“What’s going on in that little mind of yours?”
She scratched at her head. Today she hadn’t bothered with trying to style it. She’d just let it hang loose about her shoulders, and when it got in her way she shoved a couple of Aggie’s barrettes at the sides. Between her too-big shirt and her too big trousers that were belted at her waist, and her dark hair about her shoulders, David thought she looked magnificent. If it weren’t for his leg he would have made a move toward her before now.
“I need a bath,” Edi said. “I think I got something from the chickens in my hair.”
“I saw some kerosene in the barn. Should we use that?”
“No,” Edi said, smiling. “I’m going to take a bath in the river.”
“That’s not a good idea. It’s still swollen, and the current is—”
He didn’t say any more because he heard the door close behind Edi. When he went to look out the window, he saw that she was running. Obviously, she was on a mission, but he wondered what it was. When she came out of the barn a few minutes later and she was carrying two coils of rope, he knew exactly what she was thinking of doing.
“No,” he said when she came into the kitchen. “No, no, double no. If you try that I’ll hike out of here and find a telephone and tell Austin what you’re planning to do.”
“Can you tie good knots?”
“No,” David said firmly as he sat down on a chair.
“Okay, then we’ll have to make do with my knots.” She put the end of one of the ropes around her waist and tied it. “There. Nice and strong, isn’t it?”
David reached up, grabbed one end of the knot, and pulled. It came loose easily.
“Maybe I should tie it in three loops.”
“Please don’t do this,” David said, his voice almost tears. “It’s not worth it. We have one more day, then Aggie will be back, we’ll get the magazine, then—”
“What about this knot?”
David pulled both ends, and they were tight.
“Perfect,” she said. “We’ll use that one.”
“And what if you get caught down there and want to get out?” he asked, his voice low. “Do you take a knife with you and saw at the rope?”
“Then you fix it,” she said, “and I don’t want any lectures about why I shouldn’t do this. I’m a great swimmer.”
“Edi,” he began, refusing to get up from the chair. “This is very noble of you, but I don’t want you to do this.”
Bending, she put her lips to his and kissed him. “We have very little time left,” she said, “and how can you make love to me with that thing on your leg? I’m going to do this no matter what you say, but I’d very much appreciate your help with it all.”
David was so stunned by what she’d said that it took him a moment to react. When she started to walk away, he caught her wrist and pulled her to him so she landed on his lap.
He kissed her. Gently, then with increasing passion, his kiss deepening. “I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you,” he whispered. “It was like I knew you from somewhere. Heaven, maybe. I knew you were mine and always will be.”
She ran her hand along his cheek. “I detested you.”
David chuckled. “You sure know how to make love to a man.”
“Sorry, but I know nothing in that department, but I’ve been told that I’m a fast learner.”
He kissed her some more, his hands in her hair.
Then the spell was broken when Edi moved away to claw at her scalp. “There’s something crawling in my hair, so I’m going to jump in the river to wash it, and I might as well get that Allen wrench. Are you ready?”
When he frowned and looked as though he was about to again ask her not to go, she put a fingertip over his lips. “Think on the bright side. I might not find it. It could be in the Thames by now and you’ll be in that brace for the rest of the war.”
David put his hand on the kitchen table and heaved himself up. “Lead the way.” He was trying to sound jovial, but she could hear the fear in his voice.