A Kind Of Madness Part 12

"Why so surprised?" She heard the faintly critical note in his voice.

"Your mother's a very intelligent woman."

"Yes. Yes, I know she is," Elspeth agreed, suddenly discovering that she would very much like to sit down. Her head was spinning with shock. Why had she never realised that her mother was interested in learning to operate a computer? Why had her mother never said anything to herf Why had she confided in Carter--a stranger? Was no member of her s.e.x immune to him? she wondered savagely. What Machiavellian power did he possess to make women so vulnerable to him?

She had always considered that she and her parents--both her parents--were close, and yet here was this man, this stranger, telling her things about them that confounded that belief. Things like her parents' plans for expansion, her mother's skill with the computer.

Why had she not been a privy to these things?

She pushed these questions aside, not wanting to dwell on them, not wanting to believe that her parents could have confided more readily in Carter than they had in her.

"These auctions," she asked him abruptly.

"You never said exactly when they were to take place."

"There's one tomorrow afternoon, and the other's next week."

"Oh. And the land--is it local?"

"Fairly," he told her noncommittally turning back to the boiling kettle.

"You want to live locally, then?" she pressed him, her suspicions freshly aroused.

"But surely if your venture isn't going to compete with my parents' it doesn't matter where you live?"

It was the closest she dared come to betraying her suspicions to him.

A warning shot across his bows, she decided, not wanting to admit that the urge to fire it had somehow or other been caused by the knowledge that it was he who was responsible for that gleaming computer, that tidy office, that change in the familiar routine of her parents' lives which had taken place without her knowledge.

"Perhaps not, but it's always pleasant to live somewhere where one has friends, family. I like this part of the world. I always have done, and your folks have been good friends to me. Once I get my own place, I know I'm going to be relying heavily on their advice and support."

And on their business? The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she suppressed them. It was one thing to subtly warn him that she wasn't like her parents, that she didn't trust him. It was quite another to openly accuse him. No, when she made her denouement she wanted her parents to be there to witness it. How could he stand here in front of her in their home spouting about how fond of them he was, when he was planning to steal their livelihood? Indignation flashed momentarily in her eyes as she watched him.

"But you're a scientist," she pointed out.

"You don't have any experience of growing things. You've lived all over the world. Can you honestly believe you'll be happy to settle down in one small place?"

"I'm a biologist," he corrected her mildly.

"And I've always been interested in the production of the food chain. A lot of people believe we've gone too far in interfering with nature, and in virtually manfuacturing our food with chemicals. There's an increasing demand for food which is un tampered with."

"And you want to produce it."

"I'd certainly like to give it a try," he agreed blandly, ignoring the cynical disbelief of her question.

"In the meantime, however, it's time I joined John and helped him with the watering. If you're ready...?"

Nodding brusquely, Elspeth walked towards the door, and said pointedly, "I'll wait down by the greenhouses for you, shall I?"

The way his mouth tightened sent a tiny fris son of sensation crawling down her spine, an awareness of excitement and danger--although how could anger be exciting? She had never found it so in the past.

As she closed the kitchen door behind her she heard the parrot saying conversationally, "Nice chap. Carter."

"Rubbish. I detest him," she muttered under her breath as she crossed the yard and headed for the greenhouses.

When Carter joined her there five minutes later, he was carrying three mugs of tea. For a moment she was tempted to refuse the one he offered her, but with John looking on she was reluctant to make her animosity towards Carter too obvious.

It had been almost three months since she had last visited her parents.

On that occasion, her visit had been a hurried one in the company of Peter,

who had been anxious to remind her that they had promised to visit his own parents the following week. In fact he had reminded her of this so often that she had actually begun to feel rather uncomfortable, as though in some way Peter was trying to suggest that their forthcoming visit to his parents was somehow of greater importance than this brief one to her own.

Because of this, on that occasion she hadn't been able to concentrate as much as she would have liked on her parents' talk of their plans fo: extending their operation, but now, as she followed the two men into the greenhouses, she was astonished to see how much had been done.

The area under gla.s.s, which she remenbered as rather small, now seemed to stretch for three times its original distance, and the scent of growing, ripening tomatoes in this first section under gla.s.s was dizzyingly mouthwatering. Her grandfather used to grow tomatoes, she remembered, the scent suddenly transporting her back to her eaily childhood and the quiet, elderly man who had nad such patience with her small fingers and impatient questions. He had died before her fifth birthday, but she was surprised how strong those memories now were, brought to the surface by the familiar and evocative scent of the greenhouse.

"Your parents are hoping to inst al an automatic watering system in here soon. Luckily, between us we've managed to rig up something that works almost as well for the moment. Just as long as there's someone here to turn on the tap. Which is just here."

Reminding herself that she was here to learn and work, not to indulge in childhood memories, Elspeth concentrated on what Carter was showing her. As a farmer's daughter she didn't need underlining what could happen if these growing things were deprived of water. She shuddered a little inside, imagining the havoc which would be wreaked if someone was careless enough to forget to water these precious plants, especially in the present mini heat wave.

"Some of the big growers actually use computers to control their watering and ventilation. That's a bit beyond your parents' resources at the moment, but some day...."

"What happens about ventilation at the moment?" Elspeth asked him sharply. They weren't out of June yet, and despite the heat it was still feasible this far north that they could have an overnight frost.

"We've installed a system which rings a warning bell inside the house if the temperature starts to drop beneath a certain point."

"Which means?" Elspeth pressed.

"Which means that someone has to get out of bed and come down here, close the windows, and if necessary light the heaters, although hopefully we should be past that stage now."

By the time they had worked their way through the greenhouse, Elspeth watching sharp-eyed while Carter worked. She had to admit fairly that he was scrupulous about everything he did, checking and re-checking.

But that was while she was here. How did she know what he was doing when she wasn't? Even if he didn't destroy her parents' crop by judiciously forgetting to water or ventilate, what was to stop him giving the growing plant;; a lethal dose of some chemical or other, which v/ould totally discredit her parents as providers of pure, organically grown produce? Once their reputation was gone, it would be impossible for them to retrieve it; who would ever believe that a compet.i.tor, especially one as plausible and seemingly as helpful as Carter, could do such a thing?

By the time they had worked their way outside to where the open beds of vegetables aid herbs were growing, the sun had gone from the t part of the land, leaving it in shadow.

Quickly Carter showed her how to operate the sprinklers and sprayers which carried the much- needed moisture to the growing plants, at the same time thoroughly checking for any kind of infestation which might destroy the crops.

"Mum told me that she was collecting as many traditional remedies for dealing with bugs and diseases as she could," Elspeth commented, her enthusiasm caught, her hostility fading despite her attempts to hold on to it. And besides, concentrating on the crops helped to divert her mind away from the mesmeric sight of Carter's sinewy arms in his short-sleeved shirt, of Carter's hard thigh, as he bent down to inspect row after straight row of young green beans, picking one and holding it under the sprinkler before handing it to her and saying with a grin, "Go on, eat it--it won't poison you."

"It seems so cruel," Elspeth objected, and then flushed in acknowledgement of the childishness of her comment as he laughed. Not at her, she noticed, unable to tear her gaze away from the small lines fanning out from his eyes, the warm and generous curve of his mouth.

His mouth. Where did it come from, this yearning to reach out and touch it, to trace its contours with the tip of her finger and then with the tip of her tongue? A sensation like a jolt of lightning twisted through her body.

Carter was still holding the vegetable.

"Come on," he coaxed.

"Just take a bite."