The Man From Coral Bay

by Jan Anderson

  Usually she woke early in Ceylon, and got up too, to make the most of the cool freshness that quickly vanished as the sun rose. But on this particular morning she overslept and even when she did wake, had that thick drugged feeling of one who had slept too deeply. She lay for a few minutes longer, then forced herself to get up.

  Tom had already had a cup of tea and called to her that he was up, but would be ready for breakfast in about ten minutes. She put her head into Terry's room, but he must also have got up without waking anyone.

  After telling Ponniah that they were almost ready for breakfast she went outside to call Terry. Surprisingly, there was no reply. That in itself was unusual, because Terry never wandered far without his breakfast and he had orders not to go beyond the garden without telling someone where he was.

  She went back to Ponniah. Have you seen Terry this morning? Has he had his breakfast?'

  Ponniah shook his head. ' No, lady, Master Terry I thought was still in his bed. He has not been here while I was up. That was at half past six.'

  Rossi frowned and went back to Tom. Have you heard any sound from Terry this morning? He seems to have dodged us all. He could have gone for a swim in the lagoon, I suppose, but I don't honestly think he would without permission.'

  Not after all my threats,' he snorted. No, he must be in the garden somewhere, or even on the plantation. He seems to have become rather keen on birds lately. He probably imagines he's doing a little bird-watching. I told him to look out for the kingfishers and the green bee-eaters. Both are fairly easy to distinguish.' He glanced up at Rossi's face. Don't look so worried, love, he can't be far, can he? And I don't hold you responsible for all his movements. But if it makes you feel easier, take Ponniah and go and rout him out.'

  But after twenty minutes' searching Ponniah agreed with her that Terry was certainly not on his father's land. There was only one answer. He must have gone over to Matt's.

  She decided to tell Tom where she was going, and when his face tightened in that way she was beginning to recognise, she said curtly, I have no alternative, Tom. Believe me, this time I shall be just as angry as you are. But I can't just leave him to wander around there, just hoping he'll turn up in a few minutes.'

  Reluctantly Tom agreed.

  She sent Ponniah to search along the beach and the edge of the Lincoln property that bounded it, while she went to find Matt Lincoln himself. He would almost certainly be on the plantation and in fact, as she drew nearer, the sound of sawing told her the trees were already being taken down. It seemed to her that the path she was beating to his door was becoming more and more used. And the

  silly thing was she would have done almost anything to keep out of his way. But she was drawn almost like a magnet.

  He saw her coming and went to meet her. ' What can I do for you today, Rossi?'

  ' I don't want you to do anything,' she answered tartly, I just want your permission to look around for Terry. He's certainly not at our place, so we thought he must have come over here, although . . her voice faltered slightly, he did have very strict instructions, and I don't honestly think he would disobey anything quite so explicit.'

  The look he gave her was piercing. Nor do I.' He turned round to all the men working and barked a few instructions. Immediately they downed tools and came towards him.

  We'll all look,' he told her. It will be done in a fraction of the time. Apart from anything else my boys and I know every inch of the land here. But I'll tell you something, Rossi.'

  I only know,' she said miserably, ' that I keep making a nuisance of myself. If I hadn't overslept this morning. . .

  If . . . if . . . if . . . the world is full of ifs. All that matters now is that you can't find Terry. I just want to say one thing before we start looking. He's never before been across here without coming straight to me. He knows that I would be just as angry as his father if I found him swimming in the lagoon without permission.'

  Rossi's heart sank, and she felt the first small flicker of fear. If Terry wasn't here, then where on earth could he be? At the other side of the road the real jungle started. Even a small boy as keen on wild life as Terry was would not lightly have set foot over there.

  Within minutes the whole area of Matt's property was being searched systematically. If Terry was hiding here, or anywhere, he could not fail to be found.

  It was about half an hour later when she and Matt were heading back to the plantation to call off the search that she heard the shout, and saw Tom, leaning heavily on a stick at the far corner of the field. Without stopping to think that this must be the first time he had set foot on his enemy's land for a very long time, she started to run towards him.

  Have you found him, Tom?' she said breathlessly. Then she saw the whiteness of his face under the tan, the look in his eye, as he handed her over a scrap of paper.

  I found it pinned to his pillow,' he said.

  She read the childish writing over twice, without understanding it. I have gone to get help for Dad. Plees Dont wurry.

  Appalled, she stared at her brother. ' But where could he have gone? And who would he think could help?'

  That's what I want to find out. He knows no one in these parts except the local boys and your friend there.' He jerked his head towards Matt, who was still heading towards them.

  In silence Rossi handed the scrap of paper to Matt, who looked first at her, then at Tom.

  ' I'm afraid,' he said quietly, this is one occasion that Terry has not come to me.'

  Tom closed his eyes in despair. Even he would not have tried to dispute this knowing how Terry felt about Matt. I've got to find him,' he said fiercely, ' I've got to, but I simply don't know where to start. The police up here—well, I suppose they're all right, but they're a bit thin on the ground, and

  where would they start looking any more than us?'

  Nevertheless,' said Matt briskly, we've got to start somewhere. You'd better come inside and use my phone.'

