On Far Malayan Shores

by Tara Haigh

  She felt as though she was burning up, and yet she savoured every second of this sweet torment, as the desire she felt for him deep within her washed over her in waves, each more intense than the last, and she felt herself sinking into a sea of passion.

  Then their bodies came together in a harmony of movement, just as Ella had known in her heart that they would. They were no longer two hearts beating against each other; rather, they were as one – a single body, a single soul, floating on an ocean of bliss.

  Ella woke up with the first rays of the sun, and lay savouring Amar’s presence beside her. At some point in the night, he had snuggled up to her back and thrown his arm over her. He didn’t seem to want to let her go, for they were still lying in the same position now. The rhythm of his steady breathing felt like a wordless lullaby, and she felt at peace; she couldn’t remember ever having felt so perfectly secure. Until now, she had never wanted for anything, and she would always have described herself as a happy person. Yet being with Amar had taught her differently. You cannot miss what you never had, and just a slight touch on her belly was enough to make her realise now that she had lacked so much. Ella placed her hand on his, as though she wanted to keep hold of him; she wanted to feel like this forever. His touch, his kiss, his proximity seemed to reduce all that she had formerly thought of as happiness to mere contentment. That realisation was confirmed when he stretched and began kissing her from her neck down to her back, and it wasn’t long before she felt his desire for her growing once more. She couldn’t help but return his kiss, but she knew that this beautiful moment would soon come to an end. He knew it too, for he rolled away from her with a sigh.

  ‘I can’t be late,’ he whispered to her.

  Ella nodded bravely, her concern for him welling up again. ‘Promise me you’ll look after yourself,’ she demanded.

  ‘Everything will be all right – or do you think I want to go to jail? Then I wouldn’t be with you any more.’ Amar’s words were sincere, but they did little to calm her. Freeing Mohan would be a perilous undertaking.

  ‘Take me with you into town. I’ll go mad with worry if I stay here.’

  Amar nodded and rose to his feet. He stood before her, as naked as the day he was born, and she no longer felt any shame to see him like that. Then he gave her his hand to help her to her feet. White skin brushed against dark, but this time it was Ella’s turn to let go of Amar. They didn’t have much time, and he needed to keep a clear head.

  CHAPTER 15

  Wandering aimlessly around Johore in search of distraction may have been better than sitting in the garden of Mohan’s house and awaiting Amar’s return, but it still wasn’t very effective as a means of passing the time. A reason for going into town had quickly presented itself over breakfast, however. Mohan’s pantry wasn’t particularly well stocked, and they had even run out of salt. Ella had briefly occupied herself by drawing up a shopping list, and getting hold of everything she needed would take her until the afternoon at least, which meant she wouldn’t have to spend those hours tormenting herself by worrying whether anything had happened to Amar.

  Ella and Amar had parted ways at the edge of the town. The centre lay in roughly the same direction as the hospital, but the rescue attempt would be taking place to the west of Johore. Amar had explained the plan to her that four masked men would lie in wait for the wagon. A fruit seller who was working with them would block the way with a movable fruit stall and cause a distraction, while the others would take advantage of the moment of surprise to overpower the officer and free Mohan. A sailboat would be waiting for Mohan, which would carry him safely to Sumatra. From there, he would be able to make his way to Siam. At least there was one detail that reassured her: Amar wouldn’t accompany Mohan all the way to the coast, and would instead try to meet her in town at midday, at around the same time as Mohan would be sailing off to Sumatra. But even so, the minimal information she had was still enough to leave her picturing everything that might go wrong.

  Ella had to virtually force herself to go to the grocer’s shop and make her purchases. She would have much preferred to head in the other direction – but of course, that would have been foolish. It was important for her to be seen in Johore, and especially to be viewed as a regular resident. If someone shopped at one of the local stores, that meant they typically lived in Johore too, whereas travellers would visit these places at most to purchase some food for their journey or to buy something to drink. Ella’s long shopping list alone announced that she wasn’t just passing through the area, and she was very glad to have it, because she would have forgotten half of what she needed to buy otherwise. But finally, with the help of the hardworking assistant, she soon had everything a household could possibly need.

