My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart Read Free Book Online Page A

it might have been somewhere at the bottom of the valley, with the eagles of Zeus picking my bones!’
    ‘It was a pleasure.’ He was looking down at me, measuringly. ‘And now what are you planning to do? Rest and have some tea first, or is that’ – a gesture indicated the car – ‘worrying you too much?’
    I said uncertainly: ‘It is rather. I think I’d better go right ahead and do what I can.’
    ‘Look,’ he said, ‘if you’ll forgive my saying so, you look as if you’d better have that rest. Won’t you please leave this to me, at any rate for the time being? Why don’t you go and lie down, and have tea brought to your room – they make excellent tea here, by the way – while I make a few inquiries for you?’
    ‘Why, I – you mustn’t – I mean, it’s absurd that you should be landed with my difficulties,’ I said, a little confusedly, and conscious only of a strong desire that he should, in fact, be landed with them all. I finished feebly. ‘I couldn’t let you.’
    ‘Why not? It would be too cruel if you turned on me now and told me to mind my own business.’
    ‘I didn’t mean it like that. You know I didn’t. It’s only—’
    ‘That it’s your affair and you want to see it through? Of course. But I must confess I’m seething with curiosity myself by now, and after all it’s partly my affair, too, since my
alter ego
has managed to involve me. I really would be very grateful if you’d let me help. Besides,’ he added, ‘wouldn’t you honestly much rather go and have a rest and some tea now, while I do the detecting for you in my fluent but no doubt peculiar Greek?’
    ‘I—’ I hesitated again, then said truthfully: ‘I should adore to.’
    ‘Then that’s settled.’ He glanced at his wrist. ‘It’s about twenty past four now. Shall we say an hour? I’ll report back at five thirty. Right?’
    ‘Right.’ I looked at him a little helplessly. ‘But if you do find him, and he’s angry—’
    ‘Well?’
    ‘I don’t want you made responsible for what’s happened. It wouldn’t be fair, and I’d much rather face my own music’
    ‘You’d be surprised,’ he said cryptically, ‘how responsible I feel already. All right then. See you later.’
    With a quick wave of the hand he was gone down the steps to the lower road.
    My room overlooked the valley, and had a long window with a balcony. The shutters were closed against the sun, but even so the room seemed full oflight, globed in light, incandescent with it. As the door shut behind the maid who had shown me upstairs, I went across to the window and pulled back the shutters. Like a blast the heat met me. The sun was wheeling over now towards the west, full across the valley from my window, and valley and plain were heavy with sleepy heat. The tide of olives had stilled itself, and even the illusion of coolness created by those rippling grey leaves was gone. In the distance the wedge of shining water that showed at the edge of the plain struck at the eyes like a flash from a burning-glass.
    I closed my eyes against it, pulling the shutters to again. Then I slipped off my dress, and had a long, cool wash. I sat on the edge of the bed for some minutes after that, brushing my hair, till I heard the maid coming back with the tea. I had my tea – Simon Lester had been right about its excellence – propped against pillows, and with my feet up on the bed. I don’t think I thought any more about Simon – either of the Simons – or about the car, or about anything except the shadowed quiet of the little white room.
    Presently I put the tray off my knees on to the table by the bed, and lay back to relax. Before I knew it was even near, sleep had overtaken me …
    I woke to a feeling of freshness and the incongruous sound of rain. But the light still drove white against the shutters, and when I opened them a crack I saw that the sun still blazed, deeper now and lower, but at full power. Half my window was in shadow now,