The Master of Barracuda Isle

by Hilary Wilde

  It was a good article, brightly illustrated by photographs of a tall elegantly-dressed woman with fair hair, wearing an elaborate and fashionable blue hat that matched her suit. Jan read with interest: "Always Mrs. Fairlie asked WHY? Why can't the child feel more secure, why can't the wild birds be left in peace? Why . . . why . . . why? Mrs. Fairlie must have raised thousands and thousands of dollars in her campaign to help those in need." Jan studied the photographs carefully. There was no resemblance at all to Jarvis, who had short darkish hair and a weak-looking chin. Esther had said a strange thing, Jan remembered, that if Mrs. Fairlie did fewer do-good acts, it would be better for the children. Did that explain Jarvis's hatred of establishments and discipline, his revolt against rules, his refusal to conform as his uncle saw wise? Did Jarvis feel his mother didn't love him? Jan wondered. One thing, Jan thought, Esther and Barry Ryder both obviously thought the world of Ludovic. That was just another side of his character. He was a strange man. Sometimes she longed for the weekend when he would appear, sometimes she dreaded it, afraid of the mood he might be in. As Lucy brought out her breakfast on a tray, obviously having guessed Jan's desire to eat out on the verandah, Jan thought how much she looked forward every morning for her session with Rab. He was so pipasant and relaxed; he could tease her without making her squirm, because she was happy with him, Jan realised. He was a kind man, just as Jarvis had been kind when she needed help. She wondered how he was getting on with his studies. She had not written to him, wondering if Ludovic would have told Barry to look at the letters, but she had written to Felicity and also to her mother several times, carefully avoiding any mention of the absence of her hostess. Later Jan hurried down to the lagoon. As usual 63

  the morning flew by, for Jan enjoyed it all, especially as Rab was teaching her how to help him and not merely to stand and watch. This made it the more interesting, she realised. It was all so fascinating, such as the coral polyps which, Rab told her, were actually primitive animals. He stood up, wiping the sweat from his face with the back of his hand, and smiling at her. "Know something, Jan? For years, it was believed coral polyps were plants, but when the tide comes in they extend their tentacles to catch and poison the plankton and carry them to their mouths. Yet, when the tide is out, they shrink into stone houses." "Really, Rab?" He nodded. "We've learned so much and have so much to learn." Later he showed her clams. They were in their hundreds and when stared at through the clear water, they were the most incredibly amazing colours. Their mantles were electric blue or intensely green, sometimes yellow, mauve or orange. Often they were speckled. "They've got the most amazing light-sensitive organs, Jan. These can detect the shadow of a man. Now watch." She followed him. As their shadows covered the clams, she heard the strange sound as the alarmed clams slammed shut. Water came spouting up in the air from their rapid movement. Rab lifted his finger to his lips and signed to her to stay very still, so Jan obeyed. In a little while she saw the clams opening and their magnificent mantles slowly creeping out over the toothed edge of their valves. "It's fantastic," she said earnestly. He smiled at her. "It's amazing all the wonderful exciting things there are in the world, isn't it? I really think this holiday is doing you good, Jan. You look a different person already." 64 I' She pulled a face and then smiled. "Did I look so awful?" ?: He laughed. "Not awful, Jan, but rather sad. You looked as if you had discovered that life is not always ,a bowl of cherries." She laughed. "That's exactly how I felt. I'd just been an absolute idiot." Then to her amazement she found herself able to talk to Rab as she could never have talked to ^Ludovic. She told Rab about Frank. !"We each needed someone and we chose one another because he lived next door. That wasn't really love, but it did shake me when I realised it was over and that, like me, Frank didn't know what real love was. Then we came out here and I met George." Rab listened silently, nodding here and there, and when Jan had finished, he smiled. i "Isn't that part of growing up, Jan? We all make 6 mistakes we later regret and yet they help us, in the I long run. Next time, Jan, you'll be more careful | before you decide that it is love. It's so easy to be I deceived. You're too sweet to be allowed to marry ! the wrong man, Jan, so just be very sure." [ He paused and she looked at him, for she had the , feeling that he wanted to say more than he had already, but he merely smiled at her. She laughed. "If I go on feeling the way I do now, Rab, I'll never fall in love again." He laughed too. "Famous last words," he teased. "Next thing, you'll be walking up the aisle while weddings bells ring." "I doubt it very much, Rab. Aren't the Fairlies funny people?" she went on. "I just don't understand them." Rab collected his things. "Don't try to work out what makes them tick, Jan. Wealthy people like that can't be normal. They think they're unique, that they can do what they like, regardless of other people, because they know they're 65

