Man of Fire

by Margaret Rome

  She was startled from her golden cloud of happiness by a strident laugh, totally devoid of humour, that echoed across the clearing. A sickening sense of foreboding filled her when she swung round and saw Theo straddling the centre of the clearing, staring at them. His mouth was twisted into a grimace of laughter that contrasted horribly with the jealous fury in his eyes, and immediately she tensed. Theo was obviously prepared to do mischief and she had a terrible suspicion which weapon he was about to use to get his revenge on Ramon.

  As if from a great distance, she heard his coarse laughter, then his barbed words, chosen solely for the benefit of the waiting señor, spilled across the clearing.

  'Well done, Tina gal! You've succeeded in doing what you set out to do, and at your very first attempt, too! It was a darned good idea of yours to settle scores with Inez by pinching her boy-friend!'

  Beside her, she felt Ramon stiffen. He withdrew a step and waited in ominous silence for her reply. In the soundless interval her heart beat with dull, heavy thuds that seemed, to her, almost deafening. She longed to scream a denial, but knew it would be a waste of time attempting an explanation in Theo's presence. Perhaps, she clung to the faint hope, she would be able to make him understand later, when they were alone...

  But she was to be denied that chance. Once more, the señor's hands clasped her shoulders and swung her round to face him. His question, thrust out with rapier swiftness, demanded complete honesty, 'Is what he says true?'

  'No, not really ... At least...' she stuttered in her eagerness to explain, but he cut through her words ruthlessly to insist upon the truth.

  'Did you discuss such a plan with Branston? Answer me, yes or no?'

  It took all the courage she possessed to answer truthfully, and when she finally choked out a whispered, 'Yes, but...' his dark, handsome face set into hard, grim lines of contempt; searing contempt, such as could only be portrayed by a man possessing a proud arrogance inherited from generations of haughty forebears.

  A second later he had turned swiftly on his heel and disappeared into the darkness.

  6

  DURING the days that followed, Tina was almost able to feel gratitude towards Theo for his crude accusation; it did, at least, help to shelter her badly mangled pride. She threw all her energies into her work, combing the surrounding jungle for useful and ornamental plants, classifying, pressing, drying and labelling her finds with a feverish absorption that failed miserably to blank off her mind from the awful reality surrounding her. She ought to have been thrilled by her discoveries; plants which hitherto she had only seen laid to rest as brittle, lifeless specimens in tall cases in the museum's herbarium flourished, together with other exciting new finds, along every wary step she took into the steaming jungle. But nothing, not even the breathtaking, hypnotic beauty of the scores of wild orchids that ran riot over myriad branches could keep her thoughts from returning, with humiliating persistence, to the scene she felt would be branded on her mind for eternity.

  Each recollection flooded her body with a hot, shamed blush of mortification. A thousand times she asked herself, How could I have done such a thing? What possessed me to throw myself at his head with such abandonment he could do no less than pretend a returned interest in order to save me embarrassment? And each time she squirmed anew when no excuse offered itself. She could have pretended that the shock she had suffered from his rough handling when he rescued her from the piranas and their nauseating habits had temporarily unhinged her mind - but she was too honest to deceive herself. A combination of the magic of the tropical night; her transient happiness, and his compelling nearness had culminated in her downfall She nursed one small shred of comfort. Thanks to Theo's timely intervention, Ramon was unaware that the feelings she had so blatantly displayed that evening had come from her heart and had not been, as he now believed, mere pretence culled up solely to settle scores with Inez. The knowledge was bitter-sweet, her heart yearned for him to know how much she loved him; her senses recoiled from the idea that he ever should.

  After three days of tormenting thoughts and grilling work, she was still no nearer putting into effect her plan to ask his permission to search for the herb doctor. Nagged with indecision and self-reproach because she was allowing her fear of his steely glance to make her falter in her resolve, she nerved herself several times to approach him, only to hesitate on the brink until the opportunity was lost. It was not until the evening of the third day, during the interval after supper and before turning in, that she managed to gather up enough courage to broach the subject.

  The company were assembled around the camp fire, replete, and chatting with lazy satisfaction about the progress made on their individual projects. The señor's dark head was bent towards Inez, when the question Tina could suppress no longer was projected without conscious volition across the glowing fire.

  'Señor, would you consider allowing me to take a small party into the interior in search of the Guaharibos?'

  Her mouth went dry when all conversation abruptly ceased and the señor's lancing blue eyes swung in her direction. She met his piercing look, with a calmness that hid a fast beating heart and held her breath.

  'The Guaharibos?' he interrogated with icy disinterest. 'Are you aware that these people have only recently been weaned from the most unpleasant trait of cannibalism and that it is quite possible they could revert to it immediately any unwelcome visitors enter their camp? I would require a very good reason for even considering such a request, Señorita Donnelly.' His glance sharpened. 'Have you one?'

