disappeared, tactfully, across the saloon and into the galley.
I asked McIver in, and said, “He’s here? Dr. Holmes is in Crinan?”
Mercury cleared his throat. Under the bristle his big face was scarlet. “Na, na. He’s no on Rum either. You’ve maybe no heard of the
Lysander
’s accident?”
“Of course I’ve heard.” If I was short, it was because I was cold with alarm. If he wasn’t on Rum, where the hell had he gone? Or did the idiot mean he was dead?
“Aye. Well.” The stupid man shifted from one great foot to the other. “He’s been moved from Rum to South Rona, Dr. Kenneth, while they look into that business. The submarine was on trial off South Rona, ye’ll ken.”
Where the hell was South Rona? My face must have betrayed my exasperation and dismay, for the man added quickly, “It’s not far away: it’s a wee island next to Raasay, ye ken.” And as my face remained blank, “Just over from Portree, Skye. There’s nothing on it but a few wee huts where the sub. crew and the scientists stay. Well, he’s there now; and he canna get to Rum, and I was to seek you out, mistress, and gie ye this.”
I snatched it. It was an old OHMS envelope, sealed over with sticky tape, with a scrap of paper inside. On that were a few words only in Kenneth’s big, personal writing. “Don’t come now. Don’t come ever—it isn’t safe. Goodbye. I love you.” There was no signature and no need of one. It was Kenneth, I knew.
I looked at it for a long time, and I smiled as I looked. Oh, he ws still afraid for me, still protecting me. He was giving me the chance to retreat. But he must know perfectly well that he had also now given me an address where I could reach him in privacy far more easily than before. For South Rona was only a short sail from Portree. And in three days’ time, I should be in Portree on the
Dolly
, on the race’s last call before Rum.
I touched my friend’s kippery arm and said, “Thank you for bringing this. I know you won’t speak of it to anyone else… Did you see Dr. Kenneth when he gave you this? Is he well?”
My friend had removed his beret, at last. He cleared his throat. “Oh, well enough. Aye. They’re all a bit pressed, ye ken, since the accident.” He paused, and then said, “Would there be a reply?”
I hadn’t dreamed a reply would be possible. Now I realised that this puffer was probably taking regular supplies to South Rona for both lighthouse and base. With the mellow evening sunlight all about me, and the convivial sounds from the concourse, the lap of water and the distant Niagara of the locks, the cry of gulls and the sundown song of the land birds, with all the saltwater togetherness going on all around me, I thought of a dead man swinging slowly in a cupboard in Rose Street and said, “Yes, there’s a reply. Tell Dr. Kenneth… tell him that there has been a death in the family, and might be another. Tell him… particularly to take care of himself. Say it exactly like that. And tell him that on Saturday I am coming to Portree on
Dolly
, and that he must not fail to meet me privately there.”
There was a pause. I could not tell whether Mercury was shocked or approving, or whether he had even absorbed what I had told him. I dared not put it in writing. The high-coloured, unshaven face showed no reaction. After a moment though, McIver said, “He mightna manage to cross. There’s a fair stramash on the now, with the submarine boys, ye understand.”
“Then I’ll come to South Rona,” I said.
There was another pause. “Ah,” he said. “But the boat you’re on isna going to South Rona, though. The race only calls at Portree.”
“I know. But other boats must make the crossing sometimes from Portree to his island; your own, say?”
It was a risk. I wanted no publicity. Tina Rossi in this land of porridge and peasants being smuggled from one place to the next in a puffer—that would be a manquet for
Oggi
. Already, as I waited for the
I asked McIver in, and said, “He’s here? Dr. Holmes is in Crinan?”
Mercury cleared his throat. Under the bristle his big face was scarlet. “Na, na. He’s no on Rum either. You’ve maybe no heard of the
Lysander
’s accident?”
“Of course I’ve heard.” If I was short, it was because I was cold with alarm. If he wasn’t on Rum, where the hell had he gone? Or did the idiot mean he was dead?
“Aye. Well.” The stupid man shifted from one great foot to the other. “He’s been moved from Rum to South Rona, Dr. Kenneth, while they look into that business. The submarine was on trial off South Rona, ye’ll ken.”
Where the hell was South Rona? My face must have betrayed my exasperation and dismay, for the man added quickly, “It’s not far away: it’s a wee island next to Raasay, ye ken.” And as my face remained blank, “Just over from Portree, Skye. There’s nothing on it but a few wee huts where the sub. crew and the scientists stay. Well, he’s there now; and he canna get to Rum, and I was to seek you out, mistress, and gie ye this.”
I snatched it. It was an old OHMS envelope, sealed over with sticky tape, with a scrap of paper inside. On that were a few words only in Kenneth’s big, personal writing. “Don’t come now. Don’t come ever—it isn’t safe. Goodbye. I love you.” There was no signature and no need of one. It was Kenneth, I knew.
I looked at it for a long time, and I smiled as I looked. Oh, he ws still afraid for me, still protecting me. He was giving me the chance to retreat. But he must know perfectly well that he had also now given me an address where I could reach him in privacy far more easily than before. For South Rona was only a short sail from Portree. And in three days’ time, I should be in Portree on the
Dolly
, on the race’s last call before Rum.
I touched my friend’s kippery arm and said, “Thank you for bringing this. I know you won’t speak of it to anyone else… Did you see Dr. Kenneth when he gave you this? Is he well?”
My friend had removed his beret, at last. He cleared his throat. “Oh, well enough. Aye. They’re all a bit pressed, ye ken, since the accident.” He paused, and then said, “Would there be a reply?”
I hadn’t dreamed a reply would be possible. Now I realised that this puffer was probably taking regular supplies to South Rona for both lighthouse and base. With the mellow evening sunlight all about me, and the convivial sounds from the concourse, the lap of water and the distant Niagara of the locks, the cry of gulls and the sundown song of the land birds, with all the saltwater togetherness going on all around me, I thought of a dead man swinging slowly in a cupboard in Rose Street and said, “Yes, there’s a reply. Tell Dr. Kenneth… tell him that there has been a death in the family, and might be another. Tell him… particularly to take care of himself. Say it exactly like that. And tell him that on Saturday I am coming to Portree on
Dolly
, and that he must not fail to meet me privately there.”
There was a pause. I could not tell whether Mercury was shocked or approving, or whether he had even absorbed what I had told him. I dared not put it in writing. The high-coloured, unshaven face showed no reaction. After a moment though, McIver said, “He mightna manage to cross. There’s a fair stramash on the now, with the submarine boys, ye understand.”
“Then I’ll come to South Rona,” I said.
There was another pause. “Ah,” he said. “But the boat you’re on isna going to South Rona, though. The race only calls at Portree.”
“I know. But other boats must make the crossing sometimes from Portree to his island; your own, say?”
It was a risk. I wanted no publicity. Tina Rossi in this land of porridge and peasants being smuggled from one place to the next in a puffer—that would be a manquet for
Oggi
. Already, as I waited for the
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