Summer's Awakening by Anne Weale Read Free Book Online Page B

which, without sugar, tasted horrible.
    In spite of James Gardiner's urbane appearance the day before, it wasn't impossible to visualise him in the hard-wearing clothes of a cowboy, his long legs comfortably extended in American working stirrups rather than short English hunting stirrups.
    But the image which came to her mind, remembering the tanned, raw-boned face, was not of him as a cowboy but as the other major protagonist of the American legend; the wild, war-painted Indian warrior defending a way of life which was doomed to extinction.
    Obviously there could be no American Indian blood in James Gardiner's veins; and yet, with his high, slanting cheekbones and aquiline nose, the cast of his features bore more than a passing resemblance to the proud, hawklike faces of some of the so-called redskins.
    In her mind's eye it was easy to see his black hair flowing to his shoulders, held in place by a band above his eyebrows and whipped back by the wind when he rode, like the mane of his pinto. She could see his tall frame clad in buckskins, or naked except for a breech-clout, his shoulders like polished bronze, powerful biceps swelling his arms as he drew his bow to kill an animal or an adversary.
    Even in the clothes he wore now, there was something about him which suggested a hard, tough man with a streak of ruthlessness in him. That he had no understanding of or compassion for other people's weaknesses had been clearly demonstrated yesterday.
    'Summer! What is the matter?' Emily exclaimed.
    Her train of thought broken, Summer said hastily, 'Nothing. Why?'
    'You had such a strange, angry look on your face. Not a bit like you. Whatever were you thinking?'
    'I—I was thinking about the Red Indians. The cruel things they used to do to their enemies and prisoners... and the equally terrible things which were done to many of them.'
    'James says America is an incredible country to live in, but I shouldn't have liked it in those days... never knowing when an arrow might come whizzing through the window. He says that a lot of things Americans eat, such as corned beef and pot roasts, derive from the days of the settlers. Even hamburgers are a modern form of the minced beef the early colonials used to eat with their fingers.
    'Did he mention whereabouts in America he was living while he was talking to Mr Darblay?'
    'No, he spoke of all sorts of places; Vermont, Montana, North Carolina—but not as if he lived in any of them. He says I'm too skinny. If you're not going to eat them, may I have one of your crumpets?'
    'By all means. Have them both, if you can manage them.'
    Summer poured herself some more tea and wondered how long it took to learn to like it without sugar.
    Prior to her illness Miss Ewing had done all the catering. After it, Summer had taught herself to cook for them both. However, that night she didn't have the fillet steak which had been her excuse for abstaining from crumpets and fruit cake. Her supper consisted of a boiled egg, two crispbreads from a packet bought on her way home, a raw tomato and an orange.
    For the second night in succession she went to bed feeling hungry, and wishing she had some bathroom scales to show whether her self-denial was beginning to show some results. Although she had got rid of all the high-calorie snacks which had been in the house the night before, the rest of the crispbreads were a lure, and she longed for a glass of milk to quieten her rumbling insides. Two pints were delivered every morning, and she decided to cut down to four pints a week, or just over half a pint a day.
    Usually she slept very soundly, rousing only when her alarm clock began to buzz. That night she woke several times and next morning felt tired and listless.
    On her way to Cranmere, the exertion of cycling against a head wind made her feel oddly shaky. By the time she arrived she was longing for a cup of sweet milky coffee and something to eat, but she knew she would have to wait until eleven.
    Emily greeted her