Twenty blue devils

Chapter 3

Brian sat bolt-upright in the unzipped sleeping bag, not sure what had brought him awake with his heart pounding. A sound, a light, a movement in the bushes?

"Anybody there?” he called into the darkness, still muddled with sleep.

There was no answer, of course, and after a few seconds, as consciousness flooded back, his pulses stopped their hammering and he quieted down. What animal was there on Raiatea that would harm a man? And there was probably no other human being within ten miles. Silly to react like that, but he had had such a strong, sudden sense of…of presence. It had been a dream, naturally-what else?-although it seemed to him that he had been dreaming about Therese. He had surprised her with some silly gift she'd wanted and she had laughed…

He lay back and resettled himself in the bag. Around him the night was silent and soft, the southern constellations as brilliant as diamonds. An exquisite little breeze, heavy with the fragrance of orange blossom and gardenia, flowed over his face. Hibiscus trees, silhouetted against the star-flecked sky, drowsed at the edge of the clearing. From far away, near the lagoon, came the weird, repetitive cry of some seabird, a hollow, echoing wuh…wuh…wuh…

His eyelids drifted slowly down. Relaxed, tranquil, he slid again into his dreams.

It was a long time before the bushes moved again, and when they did Brian only stirred, but did not waken.