The White Witch of the South Seas gs-11

by Dennis Wheatley

  `You think so?' Gregory smiled. `May I ask why?'

  `Well, wot abart yer missus? Two o'clock were the deadline Mr. Lacost set fer you to go aboard the Pigalle wiv that licence, an 'it's arter midnight now. Maybe you'll put paid to the old witch guy by makin' off wiv his girl friend. But you can't do that an' get back ter attack the Pigalle in under_ a couple o' hours, can yer?

  'No. You're right about that. It would take at least three hours.'

  'O.K., then. An' that Lacost is an impatient type. Maybe he'll give you half an hour's leeway, but come half past two, or thereabouts, he'll decide you ain't goin' ter play an' start pullin' yer wife's toenails out.'

  `I don't think he will. He's got nothing to gain by doing that.'

  For a moment the diver remained thoughtful, then he said,. It’s your gamble, baas, not mine. But I wouldn't take a chance on it if he'd got ahold o' my gal. Still, p'raps there's somethin' in wot yer say. Be a pity ter make a mess of a lady like her to no purpose. In fact if I were in his shoes I'd act quite different. I'd up anchor, then take her down to me cabin an' do you know what.' '

  `That is an unpleasant possibility that I have already considered,' Gregory replied. `But I have no means of preventing him from doing that at any time between now and when the moon goes down. And I must wait until then to attack; other wise, if he can see us coming, in, he might succeed in driving us off.'

  'Blimey! Yer 'not goin' in till moonset? If yer wait that long, baas, you'll miss the boat. Time's runnin' out fer him. He's gotter get well clear o' Tujoa before the warship from Noumea turns up. If he don't he'll be good an' proper sunk. He jus' daren't hang around her more than an hour or so arter two o'clock.'

  `Yes he will,' Gregory declared with conviction. `The gunboat can't possibly reach Revika in under thirty six hours from now, and the licence means everything to Lacost. With it, the odds are that he would be able to argue a committee of inquiry into believing that yesterday he honestly believed the Ratu to have tricked the police into aiding him in an attempt to rob the Colons of the treasure they had salvaged legitimately. Without it, he and his pals will be hunted men for the rest of their lives. Sooner or later the French authorities will get them, then they will go to the guillotine. When I fail to turn up he'll think of some way of trying to make a deal with us perhaps sharing the treasure or, as a last resort, turning the whole lot over to us in exchange for the licence. But you can take it from me, the Pigalle will still be lying off Tujoa until at least midday tomorrow.'

  `My! You're a cool customer.' Hamie shook his head.

  Gregory smiled. `I've had quite a lot of experience in dealing with bad men, and I'm very sensible of the fact that he has Mrs. Sallust in his power. But there is nothing I can do about that for the time being. When you are as old as I am, Hamie, you will know that it is only asking for trouble to hit out at your enemy until you are certain you can strike him down.'

  At that moment James re entered the bure. He said that his body guard was ready and eager to be led against Roboumo and, once and for all, destroy the power of that evil man who, had for so long terrorised and blackmailed so many of their friends and relatives.

  Hamie was told to move from the armchair in which he was lounging to a stout upright one; then, unresisting,, he allowed himself to be lashed securely to it with a score of strips of stout tapa cloth which James produced from one of his handsome wooden chests. That done, the two friends poured themselves stiff drinks, drank to the success of their expedition, then went out to join the reassembling body guard.

  This time, instead of taking the circuitous track through the jungle, they marched straight down to the harbour. There they piled into the six speediest motor boats available and, with James leading in his own cabin cruiser, set a course round the coast for Roboumo's island.

  In accordance with instructions that James had given before they set out, when the boats were within half a mile of the island they separated, so that each crew would land at some distance from their nearest neighbours. Then the engines were shut off and paddles used to bring them inshore.

