At last she said drowsily, “I really did promise I’d go out. Do you still want to come with me? Or perhaps you have had enough of me.” She eyed him pleadingly in the soft light.
Nick raised himself on one elbow and looked at her with surprise.
“Mirella! How could I have had enough of you? Of course I want to come!” He drew her to him and kissed her tenderly, feeling passion stir in him again.
She returned his kiss with something like gratitude mixed with gentle urgency, and then she pulled back with a laugh.
“No, we must not start again, or people will be bound to think it strange when we arrive together so late. But — shall we shower together?”
Nick agreed enthusiastically.
They laughed and fondled each other under the warm water like children discovering each other, and when they found the children growing up too rapidly and beginning to act like very experienced adults, they turned on the cold water and cooled off.
They both dressed rapidly, in separate rooms, and when they stepped out of her apartment they looked as cool and decorous as if they’d spent the evening discussing the respective climates of Washington and West Africa... both of which are very warm in summer.
Things That Go Bump in the Night
“No, you drive this time,” he said, when she suggested that he take the wheel. “I take it that it’s some distance out of town?” Mirella nodded. Nick opened the driver’s door for her and helped her in. “I don’t know my way around; we’ll make better time if you do all the work.”
He walked around the car and got in next to her, hoping that whoever might try to kill him tonight would not have done anything so nasty as mine the car to blow him up together with Mirella. The thought was not purely selfish, nor was it entirely altruistic. He sincerely hoped that she did not share his danger, and at the same time he felt that her company was something of a safeguard. Death was not of great concern to him, yet he saw no reason to be unnecessarily careless of his life — and certainly not before the job was done.
She guided the car smoothly out of the long driveway and into the broad street that led to the yet broader avenue that would take them out of town.
“You are safe with me...” Had she meant anything by that, beyond a reassurance that the doors were locked and no killers were lurking in the closets? Probably not. But possibly her unconscious mind had formed the words that could mean his life was safe as long as he was with her — and no longer than that.
They threaded their way through the late night traffic and joined the thin stream of cars heading southeast, out of the city. Mirella drove in silence and with care until she passed beyond the city limits and turned into a subsidiary route lined with tall, drooping trees that creaked with the sound of tiny frogs and hoarse-voiced birds. She slowed down to negotiate a tricky curve and let the big car pick up speed as the road straightened into a long dark ribbon.
Nick put his arm lightly on her shoulders, and she smiled.
“You haven’t even asked me where we’re going,” she said.
“Well, we haven’t had much time for idle talk. And wherever we’re going, we’re going. But now that you mention it — where are we going?”
“To a place without a name,” she answered lightly, “to visit some nightbirds named Baako. I told you they are friends of Julian and Rufus? Yes, I remember that I did. They have a small farm where I often go to — what shall I say? please do not laugh — unwind after I have been working. They let me come and go as I please, and it is most relaxing. Tonight, though, they are having a special party of some sort; I do not know what the occasion is, but they were most anxious for me to come.”
“And they won’t mind that you’ve brought a stranger with you?” Nick waited for her reaction in the dashboard light.
“Oh, no, I know they will be glad to meet you. Rufus said...” she stopped and sought for words.
“What did Rufus say?” Nick probed gently.
She turned a slightly embarrassed look upon him. “You understand, he mentioned you before I met you. He wanted you to meet people whom he knew would interest you, and he suggested that I take you to see the Baakos. But believe me, no matter what he said, I would have come alone tonight if I had not wanted you to be with me. And I know that you will like them.”
Nick fingered her hair thoughtfully. Rufus had an interesting way of being on stage front even when he wasn’t in the act.
“You do not mind?” She glanced at him anxiously.
“Of course not. How could I mind, as long as I’m with you?” His arm tightened about her shoulders.
They drove on in silence for some time. The road began to wind again and branch off into unpaved offshoots that led through thickening trees to what he thought must be small farmhouses.
“Ah! Nearly missed it. I do this every time.” She swung the wheel suddenly and the big car skidded into a narrow, bumpy road that Nick decided must be the track to the Baako farmhouse. But it went on for several miles before she pulled up in front of a barred gate and locked the hand brake.
“Now I have bad news for you,” she said apologetically. “We must go the rest of the way on foot. I should have told you before. Anyway, it is not so important if you do not mind walking a little with your evening shoes.”
“My evening shoes be damned,” Nick said, and kissed her. “I’ll gladly walk wherever you say.” Something in him ticked a warning. While there was still time, he kissed her again until his racing pulse almost drowned out the ticking. Then he stopped and looked longingly at the incredibly lovely face. “Let’s go then, shall we? Walk in the woods, and meet the people, and then go home together.” He smiled at her and touched her cheek. She took his hand and caressed it with her lips.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Let us do that.”
He helped her out of the car and she led him past a wide barred gate to another smaller one that opened easily. A moss and twig-covered path led through the overhanging trees.
“They have closed the road,” she explained, “because the last rains made it almost impassable and they decided to grade it, perhaps pave it when there is time. But in the meantime the only way to the house is this path. I’m afraid it is almost a mile before we reach the house. But it is a pleasant walk, and this is a lovely night.”
“It is indeed,” Nick agreed. “But what do they do with their own cars?”
He felt rather than saw her sudden head movement. “Their own cars?” she repeated. “Oh, they are horsemen, all of them. There are many paths for horses through these trees.”
It sounded reasonable; but his nose was sensitive and he could not smell horse along the path they walked upon. The trees were too low, anyway.
“Is this one of the bridle paths?” he asked, knowing that it couldn’t be.
“Bridal...? Oh, for the horses, you mean.” She took his hand and laughed quietly in the darkness. “Of course not. It is easy to see that you are from the city. No, the horses cannot use this path. This is just for people.”