by Tony Main
‘Caymans,’ said Jobey. ‘Smaller than Hector, but they’ve a good set of teeth. It’s the piranhas you need to look out for. Always hungry, and if you’re too tough to bite from the outside they’ll eat you from the inside.’
‘Any other cheerful information?’
‘Stingrays in the mud – you won’t tread on one of those more than once in your lifetime. Electric eels that’ll put six hundred volts through you.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Jaguars lying in wait on the branches of trees – a couple of hundredweight of muscle with a bite more powerful than a lion or a tiger. The Brazilian Wandering Spider, which Doc says is the world’s deadliest.’
‘And where does that lie in wait?’
‘It doesn’t. It wanders.’ Jobey paused, ‘anywhere,’ he added darkly.
Pickle slapped him on the back. ‘What a joy you are!’ he said.
Chapter 8
The overnight rain steamed from Misty’s deck in the heat of the morning as Capt. Albern and Skeet discussed the replenishment of the drinking water. They were interrupted by the hail of a young boy expertly manoeuvring a canoe alongside.
‘Pablo has some news for the hedgehog,’ he shouted.
‘Pablo?’ asked Capt. Albern.
The boy pointed to the “Golden Nugget”. ‘Pablo,’ he repeated.
‘Thank you!’ called the captain, and dropped a coin into the boat. With a huge grin and a wave of thanks, the boy spun the canoe around and paddled for the shore.
‘That was quick! Looks like we might be getting somewhere,’ declared Skeet.
‘Almost too quick,’ muttered the captain.
A squat, heavily jowled man with a toothless smile greeted Ancell and Chad at the jetty.
‘I may be able to introduce you to someone I’m sure you’d like to meet,’ he said.
‘And who might that be?’ asked Chad.
Pablo sighed. ‘I’m trying to think,’ he said, and held out his hand.
Chad counted three coins into Pablo’s greasy palm.
Pablo smiled and turned to Ancell. ‘I hear you are looking for some children. Two strangers came into town last night who may be able to help. I could arrange for you to meet tonight – just yourself.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ replied Ancell quickly. ‘Where and when?’
Chad was staring at Pablo’s hand. The thumb and index finger were missing.
‘What a shame!’ he murmured, counting out three more coins. ‘You see, Pablo, I get lonely without my friend, and I go to bed early, so it’s both of us now or not at all.’
Pablo hesitated.
‘And I’ll have to ask for my money back,’ added Chad.
Pablo stopped smiling. ‘Follow me,’ he grunted, and led the way into the “Golden Nugget”.
Ancell blinked as he stepped into the dimness of the bar. Smoke hung in the air although the room appeared to be empty but for a man slumped across a table snoring heavily, a bottle at his feet. A chair scraped, Chad whirled round tensely, and Ancell saw two shadowy figures drinking at a corner table. The men smiled and beckoned them over. Pablo brought a bottle and hovered.
‘I expect you have work to do,’ one of the men told him.
Pablo shrugged, and shooing away a young girl hanging around the entrance, flopped into a torn deck chair and pulled a straw hat with no crown over his face.
‘Sit down and have a drink,’ invited the man.
‘Too early in the day,’ snapped Chad.
‘But it’s nice of you to offer,’ added Ancell, irritated at Chad’s ill manner.
The man ignored Chad and spoke in a low voice. ‘I hear you are looking for some children. It so happens that while we were working our way down river we came across a camp where they might be.’
Ancell could barely contain his excitement. ‘Is it far?’ he asked urgently.
‘A few hours upriver – we could show you.’
‘I’d appreciate that very much.’
‘We’ll find it ourselves,’ interrupted Chad.
The man glanced at him sharply. ‘You’ll never see it from the river. We were nosing up a creek at the time.’
‘Please take me there,’ begged Ancell.
‘If you wish we could leave now.’
Chad shook his head. ‘We’ve other things to do.’
The man sipped his drink. ‘We won’t be around for long,’ he warned.
Chad considered. ‘Tomorrow morning,’ he suggested.
