‘Think they’ve got a boat?’ one of the guards cal ed back.
‘Don’t see how, unless they’re get ing outside help. It’s my bet they’ve swum over to your side.’
‘The dogs won’t be long,’ the guard on the far side of the river said. ‘We’l soon pick up their scent.
Have you checked the old cabin? Maybe some of them have holed up there.’
‘Jed’s doing that. I’m staying with Ben until they get a stretcher down to him.’
The three guards waved and moved off down stream.
‘We stay right here,’ Baird whispered. ‘The dogs can’t get through the bush, and as long as we’re on the water they won’t get our scent. We’l give them a couple of hours to cool off, then we’l try and make a break.’
He took off his wet trousers, and sitting naked in the bottom of the boat, dried himself carefully. He hung the jacket and trousers over a branch to dry, then uncorked a bottle of whisky and took a couple of shots.
Rico sat motionless, staring with frightened eyes at the opposite bank. He could hear the distant barking of dogs and men shouting. There was a lot of activity going on in the bush.
‘Here, have some of this,’ Baird said, offering him the bottle.
Rico took a long drink. The spirit helped him a little, but he still couldn’t control his trembling.
‘Think we’l get out of this?’ he asked suddenly.
‘Yeah,’ Baird said, ‘I guess so. They won’t waste too much time here. They’ve got fifty convicts to round up.’
He made himself as comfortable as he could on a blanket and took another drink.
‘Wish I could smoke,’ he said, half to himself, ‘but the dogs might smell it.’ He glanced at Hater. ‘Is he okay?’
Rico could see Hater’s thin chest moving as he breathed.
‘He’s stil breathing.’
‘That’s something,’ Baird said, and grinned sourly. ‘He must have a skul like granite.’
‘He’s crazy,’ Rico said uneasily. ‘There’s something about his face…’
‘You should take a look at yourself,’ Baird said. ‘You look a little nuts, too. Maybe I do. That dog nearly had me.’
Rico shivered.
‘You’ve been a big help,’ Baird went on. ‘I must have been soft in the head to have picked on you for a caper like this. If you’d hit the dredge with your first shot they wouldn’t have known where to look for us. We’d been the hel out of this by now.’
Rico didn’t say anything. He was thinking he must have been soft in the head to have got mixed up with Baird in the first place.
‘Maybe we’d bet er take it in turns to sleep,’ Baird said, yawning. ‘Hel ! My wrist hurts. We may have to paddle all night. I’l take the first nap. Keep your eye on Hater. Wake me if he shows any sign of coming to the surface.’
He stretched and closed his eyes. Rico watched him, fascinated. To be able to contemplate sleep at such a time! He had always known Baird had nerves of steel, and looking at him, a naked giant of solid bone and muscle, already dozing, Rico felt suddenly more hopeful. If there was a way out of this jam, Baird would find it. If they did get out of the swamp there was a quarter of a million dollars waiting for him.
An hour dragged by. Every now and then the sound of voices and the barking of dogs seemed unpleasantly close. Once Rico caught sight of some guards moving slowly along the opposite bank.
They passed without even looking across the river.
Hater showed no signs of recovering consciousness, and Rico wondered uneasily if he were going to die. He rigged up some shading for Hater by draping a blanket over the suitcase. It was very hot in the boat, and Rico longed for an iced highball.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, so he made no at empt to wake Baird. He sat in the prow of the boat, his ears and eyes missing nothing, while the hours dragged by.
By four o’clock the sounds of men and dogs had died away. The silence was broken now only by the drone of mosquitoes and the lapping of water against the side of the boat.
A river snake slid from under the boat and went swimming swiftly downstream, startling Rico. He took another drink from the whisky bottle, then reached over and shook Baird.
‘What’s up?’ Baird asked, instantly awake. His hand automatical y reached for the Winchester.
‘Isn’t it time we did something?’ Rico asked uneasily. ‘It’s after four o’clock.’
Baird sat up slowly and stretched. He touched his wrist with a grimace and shook his head.
‘I guess you’l have to do some work. This wrist of mine doesn’t feel so good. I doubt if I can use the paddle.’ He looked towards the opposite bank. ‘Seen anything?’
‘Nothing for the past hour. I haven’t heard anything, either.’
Baird took a drink from the whisky bottle, then lit a cigarette.
‘We’d bet er stay here until it’s dark,’ he said. ‘We might run into them on their way back. Now we’ve got so far, it’d be crazy to take any more risks than we have to.’
Rico shrugged. He wanted to get moving, but he realised what Baird said made sense.
