins, Cal nodded, and escorted her out of the premises.
As they left the side door a man poked his head out of the café door. He wore a white apron and was, Della presumed, the owner of the café. He looked straight at Cal. 'Okay, Mr Tarn?' he asked brightly.
Giving a slight frown, Cal nodded brusquely at the man. "Day, Bill,' he answered, adding casually, 'It's not quite what we want,' and left it at that.
Although Della was not surprised by this slight exchange, for Cal was well known and it was a small town, she was surprised by the fact that the man had obviously expected to see them, and this brought a few other suspicions to the forefront of her notice. That music had been exceptionally loud. If it sounded like that in the rooms above, for goodness' sake, what must it have been like in the café itself?
Glancing surreptitiously at the tall man beside her as they walked back to the car, she wondered whether Cal had arranged something to put her off the premises. He had asked to see the agents' brochure a few days ago so that he would know where he had to take her.
But after a few moments thought she rejected this idea. Of course he wouldn't! He wanted her settled and out of Rimmer's Way as much as she wanted out.
It was just not Della's day. The next property proved utterly unsuitable. It was well outside the town's limits, in fact, isolated, and Della couldn't see how the girls she had envisaged joining her in the venture could possibly be expected to travel that far from town each day, and even supposing transport could be found for them, it just wasn't a practical proposition.
A very disappointed and subdued Della sat beside Cal on the way back to Rimmer's Way. Cal, sensing her despondency, said airily, 'It's early days yet, you know.'
Far from soothing her, his calm pronouncement added to her misery, for Della had a feeling he was still thinking in terms of a year's stay at Rimmer's Way, and that made her even more unhappy. He didn't, she thought bitterly, notice much, or he would have realised how miserable she was, and would have released her from the impossible position he had placed her in.
She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. So he was a busy man—but if he really did want to see to her welfare he ought to be made to understand that she did not, and never would, fit in at Rimmer's Way.
A lifetime spent in the proximity of Cora was too appalling a thought to entertain, and Della's mind shied from it as one would flee from any other unpleasant thought. Choosing to ignore Cal's airy remark, she said, 'Perhaps I ought to advertise for the sort of property I want,' and her eyes held a
definite glint in them as she met his, and went on; `Yes, I'm sure that's the thing to do. It doesn't necessarily have to be local. I can see properties are few and far between. I only tried locally because Alice told me there was a need for a secretarial agency, especially since a dairy concern had moved into the area.'
Della was well aware that Cal had not liked the way she had bypassed his earlier remark, but it couldn't be helped. He would have to accept the fact that she had no intention of staying at Rimmer's Way, if indeed he expected her to, and she fervently wished she could read his mind, for there were times when she was forced to come to the conclusion that Cora's prediction had been right, and that he hadn't the slightest intention of annulling the marriage in one year's time—or ever!
And yet—her brow furrowed—his behaviour lately had pointed in the opposite direction. He had, if anything, encouraged Cora to enter into debatable subjects at dinner, and if Della had declined to rise to the bait, had deliberately made some remark calculated to force her into the argument— and nearly always successfully, she thought ruefully, remembering how having got a debate started, he would lean back in his chair and enjoy the battle of words, only intervening when Cora had begun to run out of argument and
then wade in on her side.
'You haven't given it a chance, have you?' Cal said harshly.
Coming to with a jerk, Della stared at him. Given what a chance? The office hunting—or Rimmer's Way?
His next words left her in no doubt. 'You couldn't expect things to be the same over here as in England. It just needs a little adjusting, that's all; plus a little patience. Cora and I understand how difficult it is , for you, and we're doing our best to help.'
Della took a deep breath. She wanted to shout back at him that between the pair of them they were doing a good job of hastening her departure! The only thing that made her bite her lower lip and stem the furious tirade she wanted to throw at him was a sense of waiting on his part—almost, she thought wonderingly, as if he was quite deliberately baiting her. It had a slight resemblance to the dinner sessions, only Cora was not present to add her enlightening view !
This time he was out of luck, Della thought bitterly. If he was trying to rattle her there was only one way to handle it, agree with him!
'I'm sure you're both doing your best to help me settle down,' she sighed, tongue in cheek. 'But what neither of you seem to understand is that I'm just not cut out for ranch life.' She paused to let this sink in, and carried on quickly before he could intervene as he showed every sign of wanting to do, and going by the quick flash of surprise in his eyes, and something else Della hadn't been able to read--recognition, perhaps, that she had parried his thrust to rile her?
'You see, I'm city-bred,' she went on sweetly. 'I once heard Cora remark that Luis was the same, and that if he hadn't had a flair for domestic work he wouldn't have stayed on the ranch—well, not permanently, that is. And that's how it is with me. Even though my stay is only for a year, I'm so out of my environment I can't honestly see myself staying that long. Although I'm very grateful to both of you, I won't be truly happy until I'm back in what I call civilisation. I think you have to be born to your kind of life to enjoy it, as of course Cora was.'
