Чужак в чужой стране

           "Stopit,"hesaidfirmly."Goinsideandlockyourdooruntilyougetcontrolofyourself.Thisisnotforthepress."

           "Yes,Jubal.Yes,Boss."

           "That’sbetter.Gocryinyourpillow,thenwashyourface."Hewentonouttothepool."Quieteverybody!Quite!Ihaveanannouncementtomake.We’veenjoyedhavingyou–butthepartyisover."

           "Boo!"

           "Tosshiminthepool,somebody.I’vegotworktodoearlytomorrowmorning,I’manoldmanandIneedmyrest,Andsodoesmyfamily.Pleaseleavequietlyandasquicklyaspossible.Blackcoffeeforanywhoneedit–butthat’sall.Duke,corkthosebottles.Girls,clearthefoodaway."

           Therewasminorgrumbling,butthemoreresponsiblequietedtheircolleagues.Intenminutestheywerealone.

           IntwentyminutesBenCaxtonarrived.TheS.S.officercommandingthecouriercarsilentlyacceptedHarshaw’ssignatureandthumbprintonapreparedreceipt,thenleftatoncewhileJillcontinuedtosobonBen’sshoulder.

           Juballookedhimoverinthelightfromthepool."Ben,you’reamess.Ihearyou’vebeendrunkforaweek–andyoulookit."

           Bencursed,fluentlyandwell,whilecontinuingtopatJill’sback.

           "‘Mdrunk,awri’–buthaven’hadadrink."

           "Whathappened?"

           "Idon’tknow.