The man emptied his glass. ‘Ten o’clock – we’ll pick you up from your ship,’ he instructed Ancell.
Ancell stepped into the sunlight feeling elated. To have been befriended so soon was more than he could have hoped for.
‘As they are doing us a favour you could have been a bit more polite,’ he told Chad.
Chad stopped walking and faced him. ‘You’re not going anywhere until we’ve talked to the skipper. Pablo’s the man the albatross warned us about. Didn’t you see his hand?’
‘Perhaps the albatross was mistaken.’
‘I think not, and anyway I was hoping to hear from the local Indians, people we can trust.’
‘But they’ve not spoken to us.’
‘Not yet, but I think one wants to. We’ll just wander around awhile.’
Ancell grudgingly followed the rat along the waterfront to a deserted area of derelict warehouses. As they turned a corner Chad suddenly pulled him into an empty shack.
‘Keep quiet!’ he whispered.
Within seconds they watched a slim Indian girl run a few paces past them, only to stop and look about uncertainly. Chad beckoned Ancell and stepped out behind her.
‘Looking for us?’ he enquired.
The girl moved so quickly even Chad was taken by surprise as she pinned Ancell against the shack with a knife at his throat.
‘Steady there! We mean you no harm,’ said Chad gently. Ancell thought he sounded less concerned than he would have liked as he was pushed inside, the knife still at his neck.
‘I’m holding you hostage until you release my brother,’ said the girl in quiet desperation. ‘You’re traders of children. I’ve seen them on your ship and you’re delivering them to the camp where my brother is imprisoned.’
Chad sat on a pile of lumber, regarding the girl thoughtfully. ‘I wondered why you’d been watching Misty. You followed us to the “Golden Nugget” didn’t you?’
The girl nodded. ‘You were talking to the men from the camp, so don’t deny you’re working with them.’
‘Would there have been a lady who dresses in red at this camp?’
‘She offered Kgochu work. He’s my brother. There’s just the two of us and we need to earn where we can.’
‘And are there any other children there?’
‘A boy and a girl.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘Inti.’
‘Inti, I’m going to bring you proof we’re on your side,’ said Chad, striding to the doorway.
‘Bring your crew and the hedgehog dies,’ muttered Inti.
Chad shook his head. ‘You’re no killer.’
Ancell was not so sure. The girl was trembling so much she was as likely to slit his throat by mistake as intentionally.
‘What about me?’ he protested.
‘You’re safer here with Inti than you were at Pablo’s. Just relax and don’t go away,’ instructed Chad, and marched off.
Ancell stared down at the knife. ‘I wasn’t aware that I had a choice,’ he whimpered.
Chad sprinted for the landing stage, hailed Misty, and after a hasty conversation with Capt. Albern, hurried Truename into the gig.
‘What’s happened?’ Truename asked, as Tam and Thom pulled smartly for the shore.
‘We’re meeting a girl wh
ose help we need, but she doesn’t trust us,’ said Chad. ‘Stay calm and once you’ve explained how Ancell rescued you she’ll understand we are not her enemies.’
Staying calm was the last thing on Truename’s mind when he saw a shaking wild-eyed girl holding a knife to Ancell. He hurled himself at her, fists flailing.
‘I told you to keep calm!’ complained Chad, dragging him away and handing Inti the knife she had dropped in her attempt to hold off the boy.
‘He was meant to tell you how we rescued him,’ he apologised, and instructed Truename to tell his story.
Inti listened and relaxed. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said to Ancell.
Ancell smiled weakly, then his legs folded, and he slid to the ground.
‘Will you help me rescue my brother?’ Inti pleaded.
‘We need each other,’ said Chad. ‘Will you come aboard?’
‘Gladly.’
Chad glanced at Ancell. ‘This is no time to take a rest,’ he commanded as he stepped outside, leaving Ancell to glare after him.
Truename walked beside Inti. ‘I’m sorry I hit you,’ he said.
Inti smiled. ‘You were very brave. My brother is about your age,’ she added quietly.
