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  DANCE OF THE SNAKE

  BY

  YVONNE WHITTAL

  CHAPTER ONE

  JESSICA NEAL faced her father across the wide expanse of his polished desk and

  saw the incredulity mirrored in his dark brown eyes as he lowered himself into

  his swivel chair. The leather creaked beneath his weight, jarring her taut

  nerves, but the set of her small, rounded chin lost none of its determination. She

  had applied for a post in Louisville, she had signed the contract which would

  bind her for a year as an assistant to Dr O'Brien and his partner, and there was

  nothing anyone could do to alter the situation. This was the information with

  which she had confronted her father, a retired medical man himself, and this

  was what he seemed to be finding so difficult to accept.

  'What about your decision to specialise in paediatrics?' Jonathan Neal

  demanded, and Jessica flinched inwardly.

  'That was your decision, Daddy, not mine.'

  Her voice, the attractive huskiness pronounced in moments of stress, hovered

  in the air between them accusingly. She had not intended to accuse, for no one

  knew better than she did how her father had had to smother his disappointment

  when Gregory, four years her senior, had announced that he intended becoming

  an engineer instead of a doctor like their father. It had taken a considerable

  effort to come to terms with his son's decision, but Jonathan Neal had

  succeeded, and his happiness had known no bounds when Jessica had finally

  announced her decision to follow in her father's footsteps.

  Looking at him now, Jessica felt a pang of regret. She had spoken without

  thinking, and she cursed herself for not having phrased her statement with

  more care. He raised a weary hand and pushed it through springy grey hair, and

  the eyes that met hers barely concealed the anxiety in their depths.

  'Have I pushed you too hard, Jessica?'

  She was being given the opportunity to rectify her rash statement, and on this

  occasion she replied with infinite gentleness and care. 'I've always appreciated

  your help and your guidance, Daddy.'

  'But you think it's time you went your own way?' he filled in what Jessica had

  been so loath to add.

  -'I must pave my own way in life, and do what I think best.'

  Silence descended on her father's study; an explosive silence filled with

  frustration and anger as Jonathan Neal rose from his chair and trailed his hand

  absently along the thick medical volumes in the shelves against the wall behind

  his desk. He was unaware of what he was doing, Jessica knew this, and the

  explosion, when it came, was no surprise to her.

  'Dammit, Jessica! Someone with your level of intelligence shouldn't be

  allowed to stagnate in some godforsaken place like Louisville!'

  His voice was harsh, his manner aggressive, but on this occasion Jessica

  stood firm instead of relenting as she had done so often in the past.

  'I doubt if I shall be stagnating in Louisville, Daddy. I shall be treating all

  kinds of people for various kinds of ailments, and in doing so I shall at last

  discover what it's like to be a real doctor.'

  'But that's something you could do right here at the General.'

  £No!' Anger darkened her heavily-lashed eyes until they were the exact

  colour of her father's. 'I've done nothing during these past two years but

  administer to the patients whose ailments senior doctors considered too trivial

  to be bothered with.'

  That's a libellous statement!'

  'It happens to be the truth!' They glared at each other for a few brief seconds,

  then Jessica's small, slim body relaxed visibly, but the hint of cynicism continued

  to hover about her generous mouth. 'Everyone is so busy qualifying themselves in

  the various fields of medicine, or waving the banner of their seniority about, that

  I think they've forgotten the essence of doctoring.'

  'And you imagine you'll find things different in Louisville?'Jonathan

  challenged.

  'I have every reason to believe I shall.'

  A lengthy silence prevailed, then Jonathan Neal's chair creaked protestingly

  once more beneath his weight when he sat down and rested his elbows on the

  desk.

  'It would be pointless for me to say I'm not disappointed.'

  'And Mother will naturally be horrified,' Jessica nodded.

  Her father had a weary look about him now as he glanced up at her. 'Do you

  want me to break the news to her?'

  Jessica shook her head and stepped around the desk to plant an impulsive kiss

  on her father's lined cheek. 'I'll tell her this evening after dinner.'

  Alone in her room some minutes later Jessica realised that a great deal of her

  tension had deserted her. The worst hurdle had been crossed successfully, and all

  that remained now was for her to enlighten her mother, but Amelia Neal was not

  as formidable a hurdle as her husband.

  Jessica bathed and changed for dinner, exchanging the smell of disinfectant for

  that of cologne before she stepped back a little to examine herself in the

  full-length mirror against the wall. Her appraisal of herself was brief and without

  the usual interest women had in their outward appearance. She had never

  bothered much about what

  she was wearing. It was more important to feel comfortable and look neat,

  while her dark brown hair, curling softly about the fine bone structure of her

  face, was kept short to allow her the maximum control with the minimum of

  fuss.

