A Plume of Dust Read online

  ‘No.’ Michelle kept her voice light and slightly mocking. She seemed to be getting all involved with this dark girl - but suddenly there seemed to be nothing to say. She breathed a sigh of relief as Lyle Cunningham came back carrying two glasses. He gave one to Liza. ‘I couldn’t find a tray,’ he said, handing the other to Michelle.

  Several people closed in on them and Michelle found herself the centre of attraction. When she looked again it was to see Lyle walking away, with Liza’s long fingers clutching at his elbow.

  ‘What do you think of Lyle’s house?’ Laney asked, joining the party but looking at Michelle. ‘I’m going to take Michelle away, for a few moments,’ her eyes flickered from face to face. ‘I want to show her Lyle’s fabulous bedroom. I feel jealous every time I see it.’

  ‘That sounds bad,’ someone said, ‘does Pete know about this?’ There was a burst of good-natured laughter.

  ‘As a matter of fact, he does,’ Laney answered promptly. ‘I go up there every time we come here - just to look at it. I provided the pot-plants for his bathroom, as it so happens.

  and I go to check up that he isn’t neglecting them. Come on, Michelle. Lyle won’t mind.’

  Lyle Cunningham’s bedroom was nothing short of stunning.

  ‘Whew!’ Michelle found herself saying, as she gazed across plush ruby-red carpeting to the huge bed which looked lost in the tremendous room. ‘What a magnificent bedspread!’

  ‘It’s shaggy white goat-hair,’ said Laney. ‘Isn’t it superb?’

  Oriental chandeliers were suspended low above twin bedside tables.

  Michelle’s eyes went to the spacious, black-louvred cupboards which formed the wall between the bedroom and dressing-room, and to the gold boucle shantung curtains.

  The carnations are from the farm,’ Laney went on, going towards a low table which stood before a ruby-red sofa. There were chairs to match. ‘In fact, all the flowers you see here tonight come from our farm. In fact, we’re tempted to start a nursery - or should I say, we’re being tempted.’

  ‘I suppose the heroine in the film had close-ups taken of her as she relaxed there in bed,’ said Michelle.

  ‘I haven’t seen the film,’ Laney said. ‘It was showing when Pete flew to London to be with you after—’ she broke off. ‘I believe it was terrific - lots of thrills and this house to give it all the glamour it needed. But, Michelle, let me show you the bathroom. I don’t mind telling you, though, that right up until a few days ago I used to feel positively morning-sick every time I came up here - all this exotic red. Now, of course, I’m fine. The morning sickness just left me, like that.’ She snapped her fingers and laughed.

  ‘That’s marvellous.’ Michelle began to follow Laney through to the bathroom. ‘I’m glad you’re so much better, Laney.’

  ‘So am I, believe me. I really needed you then, Michelle.’

  ‘But not now?’ Michelle asked, but she was smiling.

  ‘Of course now, but in a different way. I don’t have to lean on you now, and that’s such a relief.’

  ‘I was thinking,’ Michelle took the opportunity of bringing up the subject, ‘perhaps I’ll be able to find some sort of work while I’m here.’

  Laney stopped and turned round. ‘Not while you’re here. We want you to stay for good. Have a little holiday first, though, before you even start to think about working.’ She began to walk again and then she said, ‘Now tell me, what do you think of this bathroom, Michelle?

  Isn’t it just out of this world? Can you believe that such a bathroom exists?’

  ‘Whew!’ Michelle whistled softly. ‘Well, honestly, as you say, this is just too much. Imagine Lyle Cunningham soaking himself in that sunken marble bath.’

  ‘Imagine,’ said Lyle Cunningham, directly behind her. ‘I followed you,’ he said, as Michelle swung round. She heard the small catch of her own breath.

  Laney seemed quite unperturbed. ‘Lyle, are those the red amaryllis lilies I gave you? In bloom already?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You see, I told you they’d look marvellous blooming on that gold-veined marble ledge. Michelle, don’t you think the ruby carpeting looks fantastic against the gold marble?’

  ‘I do - yes.’ Michelle smiled and then bit her lip, still feeling the embarrassment of having Lyle Cunningham find her up here and, what was more, talking about him.

  ‘Lyle didn’t want the lilies, but I insisted,’ Laney went on.

