treat you the way he did,’ he grated, fury giving weight to each word. ‘Remember that!’
He left her there without another glance and strode out of the room. A few minutes later she heard his car start up and rattle over the rough driveway down to the road.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘Benita! Benita!’
Minella called through the house, but no one answered and she began to think she must be alone. She didn’t know how far it was to the nearest town and had no recollection of how far she had come from the village where she had been picked up, but she had to get away from Sam’s place. Without any money she didn’t know what she was going to do, or where she could go. Her legs hardly felt like carrying her any great distance.
She called Benita again, and heard a clatter from the kitchen. Of course, it was separated from the rest of the house by that funny passage. Minella hurried along it and found Benita making bread.
‘Benita, please can you find Vasco for me?’ she said. I must see him straight away.’
The Azorean woman slapped dough on to a floured board and pounded it with such force it looked as if she, too, had had a bad morning and was finding an outlet in vigorous kneading.
‘What for you want my nephew? He is not allowed here.’
‘I know, but I’ve got to get away, and he’s the only one who’ll help me/
Benita snorted. ‘Hmm! He only help himself, that one.’ She looked at Minella curiously, pushing her sleeves further up her floury arms. ‘Why for you want to run away?’
The oven made it very hot in the kitchen and perspiration trickled down Minella’s back, soaking her shirt. She didn’t know how anyone could work in such heat.
‘I’ve got to leave before Sam gets back, and I don’t know where to go,’ she explained.
There was a long-handled implement by the wall which Benita picked up and used like a shovel to deposit rounded lumps of dough into the dark recess of the oven. Then she turned again to Minella.
‘Why? Did he make love to you?’
‘No, he did not!’ Minella cried, indignantly. It was a terrible thing to suggest and she had sounded quite casual, as if talking about the weather. What made it worse was the knowledge it could so easily have happened if she hadn’t fought against him, and she had an awful suspicion that Benita might have known what was going on. It was humiliating.
‘Then what is the trouble?’ Benita asked, in all innocence. ‘Sam is a very nice man. Maybe you are cross because he not make love to you.’
‘Oh!’ Minella gasped, bereft of words. The woman was prejudiced. It didn’t matter that Sam Stafford treated her nephew badly and had a boorish lack of manners. He was her employer and she was definitely on his side. Or was she more than that to him? Perhaps she was jealous. ‘You can stop making silly remarks, Benita. I hardly know the man, and he doesn’t want me here any more than I want to stay. And anyway, I must go into town and find out a lot of things ... like how am I going to get to England without any means of paying the fare.’
‘Sam, he will lend you money.’
‘I couldn’t possibly ask him.’
He hadn’t offered any financial help and Minella had been too embarrassed to speak of it. The cost of an airline ticket would be quite considerable and she couldn’t expect him to fork out for one without any guarantee that he would get his money back. No, the place to go was the British Embassy, supposing there was one on this island. Come to that, there might not even be an airport. She knew very little about the Azores. All at once she felt very lonely and lost, stranded on a tiny strip of land in the middle of the Atlantic with nothing of her own except the pair of jeans and shirt she stood up in.
Benita wiped the flour off her hands with her apron, then took off the apron, rolled it up and threw it on to the table. There was concern in her dark eyes and she wagged a finger at the young girl who had blown into her life
He left her there without another glance and strode out of the room. A few minutes later she heard his car start up and rattle over the rough driveway down to the road.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘Benita! Benita!’
Minella called through the house, but no one answered and she began to think she must be alone. She didn’t know how far it was to the nearest town and had no recollection of how far she had come from the village where she had been picked up, but she had to get away from Sam’s place. Without any money she didn’t know what she was going to do, or where she could go. Her legs hardly felt like carrying her any great distance.
She called Benita again, and heard a clatter from the kitchen. Of course, it was separated from the rest of the house by that funny passage. Minella hurried along it and found Benita making bread.
‘Benita, please can you find Vasco for me?’ she said. I must see him straight away.’
The Azorean woman slapped dough on to a floured board and pounded it with such force it looked as if she, too, had had a bad morning and was finding an outlet in vigorous kneading.
‘What for you want my nephew? He is not allowed here.’
‘I know, but I’ve got to get away, and he’s the only one who’ll help me/
Benita snorted. ‘Hmm! He only help himself, that one.’ She looked at Minella curiously, pushing her sleeves further up her floury arms. ‘Why for you want to run away?’
The oven made it very hot in the kitchen and perspiration trickled down Minella’s back, soaking her shirt. She didn’t know how anyone could work in such heat.
‘I’ve got to leave before Sam gets back, and I don’t know where to go,’ she explained.
There was a long-handled implement by the wall which Benita picked up and used like a shovel to deposit rounded lumps of dough into the dark recess of the oven. Then she turned again to Minella.
‘Why? Did he make love to you?’
‘No, he did not!’ Minella cried, indignantly. It was a terrible thing to suggest and she had sounded quite casual, as if talking about the weather. What made it worse was the knowledge it could so easily have happened if she hadn’t fought against him, and she had an awful suspicion that Benita might have known what was going on. It was humiliating.
‘Then what is the trouble?’ Benita asked, in all innocence. ‘Sam is a very nice man. Maybe you are cross because he not make love to you.’
‘Oh!’ Minella gasped, bereft of words. The woman was prejudiced. It didn’t matter that Sam Stafford treated her nephew badly and had a boorish lack of manners. He was her employer and she was definitely on his side. Or was she more than that to him? Perhaps she was jealous. ‘You can stop making silly remarks, Benita. I hardly know the man, and he doesn’t want me here any more than I want to stay. And anyway, I must go into town and find out a lot of things ... like how am I going to get to England without any means of paying the fare.’
‘Sam, he will lend you money.’
‘I couldn’t possibly ask him.’
He hadn’t offered any financial help and Minella had been too embarrassed to speak of it. The cost of an airline ticket would be quite considerable and she couldn’t expect him to fork out for one without any guarantee that he would get his money back. No, the place to go was the British Embassy, supposing there was one on this island. Come to that, there might not even be an airport. She knew very little about the Azores. All at once she felt very lonely and lost, stranded on a tiny strip of land in the middle of the Atlantic with nothing of her own except the pair of jeans and shirt she stood up in.
Benita wiped the flour off her hands with her apron, then took off the apron, rolled it up and threw it on to the table. There was concern in her dark eyes and she wagged a finger at the young girl who had blown into her life
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