Black Ingo Page 3

  ‘Ingo’s only six or seven years older,’ Felicity pointed out.

  ‘Oh, Ingo’s tremendously mature. He’s the mocking observer who stands way back looking down his straight nose at all of us. Ingo won’t lose himself in a mad passion. He’s brilliant, a man apart. Oh yes, he’ll amuse himself briefly and shatter a few dreams, but he won’t abandon himself to any woman. He just likes to smile at them contemptuously with those shining light eyes.’

  Felicity was. sitting up, an expression of surprise on her face. ‘You’re most acutely aware of Ingo, aren’t you? I’ve never really paid any attention before. I mean, man-woman aware. You must be growing up. If it didn’t sound so ridiculous I’d say you were halfway in love with him and you have been these many years.’

  Genny almost stuttered in her sudden rage. ‘Are you crazy?’

  ‘I really don’t know,’ her mother teased. ‘You ask it a lot.’

  ‘Lordy, Flick. ‘

  ‘There you go again, sparking away like blazes. Only one person I know sets you off, Ingo. As I said, he’s just beautiful, that unassailable creature. If Ingo kissed you, you’d see a few stars. Summer lightning as well!’

  ‘Stop smirking, Flick. He’s not going to bother either of us. ‘ With her colour up and her dark eyes stormy Genny had such a beauty, such a strong echo of Carlo, that Felicity closed her eyes as though warding off a vision.

  ‘I bet Sally will land herself an invitation.’

  ‘Good luck to her!’ Genny said, managing to sound just the opposite.

  ‘I like Sally.‘ Felicity said, not altogether truthfully.

  ‘She tries too hard. ‘ Genny maintained. ‘I‘d like to tell her it’s a mistake being nice to Ingo. She ought to give him a little of his own medicine.’

  ‘She’d be ill for days. Do invite Dave out. He’s great company, and he’s so attentive he makes me feel so young again.’

  ‘You are young,’ smiled Genny. ‘You’ll always be young. You’re my mother and I love you, you juvenile delinquent.’

  ‘Thank you, darling. I know you’re the wise one.’

  ‘I‘d better wait and ask Ingo first.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be silly, I’m sure he won’t mind. He expects it. Tandarro could comfortably house an army, let alone feed one. I’ve told him about Dave, as a matter of fact.’

  ‘You’ve told him what?’ Genny reached out and scooped up a handful of her mother’s hair. ‘Surely there’s nothing to tell!’

  Felicity hit Genny’s hand away. ‘Remember when you were late getting back from Hastings? Dave spoke his piece then. It nearly brought tears to my eyes. He wants to marry you, Genny. He’s very serious and he’s very practical. He has lots of plans-I like that. All my plans fall apart at the seams.’

  ‘And you told Ingo this?’

  ‘I‘m not dumb. Ingo likes to know everything. Such a thing he might consider important. You know, give the bride away and that sort of thing.’

  ‘What did he say?’ Genny demanded.

  ‘As a matter of fact,’ Felicity said, looking away, ‘it wasn’t complimentary.’

  ‘Did you imagine he would be happy for me?’

  ‘He thinks you need a strong hand.’

  Genny shrugged. ‘Dave certainly hasn’t got one. The woman who marries Dave had better be prepared to be the boss. Dave skips trouble; peace at any price.’

  ‘I thought you liked that.’

  ‘I did before I encountered Ingo.’

  ‘Was there ever such a time? You were about fifteen months old when I first took you back to Tandarro,’ said Felicity.

  ‘I don’t remember.’

  ‘Ingo does. Even as a baby he remembered a great deal. He’s seen you at all the continuing stages of your development. Good or bad, there’s nothing you can hide from Ingo.’

  ‘Oh, skip it.’

  ‘All right. I’ve needed to become acrobatic about my cousin-ask Dave.’

  ‘I might. What a stroke of luck, you’ve provided me with a champion.’

  ‘You’ve done so well with your studies I thought you deserved something,’ teased Felicity. ‘Now what about some new clothes? Let’s go shopping tomorrow. This is a big time of the year on the property. I can’t wait to get there. But of course you don’t care about it.‘ Felicity said slyly.

  ‘I can’t really admit I love it more than you do,’ said Genny moodily.

