unfamiliar names in the directory, she telephoned the hotel where they had eaten lunch that day in Mostar and eventually obtained the number of the Turkish family. But in her agitation, Sarah ’ s tenuous command of the Serbo-Croatian language deserted her and it was difficult to make herself understood. All she could do was leave the villa ’ s telephone number in case there was news to pass on.
When she stepped out onto the terrace, taking care to remain within sound of the telephone; the scene looked exactly the same as yesterday. Palms and cypresses reared against the blue sky and bluer sea, and the sun shone on the golden walls of the city, all untouched by tragedy. It seemed as though nature smiled treacherously after the night ’ s destruction.
Melanie and Daniel came up the steps from the beach.
“ What ’ s the latest news? ” Daniel queried.
“ None. ” Sarah ’ s reply sounded more curt than she had intended.
“ Oh, I expect all the reports are wildly exaggerated, ” Melanie observed. “ Like all these happenings. Disasters always become magnified by rumors. ”
“ I think it ’ s more than rumor, Miss Roche, ” Sarah retorted spiritedly. “ If I myself felt the earth move under my feet last night, it must have been very severe in Krasnograd, more than two hundred and fifty miles away. ”
Melanie ’ s eyes widened. “ You mean you actually felt the earth shake? Oh, no, you imagined it. ”
Sarah glanced at Melanie, but made no further claim. “ If Sarah says she felt it, she did, ” Daniel asserted. “ What time was it? ”
“ A few minutes before midnight. ”
“ Why, of course! ” Daniel exclaimed. “ Don ’ t you remember, Melanie? We were sitting here on the terrace about that time and our drinks swirled about in the glasses. I merely thought someone had jogged the table. ”
“ And, of course, that was the explanation, ” Melanie said.
“ Edmund was wondering. Miss Roche, ” she began, “ if you had heard any news of Mr. Thorne . He ’ s working near Krasnograd. ”
The question in the way Sarah had framed it was not strictly true, but then she could hardly ask point-blank in her own interest.
Melanie stared at Sarah, puffed out a cloud of smoke from her cigarette before answering, with a faint smile, “ My dear Sarah, how could I possibly know? Adam and I are old friends, but if the earthquake is as serious as people say it is, then it ’ s not likely that Adam is left with the only remaining telephone line. Tell— ” Melanie paused and gave Sarah a measured glance “ —Edmund that I have no news. ”
“ Yes, Miss Roche. ”
“ And, Sarah, ” Melanie continued with one of her most charming smiles, “ you might also tell Edmund that— ” She stopped abruptly. “ No, I ’ ll tell him myself. ” She moved past Sarah out onto the sunlit terrace. Suddenly Sarah felt some of the tension snap. She had idled long enough in this gnawing suspense. Inactivity was no cure for the morbid dread constantly in her thoughts.
She typed a note for Edmund, placed it by the typewriter and went quietly out of the villa by the farther door into the road, so that neither Daniel nor Melanie would see her.
This evening the placa was hushed. People collected in forlorn groups and spoke in whispers. The cafes were half-empty, but a great crowd surged around the newspaper office to read the latest scraps of such information as they had been able to obtain.
Sarah was baffled by the unfamiliar words, but after laborious translation from her pocket dictionary she understood that volunteers were needed to give and to pack blankets, stores and medical supplies.
Trestle tables had already been set out and great piles of clothing, blankets and bedding were being sorted and bundled up.
This was something positive that she could do, Sarah thought, and approached a table where there were few helpers. The women immediately made a place for her and one talked rapidly to Sarah.
“
When she stepped out onto the terrace, taking care to remain within sound of the telephone; the scene looked exactly the same as yesterday. Palms and cypresses reared against the blue sky and bluer sea, and the sun shone on the golden walls of the city, all untouched by tragedy. It seemed as though nature smiled treacherously after the night ’ s destruction.
Melanie and Daniel came up the steps from the beach.
“ What ’ s the latest news? ” Daniel queried.
“ None. ” Sarah ’ s reply sounded more curt than she had intended.
“ Oh, I expect all the reports are wildly exaggerated, ” Melanie observed. “ Like all these happenings. Disasters always become magnified by rumors. ”
“ I think it ’ s more than rumor, Miss Roche, ” Sarah retorted spiritedly. “ If I myself felt the earth move under my feet last night, it must have been very severe in Krasnograd, more than two hundred and fifty miles away. ”
Melanie ’ s eyes widened. “ You mean you actually felt the earth shake? Oh, no, you imagined it. ”
Sarah glanced at Melanie, but made no further claim. “ If Sarah says she felt it, she did, ” Daniel asserted. “ What time was it? ”
“ A few minutes before midnight. ”
“ Why, of course! ” Daniel exclaimed. “ Don ’ t you remember, Melanie? We were sitting here on the terrace about that time and our drinks swirled about in the glasses. I merely thought someone had jogged the table. ”
“ And, of course, that was the explanation, ” Melanie said.
“ Edmund was wondering. Miss Roche, ” she began, “ if you had heard any news of Mr. Thorne . He ’ s working near Krasnograd. ”
The question in the way Sarah had framed it was not strictly true, but then she could hardly ask point-blank in her own interest.
Melanie stared at Sarah, puffed out a cloud of smoke from her cigarette before answering, with a faint smile, “ My dear Sarah, how could I possibly know? Adam and I are old friends, but if the earthquake is as serious as people say it is, then it ’ s not likely that Adam is left with the only remaining telephone line. Tell— ” Melanie paused and gave Sarah a measured glance “ —Edmund that I have no news. ”
“ Yes, Miss Roche. ”
“ And, Sarah, ” Melanie continued with one of her most charming smiles, “ you might also tell Edmund that— ” She stopped abruptly. “ No, I ’ ll tell him myself. ” She moved past Sarah out onto the sunlit terrace. Suddenly Sarah felt some of the tension snap. She had idled long enough in this gnawing suspense. Inactivity was no cure for the morbid dread constantly in her thoughts.
She typed a note for Edmund, placed it by the typewriter and went quietly out of the villa by the farther door into the road, so that neither Daniel nor Melanie would see her.
This evening the placa was hushed. People collected in forlorn groups and spoke in whispers. The cafes were half-empty, but a great crowd surged around the newspaper office to read the latest scraps of such information as they had been able to obtain.
Sarah was baffled by the unfamiliar words, but after laborious translation from her pocket dictionary she understood that volunteers were needed to give and to pack blankets, stores and medical supplies.
Trestle tables had already been set out and great piles of clothing, blankets and bedding were being sorted and bundled up.
This was something positive that she could do, Sarah thought, and approached a table where there were few helpers. The women immediately made a place for her and one talked rapidly to Sarah.
“
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