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[pp. 40-41]
After a moment, Thelma asked, "Do you know her?"
"Know here?" cried Burger. "She's my wife! A guy ought to know his own wife, oughtn't he? We had a bet. I figured I'd beat her to it--and here she is already settled in."
"I expect she'll be glad to see you," said Thelma. "I think she'd been crying."
Burger's manner changed. "O.K.," he said, quickly. "Now lets get you kids home." He'd heard enough. He wanted to get rid of the girls and get to Dorothea as soon as possible.
"Aren't you going to see her?" Thelma asked. "If she's your wife . . ."
"Well, sure, I'm going to see her," Burger cut in. There was irritation in his voice. He couldn't be bothered with a couple of kids anymore--not right this moment. There were more important things on his mind. "Which way do you live? I'll run you home first." He'd no intention of letting kids witness his meeting with Dorothea.
[p. 44]
He could feel the tension in her body, the knotted muscles of her back under his fingers, the tightness of her jaw against his throat. She smelled of cognac. It was going to take a long time for her to shed all the tension that had built up in her over all those long months.
[p. 50]
"She's not his wife."
"How do you know?" asked Elizabeth.
"She hasn't got a wedding ring."
"You said her fingers were covered with rings."
"Not a wedding ring," said Thelma. "A wedding ring has to be gold and you have to wear it on a special finger. She hasn't got one."
Elizabeth was silent for a moment, then she said, "I expect she's his mistress."
"Ugh!" said Thelma.
They walked side by side through the sand, leaving a trail of little foot imprints behind them. For some time, neither spoke.
[pp. 51-52]
"Are you a good climber?" asked Thelma.
"I think so," Elizabeth said.
Thelma was looking out of her open bedroom window into the blackness of the pines. At two points in the distance there were lights from other villas, illuminating a limited area around them. Beyond that, trees and darkness. "Come on," she said.
They got onto the flat roof of the garage and from there down the metal ladder fixed to the garage wall.
"Where's your hand?" whispered Elizabeth, standing at the bottom of the ladder and groping around her.
Thelma took her hand and began to lead her up the path through the pines toward St. Julien.
"It's a bit spooky, isn't it?" said Elizabeth. Every now and again a springy branch of pine needles brushed against her.
They walked along the path for some minutes, then Thelma stopped. She could see the lights of the Villa Printemps over to her left, but she couldn't find the path to it. At last she said, "Come on," and began to walk toward the lights, directly through the trees. She had one hand in front of her, feeling for the low branches. With the other she pulled Elizabeth behind her. When they got to the edge of the circle of light that surrounded the villa, Thelma crouched down and pulled Elizabeth to her side. They crouched together, arms around one another's shoulders, staring at the villa. Soft music came from the villa. The windows were open. A figure moved across a lighted window, turned, and moved back again. It was Bob Burger. He appeared to be talking to someone out of sight.
"Come on," said Thelma.
She ran, crouching, across the clearing, then knelt on the sand immediately below the window. Elizabeth joined her.
"What will they say if they find us?" Elizabeth whispered.
"Nothing," said Thelma. "They won't find us."
She stood up, but she wasn't tall enough to see into the window. She muttered, "Damn!" She felt with her hands for something she could put her foot on, but there was nothing. She moved around the corner of the villa to the veranda. It was raised two feet above the ground, and from there she could see into the window at the front. She got onto the veranda, and Elizabeth joined her. They crouched together below the window with the light streaming over their heads. They could hear the soft music from the radio and they could hear Burger talking.
[pp. 52-53]
Thelma turned and knelt on the boarded floor of the veranda. From there she could see over the window sill and into the room. On the table was a bottle of Scotch and a white plastic container of ice. Dorothea was sitting in a leather armchair with her legs crossed. She had taken off her sunglasses. She looked tired. She pinched the bridge of her nose with a finger and thumb as if her eyes were aching. She had taken off all the rings from her fingers. Bob Burger was taking a chunk of ice out of the container and putting it in his glass. He had removed his check shirt. His chest and back were covered in hair. Whenever he passed between the light and the window, he threw an enormous shadow over the faces of the two little girls. He didn't look much like the Bob Burger they had seen in the café. He wasn't smiling. He didn't look easy. He looked almost angry as he walked past the table, making wide movements with one hand and talking to--or at-- Dorothea.