  ‘You’re new here, aren’t you?’ The unbridled curiosity of the Chinese shop assistant at least provided a distraction.

  ‘Let me guess. You must have taken over from the Jonkers,’ the lively woman surmised. With her long plait and skull cap, she reminded Ella of the Chinese people she had seen in her picture books as a child.

  ‘Lots of Dutch people go back to Europe when they get old. Isn’t that strange? They come all this way, and then . . .’ The woman shook her head.

  ‘What about you? Do you intend to stay here?’ Ella asked.

  ‘Malacca is my home. We’ve been living in Johore for many generations now,’ she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  ‘Malacca will be a Chinese colony one day,’ the woman went on as she wrapped Ella’s fruit in paper.

  ‘I’m sure the British won’t let that happen,’ Ella answered with a grin.

  ‘They’ll be gone one day. Believe me.’ The woman seemed certain of that.

  ‘What about the Malayans?’

  ‘They have fewer children and they don’t have the same head for business.’ The woman’s laugh cheered her up. Perhaps she was right too – but for now, the country was under the rule of the British Crown. Ella’s thoughts immediately flew back to Amar. How sweet it was to think that she might live in that house with him for evermore! Yet the very sweetness of that thought made the aftertaste all the more bitter. It was half past nine, going by the clock behind the counter. Mohan would be free by ten. What should she do until then? Her shopping was all bagged up and a young Chinese shop porter was helping her to load it onto the cart.

  After paying for her goods, Ella decided to visit her former lodgings. She and Amar had agreed to meet there at midday, but perhaps there would be news for her about Rudolf’s repatriation. Officer Puteri had promised to take care of everything and to leave her a message. The boarding house was very close by, so barely ten minutes later, Ella was standing by the reception desk with a letter in her hand – but not one from Puteri. She was astonished to see the name ‘Otto Ludwig’ on the envelope.

  ‘He’s staying here for two nights,’ Lee explained, obviously delighted to see her regular guest again.

  Ella opened the letter as she walked towards the fountain in the courtyard, where she sat down to read it.

  Dear Miss Kaltenbach,

  My worst fears that you would be gone by the time I reached Johore seem to have come true – yet to my relief, I was told it was still possible to reach you via the reception desk. I asked about your fiancé too, and I am still in a state of shock. Lee informed me that he passed away. Please accept my deepest condolences – though I still hope to express them to you in person.

  My journey is coming to an end, and I have concluded my business successfully, but I cannot depart without speaking to you first. There is something you need to know – a matter that is too delicate to put down in writing. Tonight, there will be a party at the Hamiltons’. Anthony and Victoria are my most trustworthy suppliers, and they are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their plantation. They are truly the most delightful people, and they have told me to bring friends with me. I am not sure if I have your permission to consider you a friend, but I would be delighted if you would a
ccept my invitation and join me at the party. The Hamiltons have expressly told me that everybody is welcome, so please feel free to come alone or with a guest. I’m sure we’ll find an opportunity to speak privately. I have provided directions to the Hamiltons’ plantation overleaf, and I am very much looking forward to seeing you again.

  Your most humble servant,

  Otto Ludwig

  Ella had no time to look at the directions, however, for just then, multiple shots suddenly rang out like whip cracks in the distance. A cold shudder ran down Ella’s back. Her hands began to tremble. There could only be one reason why shots were being fired right now. Lee had handed Otto’s letter to her just before ten. Something terrible must have happened – she was sure of it.

