Dear Mister Summers

twenty eight

Sebastian groaned. "I'm fine," he said grimly. "But that damned steering wheel was rammed into me hard. I feel as though I had been kicked in the stomach by a horse."

She leaned across, worried. Without pausing to think she pushed back his shirt hurriedly and ran her fingers over the bare skin of his midriff, examining it for signs of injury, trying to see how hurt he had been. "There, does that hurt?" she asked, her fingers pressing into his flesh gently.

"Like hell," he answered, his voice suddenly hoarse.

She looked at him quickly and her heart thudded. His voice and face told her clearly enough that he was not referring to any injury. She pulled her hands away, hot color sweeping to her hairline. Unclipping her seat belt, she opened the car door and scrambled out. The rain poured down, rapidly saturating her clothes and flattening her hair to her temples. He joined her, apparently in control of his face once more, his expression grim as he surveyed the bonnet of the car. He slammed the bonnet down, making a wry face.

"We have made a mess of the radiator," he said.

"I'm sorry," she stammered. "It was my fault."

Sebastian shrugged. "At least we are alive," he said. "All I hope is that we can start the car again. We are about a mile from my brother's cottage and there is no village for hour miles back. The nearest garage is about seven miles off."

They got back into the car. "Okay, let's try again," he said, starting the ignition.

Astonishingly, it sprang to life at the second attempt, and he carefully reversed back from the tree. They started to drive around the corner and emerged onto a flat narrow road bordered on one side by trees through which she could just see a river bank. On the other ran orchards whose blossom-covered branches tossed wildly to and fro in the wind.

Sebastian sighed with relief, driving a little faster. The rain still ran in rivers across their windscreen. The sky was almost as dark as if it were night. But they were at least able to drive. He gave Andin a smile of pure relief. "Another five minutes and we should see Piers's cottage. It is the only building for miles."

"It must look beautiful when the sun shines," she said, peering through the rain at the orchards. "What a pity the storm is blowing all the blossom off those trees." Torn white petals were blowing like confetti past the car, many of them sticking to the windows in the rain. Suddenly the car began to make a strange choking sound, and Sebastian muttered under his breath. Staring through the windscreen, she said anxiously, "Sir, the hood!"

Thin coils of steam curled up at the sides of the hood and he groaned. "We are running out of water to cool the engine and the car is overheating."

At that moment she caught a glimpse of a green roof through the curtain of rain. "Is that the house?"

The steam was growing quickly. He slowed the car to a crawl, grimly watching the hood of the car. "We may just get there before it does too much damage," he said. "We will have to call the nearest garage and get them to fit a new radiator. I suspected it was badly dented. It must be full of holes. We have been losing water ever since we hit that tree."

He pulled up a hundred miles from the house. A cloud of steam was rising from the hood by then. "I dare not lift it or the engine will be drowned in rain," he said irritably. He opened the door and got out.

Andin followed and they began to run towards the house, drenched before they had gone more than a short way. Lightning split the dark sky. She gave an instinctive cry of fright, and he looked back at her. "It can not hurt you," he said flatly. "If you can see it, it can be nowhere near you. You are quite safe."