  She turned away from the mirror, Unconcerned, but had she lingered to

  observe herself more critically she might have noticed the dark, finely arched

  brows above equally dark eyes, and the enviably smooth, creamy complexion

  of her healthy skin stretching across slightly raised cheekbones down to a firm,

  rounded chin. The nose was small and neatly chiselled above the full, faintly

  sensuous mouth, and her small, slender figure with its gentle, feminine curves

  had caused many a male student to feel protective towards her, rather than

  passionate. This had not troubled her during her stint at varsity, and neither did

  it trouble her now as a fully fledged doctor. There had been no time to indulge

  in lighthearted affairs. She had been one of a half-dozen girls among a bevy of

  male medical, students, and most of her time and energy had been spent on

  proving herself capable of producing similar, if not better results than her male

  counterparts. As a newly qualified doctor the same had applied, and even now,

  after two years, she still felt that urgent need to prove herself.

  It was not of herself that Jessica was thinking when she went downstairs that

  evening to join her parents for dinner. She was thinking of her mother, and how

  she would react to the news that her daughter would soon be leaving home.

  Dinner was over too swiftly that evening for Jessica's liking, but when her

  father tactfully retired to his study, leaving Jessica alone in the living-room />
  with her mother, she knew that the awful moment had come.

  There was no point in delaying, and Jessica voiced her plans quickly and

  simply as she sat facing the small, attractively rounded figure of her mother in

  the chair opposite her own. Amelia Neal took it all surprisingly well, and

  without interrupting, until Jessica's voice drifted off into silence.

  'Does your father know?' was all Amelia was concerned with at that precise

  moment and, when Jessica nodded, a strange expression flitted across her

  sensitive features. It was a mixture of anxiety, regret and relief, and long after

  Jessica had gone to bed that evening she still wondered at what had exactly gone

  through her mother's mind at that moment.

  The time for Jessica's departure from Johannesburg drew near with a swiftness

  that left no room for regret, but Jonathan and Amelia avoided the subject as if it

  were the plague, forcing Jessica to do the same. It was on the eve of her

  departure, after they had sat through a silent, uncomfortable meal, that Jonathan

  Neal once again voiced his disapproval loudly, and to the accompaniment of a

  clenched fist crashing down on to the table that made Jessica and her mother

  jump.

  T think you're a fool to wave aside the opportunities which a city like

  Johannesburg could offer you. If it's a private practice you wanted, then I could

  have set you up on your own, but to go and bury yourself in the remoteness of the

  northern Transvaal is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.' The delicate

  glassware and china rattled protestingly once more when his fist descended on to

  the table for the second time. 'I'm damned if I understand it!'

  Jessica met her mother's anxious glance across the table, and smiled at her

  reassuringly before she replied to her father's outburst.

  'You've always been too ambitious on my behalf, Daddy, and I've always

  appreciated it, but before I tie myself down to further study, or a practice of my

  own, I must reach some sort of stability in my profession. I've been a qualified

  medical doctor for two years now, but as yet I haven't been given the opportunity

  to make full use of my knowledge, and this is what I believe I shall be given the

  chance to do in Louisville.'

  Jonathan Neal seemed to sag in his chair at the head of the table. 'Did you have

  to sign a contract for a year?'

  Jessica met his glance steadily. 'That was the required period, and I'm happy

  with it.'

  'What about marriage, Jessica?' Amelia Neal's query interrupted the tense

  silence, and Jessica's expression went curiously blank as she diverted her

  attention to the woman seated opposite her,

  'Marriage, Mother?'

  'Yes, marriage,' Amelia stressed the word. 'For years now I've sat back and

  listened to you and your father discuss your professional career in detail as a

  doctor, but lately I've come to the conclusion that, in the process, you've

  forgotten how to be a woman.' Her hazel eyes were suddenly filled with deep

  concern. 'Don't you want a husband and children, Jessica?'

  Taken aback, Jessica said weakly, 'Of course I would like to marry some day

  and have children, but ------------------ '

  'Then may I suggest that you start thinking seriously about it. You're almost

  twenty-eight, and you're not getting any younger, you know.'

  'For goodness' sake, Amelia, there's plenty of time!'

  , 'No, there isn't, Jonathan,' her mother contradicted her father, but her glance

  was almost apologetic. 'Don't think I haven't been aware of your disappointment

  at Gregory's decision to study engineering instead of medicine, and don't think

  that I'm not aware of how you have pinned all your hopes and desires on Jessica

  since the day she announced that she wanted to study medicine, but you've

  forgotten one very important factor, my dear. Jessica is a woman.'

  'I should hope I'm a woman,' Jessica laughed to

  alleviate the tension.

  'Then what about finding yourself a nice, comfortable husband, and presenting

  us with a few healthy grandchildren?' her mother charged.

  'Gregory's wife will soon be presenting you with your first grandchild.'

