White Darkness - Steven D. Salinger - Hardcover - 1 ED

Chapter One At the top of the hill, framed by countless stars, the elegant house shimmered in the Haitian moonlight. As the colonel climbed toward it, the ground came alive with night creatures scurrying to avoid the crunch of his boots. A young maid in a starched pink uniform answered the door. She had the flat nose and prominent cheekbones of the colonel's home district, though her skin was several shades lighter than his. He informed her that he wished to see Mr. Dalwani. In response to the requisite question, he replied that no, he was not expected. His eyes followed the sway of her firm young rump as she went in to announce him. Another foolish child seeking an escape from those scrabbly hills, he thought, removing his cap and wiping his forehead. There were some things about his job the colonel did not enjoy. The dining room tingled with cool air and the sharp smell of curry. The Dalwanis were all at dinner: father, mother, three daughters. There was a cook somewhere, the colonel knew, but no houseboy. Mr. Dalwani rose and introduced himself. He was a balding, naturally slender man onto whose narrow frame prosperity had appended a potbelly. "I bid you welcome," he said affably, "Colonel . . . ?" "Ferray," the colonel replied, nodding his thanks and taking the indicated seat. The women were skittish, but Mr. Dalwani exuded the easy confidence of a man accustomed to purchasing his way through the world. The colonel accepted his offer of coffee. When the maid went to fetch it, he observed that her legs were slightly bowed, a condition common among the undernourished hill children. She was well fed now. "A nice child," Mr. Dalwani remarked, noting the colonel's interest. "Yours seem nice as well," the colonel responded affably. "May I guess their ages?" "Please," his host encouraged. Ferray pretended to guess, surprising everyone with his accuracy. The eldest girl was fifteen, the middle one fourteen, the youngest twelve. The twelve-year-old was just beginning to bud. All three girls had their mother's long, straight, lustrous hair, delicate bones, and sorrowful, dark-rimmed eyes. The colonel doubted that his men would appreciate such refinements. When the maid delivered his coffee, the flowered cup rattled against its matching saucer. Her long fingers were marred by small, whitish scars. The colonel was startled when the middle daughter thrust a thick, multicolored arm toward him from across the table. "Would you like to sign my cast?" she asked him. Her mother admonished her impertinence. Her sisters giggled. Her father smiled indulgently, shrugged, offered the colonel a pen. He waved it off and leaned toward the girl. "My work is very secret," he confided impishly. "I must not leave even the slightest trace of where I have been." "Are you like a spy, then?" she asked delightedly. He scanned the room theatrically before raising an index finger to his lips. The girl's eyes widened and her cast retreated back beneath the table. Everyone smiled politely. While the Dalwani women sipped their tea and nibbled on sugar cookies, the two men talked. Mr. Dalwani steered the conversation to the long-term outlook for tourism, wondering if the colonel agreed that political stability was a prerequisite for large-scale foreign investment. Ferray demurred. "We are so far from the capital, and I am but a simple soldier." "Not so simple, I suspect," his host suggested with a sly smile. The colonel shrugged and finished his coffee. The maid reached in and removed the crockery. She smelled of sweat: fresh and pleasantly pungent. That was something his men would appreciate. "Did you wish to speak privately?" Mr. Dalwani inquired. The colonel stoodSalinger, Steven D. is the author of 'White Darkness - Steven D. Salinger - Hardcover - 1 ED' with ISBN 9780609607282 and ISBN 0609607286.