Read Online Black Mischief by Carl Hancock - Free Book Online

he was up and drawing Rebecca to her feet. ‘Let’s just check. Whoever they are, they’ve got plenty of dosh, schoolboy talk for cash.’
    â€˜Or dough, not for making bread. You have told me this.’
    â€˜Learning to speak English proper.’
    â€˜You mean “properly”.’
    â€˜Only testing. Dong! Ten out of ten!’
    The passengers were being helped down onto the ground at the other end of the strip. In the hazy air of late afternoon, Tom and Rebecca peered theatrically along the hundred metres separating them from busy activity. She was the first to reach a conclusion.
    â€˜No, I cannot see any pregnant ladies down there.’
    â€˜Agreed.’ His tone changed from businesslike to wistful. ‘I don’t think any Rubais will be spending tonight on this lakeside. I told you that the air up here is very special. It can do miracles. Rebecca, sweetheart, where has all the guilt gone?’
    â€˜Thomas, I cannot see a pregnant lady down there, but Sally has been in my mind such a lot today. I have this wonderful warm feeling in me for her. I owe her so much.’
    Two minibuses drove up to the red planes. All engines were switched off down there. Excited laughter drifted up to them. They could see people moving into the buses and being driven off. Within minutes they were alone again, listening to the sound of their own breathing.
    â€˜Thomas, I am ready.’ She released her arm and turned him to face her.
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    He could feel her body being pressed hard against him.
    â€˜Perhaps there is a better mind doctor here.’
    He understood. ‘Rebecca, what are you doing to me?’
    â€˜I know what I have said before but …’
    â€˜In a few weeks. You are the strong one. Feel my forehead. It’s red hot. I’m confused. I mean …’
    â€˜You are afraid?’ She arched her back and teased him with a smile.
    â€˜Rebecca, I …’
    â€˜I want you to lie with me. Remember those words so long ago? God will bless us, for sure.’
    â€˜But …’
    Her reply was to begin unbuttoning her blouse.
    â€˜Bloody hell, and I said paradise was down the road …’
    Afterwards, they continued to hold each other close on the soft grass. Evening had come and with it the first chill air of the night. The plains around them that had been green and brown were now shadowy with the onset of night. So, when they sat up, there was a great pool of light out on the lake. The dying sun above the jagged darkness of the western shore cast out a bar of molten gold that reached to the edge of the water not far below where they sat.
    â€˜Thomas, we are in the Garden of Eden. Our people believe that.’
    â€˜And so do I. If you told me at this moment that we were the only human beings on the planet, I’d believe you.’
    â€˜So, you are Bwana Adam and I am Memsahib Eve.’
    â€˜The Eve part I can understand. God, you’re beautiful.’
    â€˜And perhaps we have started to make a little one.’
    â€˜Let’s try again, just to make sure!’
    Rebecca crossed her arms and shivered briefly. ‘The dew is coming. Papa says it is God’s gift to the night animals.’
    â€˜I like the freshness of it, but we can’t risk you catching a cold. You can shelter behind me on the bike. Put my shirt on over your blouse.’
    â€˜So you can catch the cold instead.’
    Out on North Road the shelter of the trees and the constant bouncing about on the rough surface kept the shivers at bay. Tom helped out by singing all the way down to the main road. Rebecca grasped his cool, hard body and snuggled under his shoulders. She was glad that he could not see her face. He might have misunderstood what he saw there. They had just shared the most unforgettable experience of their young lives and the bond they shared had never been stronger. But the tightly drawn lips and the sadness in