[pp. 54-56]
Burger stood up and stretched out his arms. He finished his drink and put the glass down on the table as if that brought the discussion to a close. Before Thelma had realized what he was doing, he had walked straight to the doors and opened them wide. The light streamed across the veranda and threw a great shadow of Burger down the steps and out across the sand. Elizabeth clutched hold of Thelma's arm. Thelma had turned to look at Burger. She stared at him with her eyes wide open. She daren't blink in case it attracted his attention. He was standing four feet from her, his feet apart, stretching his arms out sideways as far as they would go. Thelma thought that if she looked up she would see his left hand directly above her head. But she daren't look up. She daren't move at all, even though some sharp object was pressing deeply into her knee. She was breathing in and out very slowly so that the movement of air was absolutely silent. She was thinking very hard what to say to him when he turned and looked down and saw them crouching there just under the window. She knew they had heard all kind of things that no one was supposed to hear, though she didn't understand them all. He would be terribly angry when he knew he had been overheard. He might be a lot more than angry. And he was very, very big, with his great chest covered in hair and his long, thick arms.
But he didn't see them. He took half a dozen long, deep breaths, accompanied by slow movements of his arms. Then, as if cleansed by the resinous perfume of the night, he went inside again and closed the doors.
"My knee!" whispered Elizabeth.
"Shut up," said Thelma. "Can you get off here?"
"I think so."
Elizabeth straightened a leg and put it behind her until she could feel the edge of the veranda. She put her hands down to touch the flooring and began to move backward.
"Ought to be turning in," Burger was saying. "You look tired."
He moved toward the window, his hand stretched out to close it.
"Quick!" whispered Thelma, dropping her head below the window sill and pushing herself backward.
Her foot caught Elizabeth on the side of the head. She fell off the veranda onto the sand. Thelma slid backward on top of her.
"Run," said Thelma.
She got up and began to run toward the trees and the darkness. Elizabeth ran after her.
"Hey, you!" shouted Burger from the open window. "Hey, you!"
He got to the doors and threw them open. The whole area outside lit up. But by the time he had got down the steps and onto the sand, the running figures had disappeared into the black pinewood.
[p. 56]
Mrs. Davies had bought a big sponge cake from Pierre's and stuck nine candles in it. It stood in the middle of the table in the room that looked onto the sea. Around it were plates of sandwiches and a dish of Pierre's cakes with slices of peach and strawberries and blobs of cream on them. The windows of the room and the double doors on to the veranda were wide open. The sunlight shone through them from the southwest and filled the room with light. Thelma had put her hand over the top of the candles to feel if they were lit. Their flames didn't show at all in the sunlight.
On one of the wicker armchairs were parcels with labels on them. Whenever she passed the chair, Thelma put her hand down to feel one of the parcels and tried to guess what was in it. The biggest parcel was the one that she had carried in for Uncle David. Uncle David had written on it, "Happy birthday to a beautiful young lady from Uncle David."
Richard stood by the open doors just outside the room. He was drinking something red from a tall glass. He looked sulky, as if he felt out of it. He was leaning against one of the doors with one leg crossed over the other.
"Is that your brother?" said Elizabeth. She was wearing a short blue dress with a narrow band of lace around the neck. Her hair ws held in place by a blue ribbon over the top of her head. She was sucking Coke through a straw.
"Yes," said Thelma. "Richard. He's sixteen."
"He doesn't look very happy," said Elizabeth.
[pp. 57-58]
Uncle David, his whole body bouncing up and down as if he were going through some funny grown-up dance, was shaking his hands in the air and saying, "Friends, friends, friends!"
"Shhh!" said Madame Girard, putting a finger to her lips and bending down toward Pierre's son. "Monsieur Meacham is going to say something."
"It's nothing really," said Uncle David, lowering his arms and pressing the tips of his fingers together. "It's just how glad Mrs. Davies and I are to see you all here--and of course Thelma. I'm sure you've made her very happy. Now--of course--I don't look forward to birthdays anymore. My own birthdays, that is." His forehead and cheeks were glowing with perspiration. He took a handkerchief out of his trouser pocket and patted his forehead with it. The grownups in the room took advantage of the pause to smile and laugh very gently at his joke. Except Pierre, who didn't follow everything that was being said and therefore went through the entire proceedings with a wide smile on his face.
"But of course," continued Uncle David when he had pushed the handkerchief back into his pocket, "that wasn't always the case. When we were younger-- and not very much younger, I can tell you--birthdays were big events. We looked forward to the great big cake in the middle of the table, and the sandwiches and the candles and the crackers and all those things that go to mark such a great occasion. And today is a great occasion for one of us here."
