by Lee Weeks
‘What about Riley?’
‘Don’t tell him, he isn’t my keeper…He’s out of danger now. He will start getting tetchy soon. I’d rather not be here when that starts. I want to come, Louis.’
‘No, Sue. There’s nothing you can do now. Your job was as a medic but we will come up against Saw. And we are going to need some muscle more than anything else right now.’
‘Bullshit. I am coming whether you like it or not. If Mann is dying, I need to be there.’
91
When Mann opened his eyes he saw the world in the treetops. He saw the morning light filter and flicker through the tiniest gaps in the leaves. Something moved in the branches high above and he watched it flit from branch to branch. It was a monkey carrying her young on her back and looking down at Mann. Waking to such a morning felt like the best thing ever. Mann lay still. He could not have moved even if he had wanted. His body was all but spent. His head felt like he had been in a boxing match that he had lost, badly. His mouth was parched. The image of Daniel and the monk were still fresh in his mind. He lay there thinking of what it all meant, and before long he had drifted back to sleep. The next time he opened his eyes, the day was well established and there was the sound of something large coming his way through the jungle. Mann lay very still as the noise came straight towards him and he waited, his heart pounding, expecting at best a tiger, at worst Saw. Then he saw Gee. He didn’t look at Mann; he went straight for Mann’s backpack.
‘What’s the news from the village?’ Mann asked. Gee jumped.
‘Ah…You are back from the dead? Very good.’ He laughed. ‘You are strong. Where is your phone?’
‘The battery’s dead.’
Gee came and knelt beside Mann.
‘Tut tut.’ Gee shook his head ‘We need it now. Things have not gone well, my friend.’
Mann propped himself up onto one elbow and looked about the clearing. ‘Where are Run Run and Alak?’
Gee stood and pretended to be busy.
‘Where are they, Gee?’
‘I am sorry to tell you, but I have terrible news. I went down to my village and found there such awful things. Such terrible things. Both Run Run and Alak, all Alak’s men, they are all dead, killed by that man—that half wolf—Saw.’
‘Did you see the volunteers? Do you know what happened to them?’
Gee shook his head solemnly.
‘They were at the village. They are no longer four, now they are three. One of the boys is dead, another still very sick.’ He lifted Mann into the hammock and brushed the debris from his clothes.
‘Is the Chinese boy still alive?’
‘I asked about him. Yes, he is still alive.’ Gee lit a small fire and started boiling up some tea for Mann and himself.
‘Drink it.’ He held the cup to Mann’s mouth. ‘It taste very bad but it is very good for your fever.’ He grinned at Mann from beneath the red peak of his cap. ‘You are very strong. I thought I would be humping your dead carcass back to Mae Sot to sell in the market. Now I will sell you alive—much better.’ He laughed.
‘Ha…is that why you came back?’
Gee looked at him curiously.
‘Of course.’
Mann took a few sips of the drink and lay back exhausted.
‘Funny, I thought it was because you wanted something I had.’
‘No, no, dear friend. We only have us two now. We are the last. It is such terrible times. I hardly know what we should do.’ Gee’s eyes searched the horizon and he looked as if he expected to be killed at any moment. ‘Very bad. Many of the men are killed. The women are taken as porters for the Shwit. Only the children are left and a few old people. The rice is left to ruin and most of the elephants are dead. It is much worse than I ever thought. I left them with gem stones to buy rice and I will go back and help them rebuild the village. But we cannot stay here, it is not safe.’
‘We need to get back to Mae Sot.’
Gee looked at Mann as if he were delirious.
‘You are too sick. It is a four-day journey to the River Moei and the crossing to Thailand. We must hide further into the hills.’
Mann lay back and closed his eyes. ‘We have to go to Mae Sot now, Gee. We have no choice. I have to play the game with Katrien. Whatever it takes, I have to get Jake back.’
At first Gee did not answer, and then he jumped up.