  'I'm not talking about Gregory,' Amelia gestured impatiently. 'I'm talking about

  you.'

  Amusement lurked in Jessica's eyes as she glanced at her father briefly before

  replying. 'I can't promise anything until I've found the right man.'

  'And how will you do that when you look at them all as if they were specimens

  on the examination slab?' Amelia demanded indignantly.

  'I think,'Jessica began after a thoughtful silence, 'when the right man comes

  along the examination slab will be the farthest thing from my mind.'

  'I hope you're right about that,' Amelia remarked fervently.

  Jessica exchanged glances with her father and, for the first time in days, she

  saw that gleam of devilment lurking in his eyes as he leaned towards her mother

  and clasped her hand across the table.

  'Did I ever look at you as if you were a specimen on a slab?' he wanted to know.

  'No, dear,' Amelia replied at once, 'but then I made very sure that you saw me as

  a woman in an unprofessional way.'

  'Mother!' Jessica exclaimed in mock horror. 'Are you saying that

  '

  'I'm not saying anything of the kind,' Amelia interrupted, her cheeks going a

  delicate pink. 'And don't change the subject.'

  'What your mother meant was that anatomy had nothing to do with what we

  saw in each other,' Jonathan explained, tongue in cheek. 'Isn't that so, my dear?'

  Amelia Neal observed her husband and daughter for a moment in speechless

  silence, then she said resignedly, 'Why do I have the feeling that you're both

  having fun at my expense?'

  'We couldn't resist it, could we, Daddy?' Jessica laughed mischievously. 'For

  a woman of your age you still blush so beautifully.'

  'Don't be absurd! I was trying to

  '

  'I know, Mother,' Jessica interrupted, sobering at once when she glimpsed the

  concern in her mother's glance. 'Falling in love is more than just physical. It's a

  union of the mind and heart as well, and that's how I'll know when I've met the

  right man. There will have to be a mental as well as a physical attraction and,

  until I find someone who qualifies in that respect, I prefer to remain

  unattached.'

  The trend of the conversation had suddenly altered from the lighthearted to

  the serious and, for the first time since learning of Jessica's plans, Amelia

  asked, 'Where will you be staying?'

  'Dr O'Brien very kindly offered me the use of a small cottage within the

  grounds of his home. It's fully furnished, I believe, and I shall have a private

  telephone at my disposal.'

  T hope you've made the right decision, Jessica.'

  Jonathan Neal's remark did not require an answer, neither did he wait for one

  as he pushed back his chair and rose from the table. Jessica and her mother

  followed suit, and the rest of the evening was spent packing the items Jessica

  intended sending by train on to Louisville.

  It was a freezingly cold morning in July as Jessica drove northwards to

  Louisville. The frost had lain white and crisp on the lawns surrounding her
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  parents' home, and she was some distance from Johannesburg before her Alfa's

  heater vent had any effect on her chilled feet and

  hands. She had a long journey ahead of her and, at a rough guess, she would not

  reach her destination until mid-afternoon, but it was of some consolation to know

  that she was heading towards a warmer climate.

  How warm it would be Jessica only discovered when she crossed the

  Soutpansberg mountain range that afternoon, and it was when the road dropped

  down into bush- veld country that she realised she was now in the land of the

  baobab trees where she had heard that the winters were warm, and the summers

  blisteringly hot. She had been aware of the change in the climate for some time

  now, and she had long since exchanged her fleece-lined jacket, slacks and thick

  sweater for a cool blouse and cotton skirt. She glanced about her with interest,

  and it was then that she glimpsed Louisville nestling close to the foot of the

  mountains.

  Jessica stopped at the filling station to refuel the Alfa, and while the attendant

  did what was necessary, she wandered across to the office to ask for directions to

  Dr O'Brien's home.

  'You'll have to go back a little,' the young woman behind the desk informed

  her, pointing the way Jessica had come. 'Turn left at the old stone church, then

  right two blocks farther. You can't miss Dr O'Brien's house. Its on a corner and

  it's the only two-storied house in that street.'

  Jessica thanked her and, aware of the girl's curious glance following her, she

  walked out of the building towards her car. She paid the attendant the required

  amount and drove away quickly.

  Five minutes later Jessica was easing herself out of her car once more, and

  walking rather stiffly up the path towards the modern two-storied house with its

  large windows and beautifully terraced garden. The front door, with panelled

  glass windows on either side of it, stood open, giving Jessica a glimpse of the

  spacious entrance

  hall where expensive rugs lay scattered casually on the polished floor. Jessica

  thumbed the button beside the door, and a bell chimed somewhere in the silent

  house.

  'If that's you, Dr Neal, then please come straight in. I'll be with you in a

  minute,' a woman's voice instructed almost at once, and Jessica stepped

  curiously into the cool interior, her glance travelling in the direction from