  As she launched rapidly into an eager explanation, Tina completely forgot her qualms of nervousness. She raised her pleading face and returned his hard look with a plea for understanding while she outlined her hopes and her reasons for wanting to find the herb doctor. He listened in silence until her last faltering words had petered into nothingness, but when she imagined she saw a spark of interest escape his mask of imperturbability her spirits lifted - only to be hopelessly deflated when Inez's mocking laughter rang through the clearing.

  'What a silly notion,' she spluttered merrily. 'I've never heard of anything more ridiculous! You must be incredibly naive,' she mocked Tina, 'if you think a primitive, filthy witch doctor could possibly know more about treating disease than do our own eminent doctors and surgeons!'

  'And do doctors invent their own drugs, señora? Tina flashed, incensed. 'Plants first produced drugs and they're still busy making such essentials as quinine and penicillin. I admit that in the sophisticated laboratories of the world chemists often improve upon a natural product, but they would have few such plant products to study if it were not for such men as this herb doctor, who stumble across their cures quite by accident, or for botanists and plant collectors who pursue every faint lead in order to bring such plants into cultivation!'

  'Bravo, Tina!' Theo's voice betrayed hidden laughter. 'That was very well put, so well put, in fact, that any man who heard it must feel compelled to help you in your search. Unless,' he smiled slyly at the señor, 'he's afraid of a handful of natives and their crude weapons. In which case,' he promised Tina, 'I'll gladly escort you to the native village myself.'

  'You'll do no such thing, Branston,' the señor contradicted coldly. 'I make the decisions on this trip and as I have to consider the effect of each move on every member of the expedition, I cannot make them as rashly as you seem to.'

  Theo gave a complacent grin. Nothing could ruffle him now he had turned the tables on the man who had made him look small for the first time in his life. Revenge tasted sweet on his lips and the memory of his triumph lingered pleasantly in his mind, lending him a false sense of security in the presence of the arbitrary señor.

  But Ramon's cool glance swung from Theo's triumphant face with an imperviousness more galling than scorn, and came to rest once more on Tina's downcast face. She looked up quickly when he addressed her.

  'I respect the motives behind your request, señorita, and I have travelled enough in the company of
botanists to know there is more than a grain of truth in what you say.' Her heart took a leap upwards. 'However,' he swiftly deflated her, 'what you ask is out of the question. Even if the men are willing to escort you, I must not permit them to, the risks are too great.'

  A sympathetic murmur came from the circle of listening men at the sight of Tina's visible disappointment. Felix Crilly was the first to demur.

  'Is that your last word, señor? It seems a shame to be so near Tina's goal and yet be so incapable of helping her to reach it. I, for one, will gladly volunteer to escort her to the village if you will point out the way.' A chorus of assent proved that Felix spoke for all the men, and Tina's hopes soared. Surely, she thought, he could not refuse now, in the face of such championship. But she was immediately made aware that he could. Speaking with an assurance backed by years of professional expertise, he explained concisely,

  'As long as we stay together in one party, the Guaharibos will not attempt to do us harm, but if I were to allow a breakaway party to leave camp the consequences could be very serious.'

  'But, señor,' Felix argued, 'we haven't seen a native all the time we've been here! If we were to meet up with any, what makes you so sure they would be hostile? A few trinkets are generally enough to win them over, as you are no doubt quite aware.'

  The señor's eyebrows drew together in a grim frown, his tone became even more abrupt when he replied sharply,

  'We are not dealing with a tribe of childlike innocents, Crilly! The Guaharibos are savage cannibals whose first encounter with white men was only a few short months ago. And as for your not having seen a native while you have been here,' his voice carried an ominous ring, 'you might be interested to know that their eyes have followed our every movement since we entered their territory!' A concerted gasp was all he allowed before going on, 'If you had been a little more observant, you would have noticed the glow of their camp fires at night and also that the few beads and trinkets I hung on branches around the camp each evening have been left untouched, even though, the next morning, there's been sufficient evidence to prove that they had stood within a few feet of them!'

  He broke off abruptly, as if impatient of having to explain what should have been obvious to experienced men, and waited for someone to break the stunned silence. There were a few ashamed shuffles and a noisy clearing of throats, but no one spoke; even Theo seemed at a loss for words. Tina's hopes crashed as she looked around the embarrassed men who were unable to meet her pleading look. She swiftly averted her eyes from an ironic blue gaze that seemed to be revelling in her defeat, and automatically squared her shoulders in defiance before she stood up to leave. But before she left the perimeter of light, a command crisped out, 'I wish to speak to you first thing in the morning, Señorita Donnelly. Please report to me immediately after breakfast!' She sent a mortified nod of assent somewhere in the direction of his voice, then walked blindly away towards her hammock.