  As they neared the beach, no lights were to be seen through the trees and no sentry challenged them; so evidently Roboumo and his men had no suspicion that they were about to receive unwelcome visitors. The boats dropped anchor in the shallows; jumping from them, the crews waded to the beach and the six groups, with weapons at the ready, cautiously made their way across the beach to the screen of vegetation. The moon was still well up, but the palms, magnolias, breadfruit and bau trees threw heavy shadows and in places where they were close together there were areas to which only a very faint light penetrated.

  It was in the group Gregory was leading that the accident occurred. They had proceeded no more than a hundred yards among the trees when one of the body guard tripped on a protruding root. He was within a yard of Gregory and clutched at him for support. Most unfortunately, in the darkness he grabbed the hand on a sub machine gun Gregory was carrying at the ready. He had his thumb on the safety catch and his finger on the trigger. The sudden, unexpected pressure on both thumb and finger caused the gun to go off.

  The eerie silence was shattered by the burst of fire that followed. Fortunately, the bullets whistled through the trees, harming none of his companions; but the swift series of explosions raised an appalling clatter.

  Next moment a furious barking of dogs sounded in the village. But it was only three or four hundred yards away; so, although all hope of achieving complete surprise was now gone, Gregory still hoped that the attacking force might reach it before any serious defence could be organised. Yelling to his men to follow him, he dashed forward through the trees.

  Before they had covered half the distance they heard the deep booming of Roboumo's drum sounding the alarm. Then, on reaching an open space, they saw the village, the, roofs of its bures clearly outlined in the moonlight. But to Gregory's consternation he also saw that they were heading for a six foot high cactus hedge. Earlier in the night when he had covered James' visit to the witch doctor they had both approached the village by the path up from the beach. It had never occurred to him that only by that way could one enter it. Now they were faced by this apparently impenetrable barrier.

  He had to take a swift decision. Should he turn left and run in along the hedge until he struck the path, or should he attempt to force a way through the spiky barrier of cactus? It vas a foregone conclusion that, apart from the group led by James, which he had elected to lead in by the path, all the other four groups would come up against the hedge and, most probably, make their way round to the unprotected entrance. It was there the fight would rage for possession of the Village and every one of Roboumo's men would be engaged in it. If, therefore, Gregory could force a way through the hedge the odds were that he would be able to reach the witchdoctor’s bure and rescue the witch without opposition. On looking over his group before they had left harbour he had seen that, in addition to firearms, four out of six of them had machetes slung at their waists. Only two of them could speak a few words of English; so, instead of trying to explain his intention, he snatched the machete from the man nearest him, ran forward and began to slash frantically at the wall of cactus. The others similarly armed, shouting their war cry and waving their sharp blades, immediately came to us assistance.

  By then pandemonium had broken out in the village. Yells A defiance mingled with the barking of dogs and the screams of terrified women. Single shots rang out in swift succession, but no bursts of machine gun fire, as James had been anxious to avoid a massacre and had given orders that the few men so armed should not use their weapons except in an emergency.

  Five minutes, which seemed an age to Gregory, went by before he and his men had succeeded in hacking a gap in the cactus wide enough for them to get through without their limbs being torn or pierced by the hundreds of three inch long spikes as stiff as steel needles.

  Leading the way again, he dashed between several smaller bures until he reached the rear of Roboumo's big
, high roofed house. A single sharp push on the back entrance door showed that it was not locked or bolted. Thrusting it open, he almost fell inside, to find himself at the back of the White

  Witch's cage. She was lying on her big divan, her face turned away from him and half hidden by her long, white hair.

  Three elderly native women were seated cross legged on the floor on the far side of the cage. As Gregory burst in, they sprang to their feet. For a moment they stared at him in terror and amazement. He lifted his Sten gun as though about to fire at them through the cage. Screaming they turned and, tumbling over one another, fled through the tape cloth curtains.

  Gregory had supposed the White Witch to be asleep; but, to his surprise, the screams of the women did not rouse her. Raising his machete, he slashed at the bamboo bars of the big cage until he had cut a hole large enough to get through. On a low table beside her divan stood a mug. Picking it up, he sniffed. It had a strange, strong odour and still gave off faintly the type of fumes one associates with neat spirits. That confirmed his guess that before Roboumo had left the bure, fearing that the attackers might break in and question his prisoner, he had forced her to swallow some potent drug that would cause her to fall into a coma.