‘Then I know what we shall do. I will be back soon.’ Before Mann could ask where he was going, Gee had scampered off into the jungle and disappeared from sight. Mann was too tired to try and make sense of it and sank back down to sleep. The monkey watched him as her young clung to her. A few hours later, he awoke to hear Gee calling out of the jungle to him.
‘Do not worry, it is just I.’ There was a strange snuffling noise accompanying him and the sound of breaking twigs.
‘I have brought an old friend with me.’ Mann could hear Gee and he could here the sound of something else, something big.
Mann sat up to see Gee riding atop a large flappyeared, soft-eyed elephant who was looking down at him and nudging him with her trunk. On top of her back was a wooden seat. ‘Her name is Brigitte. She is the only surviving elephant after the attack on my village. She was out eating when the attack came. She is very naughty and very greedy, but she is a very lucky elephant. She will carry us to the river. I was trained as a mahout—an elephant handler—when I was young. We will leave now. We are not safe here. They will find us. We need to keep moving.’
Gee helped Mann to stand and he tapped Brigitte’s trunk and commanded her to kneel so that Mann could stand on her leg and pull himself up into the basic wooden boxseat, which had a bar across it to stop him falling out. Gee picked up all he wanted from the camp—the cooking pot, the mosquito nets and two hammocks—and then did his best to cover their tracks, before ordering Brigitte to lift her knee again so that he could straddle her neck and guide her.
Mann was jolted back and forth in the wooden box. It was like riding a bucking bronco set at the slow setting. Gee reached back and wedged Mann in with the bags, so that he could sleep. As they made their way through the jungle, Mann looked down on the world and became mesmerised watching the frayed edges of Brigitte’s ears, speckled pink on the underside, gently flapping.
Gee looked towards the hills. Tomorrow he would turn towards them; tonight, he needed to stay by the river. He was glad Mann was asleep, so that he would not ask him why they were going the wrong way.
92
Mo was drinking rum, one shot after the other. Sue and Louis sat with her, having arrived a few hours ago. She had gone to Gee’s village to recover Run Run’s body and had brought it home. Now she sat forlornly snuffling as she wiped her nose with her sleeve and drank her rum. Phara brought her something to eat—she pushed it away. She looked up from her drink, her eyes brimming with angry tears.
‘I intend to kill him with my bare hands. If I cannot find Saw, I will at least find that bastard Boon Nam and I will roast his flesh over my fire for what he did here to my family.’ She wiped the dribble of snot from her nose. ‘Then we will leave this place. We cannot rebuild it now. We have only unhappy spirits here.’ She was heavily drunk. She got up and lurched into Louis. She pushed him away as if he had fallen into her. ‘Come. Come and see my daughter, Run Run. Tomorrow she goes on her journey to the heavens.’
They walked across the scorched earth, the smell of charcoal still in the air, the melancholy feel of things left ruined and broken.
They came to one of the few houses left untouched by Boon Nam and his men. They took off their shoes and climbed the ladder. There, laid out and wrapped in white cloth, was Run Run’s body.
‘I will rip his throat out with my bare hands.’ She squeezed her fists in the air and her arms shook as her hands knotted around an imaginary throat, and then she started to cry, heaving big drunken sobs, before she wiped her eyes with her T-shirt and looked mournfully across at Sue and Louis.
‘I have given you the coordin
ates of Gee’s village and where I think you will find Mann—what is left of him. Now leave me. I need to be with my daughter.’
They left her lying beside her daughter’s body, wrapped and embalmed and made ready for the cremation. Beside Run Run’s was another body; it was Alak’s.
93
‘Brigitte must rest now.’ Mann heard Gee’s voice as if it came from a great distance. ‘We will rest a few hours. We will eat something, then we go on.’
Mann was hardly aware of the day. They had been travelling for ten hours. It was too dark to see further and they had no choice but to wait till dawn. Gee helped him down from Brigitte’s back. He had already prepared a small fire to boil water and make noodle soup and he now made Mann’s hammock ready.
‘You will take a little rest and some food now, my friend, then I will leave you just for a few hours whilst I follow the river and see if it is safe and which path we should take in the morning.’