Everyone turned and looked at Thelma. She grinned at those nearest to her.
[pp. 58-60]
Thelma gave a plate to each of the guests. They were all smiling at her. They said, "Happy Birthday," and some of them patted her on the head. She had a steady grin on her face.
When everyone had a plate, Uncle David took her by the hand and gave her a big knife with which to cut the cake.
"Candles first, darling," he said. "All in one breath if you can."
She held the big knife point upward, leaned toward the candles, and blew. Curls of black smoke rose from them when they went out. She directed her breath at each one of them in turn, and in a moment they were all blown out. She stood up and looked around. Her cheeks were bright pink. Everybody clapped.
"A wish," said Uncle David. "Now you make a wish to yourself. A silent wish. Nobody has to know what it's about."
"I've wished," said Thelma.
"Now put the point in the middle of the cake and cut." He put his hand on top of hers and guided the knife. When it had cut right to the bottom of the cake, he said, "There!" He moved the knife around the circumference of the cake, and Thelma cut out a wedge. "Now," said Uncle David, "plates, please."
With the handing out of the slices of birthday cake, the grownups seemed to forget Thelma. They were talking to one another. Most of them talked in English. A few talked in French. Uncle David was pouring out glasses of white win and passing them to the guests. Elizabeth came up to Thelma and said, "What will you say to him if he comes?"
"Who?" said Thelma, pretending not to understand whom Elizabeth was talking about.
"Bob."
"Oh, Bob. I'll say hello."
"But if he knows--if he saw us?"
"He didn't see us. It was too dark. If he'd seen us, he'd have followed us. He'd have talked to Mummy."
"I'm scared," said Elizabeth.
"What for?"
"I don't know."
"You're just scared," said Thelma.
[pp. 61-63]
They sat on the edge of the veranda, their feet dangling. The sun was directly in front of them throwing a golden glitter over the rolling surface of the sea. Late bathers were drying themselves on the beach. Two yachts with brilliant white sails and little colored flags at their mastheads moved south toward Les Sables.
Suddenly Elizabeth grasped Thelma's arm and said in a whisper, "It's him-- Bob!" If Thelma hadn't stopped her, she would have got up and gone inside the villa.
"It's only Bob," said Thelma. "He doesn't know anything."
She grinned at Bob as he approached, her left eye squinted tight against the sun. Bob was dressed again in the check shirt. He wore maroon shorts. He was smiling. He put up a hand and waved. He had a parcel in his hand.
"Hello, Bob," called Thelma.
"Hello there," called Bob.
He came right up to them and sat down beside them on the veranda. He said, "You're a couple of villains, aren't you, sneaking up on a guy in the middle of the night and then running away when he calls you?"
Elizabeth went bright red. Thelma grinned and said, "I didn't think you knew."
"With the marks of your sneakers all over the place? A guy would have to be pretty dumb not to put two and two together. What were you doing there?"
"We came to see you," said Thelma.
"I know that," said Burger.
"When we got there, you were talking."
"And you didn't want to interrupt. I see."
"Yes."
"I thought we were friends," said Burger.
"We are," said Thelma. "We didn't want to interrupt. I was going to knock on the door, but you were talking."
"And just what was I saying?" said Burger. He was turning the parcel over and over in his hands. He didn't look very interested in whether he'd been overheard or not.
"We couldn't hear," said Thelma.
"Expect me to believe that?" said Burger. "Fine kind of friend, you are, pulling my leg like that."
"Well, only that you're American," said Thelma.
"All right. I admit it. I told you a lie. That wasn't very friendly of me. You forgive me?"
"Yes," said Thelma.
"O.K.," said Burger. He looked around to see if they were being overheard. Then he leaned closer to Thelma. He said, "But listen. That's just between the three of us. I'm a reporter on the New York Times and I'm onto a big story. These men--you know, from a foreign power--these men are trying to steal secrets of a new aircraft. See what I mean? They don't know I'm onto them. If they did. . . ." He drew his fingers across his throat and made a sharp grunting sound. "Curtains! They'd stop at nothing. They're killers. You know? So can I rely on you as friends of mine? Not a word to anybody at all. Nobody. If the word got around, none of us would be safe-- none of us. You understand?" He wasn't smiling. His voice seemed to rumble quietly somewhere deep inside his chest.
