Castle of the Fountains by Margaret Rome

Author:Margaret Rome [Rome, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Man-Woman Relationships
ISBN: 9780373105328
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1979-01-01T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

ROSALBA dozed fitfully, opening her eyes at the slightest sound, at

the slightest movement of the figure who had taken up his position at

the mouth of the cave as soon as she had retired to her sleeping bag,

and had remained there, alert and watchful, ever since.

‘A pack of wild dogs has been reported roaming the hillsides. Also

foxes are an ever-present danger,’ he had told her, obliquely

explaining the rifle laid across his knee.

He was a strange man, she pondered drowsily, a mass of

contradictions—one minute cold as ice, the next fiery as Etna, the

volcano that dominated the island. It was as if he were not quite at

ease playing the role that had been thrust upon him, as if there were

two separate personalities warring within him with the result that at

times he was not quite as ruthless as he threatened to be, nor yet as

tender and thoughtful as she had begun to suspect he could be.

Her reverie was broken at the sight of a shadowy outline that had

appeared out of the darkness and was bending to whisper into

Salvatore’s ear. She heard quick, garbled words that she could not

understand, with frequent reference and much stress placed upon the

words il dottore, from which she concluded that someone was in

urgent need of medical assistance. When both shadows moved inside

the cave she saw illuminated by the dying embers of the fire the face

of a. boy, his brow puckered with worry as once more he emitted a

spate of words that sounded very much like an entreaty.

Salvatore nodded, then patted the boy on the shoulder before striding

across the cave to bend across her sleeping bag. ‘Are you awake?’

‘Yes.’ She struggled upright.

‘Get dressed, we must go down into the village.’

‘What, at this time of night?’

‘Yes,’ he affirmed irritably. ‘How long will it take you to get dressed?’

‘I haven’t undressed,’ she surprised him by saying.

‘Oh, good … Then come with me and make as little noise as possible.

Your grandfather has set many men on our trail, it is imperative that

we avoid hasty encounters during which an impulsive finger might

activate a trigger. I want your soft white neck to remain intact, at least

until my ransom demands have been met.’

So he wanted money as well as vengeance! Her heart ached with

disillusionment as she stumbled in his wake through dark passages

linking cave with cave, sometimes rising, sometimes descending, but

always rough underfoot and harbouring—she had no shadow of a

doubt—hundreds of loathsome, four-legged creatures. Her feet were

raw by the time they emerged into the open and she became aware,

just visible in the dusk of the valley below, of a huddle of houses

sliced through by one main road leading straight to the door of the

inevitable church complete with bell tower and steeple.

All the houses were in darkness with the exception of one from which

intermittent light was beaming through a window. Once, twice, three

times the light flashed, then came a pause before the light began

flashing again. Salvatore spoke to the boy, who nodded and ran off

into the shadows. Five minutes later a bird call pierced the air.

‘All’s well!’ He gripped her by the elbow.

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