a down-at, heel gnome. He signalled the column forward,
waving the lamp, and his ragged crew swarmed off the deck of the
Hirondelle on to the stone wharf.
It was clear that they were accustomed to loading unusual cargo in the
middle of the night. As each car was driven forward, it was stripped
of its burden of drums and crates.
These were stowed separately in cargo nets. Then they thrust sturdy
wooden pallets under the chassis of the car and fixed the heavy hemp
lines. At a signal from Papadopoulos, the men at the winches started
the donkey engines and the lines ran through the blocks on the booms of
the derricks.
The bulky cars rose slowly and then swung inboard.
The whole operation was carried out swiftly, with no raised voices or
unnecessary noise. Only a muttered command, the grunt of straining
men, the muted clatter of the donkey engines and then the thump of the
cars settling on the deck.
'These fellows know their business.' Gareth watched approvingly,
then turned to Jake. 'I'll go down to the.
harbour master and clear the bills of lading. We'll be ready to sail
in an hour or so.' He sauntered away and disappeared into the
shadows.
'Let's inspect the accommodation,' Jake suggested, and took
Vicky's arm. 'It looks like a regular Cunarder.' They climbed the
gangplank to the deck and only then did they get the first whiff of the
slave stench. By the time Gareth returned from his nefarious
negotiations with bills of lading showing a consignment of four
ambulances and medical supplies to the International Red Cross
Association at Alexandria, the others had made a brief examination of
the single tiny odoriferous cabin which Papadopoulos had put at their
disposal and decided to leave it to the cockroaches and bed bugs which
were already in residence.
'It's only a few days' sailing. I think I prefer the open deck.
If it rains, we can take shelter in the cars.' Jake spoke for all of
them as they stood in a group at the rail, watching the lights of Dares
Salaam glide away into the night, while the diesel engine of the
schooner thumped under their feet and the sweet cool sea breeze washed
over the deck, cleansing their nostrils and mouths of the slave
stench.
Vicky was awakened by the brilliance of the starlight shining into her
face and she opened her eyes and stared up at a sky that blazed with
the splendours Of the universe, as fields and seas of pearly light
swirled across the heavens.
Quietly she slipped out of her blankets and went to the ship's rail.
The sea was lustrous glittering sable; each wave seemed to be carved
from some solid and precious metal, bejewelled by the reflections of
the starlight and through it the ship's wake glowed with
phosphorescence like a trail of green fire.
The sea wind was the touch of lovers' hands against her skin and in her
hair, the great mainsail whispered above her head, and there was an
almost physical ache in her chest at the beauty of this night.
