OCR Text |
Show 17 "It isn't that," said Louise. "It's just - " Her sentence gave out for a good reason: it was that. "Mrs Satterwhite - " she began, hoping for a better outcome. "Call me Dinah." She leaned forward. "Though perhaps you do." And she shook her head with dignified waggishness. "Besides, it's a splendid beach. So much room. Nobody here but us chickens. Speaking of which," and she kicked out a hen that, providentially, had approached too close to the source of power. In the meantime the rest of the Detachments had emerged from the grove too, and showed the polarity of filings in the presence of a magnet: some came closer, others (Lt Jennings among them) went as far as possible in the opposite direction. Soon several hung at Sid's back, their faces hanging over, Louise mused in slightly bitter silence, like Kilroy on the fence. But the general silence was growing oppressive, and Sid, glancing about to see if there were objections, sighed. "If you're sure, sir -" "Certain." And the Colonel sat back down. "Now for you," said Mrs Satterwhite, sweeping all the Detachments into her control, "we must introduce you to our group. Merge forces, so to speak." And grasping Louise's arm again, her eyas shepherding the others about like a sheepdog its flock, she sat off to her social tactics. She led the Detachments about, introducing, placing disposing. With a sure sense she intuited which couples might find issues in common, and |