Capt. Albern welcomed Inti on board and Truename introduced her to Sassy, Chantal and Max.
‘Is she a real Indian?’ whispered Merrie to Doc.
‘Certainly is!’ replied Doc. ‘Her name means “sun” in the Quechua language and Kgochu means “friend”. Their ancestors probably came from Peru or Ecuador, and they’re the best friends we could have. They’ll know the river and the forest as well as Jandamarra does his desert.’
‘How do you know all that?’
Denied exploration ashore yet again, Doc had been forced to content himself reading about South America from his suitcase library.
‘Years of study!’ he announced airily, ‘the benefits of which you’d appreciate if you ever bothered to open a book.’
‘It’s easier to ask you,’ said Merrie.
Misty’s crew and the children gathered on the afterdeck to listen to Inti tell of how Kgochu had been tricked and held captive in Laughing Jack’s camp.
‘We’ll mount an attack. We’ll scale the stockade with grappling irons and soon have your brother and the other children free,’ stated Skeet, to the enthusiastic agreement of all the crew.
‘They keep watch and they’re armed – you wouldn’t even get near,’ Inti replied. ‘The only way in is through the gate which is only opened for their crew.’
‘A couple of Laughing Jack’s men have invited Ancell and me to the camp tomorrow,’ said Chad. ‘It’s a trap of course. I only said we’d go because they’re picking us up from Misty and I wondered if we could kidnap them to bargain them for the children.’
Capt. Albern shook his head. ‘We’re not kidnappers, and anyway Laughing Jack cares nothing for his crew.’
‘I think I should accept the invitation. They’d open the gate then,’ said Ancell.
‘Step inside there and you’d never come out,’ growled Chad.
‘Would you risk going as far as the gate?’ pleaded Inti. ‘I’ll have paddled up the river and be hiding in the forest with my blowpipe. Once they’ve opened it, a couple of darts would paralyse your guards for long enough to give Kgochu and the other children a chance to get out and us all to get away.’
‘I’ll go,’ said Ancell.
‘You’re certain?’ asked Capt. Albern.
Ancell looked into the sea otter’s pale blue eyes. ‘Truegard would,’ he said.
The captain eyed him gravely, and nodded.
‘Not without me,’ said Chad. ‘Can’t have you dreaming along all by yourself. What if you decide to curl up at a critical moment?’
‘You’d probably trip over your tail,’ retorted Ancell.
‘Tell him he’s being stupid,’ they both told Capt. Albern.
‘Maybe both of you should go,’ decided the captain.
‘When you hear the screech of a parrot, lie flat so that you’re not in the way when I shoot,’ instructed Inti.
‘I think we should all go to back up Inti,’ said Skeet.
Inti smiled. ‘Thank you, but I’m afraid you’d be of no help.’
Doc sidled close to her. ‘Couldn’t you just take me?’ he wheedled. ‘I could collect some plant specimens on the way.’
Everyone stared at him.
‘Just thought I’d ask,’ sighed the owl.
Chapter 9
Ominous black clouds hung low over the forest and thunder rumbled in the sultry air as Ancell and Chad watched Laughing Jack’s men row towards Misty.
‘Do as Inti says. She’s in command,’ Capt. Albern instructed. ‘And good luck,’ he whispered as the boat nosed alongside.
‘This is very kind of you,’ said Ancell, as the men began to row.
‘A day to remember,’ added Chad.
The men glanced at each other. ‘That I can promise you,’ said one, and the other grinned.
Capt. Albern and Skeet watched until the boat disappeared round a bend in the river.
‘I wish I was with them,’ said Skeet.
‘I’m sure you do, but waiting is often the hardest part,’ replied the captain. ‘Our job is to be fully provisioned and ready to up anchor the moment they return.’
Skeet summoned the crew and allocated a list of tasks, then beckoned the children.
‘We have to work fast. You can help fetch and carry, but make sure you stay with a member of the crew.’
‘What about me?’ asked Doc.
