The Crocodile's Last Embrace Read Free Page B

going slowly. “I thought writing the article would help me think.”
    “You mean help you to forget ,” said Beverly. “You thought that seeing places where you hadn’t known Sam would get him out of your mind. And all it did was confuse you more, didn’t it? You thought about David instead. You probably went back to the place where his plane crashed, didn’t you?”
    She had lowered her voice when several of the girls turned to watch and listen. Now she raised it to tell them, “If you are finished with your sling practice, then you may go inside and practice sitting quietly.”
    As one, the girls returned to their throwing, but Jade heard snatches of whispered phrases. “So tragic” and “How romantic” drifted back to her.
    “Wonderful,” said Jade. “I’m sure that will make the gossip rounds now. Don’t the Kenyans have anyone else to talk about besides me and my dead or absent loves?”
    David Worthy had courted Jade during the Great War, proposing to her three times, and each time Jade had laughingly said no. After each refusal David had worked that much harder to impress her, flying deeper into enemy territory. On his last run he crashed defending her ambulance. He died in her arms, tasking her to find his missing half brother. Jade had never completely gotten over her guilt concerning his death.
    How do I recover from holding him as he died, knowing I fueled his death? Or that his mother tried to kill me in the belief that I had murdered her son?
    She walked back towards the girls. Biscuit, who’d been napping in the shade of a lush rosebush, stood up and stretched before ambling over to Jade. The beautiful cheetah chirped once in greeting and butted his head against her thigh. Jade responded by stroking his broad head. Since her return, the cat had been very attentive to her, rarely leaving her side. It was as if he’d grown more sensitive to her moods, much like a pet dog.
    Or he’s just making sure I don’t go off and leave him behind again.
    The girls’ attention, having already been diverted by Jade’s previous comments, was now engaged by the sleek cheetah. Each girl insisted on stroking his back or scratching him behind his ears. Biscuit endured it all with regal indifference, but even he had his limits. After a few minutes of receiving the giggly attention, he padded back to his rosebush and lay down.
    “Perhaps it is time to put away the slings, pick up the stones and tins, and get ready for your mothers,” said Beverly.
    As if to illustrate her statement, a black Fiat driven by an Indian chauffeur pulled into the Dunburys’ drive. He opened a rear door and an elegantly dressed lady stepped out. More motorcars, a taxi, and a rickshaw arrived soon after. The women in the latter two were neatly but more plainly dressed than those arriving in the motorcars, but every woman wore a hat and white gloves. Beverly advanced to meet them.
    “Ladies,” she said, “you are just in time. The girls were about to organize afternoon tea.”
    “Lady Dunbury,” said Mrs. Archibald, the first woman to arrive, “Elspeth has spoken of nothing else since you took on this Girl Guide company. At first I assumed that Lady Northey herself would be in charge, but I’m delighted that it is headed by such a charming lady as yourself. Good breeding is so important for the girls, you know.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Archibald. I’m sure it is, but of course, the Girl Guides are founded on the principle that young ladies can and should serve king and country in a variety of ways.”
    “Mother,” said Elspeth, tugging on her mother’s sleeve, “come and see what we’re learning today.” She ran back towards the firing line, took her leather sling from her skirt pocket, fitted it with a small stone, whirled the sling, and let the stone fly. It smacked the tin straight on, knocking it to the ground. Elspeth turned towards her mother, her eyes bright with pride in her marksmanship.
    Mrs. Archibald and two of