  ‘Ingo wouldn’t be surprised. You have a very transparent way of showing your feelings, and unlike me you can ride like the wind. You might at least thank him for that.’

  ‘He seemed to blame me for it the last time.’

  ‘The true reason was that you gave him a bad fright. Ingo doesn’t normally know fear. The fall knocked you unconscious. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t warned you.’

  ‘Any kind of mutiny is unsupportable with Ingo.’

  ‘At times you really need warning,’ her mother said.

  ‘I know, I know l It was my fault. I just flattered myself I could handle the stallion and I couldn’t.’

  ‘No one but Ingo can. It’s a one-rider horse. Everyone knew, and you got Jimmy into trouble. Please don’t do it again. Ingo was thoroughly rattled.’

  ‘I didn’t exactly enjoy being thrown, nor the few seconds beforehand when I could see it about to happen,’ retorted Genny.

  ‘Such courage!’

  ‘Ingo called it suicide with his eyes flashing murder.’

  ‘Ingo always made himself your guardian,’ remembered Felicity. ‘You should be very grateful for that.’

  Genny clicked her tongue with real exasperation. ‘So why aren’t I?’

  ‘Maybe you’ve been too pressured all round. You’re such a conscientious child, and there’s no denying Ingo can be fairly formidable when the mood takes him.’

  ‘It would put any woman aflame, Ingo’s black arrogance. Sometimes I think things will never come right between us again.’

  ‘I don’t think Ingo’s exactly at ease with you, either. I mean you used to adore him, now you explode every time he says a word out of place. It’s not consistent. Amazing! The two of you give me the willies!’

  ‘Incredible to think he still wants me there. Are you sure he does? Ingo’s the last man in the world I’d force myself on.’

  ‘My darling child, will you calm yourself? Ingo insisted on you, absolutely. In his own way, however high-handed his attitude, and you do goad him. Ingo is fond of you. Take my word.’ The words were uttered casually, but they conveyed utter sincerity.

  Still the old pent-up antagonism was in Genny’s face, her flawless young skin exquisitely tinted with colour. It didn’t seem at all like her, but what she was feeling was vaguely barbaric. At more than a thousand miles away Ingo made her come out in prickly heat. The curiously blissful relationship they shared in her childhood was only an illusion. Ingo’s eves on her now made her feel over-exposed, seared to the skin. It was odd, such violence between them, and the fragments of unforgettable magic.

  Tandarro had been almost a religion with her. Tandarro with its strange tribal gods and its stupendous scenery, its unpredictable seasons, its moods of upheaval, the unspeakable cruelty of drought, the spontaneous never-ending landscapes of wild flowers. Tandarro was violent, towering and tragic, filling the vision; the final inevitability was that Ingo should be so compelling. His image was always in Genny’s mind, defying her to reject him.

  Uncanny the way it persisted, like a sharply drawn black-and-white etching, perfect in every detail. She simply couldn’t comprehend the significance of it all. Ingo, if she weakened, could turned her into anything he liked. He had an awesome drawing power, a sheer force of personality that belonged to his background. Was she simply going to walk back into his sun-dazzled kingdom, the snare of gold? It was probably very brave of her, because the danger was real. She couldn’t talk about it, and it wasn’t normal, but every minute she spent in Ingo’s company seemed loaded. Whatever the cause, it usually goaded her into some kind of reckles
s action that frosted his silvery eyes. A picture of his hard, handsome face came sharply into her mind so that her tender young mouth twisted fractionally as if in some kind of pain.

  Ingo was a fever, and so far she hadn’t found the antidote .

  CHAPTER TWO

  Genny put her hand to her temples, staring up into the blazing blue sky. Her silky hair, like a silver nimbus about her head, glittered in the hot sun, but her eyes were protected by huge, round sunglasses.

  A few feet behind her, Felicity was reclining with beautiful languor under the only shade tree, as fresh as a bluebell in the sizzling heat. Both of them had their eyes trained on the sky, Felicity with pleasurable anticipation and a lightness of heart, Genny strung up with a queer rising perturbation. Her dark eyes behind the glasses were as intense as the set of her delicately contoured face. It was absurd, but she was feeling so aroused that her heart was hammering. All this for Ingo, when she had known him all her life! It didn’t make sense, but something very like excitement lay across her, a flame that was making her blood boil.