  right I sometimes think it must be rather comforting to know you can't possibly make a mistake," he laughed. "On the other hand, I'd hate to wonder if every friend I made was only after my money." He stood up, laden with his things. "Time you went up for lunch, Jan. See you tomor row." "Of course." She waited as Rab walked over the wet sand and then on to the jetty and his small cabin cruiser. He lifted a hand in farewell and she watched the snowy crest of water that followed the boat as it sped out of the lagoon into the open sea. She walked back to the house slowly, hardly noticing the sleeping bats or hearing the birds as they sang and rustled in the leaves. She had so much to think about Was E.ab right? Was life more difficult for Ludovic because of hie money? Had he been bom with the idea that he was always right? Yet Esther had said how good he was to the children. Jarvis and Sara, Jan thought, wondering why Jarvis had never mentioned Sara. How old would Sara be and where was she? Questions seemed to be coming faster and faster, she thought Why hadn't their mother done enough for them? as Esther implied. As the days passed and the weekend approached, Jan's mind was like a confused muddle. She wrote to her mother about the beauty of the place, but not about the quiet loneliness that she had at first seen as solitary confinement, but now as a time to think, relax and dream. Jan could not tell her mother that she was lonely, nor that the long dark quiet evenings when everything was so still were what she hated, nor describe how often she sat, wishing there could be the creak of a floorboard or the closing of a door, just something to show mere was life, in the quiet house. How well built it must be, she thought, for never a sound 66 j came from the Ryders' part of the house. No one s locked doors at night, since there was no one on the | island who would steal. The lights blazed away until midnight when they all, except a few, were automatically dimmed. So all Jan could write about was the beauty of it, the rest she was having, how well she felt. Meanwhile her mind was going round and round in ^circles, thinking about Jarvis, Felicity,, who had never written, also about Rab and the Ryders, but always she ended up by thinking about Ludovic. As Rab had once said, he often wondered what made Ludovic tick. She wondered too. How was it he could be so different? A sort of Jekyll and Hyde, Jan thought with a smile, as she imagined Ludovic's expression if ; she told him that. On Friday, Ludovic arrived and dropped a pile of . tilings on the verandah by her side, such as snorkels, face-masks, frogmen's flippers, surface and even an underwater camera with a tripod. "It's the gear I promised you," he told her, when he : returned from his shower and joined her for tea. "How goes it, Jan? Not too bored?" She stared at him. Each time he came up, she found herself doing just that, waiting with an uneasy squeamish feeling to find out what mood he was in. Today it seemed like one of his good relaxed moods, so she smiled. "Most certainly not. Rab's teaching me a lot." For a moment it was as if a shadow passed over Ludovic's face. "I'm glad of that." "How's Sydney looking?" she asked. "Just as usual, terribly hot, crowded and noisy. It's a joy to come up here." "Ludovic," she said slowly, "when's your . . . your sister-in-law coming here?" He stretched his long legs, then picking up his cup of tea, he looked at her. 67

  "Impatient to see her? Eager to get the inquisition over?" he asked, smiling, but there was a strange cold look in his
eyes. "No, it's just . , . just . . ." She hesitated, not wanting to say anything that might change his mood. To her surprise he smiled. "Well, let's just forget it. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to underwater swimming. Okay with you?" She felt herself relax, and smiled as she said; "I can't wait to learn. It sounds too thrilling for words." He nodded. "I love it. I think you will too." The next day proved how right he was. He was patience itself, for, at first, she was slow at learning. Then, as ishe learned how to do what he told her, she found this new world utterly enchanting. Her limbs hardly moved, waving as the astronauts' feet had waved on the moon. She swam by Ludovic's side, admiring the fascinating little fish and the vividly coloured coral polyps. He showed her small caves, explaining everything. As she floated through the water, the long dark tentacles of an octopus moved towards her. Instinctively she turned to Ludovic and immediately he was by her side, his arm round her. The panic that had turned her legs to lumps of iron and her heart pounding frantically vanished as she saw she had been frightened by a shadow! Later she laughed, but Ludovic was sympathetic. '"Things like'*that can be frightening," he said. Afterwards they lay in the sun. Gone completely was that. stern arrogant mask of the city Ludovic, Jan saw as she'stared at him, lying by her side, his eyes shut, ,theh h'e opened his eyes and smiled: "Well, do I make^ the grade?" _ -- Her cheeks burned'. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare."' He laughed. "I don't mind. I'm used to it." "I suppose. . . ." She paused and tried again. "I suppose you've got lots of girl-friends." 68

  "Masses of them," he laughed. "I've lost count. Why?" "Well, I...." She sat up, really flustered. What was the answer to that? she wondered. She looked down the sands to the palm trees as they stood, bent against the ocean wind, their fronds moving. "Well?" he said impatiently. "I... I just wondered." It sounded lame, but she could think of nothing better. "It would be strange if I didn't," he said, his voice bitter. Jan was startled by his stark arrogance. "Why should it be strange?" she asked him, her courage renewed by her quick anger. "You're not all that handsome. You might be to some girls, but you're not everyone's choice...." Even as she said it, she regretted the words. It was not necessary to be rude! Indeed, it was childish of her. But instead of being angry, he looked amused. "My dear child, when will you grow up? It's not my handsome looks or my undoubted charm that makes the girls swarm round me. It's my money." There was a bitterness again in his voice as she stared at him, and she wondered if that was one of the things that made him tick. The fact that he could trust no one because of his cynicism. Because he believed he would be loved only for his money. How awful it must be to feel like that, Jan thought, startled by the idea. How terrible never to know if anyone loved you for yourself. He began to stand up, deftly unfolding his long legs. "By the way, Jan, I'm going deep-water fishing tomorrow with Barry. Like to come along?" She hesitated for a moment. Deep-water fishing? ;Was she a good enough sailor? She would hate to be sick in front of Ludovic, and then she thought of the Jong lonely week ahead, the fact that soon Ludovic would be gone again, flying back to Sydney. I 69

