They’d rounded the small office enclosure, bearing south into the dense woods that half-encircled the New Delhi Motel. She’d looked up into the trees, taking Lockington’s hand. “Virgin forest—I feel like a girl again.”
“Because you were a virgin?”
“Tawlsty gawluhvy! Because of the forest!”
“There were forests near Odessa?”
“Miles of them—I played in them as a child. From the hilltops I could see Odessa’s harbor—the whaling ships came to Odessa often.” They walked on, Lockington stopping at short intervals, glancing toward the motel. Natasha said, “There was a young seaman—we met in the forest.”
“And then you were no longer a child.”
Natasha stooped to pick up a brown pin-oak leaf, caressing it with her fingertips. She said, “And then I was no longer a child.”
They’d gone better than fifty yards into the woods and Lockington swung right, walking slowly to the west, his gaze fixed on the New Delhi. He stopped. They’d come to a tiny clearing, its floor matted with leaves. There were violets and a long hollow log. Lockington said, “This would appear to be a likely place.”
They sat on the hollow log. Natasha said, “I can see the door of your room from here.”
Lockington said, “That’s why it would appear to be a likely place.”
Natasha said, “Is this where you get my ass in the grass?”
Lockington shrugged.
Natasha said, “Ah, nature!” She slipped from the log into the leaves, peeling her skirt and half-slip upward to her navel. She wore no panties. The girls in Odessa didn’t bother, she’d told him. She peered up at him with bright pale-blue eyes. She said, “Oh, I’d just love to get lost in the Everglades with you!”
“It’s better here—dry ground.”
“Come down here.”
“Not so many mosquitoes.”
“Come down here, will you?”
“Fewer alligators.”
Natasha sat up, grabbing his knees. She said, “Are you coming down here or am I coming up there?”
Lockington said, “I’m coming down there.”
Natasha smiled. She said, “How nice! Procrastination is the thief of time.”
“That’s a line from Edward Young.”
“Who was Edward Young?”
“Damned if I know.”
“Then why did you bring him up?”
“I didn’t bring him up—you brought him up.”
Natasha said, “I regret that. Are you coming down here?”
Lockington came down there. He said. “This time, let’s try it in English.”