  Felicity in her green oasis looked almost a teenager in one of her chic little outfits, with a vivid blue and white bandeau bra beneath the open shirt of her pants suit. Her beautiful blonde hair had been newly cut short to flatter her small face, and her figure was as superbly taut as Genny’s but without Genny’s translucent golden tanned midriff. Felicity was just stunning, Genny thought with tender pride. Flower-cool, imperturbable after hours of letting Genny fend for them both. No wonder the attendant at this country airstrip had mistaken her for Genny’s sister, hurrying out with a comfortable canvas chair and placing it in the shade, realising at once whichh young lady needed the cosseting. That kind of error was made all the time, with Felicity smiling dreamily and never once correcting. It was very pleasant to be thought a good fifteen years younger than one really was. Even sensational beauties didn’t always maintain such unique preservation. Willing helpers had always been thick on the ground, and Genny was furiously efficient and methodical, prowling like a small silver cat as she waited for Ingo to arrive.

  Except that it was so hot, Felicity would have sprinted over to her and told her to sit down.

  High up above them came the familiar drone of an engine, then the sun caught the glinting fuselage.

  Genny could feel the perspiration dewing her temples, curls clinging to her temples. She actually shuddered and turned back to her mother.

  ‘Start waving, here he comes.’

  ‘Wowee. ‘ said Felicity, getting to her feet and whipping off her sunglasses in case they had left a mark on her nose.

  The attendant came out to motion them back and all three watched the six-seater come in to land, touching down perfectly and taxiing across in front of the giant hangar.

  ‘Right on time.’ said the attendant.

  ‘That’s Ingo. ‘ Always demonstrative, Felicity started towards the aircraft, eager for a face-to-face confrontation. Her small flying figure in her cork-heeled sandals barely skimmed the ground, as light as the willy-willy of leaves that was settling in the wake of the plane’s turbulence. Genny, fearing any false move on her part, stayed well back, watching the welcoming scene unfold. It was poetic and unwillingly she had to admit it. Ingo’s tall frame was silhouetted in the shimmering haze, Felicity now clinging to him like a survivor in the desert, a petite, fragile blonde, nestling against his lean powerful height.

  My mother’s cousin. Black Ingo. Terrific! Genny started to breathe deeply. Even at a distance he instantly struck up all kinds of tensions. His right arm was slung carelessly around Felicity’s shoulders as he led her back towards her unresponsive daughter, Felicity staring up into his arresting dark face, obviously feeling cherished and sure of her welcome, anything but deprived and given to misbehaving like Genny.

  ‘Hi, Giannina!’ The light, lancing eyes briefly touched Genny’s face.

  ‘Hi, pall’

  ‘How are you coming to me, friend or foe?’

  ‘That depends entirely on you.’

  ‘Have it your own way. You haven’t grown any.’

  ‘Should I? I’m twenty.’

  ‘I know.’

  Felicity began to look a little anxiously from one to the other. ‘She did very well in her finals. ‘ she finally announced.

  ‘The results aren’t out yet, Flick.’ Genny murmured repressively.

  ‘No matter, you’ll manage all right!’ Ingo returned dryly, his sparkling eyes taunting her. ‘Of all God’s creatures, the most beautiful and the thinnest-skinned just has to be a woman.’

  ‘Then you’re not blind, darling.’ Felicity said with her smiling rosy mouth.

  ‘Listen to her!’ Ingo jeered. ‘Endowed to a fantastic degree. You look great, Flick, as always.’

  Don’t mind me, Genny thought, trying to look indifferent. Pray keep your insults for Flick’s daughter. As it was she was giving out radiations that were fairly detectable to Ingo’s perfect sight. His glance lingered on her speculatively before he turned back to Felicity.

  ‘If you like to climb in, I’ll have a word with them inside and collect your luggage. I have to be back on Tandarro by three o’clock. An American buyer is flying in, Dan Howell. You don’t know him. He’ll be staying over for a few days, I imagine.’

  ‘Just a solitary male?’ asked Felicity.

  ‘Yes.’ Ingo tapped his cousin’s cheek. ‘And kindly don’t go getting involved with him. Did you say something, Giannina?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No sound is still the same. You can tell me what you were thinking later. I hear you’ve got a boy-friend.’