  ‘In fact, you’ve just about taken over up here.’ Lyle sounded amused.

  ‘He agreed to the hanging fern, though,’ said Laney. ‘It adds drama to the whole set-up. Look how it’s reflected in the mirrors.’

  ‘The fern was here, in the first place,’ Lyle remarked.

  ‘Yes, but you wanted to take it out,’ Laney answered swiftly.

  ‘What you can’t seem to remember is the fact that I’m not a film star, Laney.’ He gave Laney an engaging grin. ‘You believe in these things, ferns reflecting in the mirrors and lilies blooming in the ledges. I don’t.’

  ‘It would be sacrilege to move anything in this house. The artist didn’t - neither did that writer and his wife.’

  Lyle’s smile widened. ‘No - they weren’t here long enough. I have hopes of being here a long time. It follows that certain changes must follow.’

  ‘Just you leave those amaryllis lilies and that fern alone,’ Laney mocked. ‘Strict instructions!’

  They left the bathroom with its wall of mirrors and went back into the bedroom, their footsteps making only brush-noises on the ruby-red carpeting.

  ‘What else would you like to see?’ Lyle asked casually, looking at Michelle.

  ‘I don’t know what there is,’ she smiled, her eyelashes carefully down, still smarting overher remark about the bath. ‘Besides, you’ll be wanting to go back downstairs.’

  ‘There’s time to show you the guest bedroom,’ he said, ‘in case you ever stay here.’

  ‘I can’t see that happening,’ she tried to keep her voice as mocking as his own. ‘I mean, why should I? Laney and Peter’s farm is virtually

  “just round the corner”.’

  ‘Just for the experience, maybe.’ She could feel his amused glance playing over her.

  In the guest-room, with its vibrant purple carpeting, Michelle said,

  ‘It’s very attractive.’

  ‘The bathroom has the same carpeting,’ Laney started in the direction of the door, ‘and an indoor garden. I’ve never seen so many indoor gardens.’

  ‘They all added to the glamour,’ said Lyle, ‘in the film.’

  ‘I suppose we’d better go back down,’ Laney put in. ‘You’ll have to show Michelle around another time, Lyle. I’m sure she’d love to see the whole house.’ When they were back downstairs she said, ‘Look after Michelle, Lyle, while I go and see what Pete is gesticulating about.’

  In desperation Michelle said, ‘Well, thank you for allowing me to see over your magnificent house. It’s been quite an experience.’

  ‘Come over with Laney, one day, and have a proper look round.’ He gave her an easy smile and then went on, ‘By the way, the hairstylist at the hotel is leaving to get married within a week - or two, at the most. She wants to leave as soon as possible to complete her shopping and so on. Would you like the position?’

  ‘At the hotel?’ She widened her blue eyes at him. So that was it! That was why Liza Monatti had looked so put out.

  ‘Yes. Believe it or not, she’s kept busy most of the time. On the whole, though, she’s her own boss.’

  Michelle laughed lightly, feeling an excitement growing within her. ‘I didn’t think getting a job was going to be quite that easy. At least, not right here in the mountains, and certainly not so near to Peter and Laney’s farm. It is still quite a walk, though. How would I get there? I mean, supposing it should be raining or storming? I wouldn’t dream of asking to borrow Peter’s car. That’s the only snag.’

  ‘No snag there. The hotel would provide the n
ecessary transport. If you met someone and decided to accept another lift - well and good.’

  ‘Met someone?’

  ‘Yes, you might. It happens all the time, with our receptionists and hairstylists. They come and go - all the time, as a matter of fact. But what I’m driving at is, the hotel would provide transport for you, picking you up in the morning and driving you back to the farm, after work. If you happen to organize a lift, at a later date, well, that will be all right. Just let us know.’

  ‘Who could I possibly meet to lift me?’ she laughed a little.

  ‘Well, one of the drivers, maybe. One of them happens to stay not far from the farm.’

  ‘Drivers?’ She widened her eyes at him.

  ‘The chaps who drive the Land-Rovers up the Sani Pass. All heroes in their particular kind of work.’

  ‘Oh, yes. I see.’ She told herself that she would have to make sure that she did not meet those hypnotic blue-green eyes. Not all the time, anyway.

