I knew he didn’t know the story, but by phrasing my sentence carefully, I thought he would decipher it.
The soldier trained his rifle on us, shouting commands we didn’t understand. We stood, arms raised, and continued to study each other.
Thomas recovered quickly. "Lady Jane sent us,” he said. “We’re here to rescue you."
"Really?” he asked. “How did she know I was here?”
An alarm siren sounded. I could hear voices in the distance. More soldiers were approaching.
Thomas saw the desperation cross my face. He consoled me with a confident smile. "Don't worry, George,” he said. “I have them right where I want them."
CHAPTER 26
Thomas’s comment was so absurd I started laughing.
The enemy wasn’t amused. “Sutoppu!” he shouted. “Stop!” He thrust the bayonet towards me.
Thomas took advantage of the distraction. He bent over, withdrew the knife from his boot, and flung it forward.
He missed. The blade whistled past the sentry and imbedded in the wall of the barracks.
“Teiryuu!” the guard yelled. “Halt!” He leveled his rifle, pointing the barrel at Thomas, giving every indication he would shoot.
A shadow appeared in the dim lighting, growing larger as a figure rounded the corner of the building. I looked at Thomas. He saw it also. The soldier did not.
It was Bennie. He assessed the situation and then slowly moved forward, walking stealthily across the sand. The soldier was twenty feet in front of him.
The sirens wailed, and voices could still be heard. The Japanese were organizing a defense, preparing for an attack that would never come. More soldiers would be sent to aid the guard who held us captive. We had to act quickly.
Bennie crept forward. He removed the knife from his belt, the blade long and thin and glistening in the moonlight. The soldier stood, his rifle trained on us. He was vigilant and wary. Bennie came closer and paused. The soldier remained still. Bennie took a step, and then another, closing the distance between them. He raised his knife.
Bennie slid the blade across his throat. It was the same way he had killed on the trawler. The shock on the soldier’s face was replaced by pain, and blood gushed from the wound.
The rifle discharged, the sound echoing through the compound, as the soldier fell to the ground. He went limp, his legs twitching uncontrollably, blood spewing from the mortal wound and staining the sand around him.
I stared at him holding his throat as if his hands could keep the blood in his body. His eyes met mine, anguished and pained, and I shivered as I watched the life drain from his body. He was gradually consumed with a look of serenity, and then he lay still, his eyes open and vacant and staring skyward.
"Let's go!" Bennie hissed. He sprinted to the fence followed closely by Lord Millburne and the boy.
I waited for Thomas to retrieve his knife from the wall. I could see soldiers in the distance, approaching from different directions.
“Thomas, hurry!” I called.
We ran to the fence, slid underneath it, and raced into the jungle. Most of the Japanese were scattered about the barracks, searching for intruders, but some found the hole we had dug and chased after us.
We crashed through the underbrush, breaking branches and trampling shrubs, leaving an easy trail for them to follow. Six or seven soldiers rapidly pursued us.
"They’re right behind us!" I shouted.
The warning seemed to panic Lord Millburne. He quickened his pace but tripped and fell. Thomas and I stopped to help him. He brushed himself off and raced forward, pursuing the boy and Bennie who was leading the escape.
The interruption was costly. One soldier was now clearly visible, approaching through the underbrush. Others were close behind.
"Run, George!" Thomas said. He crouched behind a bush.
"Thomas, don't. Come on, we can outrun them." "No, you go ahead. I'll catch up."
I stood beside him. I refused to desert him. "Go!" he screamed.
I realized he had something planned. I started running. A few seconds later, I turned to see if he followed. The soldier stood five feet from him, aiming his rifle. I was his target.
I stopped, terrified. My feet were rooted to the soil. I could only stare at the barrel of the rifle, waiting for the bullet to come.
Thomas leaped forward, plunging his knife in the enemy. He withdrew it before the soldier fell and scampered after me.
"Come on, George! There’s more. And they’re gaining on us."