  ‘That’s natural, isn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose it is, doe-eyes! You’ll probably have a score of them, all with different names.’

  ‘I can’t wait.’

  ‘A sad fate. Wouldn’t it be better to settle for one man?’

  ‘Maybe I already have,’ Genny said, raising her eyes to him for a second only.

  ‘It helps if you know it,’ he replied.

  ‘What is all this leading to, children?’ Felicity inquired. ‘Not another one of your fearful battles?’

  ‘No, of course not. Ingo likes playing the tough guy, don’t you, Ingo?’

  ‘Sure, cherub.’

  ‘You haven’t called me that in a long time.’

  ‘It describes you-sometimes-if you miss those smouldering almond eyes. Go along with Flick like a good girl. I’ll shower you with attention once we get home.’

  Felicity started off gaily and Genny went to follow her, stayed by Ingo’s detaining hand. ‘That was a pretty exuberant welcome. I’ve missed you.’

  ‘And to think I was worrying about coming. ‘ she said with piquant malice.

  ‘That’s it, Genny, hurl yourself into the attack.’

  ‘I might even hurt you,’ she gibed.

  ‘No way, baby, tempting as it is to you. After such a long absence you might at least deign to look at me.’

  ‘I‘m too smart for that. I might get accidentally hypnotised.’

  ‘Try it.’

  ‘I‘m game enough.’

  ‘I don’t think there can be any doubt about that. Whoever thought of mixing eyes that get darker and darker with silver shaded hair?’ he asked whimsically.

  ‘The same mysterious Being who put silver chips in your face. Brilliant, and an unfair advantage because they see too much.’

  Ingo tilted her chin and held it, his thumb pressing lightly against the tiny cleft. ‘One big happy family again, Giannina?’

  ‘Don’t call me that.’

  ‘Why not, it’s your name. It even suits you. You’re an exotic little mixture. Of course, if you prefer Brat we’ll settle for that. Your hair still curls the way it used to when you were five years old.’

  ‘Fantastic as it may seem to you, it just grows that way. ‘ she snapped.

  ‘Gossamer.’ He took a strand and pulled it rather painfully.

  ‘I‘m not looking for trouble,’ she h
issed at him,leaning forward a little.

  ‘Why, Giannina, it follows you around. Didn’t you know? Flick’s just a pussycat beside you.’

  She jerked her head away from him, giving a funny little muffled exclamation. ‘Maybe it’s best to let you run on... and on... any kind of chit-chat from me only maddens you.’

  ‘No, it’s intoxicating.‘ He laughed under his breath. ‘However, if you don’t smile at me I just might shove you out of the plane.’

  ‘I thought you scorned a woman’s smiles.’

  ‘Not yours. Remember I knew you when you were cutting your baby teeth. It’s a shock to me the way you behave now.’

  Genny tossed her head. ‘Maybe I’ll think of something to make up for it.’

  ‘I‘ve thought of the very thing now. Want to hear?’

  ‘No, thank you, Ingo. ‘ she said coolly.

  ‘Well, I’ve done my best. It’s plain you’re still bent on being the uncivilised child.’

  ‘That’s funny.’

  ‘Very!’ The sun was strong on his dark, handsome face. ‘You might dread it, but this visit you’re going to face yourself.’

  ‘Not to mention you.’

  ‘It might be the same thing.’

  She flung out her hand in confusion and he caught it. ‘Now what?’

  ‘The minute you set eyes on me you try to turn me into a puppet,’ she hurled at him.

  ‘Giannina!’ He only smiled at her, a swift flash of light across his face, and she hesitated.

  ‘Flick’s looking this way. Don’t let’s argue for her sake.’

  ‘Right! It’s not important now anyway. There’s plenty of time. Get in the plane. In many ways Flick raised a bright child, but then again she hasn’t taught you a thing about all that twittering women do.

  You I have to gag.’

  ‘Twittering drives you mad. Don’t deny it, Ingo, I know you.’

  ‘Still it’s restful sometimes. ‘ His shining eyes were studying her with attention.

  ‘Sally twitters, doesn’t she?’ Genny burst out.

  ‘Now that you mention it, she does burble a lot of meaningless things.’

  ‘You’re a cruel devil.’