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Folding it first, she thrust a corner under the cold tap over the sink,
soaking it thoroughly before bringing it to Thom.
'Here, press it against your lips, it'll take away some of the sting,' she
said, putting it to his face herself.
He took the wet towel and applied it to his mouth, the pain already beginning
to throb. Thanks,' he mumbled, mentally calling himself a fool for not being
more cautious. For Christ's sake, he had seen the hot steam rising from the
mug, was aware it had been freshly made. Stupid, stupid -but wait a minute.
Hadn't he seen Nell Quick drinking the coffee a moment before?
'It didn't burn you,' he said, almost accusing, his complaint awkward through
numbed lips.
She didn't appear concerned - why should she be? It was his lips - and reached
into the wicker basket for a canvas bag lying at the bottom. From the open bag
she took a small, round, red pot and thumbed off its plastic lid.
'Always carry salves and healing unguents with me. Never know when one or
another will be useful.
This is good for insect stings as well as burns.'
She dabbed her middle fingertip into the pot and it came
75
out with a gobbet of yellowish greyish cream. Thom flinched away when she
prepared to smear his mouth with the stuff.
'Come on, don't be a baby,' she scolded playfully. 'It's only a mixture of
coriander leaf and thorn-apple juice, with a few secret ingredients of my own.
It's the pig's grease it's boiled up with that makes it look and smell like
this. Come on, it'll work, I promise. The pain will soon go and we'll stop any
inflammation before it starts. Got to go on straight away though, otherwise
it'll be no good.'
'Cold water will do,' he protested, turning his head away.
'No, it won't. Trust me, Thom, this will get rid of the pain and heal the burn
at the same time.'
Page 35
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Her voice was soothing and, for some reason he could not fathom, hard to
resist. Reluctantly, he faced her and allowed her to smear the sickly smelling
unguent over his lips.
The relief was instant, and he straightened in surprise. The pain was gone the
moment she touched him with the substance. Her face was only inches away from
his as she leaned over him, her finger still poised over his mouth. Her pupils
were large within their irises so that her eyes really were almost totally
black.
In them he could see the reflections of his own image.
He could feel the salve sinking deeper into his lips, as though it were
chasing after any lingering pain or infection. With her face so close, her
breath warm on his cheek, and her smell - like some sweet musky incense
carried on a breeze - so puissantly sensual, Thom felt a warm flush course
through him and the room began to spin, fading as it did so until it felt like
only he and the woman existed in the world; there was a hush between them that
seemed full of unspoken meaning.
She drew even closer and he could not be sure if he hadn't leaned towards her
himself. He was mystified but drawn by her allure. He had no wish to resist.
Her lips were only inches from his own and he noticed they glistened and were
so deeply red, so enticing...
An excitement made him shiver. His lips brushed against hers and just as they
both began to exert equal pressure, the spell - how appropriate that word, he
was to learn later -was broken.
He jerked away - she merely stiffened - when something smashed against the
flagstone floor.
A HASTY DEPARTURE
THOM JUMPED to his feet in shock, forcing Nell to take two startled steps
backwards. As one their heads snapped round, their eyes searching.
A plate lay shattered nearby on the stone floor in a crazy jigsaw of white
pieces.
The silence that followed was only a little less disturbing than the explosive
crash that had preceded it and Thom quickly understood why: the birds outside
had ceased their babel, as though they, too, had been frightened; even the
breeze now seemed reluctant to enter. But stranger than all this, the radio
had become silent too.
Thom slowly took his gaze from the broken plate and shifted it to the woman.
He was not so much confused as bewildered, for the plate apparently had flown
from the dresser shelf as if self-propelled. It hadn't just dropped; it was
too far from the dresser for that. And its force must have been immense for it
to shatter into so many pieces.
And what was this expression on Nell Quick's face? It
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