  Amar had expressly asked Ella to wait for him at the boarding house, but that was now impossible. It didn’t take much imagination to realise that something must have gone wrong during the rescue attempt. Ella didn’t know exactly how the plan had spiralled out of control, but she only needed to hurry after the throng of curious onlookers to find out. The mounted policemen hurrying in the same direction confirmed that she was heading the right way: towards the hospital.

  Barely ten minutes later, her worst fears seemed to have been realised. From a distance, Ella could already see a police wagon standing in the middle of the road. A group of policemen were forcing back the crowd of onlookers, giving her a clear view of the street. What she saw there hit her like a hammer blow. In front of her, amid scattered pieces of fruit, lay the lifeless body of a Malay man – that much was obvious from the colour of his skin. Ella fervently hoped it wasn’t Amar, yet she remained in agonising suspense until one of the policemen stepped aside, revealing the full length of the body lying on the ground. He was the same height as Amar, but he was wearing different clothes, and when the two policemen stepped back to allow a doctor to approach, she finally caught a glimpse of his face. It wasn’t Amar, thank God! One of the policemen held a mask in his hand, which he had presumably just removed from the corpse.

  Ella could almost physically feel a weight fall from her shoulders. She ventured a few steps towards the scene, and suddenly realised who must have shot the young man. A British officer stepped out in front of the wagon. He was carrying a gun.

  Another few steps. The police were questioning the fruit seller, whom Amar had said was part of the plot, as well as a few passers-by who had apparently witnessed the attack. A man standing beside the wagon and tending to the horse was also being interviewed. He must be a coachman from the hospital. Then one of the policemen turned to face in Ella’s direction. It was Puteri. She didn’t even attempt to turn away or hide behind the others in the crowd. She was the only white woman here, and his eyes were trained directly on her. He smiled at her before exchanging a few words with his colleague. It would have been worse if Compton had spotted her, but this wasn’t much better. If only Puteri hadn’t looked at her for quite so long, for now the officer also turned towards her. Ella recognised him. It was the young man she had seen with Edward Compton the day before – the lieutenant named Bennett. His eyes lingered on her, and she saw a thoughtful, mistrustful expression descend over his face. It would only arouse more suspicion if she turned and fled, so she decided to join the crowd of onlookers instead. Nobody could hold that against her.

  An approaching carriage from the hospital drove up to the crowd, and two young Malay policemen immediately began to urge the people to stand aside and clear the way. Ella recognised some of the staff from the hospital. Like everybody else, she had to take a few steps back to allow the carriage to pass. They must be there to take charge of the body. The policemen also had to cross the road in order to let the carriage through, which allowed her to catch another glimpse of the scene. Something caught her eye next to a wall that was overgrown with grass and vines. Was she imagining it, or was there another mask lying there? One of the five men involved in Mohan’s rescue must have lost it – perhaps even Amar. Ella considered whether she could somehow push through the crowd to retrieve it, but all such thoughts soon proved fruitless. One of the policemen suddenly noticed the mask too and picked it up. At that, Bennett sprang into action. The policeman held the mask out to him and Bennett nodded. Ella guessed that he had just identified it and was describing the sequence of events. She prayed that it wasn’t Amar who had lost it while making his escape, for that would mean the witnesses might have got a look at his face.

  There was nothing more to see here. Ella’s eyes met Puteri’s again, and she nodded at him, before slipping away from the scene as slowly and unobtrusively as possible – not by conscious decision, but because her fears for Amar’s safety had triggered a kind of paralysis in her. It cost her great effort to put one foot in front of the other. What if he had been seen? She couldn’t even be certain that there weren’t any more dead bodies – she had only seen part of the street after all.

  After spending a full hour sitting motionless on the edge of the fountain and peering through the entrance of the boarding house at a deserted patch of shade underneath a tree, Ella was almost overcome with joy and relief when the man she was looking for finally appeared. Her first impulse was to leap to her feet, rush over to Amar and fall into his arms, but she quickly suppressed the urge – not through common sense, but out of sheer fury at both him and herself. Why hadn’t she talked him out of the rescue? Then her thoughts turned to Mohan, and her rage subsided. In the end, they had done the right thing. But had he managed to get away?

