Part 26 (2/2)

He opened the off side door of the car and left it open, then he got in under the driving wheel. He waited. After some minutes, Miss Blandish came slowly and hesitatingly to the barn door. Fenner didn't look at her. She came to the car and got in, slamming the door shut.

Fenner drove down the uneven farm road and onto the dirt road. Miss Blandish sat away from him, staring with great blank eyes in front of her.

It took a little over forty minutes to reach the hotel at Pine Hill. Fenner, who knew the hotel, drove around to the back entrance. There was no one around. He pulled up and got out.

”Wait here. I won't be two seconds,” he said and went quickly into the lobby where the Medical Officer was waiting.

”Room 860,” he told Fenner, giving him a key. ”It's on the top floor. The nurse has got some clothes for her. How is she?”

Fenner shrugged.

”She's not saying much. She's jumpy, but at least she seems to have accepted me. You get out of the way, Doc. I'll take her up.”

”See if you can persuade her to see me,” the Medical Officer said. ”It's important I see her as soon as possible.”

”Okay. I'll see what I can do,” Fenner said and went back to the car.

Miss Blandish was sitting motionless, looking down at her hands. She glanced up sharply as Fenner came to her. ”All ready,” he said. ”No one to bother you.” She got out of the car, and together, they walked into the lobby and entered the elevator.

As they shot to the top floor, she said abruptly, ”I heard the shooting. He's dead, isn't he?”

Startled, Fenner said, ”Yes. You don't have to think of him any more. That's all behind you.”

Neither of them said anything further. He took her along the empty corridor to room 860, unlocked the door and stood aside. She went into the room. The Medical Officer had done a good job. The room was ladened with flowers; there was a wagon of cold food and drinks. The windows stood open and sunlight made patterns on the blue carpet.

Miss Blandish walked slowly over to a big vase of roses. She paused by them, touching the dark scarlet buds. Fenner closed the door.

”Doctor Heath would like to meet you,” he said. ”Would you mind?”

She looked at him. He was relieved to see there was no panic in her eyes as she said, ”I don't want to see anyone yet. There's nothing he can do for me.”

”You know what I'd do if I were you?” Fenner said quietly. ”I'd take a shower and change out of those clothes. You'll find others in the closet.” He opened the closet and took out the clothes the nurse had brought. He handed them to her. ”You go ahead and have a shower. I'll wait right here and see no one bothers you. Okay?”

She looked searchingly at him, a puzzled expression in her eyes.

”Do you always treat people like this?” she asked.

”I don't have much chance,” Fenner said and smiled. ”You go ahead.”

She went into the bathroom and shut and locked the door.

Shaking his head, Fenner went over to the window and looked down at the slow-moving traffic far below. The cars looked like toys. Immediately below, outside the entrance to the hotel, he saw a group of men, several with cameras and flashguns, arguing with three policemen who guarded the entrance. So the news had leaked out, he thought. Now there would be trouble. In a little while the town would be swarming with newspapermen.

He turned away from the window and went to the door, looking out into the pa.s.sage. Three policemen lounged at the head of the stairs. Brennan had said he would keep the press away from the girl: he was carrying out his promise, but Fenner knew sooner or later when they took her from the hotel, the press would close in on her like a pack of jackals.

A quarter of an hour later, the bathroom door opened and Miss Blandish came out. She had changed into the flowered dress the nurse had bought and it suited her.

Fenner thought he had never seen a girl so beautiful.

”I bet you feel all the better for that, don't you?” he said.

She moved to the window before he could stop her and looked out. She moved quickly back, turning to face him, her eyes frightened.

”It's all right,” he said soothingly. ”You don't have to worry. They won't come up here. Look, sit down and relax. Don't you want something to eat?”

”No.” She sat down, putting her hands to her face.

He watched her during a long, uneasy pause, then she said suddenly, her tone desperate, ”I don't know what I'm going to do.”

”Don't think about it now,” Fenner said gently. ”You'll find it will work out. People forget. It'll be tough going for the first three or four days, then they'll forget about you. Right now what you've gone through is in focus, but after a while, it'll get out of focus and later on, even you'll forget about it. You're young. You have lots of things to look forward to.” He was talking for the sake of talking: feeling he had to say something. He didn't believe what he was saying. He was sure she didn't either.

”You said he was dead, but he isn't.” She s.h.i.+vered. ”He is with me now.” She made a helpless gesture. ”I don't know what my father will say. At first I thought it couldn't have happened to me, but now I know it has. I just don't know what I'm going to do!”

Fenner felt a cold sweat on his face. This was a complication he hadn't expected nor even dreamed of: a situation he felt incompetent to handle.

”Wouldn't it be an idea to send for your father?” he said uneasily. ”You can't cope with a thing like this on your own. Let me send for him.”

She shook her head.

”No.” She looked up. Her eyes were like holes cut in a white sheet. ”He wouldn't be able to help me. He would just be horribly embarra.s.sed and upset. This is something I should be able to work out for myself, but the trouble is I'm not fitted to cope with any major crisis in my life. I have never had any reason to cope with anything. I have never had any sense of values. I've just enjoyed a good time all the time until this happened. I suppose it is a test for me, isn't it? But instead of a test, I feel it is a trap. I don't know if I'm capable of getting out of it. I'm ashamed of myself. I'm a person without any background, any character or any faith. Some people could cope with this because they believe in G.o.d. I haven't believed in anything except having a good time.” She clenched and unclenched her fists, then she looked up; her fixed smile made Fenner feel bad. ”Perhaps I had better see the doctor. He will give me something. Then, as you said, in a few days' time, I'll be able to face this thing.” She looked away and went on as if speaking to herself, ”You see how weak I am. I have to have someone to lean on. I haven't the equipment to rely on myself. It's because I have been brought up to rely on other people, but it is my fault. I'm not blaming anyone but myself.”

”I'll get him,” Fenner said. ”You mustn't be hard on yourself. You'll get over it. You must expect to have to rely on someone at first after what you've gone through. You're going to be all right. You've just got to hang on for the next few days.”

Her smile became a grimace.

”Would you hurry, please?” she said politely. ”I must have something. He'll know what to give me. I shall go to pieces if I don't get something. I have been living on drugs now for months.”

”I'll get him,” Fenner said and went quickly to the door. Leaving it open, he stepped into the pa.s.sage and called to one of the policemen. ”Hey, you! Get the Doc up here, will you, and fast?”

The door slammed behind him, making him spin around. He heard the lock snap to.

In a sudden panic, he rapped on the door, but Miss Blandish didn't open the door. He drew back and drove his shoulder against the door panel, but the door didn't give.

The two policemen ran up.

”Get it open!” Fenner shouted, feeling sweat on his face. ”Hurry!”

As the two policemen's combined weight smashed open the door, Fenner heard a thin, wailing scream. It sounded far away.

From the street below, he heard people shouting and the sound of traffic grinding to a stop.

He stood helplessly in the doorway and looked around the empty room.

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