Thelma nodded.
Elizabeth said, "Yes."
"O.K.," said Burger. "So long as we understand one another." Suddenly he smiled. It was as if the matter were settled permanently and he had put it out of his mind. "Well, Thelma," he said, putting a big hand on the top of her head, "It's your birthday. And no gentleman goes to call on a young lady on her birthday without bringing a present. So. . . ." He handed the parcel to Thelma. "Hope it's what you wanted," he said. "Have fun." He turned and patted Elizabeth, then got up and walked away from the villa.
Elizabeth was quiet. She felt very guilty at having been caught eavesdropping. She felt she had cheated Bob by listening to secrets that no one was supposed to hear. At last she said, "I feel pretty awful."
"What for?" said Thelma.
"Spying on them."
"They shouldn't have had the window open," said Thelma. "And they shouldn't pretend to be married when they're not."
"But they have to pretend," said Elizabeth. "It's so that the spies don't know who they really are."
"Spies?" said Thelma. "You don't believe that?"
"Don't you?"
"No. He made it up."
"What for?"
"So we wouldn't tell anybody."
[pp. 66-67]
Thelma was pulling at the Sellotape that was wrapped around Burger's parcel. When it came away, it stuck to her hand and she coiled it up and threw it out of the window.
"What is it?" said Elizabeth.
"Don't you know?" said Thelma.
Her fingers picked more quickly at the Sellotape, and finally she got it free of the wrapping paper.
"No," said Elizabeth.
Finally the paper was off and Thelma pulled the lid off the box inside.
"Gosh!" said Elizabeth.
"You see?" said Thelma.
It was one of the cheaper Instamatic camera outfits with half a dozen flash cubes and a small supply of film. It was the answer to her wish.
Thelma took out the camera and looked around the room through the viewfinder.
"But how did you know?" said Elizabeth. "I mean, he doesn't really know you. He's not really a friend."
"It's so we don't talk. About what we heard," said Thelma.
"So we keep quiet?"
"Yes," said Thelma. "It's a bribe. I thought he might."
[pp. 70-74]
Thelma walked up through the trees. In the distance she could see Dorothea sitting on a chair on the veranda. She was wearing her sunglasses and reading a newspaper. Her face looked very serious. She was wearing her robe. It was black with red flowers on it. It made her face look rather sallow, as if she didn't spend much time in the sun.
When Thelma got through the trees and into the clearing she called out, "Hello!"
Dorothea looked startled. She looked up quickly from the paper. She looked around to see who had called her, then she called, "Bob!" When she saw Thelma she said, "Oh, it's you."
"I came to thank Bob for the camera," said Thelma. "It's smashing."
"Glad you like it," said Dorothea. She didn't sound glad. She sounded nervous, as if she had been expecting someone else.
Burger came onto the veranda from the villa. He was wearing shorts and sandals. His face was covered in shaving soap and he had a safety razor in his hand. "What is it, Dolly?" he said. He sounded anxious, as if he thought the call from Dorothea was very important. When he saw Thelma, his face broke into a smile. "Ah," he said. "It's the little lady. Ten next birthday."
Thelma grinned. "You do look funny," she said. "All that soap over your face."
"Well, if ladies will call on gentlemen at this time in the morning, they can expect to find them shaving."
"That's a funny way to shave," said Thelma. "Uncle David uses an electric thing and he doesn't use soap at all."
"Well, that's the trouble with some of us," said Bob. "Some of us have beards so tough they bend electric things. Some of us have to put up with the old-fashioned soap and water. That's me."
"It's a lovely camera," said Thelma. "It's my favorite present."
"You like it?" asked Burger. "Great. But why a camera? I'd have thought a doll or maybe a new dress. . . ."
"Richard has a camera," said Thelma.
"And who is Richard?" asked Burger.
"My brother. He's going to be a professional photographer. He works in the cellar."
"In the cellar?" Burger said, as if he thought it very strange for someone to spend his vacation in the cellar.
"He's very good," said Thelma.
"Oh, I expect he is. Well, now you can take your own pictures. Remind you of your holiday when you're back at school. Show all your friends."
"It's a boarding school," said Thelma. "I haven't got any friends."
"I don't believe it," said Bob. "Lovely girl like you."
"It's true," said Thelma. "They don't like me at school."
"Is that right?" said Bob. "And why do you suppose that is?"