  For long hours during the night sleep evaded her. Her defeated hopes and dreams crowded her mind, persistently urging her to find a way to fulfilment; but Ramon Vegas had blocked every avenue of promise with his uncompromising refusal to allow her to begin her search for the herb doctor. Rebelliously, she toyed with the idea of making her way to the village alone. Buoyed up by the idea that he had deliberately baulked her plans in order to punish her, she explored this idea with mounting optimism, only to discard it immediately her imagination led her to picture herself alone in the appalling maze of jungle that lay between the camp and her objective. She knew her limitations, and was ashamed of her cowardice, but not even to aid suffering humanity could she venture into that teeming wilderness alone. A shudder ran through her at the thought of her first tentative sortie outside the camp in search of plants. Three hesitant steps had taken her from out of the reassuring presence of her companions and into an evil tomb of silent menace inside which she had stood petrified, sweating and trembling in an effort to force her leaden feet just one step farther. If it had not been for Theo's sudden appearance at her side she might still have been there, rooted with the paralytic fear of the jungle she seemed incapable of conquering. Theo had summed up the situation in a glance, and to her everlasting gratitude he had remained with her until she had gathered all that she could find of interest that day, and also the two days following. His knowledge of her secret had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because without his help she would surely have been exposed as the timid novice she undoubtedly was. Reluctantly, she abandoned the idea of setting out on her own, and closed her tired eyes in an effort to sleep. But she was thwarted by spinning thoughts that refused to relax their grip on her tired mind and thin fingers of light were pearling the night sky when eventually she dropped into a sleep of deep exhaustion.

  Consequently, after breakfast the next morning, she presented a wan face with a drooping mouth and eyes enormous with lack of sleep before the searching gaze of the señor. The men had all departed; even Inez had left with the Breckling brothers, who had pleaded with her to pose for them against a primitive background which, they had managed to explain, cried out for a contrasting model to emphasize its grandeur. So they were quite alone when his first words were grated from him.

  'What the devil is wrong with you? Are you ill?'

  Startled by the unexpected harshness of his greeting, she shook her head to clear away the dull fog of depression that held her and muttered,

  'No, of course not!'

  He clicked his fingers impatiently and gestured towards an upturned box. 'Sit down, I want to talk to you.' Under his fierce stare she dared not refuse, but she obeyed with such an ill grace that he was left in no doubt of her resentment. She waited with a show of mute insolence for the inevitable telling off.

  'How badly,' he astonished her by asking, 'do you want to find this herb doctor? Enough to do as you are told, with no questions asked, and enough to promise to obey implicitly any instructions I might find it necessary to give you? - Don't reply to that last question without thought,' he added sharply as her mouth opened to make an eager response, 'it is imperative that you understand the importance of the request before I can even think of taking you to the Guaharibos' village.'

  Her mouth dropped open with surprise. Convinced she had not heard aright, she questioned slowly, 'You intend taking me to the village?'

  His rigid stance relaxed. 'I will consider it,' he told her deliberately, 'only if you give me your word that you will not stray from my side for one minute during the journey and also,' he emphasized, 'that you will do exactly as I say, without question or hesitation, from the time we leave this camp until our return. I have seen enough,' he bit out the words, 'of your foolish escapades to convince me that you are neither sensible enough nor sufficiently competent to be let loose in this territory, and as I shall need to exercise vigilance all the way if we are to arrive safely at the village, I must have your assurance that you will not be attempting to embrace an anaconda or to stroke a jaguar while my back is turned!'

  A mortified blush chased the pinched wanness from her face and anger sparkled in her eyes at this piece of deliberate sarcasm, delivered without humour or tolerance to soften its impact. Almost, she refused his offer, but then common sense prevailed and the hasty words she wanted to utter were subjugated by the realization that he was offering her the chance to follow the lead her parents had blazed and that nothing must jeopardize her chance of seizing this opportunity.

  But one question had to be asked. 'Why have you changed your mind?' she dared to ask. 'Last night, you refused to allow any of the men to accompany me because of the danger involved, yet now you are offering to take me yourself. Does the danger no longer exist?'

  'It exists,' he nodded inscrutably, 'but if we go alone the danger will not be as great as it would be if a larger party were to attempt the journey.' He leant closer and reassured her, 'I know these people and they know me. No harm will come to you so long as you are with me.' Suddenly he straightened, and his next words were a
n ultimatum: 'If you are willing to do as I say, be ready to leave in ten minutes. Take only what you can get into your pockets; I have already packed the essentials we will need on the journey.'

  'Ten minutes?' Tina gasped. 'But what about the others? What will they think when they return to find us gone?'

  'I have already discussed this plan with Felix and Joseph Rogers,' was his bland reply. 'I did not want an argument from either your friend Branston or from Inez, who were both certain to want to come along, so Felix has been instructed to explain to them both tonight when they return to camp.' His tone descended to a drawl. 'Don't worry, señorita, you will not be separated from Branston for long. I expect to be back here by tomorrow evening at the very latest, provided,' he prodded her, 'you stop dithering and get a move on!'

  Immediately she sprang into action.. Exhilaration flooded her as she rapidly stuffed her pockets with the few things she thought she might need on the journey and only five minutes had elapsed when she again presented herself, flushed with elation, at his side to await his instructions. He gave a nod of satisfaction and jerked his head towards a canoe tied up by the river bank. 'It will be much quicker if we go as far as possible by water,' he explained, 'so get in, but,' he tersed, 'do not trail your fingers in the water!'