  Rossi saw Tom's momentary hesitation, and held her breath, then with the faintest of shrugs Tom started to limp along the path.

  Do you want some help?' Matt said. ' That leg. . .

  No! ' Tom spat out. I'm being forced into one kind of help and despise myself for it. Anything else would be quite intolerable.'

  ' Suit yourself.' Matt strode on ahead.

  At the entrance of the house he stopped abruptly and waited for Tom and Rossi to catch him up. I've just thought of something. Please answer one question. What kind of help does Terry think you need?'

  It was Rossi who burst out : He heard us talking about the trees yesterday and he thinks nothing is going right for Tom. He was very listless and not at all himself all yesterday. Why do you ask? Please tell us.'

  Well,' said Matt slowly, I don't want to raise your hopes, but one of the things young Terry loves to hear about is the hermit. He's never tired of asking about the old man and because he's heard how none of the animals attack him, seems to think he has superhuman powers. Could he, do you think, have imagined he could find him and bring him back to Tom?'

  Tom did not answer, but in a blinding flash Rossi remembered the conversation she and Barney had had when Tom's labour troubles had started.

  Oh, yes,' she cried, I think it's very possible. You see, last week, Barney and I were talking about

  the men who had gone, Terry told me all about the hermit and remarked that . . . what was it . . . Uncle Matt said he had more sense than most lawyers and he thought it would be a good idea if his father went up to the cave to talk to him. I think Barney persuaded him that labour troubles needed a more practical kind of help. I thought Terry had just put the matter out of his mind, but now I'm not sure, not sure at all. Do you remember, Tom, he even asked you about the hermit. . .

  ' Well,' said Matt, ' I would hazard a guess that that's where he had gone.' He turned to Tom and said sombrely, ' And if I'm right, I hold myself partly responsible, for somehow letting him think that the old man could really help people. One f
orgets that children take things so literally. I'll get the truck out now. The boy can't have had more than about four hours' start.'

  And you really think a child as small as he is

  could find his way up there alone?' Tom said. There's only one way there. I just hope to God

  he's taken it, then we should be able to find him.' I'll come with you.'

  No.' Matt's reply was back immediately. I think we should be more practical. After one leaves the truck the going is very rough. You simply couldn't manage it with your leg. Besides, we don't know for certain that he's gone there. Someone must stay by the phone and get in touch with the police. The whole village must be alerted.'

  Fortunately Tom seemed to see the sense of this. And he was far too worried and anxious to argue. So he sent Ponniah back to his bungalow, so that there should be someone there in case Terry returned, while he went in to telephone.

  Toni may not be able to come,' Rossi said

  quietly, but I am. Tell me what I should get.'

  Some trousers, tough shoes, a hat and some insect repellent. But you'll have to move quickly. I'll pick you up in ten minutes. Oh, yes, and you'd better put on something with long sleeves.'

  She was ready on the doorstep waiting for him when he came in the truck. Without a word she climbed in beside him and he was off up the road before the door was even closed.

  She sat tensely in the front watching the narrow black road disappearing in a cloud of dust.

  ' Matt, do you think. . .

  If you're going to ask me if I think this is where Terry has come, then I'm not going to answer. It's an outside chance, but as good as any other.'

  ' I suppose,' she said slowly, your fear is not that he's lost, or even frightened, but that something could have happened to him '

  Yes, that's right. I must be honest with you, Rossi. We're just turning off into real jungle here. This is where all the snakes that were once on our land have been driven back to. It's a country of leopard and elephant, and once you get on to the higher ground, of bear too—a particularly unfriendly sort of bear. Terry has lots of courage, I know that, but will it be enough to make him act sensibly? I just can't tell. It seems,' he added, that he's taken the business of killing the trees harder than either his father or myself. One should never underestimate the amount of compassion in a child.'

  He slowed the truck down and then made a left-hand turn along a rough track. After less than a quarter of a mile the area opened up and they were on the edge of a large tank. Matt pointed across the water to where she could see rocky hills in the mist.

  ' It's up there,' he told her, ' that the hermit lives.'

  ' But Terry couldn't possibly have got all this way,' she said, horrified.

  ' Not the way we've come, certainly. But we had to come along the road with the jeep. I'm reckoning he would have cut straight into the jungle almost opposite my place. There's a kind of track there that I've pointed out before now, but it peters out into a real jungle trail. It's the one the animals use. He would come out near the side of the tank we're just coming to and then head directly towards the hills '

  A few minutes later he pulled up at the edge of the water and, telling her not to move out of the truck, first climbed on top to scan the area towards the hills with his binoculars. There appeared to be no sign of life, except some flamingoes that rose noisily into the air as soon as they were disturbed. Matt then handed her the glasses and told her to keep looking, while he started to examine the track along which he reckoned the little boy would have come from the road.

  What, Rossi wanted to cry out, if Terry lay there, somewhere between here and the road? But she kept silent about her fear, knowing him to be an utterly practical man as far as the terrain was concerned.

  She rested her eyes from the strain of looking through the glasses and rubbed her hands across her face. It was intensely hot today, and inland there was no sea breeze to take the edge off the heat. These inside of the truck was like an oven and she felt she was gulping fire every time she breathed.