  "I'd love to," she said. Ludovic smiled. "Somehow I thought you would. I'll tell Lucy to call you early. By the way," he added as they collected their things and began to walk home through the woods, "I'm afraid I've got to be unsociable tonight, as I've brought a lot of work with me. You won't be lonely?" "Of course not," she said quickly. "I'm used to it In a way, I'm beginning to love it" Barry Ryder and two of the aboriginal men, whom Jan had often seen working on the island, went with them in the forty-foot launch. Jan was surprised as she heard Barry greet Ludovic in a friendly way: "Everything's beaut, Lud. Good luck!" It startled Jan, as it was such a different reaction from Barry's usual polite, formal attitude. Ludovic, in grey shorts, a brown shirt and matching peaked cap, grinned in reply. "I've brought my mascot along." He gestured with his hand towards Jan. "Only hope she doesn't prove to be a jinx!" Both men laughed. "Good thing she isn't a redhead," Barry said, and smiled at Jan. Even his smile was different here, she noticed, friendly. The mask of formality had vanished. "Done any deep sea fishing before?" he asked. "No, this is my first time," she admitted. "It's exciting, but can be boring." "Luckily Jan isn't easily bored," Ludovic joined in. "Better get going, Barry." "Okay." Barry left them and soon the boat began to throb with noise, then shot forward through the calm blue water of the lagoon. Ludovic leant over over the rail by Jan's side and the silence seemed to go on for ever. "What sort of fish are you going to catch?" Jan 70 I asked, uncomfortable in the silence, yet a little wor|ried about breaking it. I Ludovic turned to her at once. "Barracuda, black marlin, sword-fish . . . maybe even a thresher shark," he said, his voice casual. "Depends on the luck." Later he told her more. "We shall just drift along and wait for the fish to bite." The boat still went through the water fast, spray coming up to_ salt Jan's face. She felt in the way and tried to look inconspicuous, but the two men paid her little attention, as they were busy preparing for the fight. When she saw what they were doing, she felt sick, for Barry held an eighteen-inch fish in his hand which was struggling wildly to break away, as he thrust the hook into it and then tossed it into the water. "Barry!" she cried out impulsively. "He was alive. You can't do that!" Her voice sounded loud in the quietness, no longer broken by the roar of the motor, for it had been slowed down nd they were more or less drifting through the water. Both men stopped what they were doing and stared at her. "Why on earth not?" Ludovic asked. Her hand went to her mouth, for she felt horriby sick, but tried to make him understand. "Live bait. What a terribly cruel idea! That poor fish, with the hook in his mouth, being pulled through the water, knowing he's going to be caught by a... a. Ludovic looked amused, balancing as the boat suddenly rolled. "My dear child, that fish is free to swim where he likes. If he's clever enough he can elude the shark." "But not for ever," she put in. "He's on your line, so he can't really get away." "He wouldn't get away anyhow. If the shark didn't 71 get him, we would, and probably eat him for supper. The two men were openly laughing. "Look, Jan," Ludovic went on, "I didn't know you were squeamish. Go down below to the cabin and you needn't watch. I can't see what you're making such a fuss about." "Gan't you see that it's torture? That poor fish, knowing the shark is coming after him. It'd be kinder to kill him outright." "But then I wouldn't get my shark," Ludovic pointed out, still smiling. "Why have you to get a shark?" Jan was on her feet, eyes blazing, cheeks red. "Why? Simply because you have to show how strong you arebecause you want people to think you're so wonderful. Well, I, for one, don't. I think you're cruel and . . . and hateful!" She turned, half-stumbling down the steps to the cabin, sank on to the couch and covered her face. She was so angry . . . and yet sorry she'd said those things. Yet it was true. He was cruelcruel to everyone. It was no good. He was hateful. Just because he was so rich, it didn't give him the right to trample on everyone.She seemed to be sitting in the cabin for hours, but nothing would make her go on deck to witness what she felt was horrible. Once Barry came down to the small galley, gave her a cup of coffee and some biscuits and grinned. "Burned out yet?" he asked. She looked at him, refusing to smile. Then felt ashamed of herself, for it wasn't his fault, it was all Ludovic's. So she smiled. "I don't understand." "Lud said you had a quick temper but it soon burned itself out. Come up when I shout and you'll really see something," he promised. "So far nothing's bitten." "So I'm a jinx!" He grinned. 72