by Graeme Kent
Nevertheless, as his father had ordered, the obedient Shem had made the Church of the Blessed Ark a haven for Tikopians on Malaita, further swelling its numbers. With so many conflicting loyalties rending the new church apart, the evil spirits of the rocks and trees in the area had been able to make their homes in the ark, joining the animals being assembled there by its now bewildered founders. These malevolent ghosts had wielded power far beyond their numbers and had instigated many of the wicked things that had started to occur in the ark, through the actions of some of the humans involved, culminating in the death of Papa Noah and the other two followers of his faith.
Some time during this period, Kella was convinced, Brother Abalolo, the Christian pastor on Tikopia, had become aware of the threat to Christianity on his island. Convinced that the assault on his church was emanating from the Church of the Blessed Ark, he had abandoned his home and travelled to Malaita to try to stem the problem at its roots.
Kella wondered what could have happened next. Did Abalolo murder Papa Noah in an attempt to destroy the power of his cult? Could he then have gone on to kill the other two members of the new church, hoping that this ruthless action would frighten away many of its recent recruits? If this was the case, what awful danger could the pastor have envisaged that would turn a follower of the Christian God, sworn to the path of peace, into such a merciless killer? Did he receive any help on his killing spree?
Kella decided to give his brain a rest. He folded his hands in his lap and tried to go to sleep. Perhaps during his repose the various gods would stop squabbling and obscuring the issue and allow him to get on with his work.
He had conditioned himself to wake up as night fell. The night invaders were beginning to stir as he stood up in the cool air and took out a torch before burying his pack beneath a pile of debris secured by a rock. Giant skinks were swinging by their muscular tails from branch to branch above his head. Horned frogs were calling from a mangrove swamp close to the beach. Bats, humming insects and anopheles mosquitoes darted between the trees. At his feet he saw for a slithering moment a five-minute snake, so-called because its bite was said to be lethal in that amount of time.
Shielding his torch with his free hand, Kella made the steady descent back to the dolphins’ camp on the coast. All the time he was aware of other forms accompanying him through the bush. They were stealthy and light-footed but still too substantial to be the spirits or their representatives. These were humans, and they were waiting for something, probably a signal. It had started to rain, the preferred time for islanders to launch attacks on their enemies.
When he reached the collection of tents and huts on the coast, there were no lights on at the foot of the hill. Even the lanterns swinging in the tents seemed to have been extinguished. As far as he could see, no guards had been posted. Boehrs must be supremely confident that there would be no nocturnal intruders. Perhaps he was relying on the reputation of his hard-nosed Guadalcanal mercenaries. Certainly when Kella had seen them earlier in the day they had seemed to be spoiling for a fight.
The dolphins were still languishing dolefully in the pool. The water was less than six feet deep. The only access lay through the dam of logs piled on top of one another at the sea end of the pen. The stream on the far side of the dam leading to the ocean had dwindled to a trickle. If he could break the dam, the released water would gush through, taking the dolphins with it by sheer force out into the bay, or so Kella hoped.
He walked to the far side of the pool. He had studied the construction of the simple log barrier surreptitiously while he had been talking to Boehrs and Schuman earlier in the day. Several poles about fifteen feet high had been hammered into the ground on either side, with flat sides jutting out upon which the logs were resting. It should be simple enough to dismantle the structure by the simple method of sweeping the logs from their ledges one at a time, starting at the top. He would not be able to help making a noise in the process, but he was not particularly worried about being apprehended by the German. Almost certainly Boehrs was about to face many more serious problems than Kella could offer him.
It took the sergeant a quarter of an hour to demolish the crude and hastily designed rampart, by the simple process of swimming across the clouded pool and scaling the shifting logs until he reached the top one. Clinging on to the long vertical pole, Kella eased his side of the top log free of its horizontal supporting ledge, swung it away from him and let it drop on to the ground on the far side of the dam, where the seeping stream crawled down lethargically to the water’s edge.
