Eagle in the Sky - Smith Wilbur - Страница 73

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demand, and in the light he would have her at his mercy.  Her only

protection was darkness.  In the darkness she would have the advantage,

for she was accustomed to it.

She had heard the nightjar and the owl calling so she knew that night

had fallen, and it was probable that the raincloud still blanketed moon

and stars.  Darkness was out there in the forest.  She must get out of

the house, and try to reach the servants quarters.

She hurried through the rooms towards the rear of the house, and as she

went she thought of a weapon.  The firearms were locked in the steel

cabinet in David's office, and the key was with him.  She ran through to

the kitchen and her heavy walking-stick was in its place by the door.

She grasped it thankfully and slipped open the door catch.

At that moment she heard the front door crash open, with the lock kicked

in, and she heard Akkers charge heavily into the living-room.  She

closed the kitchen door behind her and started across the yard.  She

tried not to run, she counted her steps.  She must not lose her way. She

must find the track around the kopje to the servants hutments.

Her first landmark was the gate in the fence that ringed the homestead.

Before she reached it she heard the electricity generator throb to life

in the power house beyond the garages.  Akkers had found a light switch.

She was slightly off in her direction and she ran into the barbed-wire

fence.  Frantically she began to feel her way along it, trying for the

gate.  Above her head she heard the buzz and crackle of the element in

one of the arc lamps that lined the fence and could flood the gardens

with light.

Akkers must have found the switch beside the kitchen door, and Debra

realized that she must be bathed in the light of the arcs.

She heard him shout behind her, and knew that he had seen her.  At that

moment she found the gate, and with a sob of relief she tore it open and

began to run.

She must get out of the light of the arcs, she must find the darkness.

Light was mortal danger, darkness was sanctuary.

The track forked, left to the pools, right to the hutments.  She took

the right-hand path and ran along it.

Behind her she heard the gate clank shut.  He was after her.

She counted as she ran, five hundred paces to the rock on the left side

of the path that marked the next fork.

She tripped over it, falling heavily and barking her shins.

She rolled to her knees, and she had lost the walkingstick.  She could

not waste precious seconds in searching for it.  She groped for the path

and ran on.

Fifty paces and she knew she was on the wrong fork.

This path lead down to the pumphouse, and she was not familiar with it.

It was not one of her regular routes.

She missed a turn and ran into broken ground.  She stumbled on until

rank grass wrapped about her ankles and brought her down again, falling

heavily on her side so that she was winded.

She was completely lost, but she knew she was out of the arc lights now.

With luck she was shielded by complete darkness, but her heart was

racing and she felt nauseous with terror.

She tried to control her gulping, sobbing breath, and to listen.

She heard him coming then, pounding footsteps that rang clearly, even on

the rain-soaked earth.  He seemed to be coming directly to where she

lay, and she shrank down against the wet earth and she pressed her face

into her arms to hide her face and muffle her breathing.

At the last moment his blundering footsteps passed her closely, and ran

on.  She felt sick with relief, but it was premature for abruptly the

footsteps ceased and he was so close she could hear him panting.

He was listening for her, standing close beside where she lay in the

grass.  They stayed like that during the long slow passage of minutes.

For Debra it seemed an eternity of waiting, broken at last by his voice.

All!  There you are, he giggled, there you are.  I can see you.  Her

heart jumped with shock, He was closer than she had thought.  Almost she

jumped up and began to run again, but some deeper sense restrained her.

I can see you hiding there, he repeated, giggling and snickering.  I've

got a big knife here, I'm going to hold you down and cut She quailed in

the grass, listening to the awful obscenities that poured from his

mouth.  Then suddenly she realized that she was safe here.  She was

covered by the night and the thick grass, and he had lost her.  He was

trying to panic her, make her run again and betray her position.  She

concentrated all her attention on remaining absolutely still and silent.

Akker's threats and sadistic droolings ended in silence again.  He

listened for her with the patience of the hunter, and the long minutes

dragged by.

The ache in her bladder was like a red-hot iron, and she wanted to sob

out loud.  Something loathsome crawled out of the wet grass over her

arm.  Her skin prickled with fresh horror at the feel of multiple insect

feet on her skin, but she steeled herself not to move.

The thing, scorpion or spider, crawled across her neck and she knew her

nerves would crack within seconds.

Suddenly Akkers spoke again.  All right!  he said, I'm going back to

fetch a flashlight.  .  We'll see how far you get then.  I'll be back

soon, don't think you'll beat old Akkers.  He's forgotten more tricks

than you'll ever learn.

He moved away heavily, noisily, and she wanted to strike the insect from

her cheek and run again, but some instinct warned her.  She waited five

minutes, and then ten.  The insect moved up into her hair.

Akkers spoke again out of the darkness near her.  All right, you clever

bitch.  We'll get you yet, and she heard him move away.  This time she

knew he had gone.

She brushed the insect from her hair, shuddering with horror.  Then she

stood up and moved quietly into the forest.  Her fingers were stiff and

cold on the fastenings of her slacks, but she loosened them and squatted

to relieve the burning ache in her lower belly.

She stood up again and felt the child move within her body.  The feel of

it evoked all her maternal instincts of protection.  She must find a

safe place for her child.  She thought of the hide by the pools.

How to reach them?  For she was now completely lost.

Then she remembered David telling her about the wind, the rain wind out

of the west, now reduced to an occasional light air, and she waited for

the next breath of it on her cheek.  It gave her direction.  She turned

her back to the next gust and set off steadily through the forest with

hands held out ahead to prevent herself running into one of the trunks.

If only she could reach the pools, she could follow the bank to the

hide.

As the cyclonic winds at the centre of the storm turned upon their axis,

so they swung, changing direction constantly and Debra followed them

faithfully, beginning a wide aimless circle through the forest.

Akkers raged through the brightly lit homestead of Jabulani, jerking

open drawers and kicking in locked cupboard doors.

He found the gun cabinet in David's office, and ransacked the desk

drawers for keys.  He found none, and giggled and swore with

frustration.

He crossed the room to the built-in cupboard unit.

There was a sealed-cell electric lantern on the shelf with a dozen

packets of shotgun shells.  He took down the lantern eagerly and thumbed

the switch.  The beam was bright white, even in the overhead lights, and

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