  Turning towards her, he looked down into her face. His eyes widened. For a moment he held his breath, then let it go with a sharp, rasping sound; but for a full minute he remained there, staring at the lined but still beautiful features framed in long, dead white hair. Suddenly pulling himself together, he stooped, swiftly wrapped her in the light rug under which she lay, picked her up and carried her out through the hole he had cut in the cage.

  Their eyes wide with astonishment and awe, his men gaped at the limp body of the woman whom, with Roboumo as her mouth piece, they believed to have terrorised the people of Tujoa for so long. To the two of them who understood a little English, Gregory said quickly:

  `Go find Ratu. Tell him I have White Witch. She ill. I take

  her to yacht the Boa Viagem.' Then he beckoned the other four to follow him out of the bure.

  The Witch was very thin and, at a guess, Gregory thought she could not weigh much more than seven stone; even so, by the time he got her down to the beach he was panting heavily.

  There the largest of the men with him a broad shouldered giant insisted on taking her from him and carrying her out to the motor boat. On reaching it, they laid her gently upon the cushions in the stern. As the engine was started up, Gregory sat down beside her, pillowed her head on his lap and tried to rouse her; but his efforts proved fruitless.

  A quarter of an hour later they reached the harbour. It had been Gregory's intention to get her aboard the yacht, give her an emetic and enlist Olinda’s help in looking after her. But, as they came round the high, curved mole that protected the harbour from the worst gales, a surprise awaited him. The Boa Viagem was no longer there.

  Why she should have left her mooring Gregory could not imagine. Ever since she had arrived at Revika she had lain at anchor in deep water about two hundred yards from the wharf.

  What possible reason could Orinda have had for giving orders for her yacht to put to sea? Greatly puzzled and not a little perturbed, he had the motor boat land them on the quay. The departure of the yacht meant that another quarter of an hour must elapse, while the Witch was carried up the hill to the Royal bure, before she could be given an emetic; but that could not be helped and was not a matter of great urgency.

  On reaching the bure, Gregory took the Witch from the big native who had carried her up the hill, then made signs to the four men who had accompanied him that they should go round to the kitchens and refresh themselves. As they bowed and turned away, he eased the position of the White Witch in his arms and carried her into the bure. On entering, he was confronted with another surprise. Ramie Baker was no longer there; but the big, lofty room was not unoccupied. Manon was reclining with her feet up on one of the sofas, smoking a cigarette and with a drink by her side. Coming to her feet, she exclaimed:

  `More Dieu ! Where have you been? And who in the world is that?

  'I've come from Roboumo's island,' he replied, as he laid his still unconscious burden down on one of the other sofas, and this is the White Witch.!

  'The White Witch?' Manon echoed. `How different she is from what I had imagined. I've always thought of her as some great, fat, forceful looking half caste. And now she turns out to be an old, frail, white woman. But why have you brought her here?'

  `We rescued her in order to get the better of Lacost. As you know, in the afternoon of yes, yesterday, although it seems now weeks ago James received an offer from Roboumo to enter into a pact. James went to the island and all was going well, but he insisted that the Witch should be a party to the pact so Roboumo let him see her., She was under hypnosis, but managed to struggle out of it sufficiently to let James know that she was a prisoner.'

  Manon shook her head. `What an extraordinary affair.'

  `It certainly is. When James found out the truth, Roboumo tried to kill him; but he got away. Of course, all prospect of a pact had gone up in smoke. We were stuck again with the fact that, with only the body guard, our chances of capturing the Pigalle were far from good. It was then it struck me that, although the Witch was not really a witch at all, Roboumo's men believed that he owed all his power to her; so, if we could rescue her, they would come over to us. We attacked the island an hour ago and I got her out. She had been doped to the eyebrows and we must bring her round as soon as possible; but that can wait for a few minutes while you tell me how you come to be here. Did you escape, or did Lacost let you go?'