Mann forced himself to eat and then he sank into a deep sleep as he listened to Brigitte’s breathing; she sighed as she lay on her side and slept.
Downriver, Sue and Louis were also setting up for the night. They had brought enough provisions to last them four days; after that, they would need to head back.
‘How far are we by Mo’s coordinates, do you think, Louis?’
‘A day and a half, but if we stick to this route we might find him earlier. This is the way we came last time. It is the best route for anyone retracing their steps.’
Sue made a fire whilst Louis set up camp, then picked up her bag. ‘I am going to wash,’ she announced as she went down to the river. She stood for a few moments looking across to the other side, watching the stars twinkling, the moon gliding on the river. She remembered the last time she had had any time with Mann had been almost at this exact spot. She unbuttoned her shirt and stripped naked and left her clothes on top of her bag as she waded in and washed her body with the cool water.
‘Did I come at the right time?’
Sue gasped and ducked down into the water as she turned and saw Louis watching her from the riverbank.
‘What do you think you are doing, Louis?’
‘What does it look like?’ He grinned. ‘Don’t worry. Just looking. I came down to tell you that dinner is served.’
‘Okay, coming. Now…if you don’t mind…’ She ducked down under the water until he had left. After drying herself, she returned to the camp. Louis handed her a cup of something as she passed him.
‘What’s this?’ Sue asked. It smelt a lot like rice wine.
‘It’s medicinal.’
‘Really?’
‘I was thinking…we are out here in the middle of nowhere and this could be our last night. So…’
‘So nothing, Louis. I have heard all the reasons…’ She ruffled his hair as she stood and made her way to her hammock. ‘The end of the world one never cut it with me. Well, tomorrow is another day. Night, night.’
Sue awoke the next morning as the canopy above their heads came to life. She slipped out of her hammock and re-packed her bag whilst she waited for Louis to get up. She looked across at him, still in his hammock. He seemed to be able to sleep through everything.
‘Louis, get up, you lazy bum,’ she called. His back was turned to her. Years of being a backpack medic had taught him to be at home in the jungle.
She called again. He didn’t answer. She walked to his hammock and bent over him to wake him. Louis’s eyes stared lifelessly back at her. Sue looked down at his chest. There was a single wound, an inch across, straight into his heart, with bruising either side, exactly like the dead soldier at Mo’s camp.
94
A mile away across two hills, Jake helped Lucas onto the mule. Anna helped to tie him on. Anna had hardly spoken for days. She moved like a zombie. Jake knew that she had given up hope. She lived on the edges of her nerves and every breath she took was pained. She was constantly terrified. Jake knew that, because he felt the same way. Since the fight in the village, Saw was losing control. It was left to Handsome and Weasel to keep the men in check. Every night the men fought and killed each other over the female porters. Now there were only Handsome and Weasel and four of Saw’s men left.
‘Faster.’ Saw came alongside Jake who was leading Lucas. The mule was lame. It had a split in its hoof which every day had got bigger. Now it was so sore that it struggled to keep going over the uneven terrain.
‘The animal has a bad leg,’ answered Jake. ‘It can’t go any faster.’
Saw watched it take a few more steps. ‘Take the boy off,’ he said to Jake. Anna helped lift Lucas from the mule’s back. Lucas slipped to the ground. Saw said something to Weasel and he appeared beside them, knife in hand, and slit the animal’s throat. Saw turned to Jake.
‘Go. We go.’ Saw started walking away.
Anna came over to help and between them they got Lucas to his feet. Saw looked back at them and shouted:
‘Leave him.’
Jake stood firm. ‘No…we can manage. I am not leaving him.’
Saw turned and raced back. Lucas dropped to his knees as Saw began punching Jake in the head with several fast, hard blows, until Jake felt his knees go weak and his head begin to spin.
Anna jumped onto Saw’s back and bit his shoulder. He gave a growl of pain and threw her with such force that she landed six feet away and lay stunned on the forest floor. Saw stood over Jake panting with rage. It was as if he had finally had enough. His men watched him with nervous curiosity. Handsome walked over to Anna and dragged her to her feet. He threw her over his shoulder and marched off down the track.