"I don't know. I expect I'm too clever. They don't like clever people."
"Funny sort of school," said Bob
Thelma pulled the camera around to the front and opened the case. "Can I take your picture?" she said.
Dorothea said, "No!" and lifted the paper so that it covered her face. "Bob, stop her!"
Bob put a hand over his face, then leaped down the steps onto the sand and took hold of the camera and closed the case.
"For God's sake, honey!" he said, "Not like this! Not with me half naked and my face all fluffed up with soap! Give a guy a chance to look decent."
Thelma watched him close the camera case. His hands worked very quickly, as if he wanted to make sure that the case was closed tight before she could take any pictures.
"Did I frighten you, Bob?" said Thelma.
"Frighten me! You put the collywobbles up me. Sure, you frightened me-- catching me like this. What time do you ladies get up in the morning?"
"It's gone ten," said Thelma.
"Gone ten?" said Bob. "Then what am I doing standing about like this? I must be at the bank at half-past. Go on--shoo, Miss Thelma Davies. See you when we get back. Have a good time. Be good."
He ran up the veranda steps and into the villa.
Dorothea said to Thelma, "Why don't you go away?"
"I'm going," said Thelma. "I just came to say thanks."
When she had gone off toward St. Julien, Dorothea got out of the chair and went inside. Burger was in the bathroom swilling his face and neck with water.
"That child," called Dorothea through the open bathroom door. "You're crazy to trust her."
"She can't do anything," said Burger. "She doesn't know anything. Who'd believe a kid even if she did talk?"
"She knows why you gave her the camera."
"Did she say so?"
"She didn't have to."
"So what. If she knows, all the more chance she'll keep quiet."
"Bob, we really ought to move. We really ought to go someplace else. I just feel it."
"Dolly," said Bob, buttoning up his shirt and coming out of the bathroom. "There is no place else! Wherever we go there'll be kids. Some'll be friendly. Some'll be like she is. Some might overhear things. We've got to put up with it. If we just act natural, nobody's going to think a thing. If we get scared, if we always move whenever somebody gets just a bit too close to us--that's going to look damn suspicious in the end. No. We just stick it out. Hell--we could have picked a worse place. Sea, beach, nice villa."
"Bob, I love you and I want to be with you and I'm sorry. Maybe it's just hanging around. Doing nothing."
[p. 78]
Thelma said she was going on a picnic with Elizabeth. She made some sandwiches for herself with thick slices of crumbly bread and cream cheese. She took a bottle of lemonade from the fridge and put it in a nylon bag with the sandwiches. Elizabeth was sitting on the veranda waiting for her. Uncle David said, "Here's a couple of francs for you, just in case." And when they set off, the Harrisons waved to them and said, "Back in time for tea, remember."
[pp. 79-81]
In an hour they were tired. They sat on a decaying tree trunk and ate some of their sandwiches and drank some of the lemonade.
"How much longer are you staying?" said Elizabeth.
"Till school starts," said Thelma.
"Do you like it?"
"No."
"I'm bored. What is there to do?"
"Nothing," said Thelma. "I think Mummy's staying till Christmas. Uncle David was talking to her. He might be taking me back to school with him."
"Do you like school?"
"No," said Thelma. "I haven't any friends."
"If we went to the same school, you could have me as a friend."
"I suppose so," said Thelma. The idea didn't seem to excite her. She was taking a bite from the thick sandwich with the teeth at the side of the mouth. Then she stopped chewing, her mouth still full of bread and cheese. She looked down the path in the direction of the villas. She put a finger to her lips because her mouth was too full to speak. Then she began to chew very quickly and eventually managed to swallow the mouthful of bread and cheese. She got up and put the rest of the sandwiches and the bottle of lemonade back in the nylon bag.
"Come on," she whispered.
She took hold of Elizabeth's hand and pulled her off the path and into the cover of the trees.
In the distance was the resonant hum of Burger's voice. He came into sight along the path, both hands in his pockets, talking more to the ground ahead of him than to Dorothea. She had a hand through the crook of his arm and he gave the impression that he was pulling her along. His voice continued in one unbroken hum of sound through the whole field of vision of the little girls and beyond. Yet such was the quality of Burger's voice, or the peculiar acoustics of the wood, that neither Elizabeth nor Thelma followed a word he said.
"Wonder where they're going," said Elizabeth.
"We could find out," said Thelma.
"Come on," said Elizabeth.
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