Power of the Sword c-10

by Wilbur Smith

  Speed, jong, fast as a mamba. Faced with Uncle Tromp's generosity and enthusiasm, Manfred had to gather all his courage to speak the words that had been burning his tongue all these weeks.

  He waited until the last possible moment of the last possible day before blurting out. I have to go away, Uncle Tromp, and he watched in agony the disappointment and disbelief flood over the craggy bearded face that he had come so swiftly and naturally to love.

  Go away? You want to leave my house? Uncle Tromp stopped short in the dust of the Windhoek road and wiped the sweat from his face with the threadbare towel draped around his neck. Why, Jong, why? My pa, Manfred answered. My pa's trial starts in three days time. I have to be there, Uncle Tromp. I have to go, but I will come back. I swear I will come back, just as soon as I can. Uncle Tromp turned from him and began to run again, pounding down the long straight road, the dust puffing from under his bearlike feet at each pace, and Manfred sprinted up beside him. Neither of them spoke again until they reached the clump of trees where the pony trap was hitched.

  Oom Tromp climbed up into the driver's seat and picked up the reins. He looked down at Manfred standing beside the front wheel.

  I wish, Jong, that I had a son of my own to show me such loyalty, he rumbled softly, and shook the pony into a trot.

  The following evening, long after dinner and the evening prayers, Manfred lay on his bed, the candle on the shelf above his head carefully screened so that not a glimmer could alert Aunt Trudi to his extravagance. He was reading Goethe, his father's favourite author. It wasn't easy. His German had improved vastly. On two days a week Aunt Trudi insisted that no other language was spoken in the household, and she initiated erudite discussion at the dinner-table in which all members of the family were expected nay, forced, to participate. Still Goethe wasn't a Tromp, and Manfred was concentrating so fiercely on his convoluted use of verbs that he didn't know Uncle Tromp was in the room until his shadow fell across the bed and the book was lifted from his hand.

  you will ruin your eyes, Jong. Manfred sat up quickly and swung his legs off the bed while Uncle Tromp sank down beside him.

  For a few moments the old man leafed through the book.

  Then he spoke without looking up. Rautenbach is going in to Windhoek tomorrow in his T-model Ford. He is taking in a hundred turkeys to market, but he will have room for you on the back. You'll have to put up with flying feathers and turkey shit, but it's cheaper than the train. Thank you, Uncle Tromp. There is an old widow in town, devout and decent, also a very good cook. She'll take you in. I've written to her. He drew a sheet of his notepaper from his pocket and placed it in Manfred's lap. The single sheet was folded and sealed with a blob of red wax, a back country minister's stipend could not encompass the luxury of envelopes.

  Thank you, Uncle Tromp. Manfred could think of nothing else to say. He wanted to fling his arms round that thick bearlike neck and lay his cheek against the coarse grey-shot beard, but he controlled himself.

  There may be other expenses, Uncle Tromp gruffed. I don't know how you will get back here. Anyway, He groped in his pocket, seized Manfred's wrist with the other hand, and pressed something into his open palm.

  Manfred looked down at the two bright half-crown coins in his hand and shook his head slowly.

  Uncle Tromp Say nothing, jong, especially not to your Aunt Trudi. Uncle Tromp began to stand, but Manfred caught his sleeve.

  Uncle Tromp. I can pay you back, for this and all the other things. I know you will, Jong. You will pay me back a thousand times, in pride and joy one day. No, no, not one day. Now. I can pay you back now. Manfred sprang eagerly from the bed and ran to the upended packing case standing on four bricks that was his wardrobe. He knelt and thrust his arm into the space below the box and brought out a yellow tobacco bag. He hurried back to where Uncle Tromp sat on the iron bed, pulling open the drawstring of the small pouch, his hands shaking with excitement and eagerness to please.

  Here, Uncle Tromp, open your hand. Smiling indulgently Uncle Tromp held out his huge paw, the back of it covered with coarse black curls, the fingers thick as good farmer's sausages.

  What have you here, Jong? he demanded jovially, and then the smile froze as Manfred spilled a cascade of glittering stones into his hand.

