Free Caedmon’s Song by Peter Robinson Page A

became aware of Keith’s arm slipping around her shoulder. It made her stiffen. Surely he must sense her resistance, she thought, but he didn’t remove it. ‘Why
what?’ she asked.
    ‘Why do you need to protect yourself so much, to hide away? What’s there to be afraid of?’
    ‘There’s a lot to be afraid of,’ Martha said slowly. ‘And what makes you think I’m protecting myself from the world? Maybe I’m protecting the world from
me.’
    ‘Now that really is choice. I’m not sure I understand you, not at all. But I do find you intriguing, and very attractive.’
    A ship’s light blinked far out to sea. Keith leaned over and kissed her. Martha managed to contain her boiling rage and let him. It was a soft, tentative kiss, not a violent,
tongue-probing attack. A small price to pay, she told herself amid her anger, for appearing normal. She knew she wasn’t responding with the enthusiasm he expected, but there was absolutely
nothing she could do about that.
    ‘It’s a shame I have to go tomorrow,’ he said, breaking away gently. Clearly her response, or lack of it, didn’t mean very much to him. ‘I’d like to spend
more time with you, get to know you a bit better.’
    Martha said nothing. She just stared out at the rippling moon on the water and watched the ship’s light move across the horizon like a star through the sky. He kissed her again, this time
more passionately, exploring her teeth with his tongue. When she felt his other hand slip up over her side and reach for her breast, she pulled away.
    ‘No,’ she said, as calmly but firmly as she could. ‘What do you think I am? We’ve only just met.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Keith said, ‘really I am. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just thought . . . I mean I hoped. Oh God, you can’t blame a bloke for trying, can
you?’
    Martha could, but she didn’t say so. Instead, she tried to placate him despite the rage she felt. ‘It’s not that I don’t like you,’ she said. ‘It’s just
too soon. I guess I’m not the kind of person for a holiday quickie.’
    Now Keith seemed offended. ‘That’s not fair. That’s not what I had in mind.’
    But it was, Martha knew. Oh, Keith was a nice enough boy, not too pushy, but all it came down to was that he wanted to go to bed with her. He would make out that he didn’t usually do such
things, and she was supposed to say the same. Then he would tell her how it was different with her, really special. He was a wolf, all right, but a tame one. Getting the brush-off just made him
sulk and become petulant. They weren’t all as easy as him to fight off.
    ‘Come on,’ Martha said. ‘Let’s go back. It’s getting chilly.’
    Hands in pockets, head down, Keith walked beside her back to the guesthouse.
     
14
    KIRSTEN
    ‘It’s my body. I have a right to know.’
    Kirsten leaned back on the pillows. Her eyes were puffed up, and the tear-tracks had dried on her cheeks. The doctor stood by the bottom of the bed, and her parents sat beside her.
    ‘You were in no state to be alarmed,’ the doctor said. ‘You’ve been suffering from severe trauma. We had to avoid upsetting you.’ For the first time, Kirsten
actually looked at him. He was a short, dark-skinned man with a deeply etched frown that converged in a V between his thick black eyebrows. Somehow, the lines made him look like a short-tempered
person, though Kirsten had seen no evidence of this. If he had tried to keep the full extent of her injuries from her, he had at least been gentle.
    ‘I’m already alarmed,’ she said. Her nightgown was buttoned up again now, but the memory of what she had seen still frightened her. ‘Look, I’m not a little girl.
Something’s wrong. Tell me.’
    ‘We didn’t want to upset you, dear.’ Her mother echoed the doctor. ‘There’s plenty of time to go into all the details later, when you’re feeling better. Why
don’t you just rest now? The doctor will give you a sedative.’
    Kirsten