  In the utter silence she waited and then, out of the corner of her eye, saw the movement on the ground towards the front of the truck. The small dark shape slithered across the ground. She was

  seeing her first snake.

  From somewhere behind her she heard Matt's soft voice. Don't move, Rossi. Don't move a single inch.'

  So she stayed exactly as she was, only her eyes following the snake as it lay there coiled, seeming to watch her sleepily. It looked harmless enough, but she guessed it wasn't. She only knew her mouth was very dry.

  Suddenly it turned away and slithered in the opposite direction, so that in seconds it was lost to view.

  That,' explained Matt, was a tic polonga, just about the most dangerous snake in Ceylon. It leaps up at its victim and its bite is almost certainly fatal.'

  ' Oh!' Rossi swallowed, thinking of the small distance between the snake and the open side of the truck.

  On the other hand, you could count yourself lucky actually to see one. Here,' he held out his hand, do you recognise this?'

  She looked down, puzzled, at the article in his open palm. At first glance it looked like a lump of bright red mud. But it wasn't.

  ' I think,' she said, that it's plasticise

  That's what I hoped you would say. Go on.'

  His voice rose excitedly. And Terry was playing with some only yesterday. He must have pushed it into his pocket. He puts everything he finds in his pocket.'

  That's also what I hoped you'd say. At least it means that he must have come this way. And, more importantly, that he's come this far safely. Come on, we're going like the wind towards those hills. I know we're going to find him, Rossi.'

  o

  CHAPTER XI

  Almost immediately Rossi felt the ball of fear that had been tightening in her stomach for the past couple of hours begin to loosen. If she had tried to explain to either Tom—or Barney—that whatever she personally thought of Matt he still gave her a strong feeling of confidence they would have jeered at her. But she was not afraid to admit to herself that if anyone could find Terry, then Matt Lincoln could. The reassuring touch of his hand was enough. So was the look from those dark, shuttered eyes.

  The truck kept up a steady pace, following a direct line from where he had found the plasticine to the foothills, travelling round the western side of the lake. They did not talk at all, for Matt was keeping a sharp look out for any more signs on his side of the truck, while she searched the ground behind every bush and tree for just a glimpse of a familiar red tee-shirt.

  Matt drew up finally where the flat ground ended and started to rise sharply. The hills were not high, but all rock and thick vegetation. He blew the horn three times.

  Rossi looked at him questioningly and he replied: ' If Mala the hermit is there and is willing to see us he'll appear somewhere above us in a few minutes, then we have to wait for him to come down and either speak to us, or guide us up. Not only is his cave impossible to find, but these hills are thick with leopard and bear. It's where they sleep during the day before coming down to the tank at night to drink.'

  But if we can't find our way,' Rossi asked quietly, how on earth would you expect Terry to?'

  I don't, but Mala has his ways of finding and knowing. I'm counting on my instinct, nothing more. I just hope it's not going to let me flown. Ah, wait . . . there he is,' and Rossi found herself looking right up the hillside to where a distant figure was waving. The figure then disappeared. That means,' he added, that he's coming down to us. We have about fifteen minutes or a little more to wait.'

  It will seem like an eternity,' Ross said softly.

  Until I know that Terry is safe. . .

  I know how you feel, and I promise you Terry means almost as much to me.'

  Have you any family?' she asked, turning her

  mind away with an effort.

  No, I was an only child and my mother died when I was young.' He pulled a wry face. My father br
ought me up and since the shock of my mother's death more or less frightened him off women for life, he would hardly let one in the house. So our existence was rather rigid and very masculine. I daresay that's what makes, me a bit boorish sometimes. I'm certainly not Ceylon's most popular bachelor. But children are a different matter. I can feel at ease with them, yet with only one or two women.'

  Julia?' she said quietly.

  ' Yes, Julia. We found we had interests in common and we could talk about them. You know, whatever you may have heard, or whatever you may think, there was nothing more between Julia and myself. She was lonely and I suppose I was glad of some company too. She was never in love with anyone else but Tom, but he . . . well, as you see, he's

  been going through a bad patch. Julia was the one to suffer.'

  Rossi was silent, digesting what he said, wanting to believe him.

  There's another thing. I may have my faults, but stealing, or even coveting my neighbour's wife, is not one of them.'

  Have you ever told people what you've just told me?'

  No,' he answered gruffly, why should I? I don't have to justify myself. Besides, having the sort of reputation that I seem to have—quite unwittingly—gathered, it's as good a way as any of keeping unwelcome visitors away. I'm not a social butterfly and I've no wish to become one. . . . Enough—here's Mala, coming down the last stretch.' He leapt out of the truck and started to run.

  In a second she was out, following him, in time to be beside him while he made polite but hurried greetings, then shook the white-robed, bearded figure by the hand

  Forgive me, Mala, I come in haste, on a very urgent matter.'

  The old man smiled. Ah,' he said, then you come about the boy.'

  Rossi felt relief surge through her, but she had to thrust in with the important question. ' You have him?' she asked anxiously, ' and he's all right?'