  Diamonds, Uncle Tromp, Manfred whispered. Enough to make you a rich man. Enough to buy you anything you need. Where did you get these, Jong? Uncle Tromp's voice was calm and dispassionate. How did you come by these? My pa, my father. He put them into the lining of my jacket. He said they were for me, to pay for my education and my upbringing to pay for all the things that he wanted to do for me but had never been able. So! said Uncle Tromp softly. It is all true then, all of what the newspapers say. It isn't just English lies. Your father is a brigand and a robber. The huge hand clenched into a fist over the glittering treasure. And you were with him, jong. You must have been there when he did these terrible things that they accuse him of, that they will try and condemn him for. Were you with him, Jong? Answer me! His voice was rising like a storm wind, and now he let out a bellow. Did you commit this great evil with him, Jong? The other hand shot out and seized the front of Manfred's shirt. He pulled Manfred's face to within inches of his own jutting beard. Confess to me, jong. Tell it all to me, every last scrap of evil. Were you with him when your father attacked this Englishwoman and robbed her? No! No! Manfred shook his head wildly. It's not true.

  My father wouldn't do a thing like that. They were our diamonds. He explained it to me. He went to get back what was rightfully ours. 'Were you with him when he did this thing, Jong? Tell me the truth, Uncle Tromp interrupted him with another roar.

  Tell me, were you with him? No, Uncle Tromp. He went alone. And when he came back he was hurt. His hand, his wrist, Thank you, Lord! Uncle Tromp looked upwards with relief. Forgive him for he knew not what he did, O Lord.

  He was led into sin by an evil man. My father isn't evil, Manfred protested. He was cheated out of what was truly his. 'Silence, Jong. Oom Tromp rose to his full height, splendid and awesome as a biblical prophet. Your words are an offence in the sight of God. You will make retribution here and now. He dragged Manfred across the toolroom and pushed him in front of the black iron anvil.

  Thou shalt not steal. That is the very word of God. He placed one of the diamonds in the centre of the anvil. These stones are the ill-begotten fruits of a terrible evil. He reached to the rack beside him and brought down a fourpound sledgehammer. They must be destroyed. He thrust the hammer into Manfred's hands.

  Pray for forgiveness, Jong. Beg the Lord for his charity and forgiveness, and strike! Manfred stood with the hammer in his hands, holding it at high port across his chest, staring at the diamond on the anvil.

  Strike, Jong! Break that cursed thing or be for ever cursed by it, roared Uncle Tromp. Strike, in the name of God. Rid yourself of the guilt and the shame. Slowly Manfred raised the hammer on high and then paused. He turned and looked at the fierce old man.

  Strike swiftly, roared Uncle Tromp. Now! And Manfred swung, the same fluid, looping, overhead blow with which he chopped wood, and he grunted with effort as the head of the hammer rang on the anvil.

  Manfred lifted the hammer slowly. The diamond was crushed to white powder, finer than sugar, but still the vestiges of its fire and beauty remained as each minute crystal caught and magnified the candlelight; and when Uncle Tromp brushed the diamond dust from the anvil top with his open hand it fell in a luminous rainbow cloud to the earthen floor.

  Uncle Tromp laid another fiery stone upon the anvil, a fortune such as few men could amass in ten years of unremitting labour, and stood back.

  Strike! he cried, and the hammer hissed as it turned in the air, and the anvil rang like a great gong. The precious dust was brushed aside and another stone laid in its place.

  Strike! roared the Trumpet of God, and Manfred worked with the hammer, grunting and sobbing in his throat with each fateful blow until at last Uncle Tromp cried: Praised be the name of the L
ord. It is done! And he fell on his knees, dragging Manfred down with him, and side by side they knelt before the anvil as though it were an altar and the white diamond dust coated their knees as they prayed.

  Oh Lord Jesus, look upon this act of penance with favour.

  Thou who gave up Thy life for our redemption, forgive Thy young servant whose ignorance and childishness has led him into grievous sin. It was after midnight and the candle was guttering in a puddle of its own wax before Uncle Tromp rose from his knees and pulled Manfred up with him.