  Turning her head she said, in a light tone, ‘I can see you have the wonderful knack of making a woman feel quite irresistible by suggesting that she just has to cast a look at one of the drivers and she’ll have organized herself a lift.’

  ‘I think you’d better resign yourself to the fact - you are quite irresistible. You’re all these things one reads about,’ he told her.

  Turning to look at him, Michelle laughed lightly to hide her embarrassment. ‘I wasn’t hunting for compliments.

  About this position as hairstylist, though. Are you serious?’

  ‘I’m perfectly serious. Receptionists, hairstylists - they all come and go, and we need them all the time. So what do you say? Directly I heard you were a hairdresser I knew I’d have to act quickly.’ He smiled at her and she met his eyes for a moment, then looked away.

  Beyond the huge windows, the clouds were moon-shaped mountains, competing with the real thing. Hoping that there was nothing to show that she was having to do a lot of thinking before deciding, Michelle said, ‘I’ll take you up on that.’ Her hair, shoulder-length and turned in at the neck, caught the lamp glow.

  ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘And I’ll take you up on that too, before you change your mind. It doesn’t always pay to run away from the things that frighten you.’

  She felt a tinge of colour come into her cheeks. ‘Why should I be frightened?’ she asked. ‘I’m not a - a chancer. I meant it when I said I was a hairstylist.’

  He gave her an easy smile. ‘That’s not what I meant, actually.’

  Lyle Cunningham was shrewd, she thought. He knew where to hit her with his light remarks because, she was honest enough with herself, she had fallen in love with him at first sight.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Two days later the telephone at the Abbotts’ farm rang. It was Lyle Cunningham asking for Michelle.

  ‘When can I pick you up?’ he asked, and she could see him in her mind - fairly tall and well proportioned, his complexion clear and tanned.

  The sound of his voice was doing something drastic to her breathing and she waited a moment before she answered. ‘Pick me up?’

  ‘Yes. I’d like to show you around the hotel. Introduce you to my father and to Sylvie, before she leaves.’

  ‘Sylvie? Oh, you mean the girl from the salon?’ She knew she was being stupid.

  ‘Yes. You haven’t changed your mind, have you?’ He sounded faintly impatient and, deliberately matching her tone to his, she replied, ‘No, of course not. I - I take it you haven’t either?’

  ‘Would I be calling you if I had?’ His tone was mocking now.

  ‘No, I don’t suppose you would be. Well, I can be ready at any time.’

  ‘In, say, half an hour?’

  Michelle glanced down at the cinnamon-coloured slacks she was wearing with a golden-yellow top. ‘In half an hour, if you like,’ she replied.

  It all sounded crazy and wonderfully incredible that here, at the foot of these mountains, she had practically landed herself a position without even trying. Her eyes went to the windows in the direction of the mountains which, close up, would be forbidding rather than beautiful. From here, however, they were beautiful and from Lyle Cunningham’s film-set house they had been beautiful - all purple and browns, slashed with shadows, and in some of the remote crevices there was even snow, although the heat down here was stifling.

  ‘That was Lyle Cunningham.’ Michelle glanced over at Laney, who was arranging flowers.

  ‘So I gathered.’ Laney’s voice was amused. ‘You sounded so breathless!’

  ‘Oh, nonsense, Laney. He’s coming to pick me up to take me to the hotel to meet his father and Sylvie, the girl who’s leaving to get married.’

  ‘So you’ve more or less decided to accept?’ Laney stood back and squinted at the flowers.

  ‘Yes, but I’d - I thought he’d forgotten.’ Michelle made sure there was just enough carelessness in the tone of her voice to show Laney that she didn’t care, one way or the other.

  ‘Not Lyle. But, Michelle darling, we had hopes that you’d have a holiday with us first before you took off and landed yourself a job.

  When I say take a holiday with us first I mean that Pete was going to neglect things a little so that he could take us for drives and so on, just the three of us.’ She laughed and patted the bulge. ‘The four of us.’

  ‘But don’t you see, Laney? This is an offer too good to be true, an offer I’d be a fool to turn down. It means that I can work here, practically on the doorstep of the farm. I won’t have to leave the Berg, as you call it.’

