Hostage For A Hood by Lionel White Read Free Book Online Page B

moment and looked at the dogwood trees lining the side of the highway. They had been in bloom on that day of her life when she and Bart had made the one most important drive of all along this road. It was a day which she often remembered and now once more she forced her mind to dwell on it ....
    They had been going together for quite a while and they'd found a lot to like in each other, but there had been nothing serious. Joyce had been orphaned at an early age and had spent most of her childhood in a convent. Her guardian was a distant relative who lived abroad and had little interest in the child who had been left in his care. He'd shifted his responsibilities to a trust company which in turn had seen to it that Joyce was raised in the convent until she was in her teens. She'd gone to a good finishing school and later had been entered in a New England college.
    It was during her sophomore year that the guardian died and shortly after she received the news, the trust company had gotten in touch with her. It seemed that the money for her education had long ago run out and that the distant relative had been paying her expenses out of his own pocket. The first thing his heirs did was to cut off her allowance.
    Joyce had to leave the college and take a job. The job was with the Markson Advertising Agency, and it was there that she'd met Bart. Until the time of her first date with him—he took her to dinner after work and then to a movie at one of the midtown art theaters—she'd had almost no contact at all with men. There'd been a couple of dates while she was still in college, but her years in the convent had made her afraid of men and she was extremely shy. Once or twice a boy had tried to kiss her and make love to her but she was embarrassed and frightened and they'd soon given up.
    Bart also had tried to kiss her that first night after he had returned with her to the apartment she shared with another girl. Again she had been shy and a little frightened and had pushed him away. Only Bart hadn't given up. He'd been wise and considerate. They continued to see each other outside of the office as well as init. Gradually she became used to him.
    And then came the time they took the drive, planning to spend the day in the country and end up having dinner at the little inn over the line in Connecticut.
    Bart was in good spirits and she herself was feeling gay and carefree as they had started out. They'd sung together all the way up, she carrying the tunes of the modern songs and Bart attempting to join her with his deep, soft voice, which never could find the right key. They'd reached the inn early in the afternoon and had gone in and Bart had ordered daiquiris for them. She'd never cared much about drinking, but this day something had happened to her. She was ecstatically happy, for no reason at all except that she was with Bart and it was spring and they were young and full of life.
    They had two more drinks apiece and then Bart had ordered the dinner. He'd ordered a very special dinner, sautéed guinea hen and wild rice, and it had taken a while before it would be ready.
    While they waited they decided to take a walk and they followed the path behind the inn and down by the little pond. They were standing there at the edge of the pond when Bart had reached over and taken her in his arms and had kissed her. She had acted instinctively then, pushing him and leaning away, and then her feet slipped and the bank began to crumble and the next thing she knew both of them were waist-deep in the pond.
    They were laughing wildly as Bart helped pull her out. That's when she suddenly turned to him and raising on her toes, put her arms around him and lifted up her lips.
    Ten minutes later they returned to the inn, both dripping wet.
    Mama Galuzzi, who ran the place, had thrown up her hands and screamed when she saw them. She yelled at her husband who was cooking in the kitchen and when he came to the door, she spoke to him rapidly in