  Go to your bed now, jong. We have done all we can to save your soul for the time being. He watched while Manfred undressed and slipped under the grey blanket. Then he asked quietly: If I forbade you to go to Windhoek in the morning, would you obey me? My father, whispered Manfred.

  Answer me, Jong, would you obey me? I don't know, Uncle Tromp, but I don't think I could. My pa, I You have so much to repent already. It would not do to add the sin of disobedience to your load. Therefore, I place no such restriction upon you. You must do what loyalty and your conscience dictate. But for your own sake and mine, when you reach Windhoek, use the name of Bierman not De La Rey, Jong, do you hear me? Judgement today! I make a rule never to predict the outcome of any piece of legislation or judicial process, Abe Abrahams announced from his chair facing Centaine Courtney's desk. However, today I break my own rule. I predict that the man will get the rope. No question about it. How can you be that certain, Abe? Centaine asked quietly, and Abe looked at her with covert admiration for a moment before replying. She was wearing a simple lowwaisted dress which could justify its expense only by its exquisite cut and the fineness of the silk jersey material. It showed off her fashionable small bosom and boyishly slim hips as she stood against the french windows. The bright white African sunlight behind her formed a nimbus about her head, and it took an effort to look away from her and to concentrate on the burning cheroot which he held up to enumerate his points.

  Firstly, the small matter of guilt. Nobody, not even the defence, has made any serious attempt to suggest anything other than he is guilty as all hell. Guilty in intention and execution, guilty of planning it in detail and carrying it out as planned, guilty of all manner of aggravating circumstances, including attacking and robbing a military remount depot, firing on the police and wounding one of them with a grenade. The defence has as good as admitted their only hope will be to pull some arcane technical rabbit from the legal hat to impress His Lordship, a hope which so far has not materialized. Centaine sighed. She had spent two days in the witness stand. Though she had remained calm and unshakable in the face of the most rigorous and aggressive cross-examination, she was exhausted by it, and haunted by a sense of culpability, of having driven Lothar to that desperate criminal folly, and now guilty of heading the pack that was pulling him down and would soon rend him with all the vindictiveness that the law allowed.

  Secondly, Abe waved the cheroot, the man's record.

  During the war he was a traitor and a rebel with a price on his head, a desperado with a long string of violent crimes to his discredit. He was pardoned for his wartime crimes, Centaine pointed out. A full pardon signed by the prime minister and the minister of justice. Still, they will count against him. Abe wagged his head knowingly. Even the pardon will make it worse for him: biting the hand of mercy, flouting the dignity of the law.

  The judge won't like that, believe me. Abe inspected the end of the cheroot. It was burning evenly with a firm inch of grey ash and he nodded approvingly. Thirdly, he went on, the man has shown no remorse, not a jot nor a shred of it. He has refused to tell anybody what he did with the filthy loot. M He broke off as he saw Centaine's distress at the mention of the missing diamonds, and continued hurriedly: Fourthly, the emotional aspects of the crime, attacking a lady of the highest standing in the community. He grinned suddenly.

  A helpless female so unable to defend herself that she bit his arm off. She frowned and he became serious again. Your own courage and integrity will count heavily against him, your dignity in the witness box. You have seen the newspapers: Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale in one person, the veiled suggestion that his attack upon you might have been more dastardly and beastly than modesty will allow you to tell. The judge will want to reward you with the man's head on a platter. She looked at her wristwatch. The court will reconvene in forty minutes. We should go up the hill. Abe stood up immediately. 'I love to watch the law in operation, the dignified and measured pace of it, the trappings and ritual of it, the slow grinding of evidence, the sorting of the chaff from the wheat Not now, Abe, she stopped him as she adjusted her hat in the mirror above the mantel, draping the black veil over one eye, setting the small brim at an elegant angle and then picking up her crocodile-skin handbag and tucking it under her arm. Without any further oratory from you, let's just go and see this awful thing through. They drove up the hill in Abe's Ford. The press was waiting for them in front of the courthouse, thrusting their cameras into the open window of the Ford and blinding Centaine with bursting flash bulbs. She shielded her eyes with her handbag but the moment she stepped out of the automobile they were around her in a pack, yelling their questions.

