The Amulet of Power - Mike Resnick [99]
Still, there was no sense worrying about it. She’d come this far and survived; she had only a little farther to go.
She opened the door and stepped back out onto the path, where Oliver joined her a minute later.
“There’re two bedrooms in mine,” he said.
“I’ve got a bedroom and a sleeping loft.”
“Why don’t you move to my cottage?” he suggested. “I can protect you a lot better if we’re in the same building.”
“It’s not necessary, Malcolm,” she said.
“I’m an old man,” he said. “I’m not making a play for you.”
“I know you’re not.” Then, just to make him feel better, she added, “I’d be flattered if you were.”
“I just think you’d be safer if—”
“I’m fine,” she said so firmly that he let the subject drop.
They walked to the restaurant, which actually consisted of a series of linen-covered tables on a patio with a beautiful view of the bay.
“What next?” asked Oliver when their food had arrived and their waiter was out of earshot.
“It’s such a pretty location, I think we’ll just relax and spend the day here enjoying it,” said Lara.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought we came here to find the Amulet before they kill you,” he said, puzzled.
“They’re not going to try to kill me until I find it,” she replied. “I’m tired of being shot at. Let’s take one day off.”
He frowned. “You’ve got something up your sleeve, and you’re not telling me what it is. How can I help you if you keep me in the dark?”
“I don’t need any help today.”
“Even superwomen need help,” he continued. “You told me that your friend Mason saved you two or three times back in Egypt.”
“I’ll need help tomorrow,” she said. “And I promise that I won’t hesitate to ask you for it.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow. But today let’s just enjoy Chinese Gordon’s Eden. I might even take a drive to the Vallée de Mai.”
“Not without me,” said Oliver.
“Not without you,” she agreed. “How about right after we eat?”
“Whatever you say.”
Half an hour later they were in the Mercedes, driving into the valley of the famed coco de mer. The trees towered above them, a small stream ran alongside the road, the birdlife was profuse and noisy, and it seemed that every flower on the island was in bloom.
“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” said Lara, slowing the car down and studying her surroundings.
“Very,” said Oliver.
“Then why do you look so uneasy?”
“I keep looking for assassins behind every one of those trees,” he replied.
“Don’t. They’re not there.”
“I can’t help myself.”
“Just enjoy it. It’s a beautiful day.”
“You enjoy it. I’ll keep looking.”
They drove from one end of the valley to the other, then took a newly created road that entirely circled the forest. They passed endless flowering shrubs and trees, a picturesque small stone chapel, even a few coco de mer trees that seemed almost to have fled the valley and taken up residence on its outskirts. Finally she turned the car back toward the Baie Ste. Anne, and in another quarter hour they were back at the Chateau.
“Wasn’t that fabulous?” she enthused as they walked back toward their cabins. “I’ve spent too much time under the ground. Every now and then it’s nice to remind myself of the beauty that’s on top of it.”
“It was pretty.”
“Just pretty?”
“My tastes were formed in Africa,” replied Oliver. “It’s pretty, but I’ll take the Ngorongoro Crater or the Northern Frontier District.”
“That’s all right,” she said with a smile. “There’s no shame in being a Philistine.”
He laughed. “I’ll say this for Praslin. Nothing bites. Except the people.”
“Another argument for it being Eden.”
“Well, it’s early afternoon,” said Oliver. “What now?”
“Now I think I’ll take a nap.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Why should you think so?”