  ‘I know.’ Laney sighed. ‘It is, as you say, a marvellous opportunity, and you would be a fool to turn it down, seeing that you’ve made up your mind to work. I see what you mean.’ She shrugged. ‘Well, perhaps later on in the year, after the baby is born and is big enough to take on jaunts. By then Pete might be in a better position to take a little holiday without really leaving the farm.’

  ‘I keep thinking,’ Michelle said. ‘He - Lyle Cunningham - remarked that the receptionists and hairstylists are always moving on. Why is this, do you suppose? Is he very hard to get on with?’

  ‘No, it’s not that. As a matter of fact, Lyle is very seldom at the hotel.

  The hotel is mostly his father’s baby. As I explained to you before, Lyle has this tourist and garage concern in Thabana - you know, where we stopped for provisions on our way back from picking you up at the airport. It’s only a short drive by car to Thabana. Once the glamour has faded - to get back to the receptionists and hairstylists -

  they leave to take up jobs in towns, or other holiday resorts.

  Sometimes they meet a man and fall in love with him and leave to get married. They come and go all the time. I suppose living at the same hotel can become monotonous to them.’

  ‘So they live at the hotel?’ Michelle was curious.

  ‘Yes - unless they happen to be staying with parents in the Thabana area and travel to the hotel every day. Mostly they stay there, though.

  I’m hoping you won’t, though, Michelle. Not unless you really want to, one day. You could get bored here at the farm. I mean, you’re only young once.’

  ‘He didn’t mention anything about my staying at the hotel,’ Michelle replied.

  ‘I suppose he knew you wanted to be with us - and that we want you,’

  Laney answered. ‘I mean, you’ve only just arrived. I’m not going to let him pinch you, Michelle.’ She was laughing, but she sounded disappointed.

  ‘I’d better do something to my hair and face,’ said Michelle. ‘These slacks and this top will be all right, won’t they? To meet his father, I mean? I don’t have to change?’

  ‘You look stunning. You look elegantly casual, which is how everybody always appears at the hotel.’

  Lyle Cunningham regarded Michelle appreciatively when he called for her. ‘Obviously you’re not like Laney,’ he said, smiling, ‘because Laney is always late.’ Meeting his eyes, Michelle felt the usual shock at their uncanny magneti
sm.

  ‘In this heat,’ Michelle laughed, ‘I wouldn’t blame anyone for being late.’ As she spoke she could feel the tiny dew drops of perspiration trickling down the secret places of her body - her spine, beneath her small breasts, the insides of her thighs.

  Lyle’s blue-green eyes went over her swiftly. ‘The main thing is that it doesn’t show.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She laughed again, but she was feeling a little embarrassed now. ‘I - er - I like to be reassured on that point.’

  They went outside and the heat seemed to be bouncing off his blue car. Inside, it would be trapped there, Michelle found herself thinking.

  As Lyle opened the door for her she said, ‘In England they’re probably freezing right now, do you know that?’

  ‘Roll on my next trip to England,’ he replied lightly, and closed the door.

  Sunlight showered Michelle’s face as she waved goodbye to Laney.

  ‘What makes you want to freeze?’ she asked, as Lyle slipped into the driver’s seat.

  He laughed lightly and gave her an easy look. ‘This heat makes me want to freeze.’

  ‘You’d soon change your mind,’ she told him, in a kind of despair, and wiping away a tiny moustache of glistening beads which had formed on her lip. ‘The cold can be terrible, believe me. I think I prefer to be hot.’

  ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t,’ he told her, and started the .car. Before driving off, he gave her a direct look.

  With the sun came a certain amount of shade, however, and she sat back and enjoyed the drive to the hotel. There was a reddish-gold dust being spurted up by the wheels of the car and the sound of the stones, making contact with metal as they flew up, created a feeling of contentment within her.

  To make conversation she asked him to tell her a little about the Bushmen paintings which were found in the area. ‘I’ll take you to see them, one day,’ he said, ‘if you’re prepared to walk the distance.’

  ‘I am. I’m very interested. Besides, as I told you, I like walking.’

  Lyle parked the car beneath one of the huge windows of the hotel where golden flowers with pollen-dusted petals were arranged on the wide window-ledge of the office behind it. A tall lean man with an excellent tan and silver hair looked up from his position behind the desk. Only Lyle Cunningham could come up with a father like this, Michelle found herself thinking, because right away she knew this was Cunningham senior.