I continued onward as Thomas pushed me from behind. We raced down the path we had marked earlier, twisting through the dense underbrush. When we reached the river we saw the others swimming towards the boat.
Thomas glanced behind us. “No one is coming,” he said. “They must have found the body. Now they’re cautious, afraid of an ambush. If we hurry, we’ll elude them.”
All the energy had drained from my body. The exertion and anxiety were starting to overwhelm me. I followed Thomas into the water and started to swim for the trawler, breathing heavily, my arms and legs moving slowly. After thirty or forty feet my muscles were aching, but I continued, my head hurting, throbbing with fatigue. My vision clouded, and blackness started to overcome me.
I refused to surrender. I remembered trying to walk as a child: the pain, the heartache, and failure after failure. But I never gave up, and I wouldn’t give up now. I took large gulps of air, fighting the desire to close my eyes and sink slowly beneath the surface to savor the serenity that death would bring.
My pace slowed even though I continued to kick and thrash, flailing at the endless water. I could see the trawler still a hundred feet away. Bennie and Lord Millburne and the young lad were climbing aboard. Thomas was well in front of me, almost to the boat.
I struggled to stay afloat, my body feeling heavier and heavier. I kept swimming, certain I couldn’t go on but determined to survive. Thomas had reached the trawler; I still had some distance to go. I pushed relentlessly, every muscle of my body crying for rest, my breath coming in gasps and gulps, my field of vision narrowed, almost entirely circled by blackness.
I realized I was hardly moving even though I was fighting and flailing and pushing. I was afloat but barely, and I still had fifty feet to go. I pushed onward, water spilling into my mouth and lungs; I coughed and spit, barely conscious and just above the water’s surface. I used every ounce of strength I had, determined to reach the boat. Inch by inch, I closed the distance.
Water washed over me as I dropped below the surface. I managed to raise my head, breaking through and gulping for air, and then I fought harder. I could see the boat, more like a shadow than a vessel, and I pushed forward, ignoring the pain. Then, too weak to fight, I sunk again.
Images of London overwhelmed me. I saw pubs and parks, Mom and Dad with their hands outstretched to welcome me, my sister and her husband raising a pint of beer in toast, my dog Henry the Eighth, wagging his tail and barking. There were cricket matches and the championship rugby game when Birmingham beat Plymouth. I could feel the fog, dense and moist, and the Thames River, Victoria Station, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. And then I was standing on Trafalgar Square, walking to the Sherlock Homes Pub. Maggie was there, waving me away, forcing me to leave her. Then Lady Jane was with me. Her hand was holding mine, and she was smiling.
Vaguely, I recall Bennie pulling me over the side of the boat. Thomas was still in the water, lifting me from below. I sprawled on deck, weak and weary, my senses dulled. I could see all the faces standing over me, vague and distorted and draped with concern.
Thomas and Bennie, Lady Jane and Lord Millburne, Van der Meer and the two young lads stared at me anxiously.
"Are you still with us?" Thomas asked, his voice dwarfed and distant.
"Yes, I think so," I said. I gasped, coughed and spit out water, my muscles burning and aching. But I felt my strength slowly returning, the blood flowing through my veins. “I was dreaming of London.”
�
��He’s all right,” I heard Thomas say to the others. “I was afraid he wasn’t going to make it.”
“Oh, thank God,” Lady Jane said, breathing a loud sigh of relief.
I looked up at her standing beside Lord Millburne. Her face was framed by the light of the approaching dawn like an angel, sympathetic and sincere.
“You were with me the whole time,” I said to her, still faint. “You were holding my hand.”
CHAPTER 27
I looked at the faces studying me and saw a mixture of emotions: shock, annoyance, and appreciation. As my head cleared, I realized I should have kept the images private. But it was too late.
After a few minutes had passed I was able to sit up, still winded but feeling much better. The others stood over me, but they looked much less concerned. Lady Jane introduced Lord Millburne to the group. He seemed a likable man who thanked us profusely for rescuing him. We called him Sir Gregory. The young boy we had rescued, an orphan named Nugi, had already found a friend in Adi.
