The Fire of Life Read Online Free Page A

won't be getting long phone calls from your beloved,' Cary said, taking her arm. ' We'll go to the Clinic first.'
    Stumbling a little, for though it was absurd, Rayanne knew, her legs felt weak and she longed for a cup of tea or even something stronger. Perhaps it was the altitude, the different climate. It was so humid, so still the air!
    The Clinic consisted of a small room with a couch, a waiting room that was much bigger, and the Sister's office and locked cupboard of drugs, etc.
    A tall slim girl with dark hair came to meet them. ' Cary, how nice to see you,' she said eagerly. ' I've got a quiet morning for a change.' Then she stopped, staring at Rayanne, her eyes narrowing. This is...?'
    Yes, I want to introduce Rayanne Briscoe. I told you Mother's close friend, Sir Joe Letherington, wrote and asked if Miss Briscoe might come here to
     
    study our work for her thesis,' Cary Jefferson's voice was friendly yet impersonal. Mind if I show her round?'
    Of course not. Glad to meet you, Miss Briscoe,' Sister Daphne Macintyre said in her husky attractive voice, but Rayanne knew that the Sister was not in the least bit glad to see her! She could see Sister Macintyre's eyes noting the drab jeans and dark shirt, and for a moment Rayanne knew hatred of Cary Jefferson. The Sister was beautiful, elegantly dressed in a pale pink nylon overall, and Rayanne felt horribly plain.
    She followed Cary Jefferson round the Clinic, listening to his description of the sort of casualties they had.
    More often it's the boys who come to study. They're so keen to prove their strength, they'll do the craziest things and turn up with broken legs or arms.'
    Do you get many injuries from . . . from the animals?' Rayanne asked.
    Cary Jefferson looked amused. ' Very few, and those we do are the patients' own fault. Occasionally we get a snake bite, of course.'
    Next he took her to what he called the Lab '.
    ' I think you'll like Christine Horlock,' he said as he led the way. She's beautiful, but plenty of brains She isn't suffering from the inferiority complex that Sister Daphne is.'
    Startled, Rayanne almost gasped. Why should she have an inferiority complex? She's beautiful, and . .
    And uneducated. Oh, I'm not saying she isn't
     
    educated, but she's the only one of the staff who didn't go to a university, and this smarts. She hates us all.'
    ' That's absurd! I thought she was very nice,' Rayanne said quickly, as usual leaping to the defence of anyone attacked.
    Cary Jefferson chuckled. ' You're a bad liar, Ray,' he said, and pushed open two swinging doors. ' Here we are. Christine!' he called. ' We've come to see you!'
    It was a very modern, efficient-looking laboratory, Rayanne saw instantly, and the girl who came to meet them was the same—tall and blonde, with blue eyes and a friendly smile as she held out her hand.
    Welcome, Miss . . . Miss Briscoe. Is that right?' she said, and turned to Cary. Not often we see you at this hour, Cary.'
    ' I'm just showing Ray Briscoe round,' he told her with a smile.
    Rayanne stood silently. They seemed to have forgotten her as they stared at one another, both smiling. It was almost as if they were talking, as if through their eyes a message could pass.
    Then Cary Jefferson turned to Rayanne. ' Well, we mustn't waste any of our precious time or that of Christine's . . . I won't be a moment, Ray.'
    It was odd—and yet strangely nice—that he called her Ray. It was a name no one had ever called her before, Rayanne was thinking as she waited while Cary Jefferson and Christine Horlock looked through a microscope and earnestly discussed something.
    What a mixture of different people he was, Rayanne thought. A real Jekyll and Hyde, only instead
     
    of being two people he was about a dozen. She was never sure which one he was going to be; one moment, so relaxed and friendly, then accusing, then understanding, and the next almost condemning her. She felt horribly drab and plain in her clothes. Miss Horlock was