Read The Flesh of The Orchid for Free Online Page B

medical chest, a bowl of water and towels.
    He was just fixing the last safety-pin when the girl gave a little sigh, opened her eyes.
    “Hello,” he said, smiling at her. “Feeling better?”
    She stared at him, her hand going to her head.
    “My head hurts,” she said. “What happened? Where am I?”
    “I found you on the mountain road. You were in a truck accident. There’s nothing to worry about. You have a cut head, but it’s not bad.”
    “Truck?” she murmured, her eyes blank. “What truck? I can’t remember. . . .” Suddenly she struggled to sit up, but Steve gently pressed her back. “I can’t remember anything. I can’t think. Something’s happened to my head!”
    “It’s all right,” Steve said soothingly. “It’ll come back. Just try and sleep. You’ll be all right after a little sleep.”
    “But I don’t know what’s happened to me,” the girl cried, catching his hand in hers. “I’m frightened. I don’t know who I am.”
    “But it’ll be all right,” Steve said. “You must relax and not worry. When you wake up again you’ll remember and you’ll be all right.”
    She closed her eyes.
    “You’re kind,” she said softly. “Stay with me. Please don’t leave me.”
    “I’ll be right here,” Steve said. “Just take it easy.”
    She lay still for a few moments, then went limp, drifting once more into unconsciousness.
    In the other room Roy sat in the armchair, a thoughtful expression on his face. If it hadn’t been for the twist he could have stayed here and kept his brother in the dark, but now he’d have to watch out. Steve was a tough egg, and if he caught him off guard he wouldn’t stand a chance. A sudden movement in the doorway made him jump round, his hand flying to his gun. A big mongrel dog came in, wagging his tail.
    “You punk,” Roy said, grinning sheepishly. “You scared me silly.”
    He shoved the dog away impatiently with his foot, watched it amble down the passage in search of its master.
    Steve was grappling with a new problem as the dog peered round the door. He had just decided that he couldn’t leave the girl lying on the bed like that, but he hesitated to undress her. But there seemed nothing else for it. The nearest woman was thirty miles down the other side of the mountain and he couldn’t fetch her, anyway.
    The dog entering the room relaxed his embarrassed tension.
    “Hello, Spot,” he said. “You’ve arrived at the tricky moment.”
    But the dog whined, backed to the door, its hair bristling.
    “What’s biting you, you old fool?” Steve asked, bewildered.
    The dog had only eyes for the girl on the bed. It slowly backed out of the room, then with a low whining howl it bolted down the passage into the open.
    “I guess we’re all going screwy,” Steve thought, crossed the room to his chest of drawers and hunted for his best pyjamas, a suit of white silk. He cut the sleeves down, tacked around the edges, performed on the trouser legs. He measured the finished effort against the girl, decided they’d do.
    “Well, here goes,” he thought, and hoped she wouldn’t recover consciousness. He began to unhook the fastening on the girl’s dress. In one of the sleeves he found a handkerchief; embroidered in a corner was the name Carol. He turned the handkerchief over in his fingers. Carol. Carol who? Who was she? Where did she come from? Was it possible that she had lost her memory, that she didn’t know what had happened to her? Didn’t know who she was? He looked down at her. She was lovely, he thought. Not the kind of girl who’d thumb a truck ride. There was some mystery behind all this.
    He removed her shoes, then, raising her gently, slid her dress up her body, worked it carefully over her head. Under the dress she had on a simple, tailored one-piece garment, and he could see the lovely lines of her body as if she were naked.
    For a brief moment he stared down at her. There was a tightness in his throat. Her beauty and helplessness