  Ella stood up, crossed the road and walked over to Amar. His smile outweighed everything else at that moment.

  ‘There you are,’ was all he said – yet his obvious anxiety meant his smile wasn’t as radiant as it usually was. ‘Come on, let’s go,’ he suggested, before walking over to the boarding house with her.

  Ella fetched the cart from the courtyard. The horse was already harnessed. She was burning to know what had gone wrong with the rescue attempt, but she had to wait until they had left the market. She watched Amar as he looked around to check whether there were any policemen nearby, and she took that as a warning not to ask for any details just yet.

  As soon as they reached the road leading to Mohan’s house, he began to tell her everything of his own accord.

  ‘Everything was going to plan. Bujang, Suib, Tenuk and I lay in wait for the wagon, and Ahad managed to stop it with his fruit stall. He often wheels his stand down that road, but he had a minor mishap – nothing that would strike anybody as unusual – and the fruit fell on the ground. He took his time picking it up, so the officer grew impatient and dismounted, just as we had hoped. But then some children came past. The officer turned around too soon, and Suib had already broken cover. That put the officer on the alert, and he drew his gun. As the other two ran towards him, he shot at Suib, who fell to the ground and didn’t move. Bujang and Tenuk managed to disarm the officer, and I got Mohan out of the wagon. The horses were hidden behind the embankment. Mohan had handcuffs on, so I had to lift him onto his horse, and then I took him to the handover point. Tenuk will take him to the coast.’

  ‘Did anybody see you?’ Ella asked.

  ‘No, definitely not. And even if they did, I was wearing my mask.’

  A weight instantly fell from Ella’s heart – though that meant one of the others had been seen instead.

  ‘There was a mask lying in the undergrowth,’ she said.

  Amar gave a concerned look and thought for a moment before continuing. ‘Bujang must have lost his in the melee, then. Tenuk was still wearing his, I know that for sure.’

  ‘Can anybody link you with the two of them?’ Ella’s anxiety knew no bounds.

  ‘No. They work on different plantations. Who could have seen them beyond the coachman from the hospital and the army officer? And even if they did – would they know all the workers in the area? They can’t question everybody in the region and visit every plantation. It all happened so quickly too. Both of them got away. Besides, they’d need to match t
he mask to the right face anyway,’ said Amar.

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘We used traditional wooden masks. They have to fit perfectly. We all tried on each other’s, and only one of them fit me. If I’d worn any of the others then I wouldn’t have been able to see anything or breathe,’ he said.

  It took Ella a moment to process his words. ‘But now somebody has paid for all this with his life,’ she eventually pointed out.

  Amar remained silent. He was clearly upset by what had happened.

  Ella remembered what the Chinese shop assistant had told her, and her certainty about the future of the British colony in Malacca.

  ‘Maybe it would be better to come to an arrangement with the British, or to offer a different kind of resistance. Otherwise yet more people will die,’ she said.

  ‘You mean do nothing?’ asked Amar wearily.

  ‘They won’t be here forever. There are too many of you for that.’

  Amar seemed to be mulling over her words. He didn’t speak again, but she sensed his relief when she snuggled up to his side. Although she was leaning against him, Ella could tell that right now, it was he who was drawing strength from her.

  Ella had spent a long time debating whether she ought to go to the Hamiltons’ party. Amar was understandably preoccupied – with himself, with his grief for Suib, with his fears for Mohan, and especially with the question of whether the cost of resisting the British had been too great. For her own part, however, she often found it useful to occupy herself with something completely different at times like this. There was nothing Amar could do about the situation now. Besides, Otto urgently wanted to see her and speak with her. All the same, when they arrived back at Mohan’s house and Ella suggested they go to the party together, Amar objected to the idea – but for entirely different reasons than she had been expecting.