Bennie went to the helm and steered the trawler downriver, using the last remnants of darkness to distance us from the oil fields and maximize our chance for escape. Van der Meer returned to the cabin, hunched over from his bruised ribs. Adi gave Nugi a tour of the boat, and Lady Jane and Sir Gregory moved to the other side of the deck. They sat on a bench, some distance between them. Thomas stayed beside me.
When I fully regained my senses, I realized I had almost died. “I want to thank you for saving my life,” I said to him.
He waved his hand in dismissal as if the act was commonplace. “You would do the same for me.”
His statement made me think. He was right. I wondered why. I barely knew him, but when mired in the nightmares created by war, it seemed we were lifelong friends. Tragedy forms bonds that are hard to break.
Thomas motioned to the other end of the deck.
Lady Jane was talking to Lord Millburne, surprised and confused. She looked at him warily with a feigned smile framed by defeat and despair. I remembered our discussion about the cage. She thought she’d escaped, but she hadn’t.
I watched her protectively. Her facial expressions hinted of both disbelief and exasperation with a spattering of guilt. The discussion was animated at times, but as daylight came they seemed to arrive at some sort of truce. At one point, he brushed the hair from her forehead. She didn’t resist. I turned away with pangs of jealousy.
As the sun appeared fully, Thomas collected everyone and brought us below deck. We assembled in a small room beside the engine compartment.
“It’s best if we stay out of sight until the river traffic decreases,” he said.
Once we were comfortable, or at least as comfortable as conditions permitted, I studied Sir Gregory. He was a handsome man, tall and straight, his brown eyes serious, but inquisitive. His hair and goatee were perfectly trimmed, although I didn’t know how he had managed that while captured by the Japanese. He seemed friendly but distant, courteous but wary. He appeared to be assessing both us and his personal situation. I had to admire him and his trek across the continents to pursue his beloved. I wondered if he would win her back. That act alone made it seem likely. He must really love her. He kept Lady Jane sequestered in one corner of the room where they spoke in hushed whispers. We knew they had much to discuss, so we left them alone.
“Why were the Japanese beating you?” I asked Van der Meer.
“I don’t think they needed a reason,” he replied. “It seemed so brutal,” I said.
“They thought I had information on Allied troop movements,” he explained. “Like I would know what goes on in the world from a remote rubber plantation.”
“How about you, Thomas,” I said. “Ever had trouble with the Japanese?”
He looked at Van der Meer, and a knowing glance passed between them. “Not until yesterday.”
Their answers didn’t ring true. There was a link between them. And Bennie, too. But it was a secret, and secrets were kept for a reason. Van der Meer seemed to command respect from both Thomas and Bennie. Maybe he was their leader. I might never know the answer, but I did know that they were more than just good friends.
“How are you feeling?” Lady Jane asked Van der Meer. “I was worried about you yesterday.”
“I’m doing much better,” he replied. “Thank you all for rescuing me.”
“I echo Mr. Van der Meer’s gratitude,” said Sir Gregory, thanking us again. “You had no reason to risk your lives for me. Your actions are greatly appreciated.”
“I’m glad we could help,” Thomas said.
I studied Lady Jane. Had she expected Balraj, her father, her father’s emissary, or Sir Gregory? She seemed to accept the situation even though it might not be what she’d wanted.
We traveled down river, sharing the channel with oil barges, container ships, and fishermen. When we approached the rubber plantation later that morning, Bennie watched the shore closely.
“There’s a lot of activity by the dock,” he called down to us. “But I can’t tell what it is.”
Thomas traded glances with Van der Meer. “Stay near the distant shore,” he said.
“I am,” Bennie said. “There are three Japanese patrol boats by the dock.”
“What are they doing?” Thomas asked.
I looked at Lady Jane. She sat beside Sir Gregory though their bodies didn’t touch. She was listening to Bennie’s reports. Her eyes were wide, her face pale.
