Then it had come back with a savage rush at Zouga.
Ballantyne's invitation, almost as if to remind him that his life was no longer his, that it was already forfeit to the hyena that lived deep in his belly, each day growing stronger, bigger, as it fed upon his vitals. When he closed his eyes he could imagine it, the way that he had seen it so often in the light of a thousand camp fires, up there in the wonderful land that he would never visit again. The thing within him had the same furtive slinking presence and he could taste the fetid breath of it in his throat. Now he gasped as the full strength of the pain returned, as the beast buried its fangs deeper into his gut.
He knocked over the chair in his haste to reach the precious bottle in the back of the cabinet and he gulped a mouthful of the clear pungent liquid without measuring it into the spoon. it was too much, he knew that, but each day he needed more to keep the hyena at bay, and each day the relief took longer to come.
He clung to the corner of the cabinet and waited for it. 'Please, ' he whispered, 'please let it end soon.'
There were half a dozen messages and invitations awaiting Zouga on his return to the Cartwright estate that morning, but the one which gave him most excitement was on official Admiralty paper, a polite request to call upon the Han. Ernest Kemp, Rear-Admiral of the Blue, Officer Commanding the Cape Squadron.
Zouga shaved and changed his clothing, selecting his best jacket for the occasion although it was a long dusty ride to Admiralty House. Despite missing a night's sleep, he felt vital and alert.
The Admiral's Secretary kept him waiting only a few minutes before showing him through, and Admiral Kemp came around from behind his desk to greet Zouga amiably, for the young man came highly recommended and Fuller Ballantyne's name still commanded respect in Africa. I have some news which I hope will please you, Major Ballantyne. But first, a glass of Madeira? ' Zouga had to curb his impatience while the Admiral poured the syrupy wine. The Admiral's study was decorated richly, with velvet furnishings and a fashionable profusion of ornaments, small statues, bric-a-brac, stuffed birds in glass showcases, family portraits in ornate frames and pretty ceramics, potted plants and the kind of paintings which Zouga admired.
The Admiral was tall but stooped, as though to accommodate his long frame to the limited headroom between the decks of one of Her Majesty's ships. He seemed old for the responsible appointment he held, guarding the Empire's lifeline to India and the East, but the ageing may have been caused by ill-health rather than years.
There were dark-toned pouches of skin below his eyes and other marks of sickness carved around his mouth and evident in the distended blue veins on the back of his hands as he handed a glass of Madeira to Zouga. Your good health, Major Ballantyne. ' And then after he had tasted his own wine, 'I think I have a berth for you. A ship of my squadron anchored in Table Bay yesterday, and as soon as she has replenished her coal bunkers and revictualled I shall detach her for independent duty in the Mozambique channel.'
Zouga knew from his meetings with the directors of the Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade, that one part of the Admiral's standing orders read:You are requested and required to dispose the ships of your squadron in such manner as most expediently to prevent vessels of whatever Christian nation from engaging in the slave trade on the coast of the African continent south of the equator.'
Clearly Kemp intended a sweep of the eastern seaboard with elements of his squadron, and Zouga. felt awakening delight as the Admiral went on genially, 'It will not need much of a diversion for my ship to call at Quelimane, and to land you and your party! I cannot thank you sufficiently, Admiral. ' His pleasure was transparent, and Admiral Kemp smiled in sympathy. He had put himself out more than his usual wont, for the youngster was attractive and likeable, deserving of encouragement, but now there were other matters awaiting his attention and as he pulled out his gold hunter and consulted it pointedly he went on, You should be ready to sail in five days' time. ' He returned the watch to the fob of his uniform coat. 'I hope we will see you on Friday? My Secretary did send you an invitation, did he not? Your sister will be with you, I hope.'
Indeed, sir. 'Zouga stood in obedience to his dismissal.
And my sister and I are honoured!
In fact Robyn had said, 'I do not waste my evenings, Zouga, and I have no intention of enduring the company of a fleet of tipsy sailors nor of suffering the wagging tongues of their wives.'
The Cape wives were agog with the presence in their midst of the notorious Robyn Ballantyne who had impersonated a man and invaded, successfully, an exclusive masculine preserve. Half of them were deliciously scandalized, and the rest were awed and admiring. However, Zouga was certain that she would pay this price for their passage to Quelimane. Very well then. ' Admiral Kemp nodded. 'Thank you for calling on me. ' And then, as Zouga started for the door, 'Oh, by the way, Ballantyne. The ship is the Black Joke, Captain Codrington commanding. My Secretary will give you a letter for him, and I suggest you call upon him to introduce yourself and to learn the date of sailing.'
The name came as a shock, and Zouga checked his stride as he thought quickly of the complication which the choice of ship might bring.
Zouga was sensitive to any threat to the expedition, and Codrington had struck him as being a hot-headed, almost fanatical character. He could not afford any slur to his leadership, and Codrington had seen him sailing in company with a suspected slaver. He could not be sure what Codrington would do.
It was a delicate decision: accept the berth and risk Codrington's denunciation, or refuse the offer of passage and perhaps wait for months in Cape Town before another vessel offered them another.
If they were delayed that Ion& it would mean missing the cooler and dryer period between the monsoons, they would have to cross the pestilential and fever-ridden coastal lowlands in the most dangerous season.
Zouga made his decision. 'Thank you, Admiral Kemp.
I will call on Captain Codrington as soon as possible!
Thomas Harkness had asked Zouga to return on the second day, and the map was more important even than swift passage to Quelimane.
Zouga sent Garniet, the Cartwrights' groom, down to the beach with a sealed letter addressed to Captain Codrington and with instructions to take one of the water boats out to Black joke and deliver it personally to Codrington. It was a warnin& couched in the most polite terms, that Zouga. and Robyn would call on the Captain the following morning. Zouga had become at his sister had an effect on men quite out of aware that proportion to her physical appearance, even Admiral Kemp had asked for her personally, and he had no compunction in using her to take the edge off Codrington's temper. He would have to warn her to exert her charm, but now there was more important business.
He had mounted on Cartwright's big bay gelding and ridden halfway down the grovelled drive between the
