Tapestry of Fear Read Online Free

of bread and thick wedges of cheese and one of Maria’s tarts.
    â€œWhen do we leave?” Jose asked as Miss Daventry passed him a bottle of wine.
    My heart sank. It was a question I had been dreading. It seemed impossible that either of them would be able to keep the rendezvous with the boat.
    â€œ A boat! ” Jose rasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Are they all fools? After last night a boat will stand no chance!”
    â€œIt belongs to a German tourist and is crewed by Germans.” I said, sounding more hopeful than I felt. “ You and Luis will be hidden in case of a search.…”
    â€œIn case of a search,” he stared at me as if I were mad. “There is no doubt of a search … and do you know how much room there is to hide on a small boat? None. None at all. The whole thing is suicide!”
    â€œFather Calzada says it is suicide to remain here.”
    He swore angrily. Even Miss Daventry seemed deflated. I wondered wryly what the prison sentence was for helping Basque terrorists … and how on earth I had got myself into such a mess.

Chapter Four
    As dusk fell we helped Luis out to the car. Jose seemed much fitter, his shoulder not giving him any trouble, but there was a dark sticky patch beginning to ooze through Luis’s trouser leg and his face was pale.
    The road curved down the mountainside and through a scattering of villages to the coast. All that could be seen in the darkness was the white flecked foam of the sea pounding against the cliffs. We rounded a corner and looked down upon the bay, sheltered between a sharp headland on the west and a ridge of cliff to the east, the wide sweep of sand, golden and inviting by day, was now nothing but a black, blank void. The wind was coming in flying gusts, whipping the Atlantic into white horses that plunged and reared up the distant shingle.
    â€œTake the car as near the sea as possible,” Jose said.
    I could hear Luis’s sharp intake of breath as I swung the car off the road and onto the rough turf, jolting inch by inch closer and closer to the luminous line of pale foam that showed where the sea ended and the sand began. The wheels began to sink and clog and I stopped.
    â€œIt’s no use. If I go any further out I’ll never get the car back.”
    â€œCome on,” Jose said to me brusquely. “ Let’s walk down to the tide line and see if we can see anything from there.”
    Jose was breathing heavily and I wondered if his shoulder was giving much pain, and how he would manage to swim out to the boat with the sea running so high. We felt our way along the shingle traversing the full curve of the bay till we reached the barrier of the headland. Here the sea beat noisily, creaming against the smoothness of the rocks, deep and inhospitable. He drew me to a halt. “Can you hear anything?”
    I shook my head. Gripping my arm once more he set off back, this time towards the eastern arm of the bay. For a few brief minutes the moon sailed from behind the banks of cloud and we could see the sand, firm and pale. This time we walked faster, and in ten minutes had reached the ridge of cliff that jutted out starkly into the ocean. The breeze was growing stronger and there was the spit of rain in the air. Nervously I waited as he stood, straining his senses for any sound or sight of the promised boat.
    The sea drummed and surged, filling up the dark air around us, the white horses growing higher and wilder.
    â€œIf the boat does come,” I whispered. “You won’t be able to swim out in this.”
    â€œSsssh,” he said angrily. “ Listen!”
    Faintly I heard another noise. A humming and then, suddenly, I saw a pinprick of light flash on and then off.
    â€œThere!” he said sharply. “That’s it.”
    Tugging me behind him he began to run across the sand, towards the black shape of the car. Luis was already struggling to stand,