In the cave there was a window through which the sun was shining, but it was heavily barred with a beautiful grille of sixteenth-century Spanish ironwork.

There was furniture of black and white urunday, a native rosewood, carved exquisitely and a long table of quelracha on which stood a mirror in a frame of burnished silver.

The whole was so surprising and so unexpectedly beautiful that for some seconds Skye could only stand looking about her, astonished as she had never before been in her life. Then she saw that there was a basin and jug of coarse earthenware, such as the Indians bake, waiting on a side table and beside them a towel that had been made on a hand loom.

Quickly she slipped off her shirt and washed not only her face and hands, but to her waist, feeling the cool water refreshing and invigorating after the heat and dirt of the long ride.

Then she sat in front of the mirror to tidy her hair. She was thankful that she always carried a small comb in the pocket of her riding skirt, besides powder and lipstick.

As she began, she noticed that beside the dressing table there were several pairs of slippers, cleverly fashioned from the soft skins of goat kids. They were ornamented with Indian designs and skilfully coloured with vegetable dyes. There were four pairs, all different in size, and Skye found herself smiling.

What perfect hospitality, she thought, and how considerate! After being all day in the saddle she longed to take off her boots.

She pulled them off now with a little exclamation of relief and slipped her feet into the smallest pair of slippers. Only when she stood up and found the absence of heels made her seem shorter than usual did she feel apprehensive of the evening that lay ahead of her.

There was the ransom to be decided and doubtless argued about. Then she shrugged her shoulders. There was no need to dread the discomfort of being kidnapped while her captor was so considerate as to think even of the tiredness of her feet.

At the same time she realised that this was a quirk in character that was not going to fit in with the picture she was planning to present to the world of an arrogant murderous barbarian, intent only on gaining money for himself.

How surprised Jimmy would be when she told him! She smiled a little at the prospect and for a moment her eyes twinkled back at her from her reflection in the mirror.

But Jimmy would be angry too. He had expected something like this to happen and, although it would be maddening to hear him say, ‘I told you so!’, she still had the satisfaction of being in the thick of an adventure.

In the meantime she was hungry and with a last glance at her hair to see if it was tidy she turned and crossed the room to the leather curtain.