After dinner, the interpreter disappeared without Lieutenant Creighton noticing. He had no idea where to look for her. A few had seen her leave, but no one knew where she had gone. He was consumed by the thought that he would never see her again: his heart contracted painfully, and he became terribly afraid. In the past, the American pilot had always found it easy to break up with girls, but now he only had to think that he might never see her again and it was as if a cold wind was blowing into his face and a bottomless void had opened beneath his feet. He was tormented by the idea of being parted from her; even to imagine losing her was more than he could bear.
The American set off at once to find her. He did not think about the danger – that asking about her could land both of them in t
