Читать онлайн «Damsel in Distress»

1

Phillip strained his ears. Yes, there it was, that sinister knocking noise again.

The aging engine of his Swift two-seater made a deuce of a racket going up the steepish hill, and odd squeaks and rattles from chassis and body were inevitable. He worked the old bus pretty hard. For every joint oiled, for every bolt tightened, another loosened. But the knocking was new, different, and bally sinister.

Safely over the crest of the Surrey Downs, he pulled off the “B” road into a convenient gateway. A cow looked at him over the five-barred gate and mooed.

“I’ll be gone long before milking time,” he assured her, jumping out.

Taking off his blazer, he dropped it on the seat and rolled up his sleeves before he opened up the bonnet. As he peered into the oily depths, the hum of a well-tuned engine approached along the road. He glanced round to see a scarlet Aston Martin zip past, stop, reverse, and come to a halt beside him.

“Say, are you stuck?” enquired the girl behind the wheel, putting back her dust-veil to reveal a pretty face surrounded by blond curls. “Can I give you a ride?”

“Thanks awfully, but I’m not exactly stuck. ”

“Oh. ” The American girl—Phillip was sure she must be American—looked enquiringly at the Swift. “You have the hood up. ”

“The hood?” He glanced at the hood, folded down on this mild, dry spring day. Ah, but she was American, she probably called it the roof.

“You fix your own automobile? Gee, that’s real smart. ”

“Nothing much to boast about,” Phillip said modestly. On a closer inspection those curls were gold, not mere blond, and her face was the prettiest he’d seen in years, not smothered in powder and paint, either, like most these days. “I like messing about with motor-cars,” he confessed, glad that he hadn’t yet got around to crawling underneath and getting oil on his face. “Just wish I could spend more time at it. ”

“I’ve always wanted to take a whack at it. ” She was a girl in a million! “But Poppa won’t let me. He says it’s not ladylike. Real set on me acting ladylike, Poppa is. Why, it took me years to talk him into letting me drive. Now I test automobiles for him, just motoring around to check out how they feel to an amateur driver. ”

“Is that what you’re doing with this beauty? Don’t see many of them on the roads. ”

“It runs swell. Poppa’s thinking of investing a few bucks so they can raise production. That’s what we’re doing in England, looking for up-and-coming auto manufacturers for Poppa to invest in. I guess you can tell I’m not English?” she asked wistfully.

“I think your accent’s absolutely ripping. ”