Illyrian Summer Read Free Page B

stronger. He will go and I will stay here with Sarah. ”
    “ You will not! ” snapped Adam. “ Besides, I might need your help with the languages. I have only a slight knowledge of Serbo-Croatian and my Italian is very poor. ”
    After he and Ricardo had set off, Edmund suggested, “ We must keep our ears open in case a car or truck comes along. Or even an oxcart. Then we might catch up with the other two before they get to the village. ”
    Sarah agreed. “ How long do you think it will take them to walk there? ”
    Edmund was thoughtful. “ Most of three hours, I should think, if the road is rough all the way. ”
    Darkness fell. Sarah must have dozed, for presently she became aware of voices and a lantern light shining in her face.
    “ Are you all right, Sarah? ”
    The light illumined Adam ’ s face.
    She uncurled from her cramped position. “ Yes. Are we going now? ”
    “ Soon, I telephoned the hotel to send out a car to fetch us, ” he answered. “ It should be here any minute. In fact, I thought it would overtake me on my way back from the village. ”
    “ You mean you walked all those miles there —and back? ” she queried. “ That was twenty miles, you said. ”
    “ I didn ’ t pick up a pair of wings on the way and fly . ”
    “ What about Ricardo? ”
    Adam smiled. “ Oh. I left him in the village nursing his blistered feet. Perhaps it was unkind of me to take him. I brought some food back with me. I couldn ’ t get much in the village at that time of night, but there ’ s bread and meat and some fruit. ” He unpacked the contents of a small basket.
    Having eaten nothing since midday, Sarah was almost ravenous.
    The two men took turns to keep watch on the road, but when more than an hour had elapsed without any sign of a car, Adam became uneasy. He scrambled down the slope to join Sarah and Edmund.
    “ Either they ’ ve sent the car up the wrong road, although I gave exact directions, or else they haven ’ t bothered to send anything at all. ” Adam said angrily.
    “ What do we do now? ” queried Edmund. “ Wait for daylight. I suppose, and hope for the best? ”
    “ Hope alone won ’ t get us back to Dubrovnik, ” Adam retorted testily. “ Fortunately, I made provisional plans in case anything went wrong. A man in the village has an oxcart, and Ricardo has instructions that if nothing arrives to pick him up by four o ’ clock, then he ’ ll send the oxcart to us. We couldn ’ t expect anyone to send out a pair of oxen in the dark along these roads, but I hope Ricardo will remember. ”
    Sarah admired Adam ’ s resourcefulness, but she was miserably aware that these plans had been made especially for her benefit. But for her injured knee, she could have walked with the others last night down to the village.
    “ I ’ m sorry I ’ ve become a drag on the expedition, ” she murmured.
    In the dark she could not see Adam ’ s face, but several moments elapsed before he answered, “ It couldn ’ t be helped. Just bad luck. ”
    With the approach of dawn, a slight wind sprang up and she began to shiver but she would die of cold rather than complain in Adam ’ s hearing. Yet without any admission on her part he put his jacket over her shoulders. True, it was only a lightweight linen, but his gesture counted more than any additional warmth . “ Thank you, Adam, ” she said quietly, and for the first time noticed how they had slipped so easily into Christian names. But for tonight ’ s rough adventure, they might have continued with “ Mr. Thorne ” and “ Miss Catherall ” for quite a time.
    When the horizon and mountains were outlined in the faint early light, she clambered out of the car and stretched her aching limbs.
    “ Could we go to meet the oxcart, do you think? ” she suggested to the two men. “ With some help I might be able to walk part of the way to meet it, if not the whole ten miles. ”
    “ If Ricardo has let me down and is still sleeping soundly, ”