Skeet pondered. ‘We’ll stack the provisions on the landing stage. You can keep an eye on them until Tam and Thom have rowed them on board.’
It was slow and tiring work ferrying the fresh water and The Cook’s shopping list to the ship, and Doc was soon sitting on an increasing pile of crates and boxes.
Four men idling on the waterfront glanced around to see no one was about and sauntered over.
‘I think you have more than you need of these,’ said one, and picked up a crate.
Doc jumped to his feet. ‘Leave it!’ he shouted furiously, desperately looking around for help, but Tam and Thom were only just beginning to row back from their last trip.
‘And I don’t think you’ll miss this one,’ said another man, and picked up another crate.
‘Nor these,’ said the other two men, doing the same.
Doc struck out in a rage. There was a flurry of punches and the owl slumped to the ground. He was only just beginning to regain consciousness when Tam and Thom returned.
‘I’m so sorry! I tried, but I’ve lost your food,’ whispered Doc, as he was rowed to the ship.
‘You did well,’ Thom replied. ‘I’m not even sure anything is missing. They probably got scared and cleared off in case they’d killed you.’
Doc was hoisted aboard in a bosun’s chair and carefully helped to his bunk. Summoned from ashore, Waff cleaned and bandaged a nasty gash above the owl’s beak.
‘How is he?’ asked Capt. Albern.
‘No bones broken,’ replied Waff. ‘But he certainly took a beating.’
Ancell watched the dark green of the jungle, sometimes dashed with bright flowering magnolias and begonias, slip by as the river wound ever deeper into the forest. Occasionally they passed an isolated hut built on stilts, where smoke lazily rose from a hole in the roof and chickens scratched in a clearing. Men paddling dugout canoes fished and children playing at the waterside waved shyly. He envied them their quiet lives, and felt his chest tighten with dread of what was to come.
At noon the sky turned a thundery yellow and sheet lightning flashed across the forest canopy. A sudden downpour of rain, so dense the riverbanks disappeared, soaked them in seconds. It shut off as quickly as it had begun, and Ancell felt himself ste
aming in the humid air.
‘That was refreshing! I think we’re in for a hot afternoon,’ said Chad, grinning at Ancell.
The boat turned into the still waters of a creek carpeted with water lilies and overhung with vines. Nothing stirred and only the regular splash of the oars broke the heavy silence. Ancell had the feeling they were being watched and prayed that somewhere in that seemingly impenetrable jungle Inti was close by. Then the walls of the stockade came into view.
‘Very interesting, I think we’ll turn back now,’ said Chad.
The men laughed shortly, and one pulled a pistol from under his shirt to motion them ashore.
‘How nice!’ said Chad. ‘We’re invited to lunch!’
‘Very nice,’ managed Ancell, trying to stop his voice quavering and his legs trembling. He glanced round, desperate for a sign of Inti, but saw only the forest still dripping from the rain. A man pushed him across the broken ground towards the compound gate.
‘Where’s the red carpet?’ enquired Chad.
‘You can ask Laughing Jack,’ said the second man with a grin, giving the lookout in the watchtower the thumbs up and rapping on the gate with the butt of his pistol. Ancell held his breath. The few seconds it took the gateman to slide back the bolts and push the gate open seemed an eternity, but even as he despaired of Inti acting, the sudden screech of a parrot broke the forest silence. Throwing himself to the ground, he looked up to see his guard level a pistol at him, then stare disbelievingly at a dart in his chest. He fumbled for it, his lips forming a cry, but no sound came. Then his eyes glazed, his knees buckled, and he slid to the ground. Chad grunted as the second man collapsed on top of him. For a moment the man at the gate stood transfixed, then moved to pull it shut, but too late, and with a quiet gasp crumpled and lay still. The lookout spun silently from the watchtower to lie impaled on the palisade.
‘Are you all right?’ whispered Ancell.
‘Will be once I get this oaf off me,’ muttered Chad, as Inti arrived out of nowhere to pull them to their feet.
‘Hide in the forest, I’ll find you later,’ she whispered.