“They’re looking for us,” Bennie said. “There are dead bodies lying on the dock. Van der Meer, can you come up here?”
He didn’t ask for Thomas. Van der Meer was injured, and Bennie had requested him anyway, which reinforced my suspicion of who the leader was.
“Thomas, should we go up and look?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “The fewer people in the cabin the better. The Japanese may be using binoculars to check the boats. Just listen.”
Van der Meer grimaced as he rose, but he made his way up the stairs to the helm.
“This doesn’t look good,” Bennie said. “I sense trouble.”
“It is trouble,” Van der Meer said. “We need to slip by them.”
“What is going on?” Thomas asked.
“There are a dozen Japanese standing on the dock at the rubber plantation,” Bennie said. “The men we killed at the house are lying on the dock.”
“And there are three enemy patrol boats gathered around the wharf,” Van der Meer added. “The cabins are all facing the river. I’m sure they’re watching traffic, prepared to attack any suspicious boats.”
“How do we slip by them?” Bennie asked.
There was silence. I could sense the two of them surveying the situation and determining a course of action.
“Slow down,” Van der Meer said. “Let that oil barge catch up to us. Then move closer to shore and stay by its side while we move upriver. That should keep us out of their view.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Bennie said. “I may run aground that far from the channel. I don’t know how deep the water is.”
“We have to take the chance,” Van der Meer said. “If the bottom of the boat scrapes, move towards the channel.”
The boat slowed for a few minutes. Then the turbulence in the river increased, the trawler rocking gently in the rippled waves. I suspected we rocked in the barge’s wake.
“Speed up,” Van der Meer said.
We moved forward, the turbulence consistent, our speed constant. We sat quietly, watching the hands of the clock move forward, the sound of the barge’s engines drowning our own. Several minutes passed. No one spoke.
Suddenly we heard a loud grinding sound. The boat was scraping bottom.
“Move into the channel,” Van der Meer said calmly. “But slowly.”
The boat jerked forward, then became sluggish. The hull scraped harder on the bottom, the length of the craft now catching on the sand. Bennie eased the wheel towards the channel and gradually the boat was freed. The turbulence
from the barge’s wake increased as we remained hidden behind it, but now just off her port side.
We sat quietly, listening to the engines of both boats, waiting for reports from the cabin. Minutes passed, and so did the first mile. It remained silent except for the puttering of motors. The boat continued forward, foot by foot, edging past the rubber plantation. Another minute passed.
“We did it,” Bennie called down to us. “We’re past the plantation.”
Van der Meer came down the steps as the speed of our boat increased. Now that we were out of sight, we had to get to the ocean as quickly as possible.
“That was close,” he said. “But I think we’re safe now.”
We left the Musi River and charted a course into the Pacific. We were in the kitchen all day, but Thomas let us spend the early evening, that tranquil time when dusk shadows the horizon, out on deck.
Van der Meer, Sir Gregory, and Thomas started discussing Dutch colonial possessions around the world. It was clear that Sir Gregory was very intelligent. It was also evident that Van der Meer was far more versed in world events than the simple owner of a rubber plantation. Once they were fully engaged in the conversation, I took the opportunity to chat with Lady Jane.
“How are you doing?” I asked when I was sure the others weren’t listening.
“I’m exhausted,” she said. “And you must be too.”
“Yes, I am. Almost drowning wears a man out.” I managed a weak smile. “Is your visitor who you expected?”
“I suppose, but I really wasn’t sure who it would be. I doubted it was Balraj. But I was surprised that Gregory made such an effort to find me. After the newspaper ad, I assumed it was someone my father had sent.”
“Are you disappointed it wasn’t Balraj?”
“Absolutely not,” she said. “I told you what a mistake that was. It was just an escape, my way out of the cage.”
I didn’t want to ask the next question, I think because I already knew the answer. But I had to know for sure. “Are you glad that Sir Gregory found you?”
She sighed. “I wasn’t at first. But I have to admit I’m flattered he did.”
To Parts Unknown Page 17