The Green Hill Golf Chronicles

'Sydney my love, my precious, my one and only!' exclaimed Stella as she dropped to her lovely knees. Her perfumed blonde tresses cascaded over Sydney's face as she cradled his head in her arms.

Sydney's dreams turned soft red velvet. He wished he would never wake again, so sweetly was he sleeping.

But presently he did. 'There, there,' soothed Stella, 'now just take it easy, take it easy. You've got your Stella to take care of you now. What have you been doing these three days without her? Poor duck, I'll wager it hasn't gone all that well for you. What on earth were you doing out here, anyway?'

'Looking for golf balls,' said Sydney weakly.

'Well, looks as if you found one at least. But that's not the recommended way to do it, love, with the old noggin. Looks like you're going to have a royal goose egg on your forehead. You just don't look too good in general. Tell Stella what else has happened to you.'

Sydney turned his head slightly. 'Is...is ...Dan...?

'Don't worry about him, I gave him his walking papers and sent him on his way. Tell me true, now, what happened to you?'

'Well...I was stung by a nest of wasps.'

'Sydney! Where?'

'Close by the first tee.'

'What part of the jolly BODY, my golden oldie? Maybe I could pluck out the stings for you.'

Stella was tenderly rubbing the rising knot on his forehead even as she talked.

A kind of Mona Lisa smile now playing around his lips, Sydney said weakly, 'It's not important. Not now, after the snake bite...'

'A VIPER! But how incredibly awful! Where?'

'On number thirteen.'

'But Sydney, listen to me, there's no time to lose. Maybe I can apply a tourniquet and suck out the venom.'

'It would be ...' another enigmatic attempt at a smile fleeted across Sydney's pale face...'difficult. It happened yesterday. Not to worry overmuch. The doctor assures me that the reptile's bite is rarely fatal if treated in time.'

'And was it?'

'Quien sabe, as they say in Spanish. Que sera, sera. Time will tell.' There was now a look of totally tranquil resignation on Sydney's face.

At that moment a golf cart veered over towards the two.

'Problem?' asked the man, leaning sideways out of the cart. 'Say, aren't you that English girl who won the ladies' Club Championship nine or ten years back?'

(711 pages)