  Arhat will you feel if they hang him? What about the diamonds? Can your company survive without them, Mrs Courtney? Do you think they'll do a deal for the diamonds? What are your feelings? Abe ran interference for her, barging his way through the crowd, dragging her by the wrist into the comparative quiet of the courthouse.

  Wait here for me, Abe, she ordered, and slipped away down the passageway, weaving through the crowd that was waiting for the doors of the main courtroom to open. Heads turned to watch her and a buzz of comment followed her down the passage, but she ignored it and turned the corner towards the ladies toilets. The office set aside for the defence was directly opposite the ladies room and Centaine glanced around to make sure she was unobserved, then turned to that door, tapped upon it sharply, pushed it open and stepped inside. She shut the door behind her and, as the defence counsel looked up, she said: 'Excuse this intrusion, gentlemen, but I must speak to you. Abe was still waiting where she had left him when Centaine returned only minutes later.

  Colonel Malcomess is here, he told her, and all her other preoccupations were forgotten for the moment.

  Where is he? she demanded eagerly. She had not seen Blaine since the second day of the trial when he had given his evidence in that ringing tenor lilt that raised the fine hair on the back of Centaine's neck, evidence that was all the more damning for its balanced unemotional presentation. The defence had tried to trip him on his description of the shooting of the horses and the grenade attack, but had swiftly sensed that he would provide little for their comfort and let him leave the stand after a few futile minutes of cross-examination. Since then Centaine had looked for him unavailingly each day.

  Where is he? she repeated.

  He has gone in already, Abe replied, and Centaine saw that while she had been away the ushers had opened the double doors to the main courtroom.

  Charlie is holding seats for us. No need to join the scrum. Abe took her arm and eased her through the moving crowd.

  The ushers recognized her and helped clear the aisle for her to reach the seats in the third row that Abe's assistant was holding for them.

  Centaine was covertly searching through the bustle for Blaine's tall form, and she started when the press of bodies opened for a moment and she saw him on the opposite side of the aisle. He was searching also and saw her a moment later; his reaction was as sharp as hers had been. They stared at each other from a few yards that seemed to Centaine to be an abyss wide as an ocean; neither of them smiled as they held each other's eyes. Then the crowd in the aisle intervened once again, and she lost sight of him. She sank down in the seat beside Abe and made a little show of searching in her handbag to give herself time to recover her composure.

  Here he is, Abe exclaimed, and for a moment she thought he was referring to Blaine. Then she saw that the warders
were bringing Lothar De La Rey through from the cells.

  Although she had seen him in the dock for every one of the last five days, she was still not hardened to the change in him. Today wore a workman's shirt and dark slacks. The clothes seemed too large for him, and one sleeve was pinned up loosely over his stump. He shuffled like an old man and one of the warders had to help him up the steps into the dock.

  His hair was completely white now, even his thick dark eyebrows were laced with silver. He was impossibly thin and his skin had a greyish lifeless look; it hung in little loose folds under his jaw and on his scrawny neck. His tan had faded to the yellowish colour of old putty.

  As he sank onto the bench in the dock, he lifted his head and searched the gallery of the court. There was a pathetic anxiety in his expression as he ran his eyes swiftly over the packed benches. Then Centaine saw the little flare of joy in his eyes and his masked smile as he found what he was seeking. She had watched this scene enacted every morning for five days, and she twisted in her seat and looked up at the gallery behind her. But from where she sat the angle was wrong.

  She could not see who or what had attracted Lothar's attention.

  Silence in court, the usher called and there was a shuffling and scrabbling as the body of the court came to its feet and judge Hawthorne led his two assessors to their seats.

  He was a silver-haired little man with a benign expression and lively sparkling eyes behind his pince-nez. He looked more like a schoolmaster than the hanging judge that Abe said he was.

  Neither he nor his assessors wore wigs or the colourful robes of the English courts. Roman Dutch law was more sombre in its trappings. They wore simple black gowns and white swallow-tailed neckties, and the three of them conferred quietly, inclining their heads together while the body of the court settled down and the coughing and throatclearing and foot-shuffling abated. Then judge Hawthorne looked up and went through the formality of convening the court and the charge sheet was read once again.