  'Tell me first why you failed to act on the message I left for you.' Manon's voice held an angry, resentful tone as she went on

  `I know you had it, because when I got back here I went to the loo and found it gone. And you already had Lacost's ultimatum from Hamie Baker about pulling out my toenails and cutting off my ears unless he received the licence.'

  Gregory gave a slight shrug. `My dear girl, I should have thought that would already be clear to you. In your note you said you felt certain Lacost would do you no harm if I failed to go aboard the Pigalle and, even if we did not send him the licence by someone else, he would have had nothing to gain by taking you to pieces. To leave without it would have meant that, sooner or later, he and all his pals would go to the guillotine. Therefore I felt certain that the time limit of two o'clock which he had given me could safely be ignored. It was a sure bet that he would hang on here till the very last moment, hoping in some way that he'd get the licence from us; and, as the gunboat from Noumea can't arrive before Monday morning, he could safely stay on in Revika until midday. You must know that the body guard is made up only of house servants and peasants: not real fighting men. That's why we had to delay until we could secure the support of Roboumo’s toughs.'

  Before Manon replied she lit another cigarette; then she said more mildly, 'I suppose the view you took is understandable. As a matter of fact I learned quite a bit from Hamie about what was going on.'

  `I take it that it was you who released him?'

  `Yes. You tied him up so tightly that the poor fellow was in agony. He meant you no harm and only acted as Lacost's messenger; so I set him free and let him go.'

  Gregory's face darkened into a scowl, so that the scar that ran from the end of his eyebrows up into his forehead showed livid, and he exclaimed angrily, `Damn it, you may have ruined everything! Hamie's only interest is money. It's quite on the cards that by now he is on his way to the Pigalle to get himself another wad of notes by warning Lacost of our intentions.'

  `No, he won't be able to do that, even if he tries to. By the time he gets across the island to the site of the wreck, where the Pigalle was anchored, he will find her gone.'

  'D'you mean… d'you mean that Lacost has thrown in his hand and sailed?'

  Manon nodded. `Yes, but not for good. He remained there until half past two. Then, as you failed to turn up, or someone sent by you, he got un
der way and set off to put into operation an alternative plan by which he hoped to get the better of you.'

  `Good God! Do you know it?'

  `I do. That's why he released me. The Pigalle sailed round to the harbour and later he had me put ashore; so that I could act as his messenger and bring you a second ultimatum.'

  Instantly there flashed back into Gregory's mind the fact that the Boa Viagem had disappeared. With a gasp of dismay he exclaimed, `Hell's bells! I've got it! He seized Olinda’s yacht and swapped you for her as a hostage.'

  Manon gave a sigh, looked down at her feet and said, `I'm terribly sorry that it should be I who have been forced to bring you this bad news. But you are right. It was easy to capture the yacht. Everyone aboard her was sound asleep. The Pigalle came alongside, the Colons boarded her and took her over without a shot being fired.'

  Putting a hand to his head, Gregory groaned. It was he who had persuaded Captain Amedo to lend him all the weapons from the yacht's armoury, and the body guard still had them; so the crew of the Boa Viagem had been deprived of the chance of putting up any resistance.

  Meanwhile, Manon was going on, `One must admit that Lacost is no fool. Unfortunately for him he made one mistake. He naturally believed that Olinda still held the licence. His plan had been to take over the yacht, transfer the treasure to her, then scuttle the Pigalle and make off in the much faster Boa Viagem. But in that he was foiled. Olinda declared that the licence was no longer hers, that she had transferred it to James two days ago. When threatened with torture she convinced Lacost by opening her safe and showing him that it was not among her valuables and papers. It was then that he decided he must make another bid for it. Possession of the licence could clear him and the others of having fired on the flotilla of boats in which you attacked him yesterday. Seizing the Boa Viagem was, of course, an act of piracy; but by threats of torture he can force Olinda to write a letter to the effect that she was being held by James in Revika against her will, and asking Lacost to come to her rescue.'