husky. Now it was sympathetic but bracing: buck up, Rita.
I lay still while I sorted her manner out. She had her hair done in a softer style than before, buckled at the nape of her neck and falling in a yellow silk tail. Her make-up was light as well, and kind of rosy. Motherly.
Her eyes were the eyes of a horse-trainer who has just bought a horse.
I said, ‘Nothing permanent. I got bumped about by someone who thought Kim-Jim and I were after your money. I had to promise to leave Madeira tomorrow. And that Kim-Jim would never come back. Can I have a drink, please?’
She patted my hand, her rings flashing. ‘When you’ve seen my doctor. He’s waiting to look at you. Then you can drink all you want.’
The hand on mine became still. ‘But I can hardly believe this. Tell me more. Who attacked you? Who could possibly make such a mistake? Kim-Jim and you!’
She drew back her hand, picked up her glass and smiled at me. ‘If it didn’t sound melodramatic, I’d say that I’d trust Kim-Jim with my life. And of course, anyone Kim-Jim trusts, I trust absolutely. So who were they, these idiots?’
I told her the story and she listened, sipping and sometimes looking into her glass. By the end, the glass was empty and she put it down and got up, walking slowly up and down the plush carpet.
She said, ‘I can’t tell you how sorry I am that this happened. It does, sometimes, you know. Public figures attract cranks. People form crazy attachments… people I’ve never even met.’
She came and sat down, very gently, beside me. ‘Rita. You’ve been scared and you’ve been hurt, and you deserve some sort of restitution. You think that if I call in the police and the consul, they’ll track this lunatic down, and then we’ll all be safe.’
I could see where she was leading, and it wasn’t where I was going. ‘I want the police and the consul on the trail of this guy,’ I said. ‘Or thank you, but goodbye.’
‘And Kim-Jim?’ said Mrs Sheridan. ‘I thought he was a friend of yours? But for the sake of an unknown man whom no one can possibly find, Kim-Jim is going to have a reputation he never had before. A plotter. A gold-digger. Things that no more apply to him than they apply to you, but you’ll both be branded. And so will I.’
She looked down, and I noticed that the black of her eye-liner was shaky. She said, ‘Kim-Jim and I aren’t married, but we don’t live together like brother and sister. You must know that perfectly well.’
Garbage. I didn’t say it. I just said, ‘But if you don’t go to the police, Kim-Jim will come back and be killed. Like I don’t leave tomorrow and ditto.’
Mrs Sheridan smiled. She had very large eyes, and despite the duff job, they were compelling.
She said, ‘The police don’t handle everything. If you have money, you can see justice done, and without any publicity. Do you want to stay with me, Rita? If I show you how sorry I am that this has happened? If I promise that nothing like it will be allowed to happen again?’
I closed my eyes. My head ached, and I thought.
I wanted to stay. I didn’t believe in Mrs Sheridan’s “anonymous crank”. Anyone who felt that strongly about her was already, surely, on her Christmas card list.
I had a feeling that I could trust Natalie Sheridan to root out my attacker.
And in case she didn’t, I was prepared to do a bit of footwork myself. I wanted my own back, very badly.
I opened my eyes. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I see what you mean. I want to stay, if it won’t happen again.’
I hoped there wasn’t chrome all over the pillows to spoil the finale. But she gave me a warm smile, and told me she thought I’d been perfectly dauntless, and that once the doctor had seen me, I was to order anything I wanted to eat or to drink, and not to think about anything else till tomorrow.
The doctor was bland, English and told me nothing except what I knew already about my own cuts and bruises. I had no concussion. A good
I lay still while I sorted her manner out. She had her hair done in a softer style than before, buckled at the nape of her neck and falling in a yellow silk tail. Her make-up was light as well, and kind of rosy. Motherly.
Her eyes were the eyes of a horse-trainer who has just bought a horse.
I said, ‘Nothing permanent. I got bumped about by someone who thought Kim-Jim and I were after your money. I had to promise to leave Madeira tomorrow. And that Kim-Jim would never come back. Can I have a drink, please?’
She patted my hand, her rings flashing. ‘When you’ve seen my doctor. He’s waiting to look at you. Then you can drink all you want.’
The hand on mine became still. ‘But I can hardly believe this. Tell me more. Who attacked you? Who could possibly make such a mistake? Kim-Jim and you!’
She drew back her hand, picked up her glass and smiled at me. ‘If it didn’t sound melodramatic, I’d say that I’d trust Kim-Jim with my life. And of course, anyone Kim-Jim trusts, I trust absolutely. So who were they, these idiots?’
I told her the story and she listened, sipping and sometimes looking into her glass. By the end, the glass was empty and she put it down and got up, walking slowly up and down the plush carpet.
She said, ‘I can’t tell you how sorry I am that this happened. It does, sometimes, you know. Public figures attract cranks. People form crazy attachments… people I’ve never even met.’
She came and sat down, very gently, beside me. ‘Rita. You’ve been scared and you’ve been hurt, and you deserve some sort of restitution. You think that if I call in the police and the consul, they’ll track this lunatic down, and then we’ll all be safe.’
I could see where she was leading, and it wasn’t where I was going. ‘I want the police and the consul on the trail of this guy,’ I said. ‘Or thank you, but goodbye.’
‘And Kim-Jim?’ said Mrs Sheridan. ‘I thought he was a friend of yours? But for the sake of an unknown man whom no one can possibly find, Kim-Jim is going to have a reputation he never had before. A plotter. A gold-digger. Things that no more apply to him than they apply to you, but you’ll both be branded. And so will I.’
She looked down, and I noticed that the black of her eye-liner was shaky. She said, ‘Kim-Jim and I aren’t married, but we don’t live together like brother and sister. You must know that perfectly well.’
Garbage. I didn’t say it. I just said, ‘But if you don’t go to the police, Kim-Jim will come back and be killed. Like I don’t leave tomorrow and ditto.’
Mrs Sheridan smiled. She had very large eyes, and despite the duff job, they were compelling.
She said, ‘The police don’t handle everything. If you have money, you can see justice done, and without any publicity. Do you want to stay with me, Rita? If I show you how sorry I am that this has happened? If I promise that nothing like it will be allowed to happen again?’
I closed my eyes. My head ached, and I thought.
I wanted to stay. I didn’t believe in Mrs Sheridan’s “anonymous crank”. Anyone who felt that strongly about her was already, surely, on her Christmas card list.
I had a feeling that I could trust Natalie Sheridan to root out my attacker.
And in case she didn’t, I was prepared to do a bit of footwork myself. I wanted my own back, very badly.
I opened my eyes. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I see what you mean. I want to stay, if it won’t happen again.’
I hoped there wasn’t chrome all over the pillows to spoil the finale. But she gave me a warm smile, and told me she thought I’d been perfectly dauntless, and that once the doctor had seen me, I was to order anything I wanted to eat or to drink, and not to think about anything else till tomorrow.
The doctor was bland, English and told me nothing except what I knew already about my own cuts and bruises. I had no concussion. A good
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