house.
“I only caught a glimpse of it from a boat,” she said. “I was told no one lived in it. I didn’t think it was as good as this.”
“Let’s try and get in,” I said.
It wasn’t easy, and in the end I had to shoot off the lock of the front door. The place was dirty and as hot as an oven, but after opening all the windows the air got better.
“We can make this pretty comfortable,” I said, “and it’s safe. Let’s have a look around.”
I found a small harbour that had been built while the house was under construction. Mangroves had overgrown it, and it was practically invisible. I only came upon it by nearly falling down the ramp that had been covered with dead foliage.
“This is terrific,” I said, after I’d cleared away the undergrowth. “We’ll get the boat round here and settle in. Come on, let’s go.”
As I steered the boat around the island, I came upon the village community dumped down on the east shore. There were three or four ketches moored to the sea wall, a dozen or so wooden shacks and a big wooden building that looked like a store.
“Stay in the cabin,” I said to Miss Wonderly. “I’m going in to get some provisions.”
There were a bunch of men standing on the sea wall as I edged the boat to a mooring ring. One of them, a big fellow, stripped to the waist and barefooted, shambled forward and caught the rope I tossed him.
The men eyed me over as I climbed on to the sea wall, eyed the boat over and exchanged glances.
“That’s Tim’s boat,” the big fellow said, rubbing his hands on the seat of his dirty white canvas trousers.
“Yeah,” I said, and in case they thought I’d stolen it, I added, “I hired it off him. I’m on a fishing vacation.”
“Swell boat,” the big fellow said.
“That’s so,” I said.
I made the rope fast, conscious that they hadn’t taken their eyes off me for a moment, then I strolled over to the store, hoping that no one would start anything. No one did.
The storekeeper told me his name was Mac. I told him my name was Reilly. He was a wizened little guy with bright eyes of a bird. I liked him. When I started buying, he liked me. I bought a load of stuff.
We roped in some of the loungers, including the big fellow, to cart the stuff down to the boat. Mac came, too, but he didn’t carry anything.
“Duval’s boat,” he said, when he reached the sea wall.
“That guy seems pretty well known around here,” I said.
“Sure is,” he said, and grinned.
I lit a cigarette and gave him one.
“Kind of quiet here,” I said, looking up and down the deserted beach.
“Sure is,” Mac said. “No one bothers us. We get along.”
“I guess you do,” I said.
“Hear there was some excitement over at Paradise Palms,” he said, after a pause. “A political killing. The radio’s been yelling its head off.”
“I heard that too,” I said.
“I reckon it’s no business of ours.”
I wondered if that meant anything.
“You alone?” he went on, looking down into the boat.
“Yeah,” I said.
He nodded, then spat into the sea.
“Thought maybe you’d brought your wife along.”
“Not married,” I said.
“We all can’t be.”
The big fellow climbed off the boat and came over. He was sweating plenty.
“That’s the lot,” he said, then added, “the cabin’s locked.”
“Yeah,” I said.
Mac and the big fellow exchanged glances. I guess they were thinking hard.
I gave the big fellow a fin. He took it like it was a C note. He was excited.
“Maybe we’ll see you again,” Mac said hopefully. “Any friend of Tim’s my friend.”
“That’s good news,” I said, and meant it.
“I reckon Duval wouldn’t hire his boat to anyone but a right guy,” Mac went on.
“I guess not,” I said, thinking that Duval rated high around the island. I stepped down into the boat.
“A patrol noses around here every so often,” Mac said, sitting on his heels so he was near my ear.
“That so?” I said, looking up at him.
He closed one eye. “We don’t tell ’em much.”
“Fine,” I said.”
“Maybe you’d better let her out. It must be plenty hot in that cabin,” he went on, looking over my head and admiring the view.
“Huh-uh,” I grunted, then added, “Don’t be smarter than you can help.”
He took out a hunk of chewing tobacco and bit off a lump.
“The cops around here don’t rate with me,” he said, chewing hard. “That guy Herrick tried to clamp down on our trade. He was a nuisance. I reckon the boys are kind of grateful someone removed him.”
I nodded. “I heard he wasn’t popular.”
I cast off and started the engine. I got gas if you ever want it,” he called after me.
I waved.
3
A moon that looked like a Camembert cheese hung in the cloudiest sky. The nodding palms cast long, spooky shadows. The red glow of the charcoal fire reflected on Miss Wonderly’s skin. She lay on her back, her arms crossed behind her head, her knees bent. She wore blue
shorts, a red halter and sandals. Her honey-coloured hair hid one side of her face.
I knelt before the fire, grilling a couple of spareribs. They smelt and looked fine.
We were tired, but we had the house ship-shape. I was surprised the way Miss Wonderly put her back into cleaning the joint. We had scrubbed and swept and dusted. We had laid coconutmatting down in two rooms and shifted the boat’s bunks into one of them. We’d unscrewed the two small arm-chairs from the cabin and dragged them into the house, and we’d taken the table too. With a couple of good paraffin lamps, the place looked almost like home.
In the cockpit of the boat I had found a Thompson and an automatic rifle and enough ammunition to start a minor war. I brought the automatic rifle to the house, but left the Thompson in the cockpit. I didn’t know when we might be cut off suddenly from the house or the boat, and I reckoned a division of weapons wise.
There was a portable radio on the boat, and we brought that up to the house too.
It had been a good day’s work in spite of the heat, and now we were ready for something solid to eat.
I divided up the spareribs, the hashed brown potatoes and a couple of Cokes.
“Here we go,” I said, dumping the plate on Miss Wonderly’s chest. “Eats.”
She sat up, after putting the plate on the beach wrap she had spread out so she shouldn’t get sand in her hair. In the moonlight and the firelight she looked swell.
“Still scared?” I asked, cutting my meat.
She shook her head. “No.”
We’d been so busy that we hadn’t even thought about Killeano and the rest of them.
“It doesn’t seem like it all happened this morning, does it?” I said. “I guess you’ve got some talking to do.