‘Get up,’ Saw shouted at Jake.
Jake rolled onto his knees and vomited. He held on to a tree and pulled himself up and leant against it, trying to breathe.
Saw grabbed hold of his wrists and started dragging him away from Lucas.
‘Lucas, Lucas, get up,’ Jake shouted at Lucas. But Lucas didn’t move. ‘No…please, please, I beg you, don’t leave him,’ Jake pleaded.
Saw strode over and kicked Lucas to see if he was still alive. Lucas didn’t move.
‘Leave him.’
Saw dragged Jake away.
95
Alfie stopped opposite the entrance to a shop stacked with ceremonial dragon heads used for Chinese New Year, massive heads with bulbous fish eyes rimmed with white and orange fur.
He looked again at the details Ng had faxed over to him. The Golden Orchid Company was registered to an address in Chinatown.
Yes, that was the place. He crossed the road. The door clanged with a series of tinny bells as he opened it. The shop was dark and crammed with Chinese wares. They were obviously not expecting customers. A young, slim Chinese woman, who was unloading a box of jewellery as he entered, looked startled.
‘Good morning,’ Alfie said with a big smile. She didn’t answer; instead she rose swiftly and exited twice as swiftly to a room at the back.
Strands of pearls were lying on the counter alongside jade jewellery items and mini Buddhas. Alfie examined the merchandise.
‘We are closed.’
Alfie looked up to see a man, similar in ethnicity, but not the one the Bitch had met. He spoke good Dutch.
‘Really?’ Alfie looked around.
The man didn’t answer. Alfie held a bunch of pearls in his hand and weighed them in the air.
‘You have some nice things here. Where do they come from?’
‘Hong Kong.’
Alfie looked at the script on the tag attached to the pearls. It wasn’t Chinese writing. It was very distinct, ornate, rounded, almost Arabic. The man saw him looking.
‘Some of it comes from other countries in Asia. What is your business?’
‘Mine? Customs and Excise. I want to know whether you have paid the taxes on these things.’ Alfie fished in his jacket and got out his warrant card and flashed it briefly. Brief enough to show it was legitimate but not to show which division.
‘We have import pa
pers for it all.’
‘I will need to see them.’
‘They will take some time to find.’
‘I can wait.’ Alfie knelt down to look at the front of the box that the girl had been emptying. On it was the crest of the Golden Orchid Company.
‘Burma, huh? You still are managing to do business with them despite the troubles?’
The man shrugged. ‘The world will always have troubles, my friend. Business must go on.’
Alfie could see that his eyes were black, lightless. He was a man unmoved by human tragedy. He seemed to be weighing Alfie up. Then, clearly irritated, he called for someone from the back room. The slim girl reappeared, looking very nervous. The man spoke sharply to her and she stared at Alfie with a pleading look. The man spoke even more sharply and she turned on her heels and scampered off.
She returned with a few pieces of paper which she gave to the man and which he passed on to Alfie.
‘Can I keep these?’
‘Why should you need to? They are legitimate import documents. You can see by the stamp.’ The man gestured towards the paper. Across the grubby pages was a red stamp and a scribbled signature.
‘I want to check it, that’s all. I will give you a receipt for them.’
‘Take them if you want but there is a lot of work for you here. Surely there is something I can give you to ease your work. I can make a donation to your police fund maybe?’
The man’s eyes stayed focused on Alfie as Alfie stared back for a few seconds and then grinned.
‘Like I said, I will take these.’
Alfie stepped out of the shop. Folding the papers in his hand, he slipped them into the inside of his jacket and walked back towards the station. He wanted to fax them straight over to Ng.
96
Shrimp stood at the entrance to the boxing ring. An orchestra of five were playing traditional Thai music in the corner. There was a good crowd, maybe around one hundred and fifty, mainly locals—tourists were thin on the ground. A queue of hopefuls was already limbering up at the side of the ring.