He repeated the process with most of the other logs, until he was standing waist-deep in the pool with the released water pouring past him down the beach in a great burst of energy, taking with it the still dazed but soon rejuvenated dolphins. Only one did not move. Kella guessed that the creature was too dazed or unwell to be able to make the effort. If it did not follow the others soon, it would be stranded on the dry bed of the rapidly emptying dam.
Kella plunged into the water and began banging on the surface with both hands in an effort to get the last dolphin to move. At first he thought he had left it too late, but slowly the great creature began to stir. With a squeal it thrashed its tail into the water, catching Kella across the shoulder and sending him to the bottom of the pool. He inhaled water but forced himself to use his hands and arms to reach the surface again. He came up, spluttering and gasping, in time to see the dolphin forcing its way across the remains of the dam and down to the open sea in what was left of the water in the stream. A minute later, with a final great thrust of its glistening body, the rejuvenated mammal had joined its companions in the open sea.
Kella’s shoulder ached from the force of the blow it had just received. He stood watching the dolphins gambolling in the moonlight before they headed for deeper water and were lost to sight against the white-tipped waves. Then he looked round for Boehrs and Schuman.
They were waiting for him as he waded back to the side of what was left of the pool. The Guadalcanal men were formed up in a truculent line just behind their employers.
‘Kella! Schuman said that you would be back, but I thought you had more sense. What the hell are you doing?’ demanded the German, shaking his head at the policeman’s stupidity.
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ asked the soaked Kella. ‘I’m afraid your dolphins have gone walkabout. They’ll be long gone by now, as you can see.’
‘You fool! Do you think I could possibly let you get away with this?’ asked Boehrs. ‘If the natives heard that I’d let you go unpunished, I’d have no credibility left in the district.’
Kella saw that the German was carrying a French steel Mle. 1950 automatic pistol, while Schuman had a Yugo Mauser rifle cradled in his arms. The German was not stinting on armaments, thought Kella. Perhaps that was why he had been lax about posting a guard on the dolphin pen. With the calibre of artillery he seemed to possess, he could be fairly confident of tracking down anyone who offended against him and then exacting retribution.
‘I suppose you could report me to my superiors,’ Kella said. After all, he thought, why should Boehrs be different to everyone else?
‘It’s not a matter of reporting you, Sergeant Kella,’ Boehrs said softly, walking forward until he was standing in front of the sergeant. ‘You attacked and destroyed my property at night. I would be perfectly within my rights to assume that you were a thief and fire a shot to warn you off. It would be most unfortunate if that shot were to kill some hapless intruder – you in this case.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Kella.
‘Why not?’ asked Boehrs.
‘Because this is my island, not yours, and I’m afraid you have very little say in what goes on here, Mr Boehrs. In fact the only major decision you’re going to be able to make over the next few minutes is whether you’re going to be a living visitor to our shores or a dead one.’
At the German’s side Schuman cleared his throat politely. ‘Excuse me, Herr Boehrs,’ he said, ‘but unfo
rtunately Kella really does have a point. It wouldn’t be a good idea to dispose of the sergeant. He has certain traditional affinities in this area and indeed all over Malaita. If anyone were to handle him the way he undoubtedly deserves to be treated, then I’m afraid that once word got around, his killer and any of his associates would be cut down before they had a chance to leave this camp.’
‘What are you talking about, man? Are you suggesting that I let him go?’ asked the German.
‘Certainly not,’ said the half-caste. ‘Sergeant Kella has broken the law by entering our camp, destroying the dam and releasing the dolphins. I suggest you make a citizen’s arrest and that we take Kella back to Honiara on the Chinese boat when it arrives, and hand him over to the authorities there. From what I hear, some of his senior officers will be only too pleased to make an example of him. The islanders around here won’t know what’s going on. They’re used to seeing Kella associating with white visitors.’
Boehrs thought for a moment and then nodded. ‘All right,’ he said unwillingly. ‘I hope to make a good living in this area, despite tonight’s little setback. I wouldn’t want to antagonize the natives unnecessarily. Lock Kella in the supplies shed. He can wait there until tomorrow when we ship out.’
‘Nice try,’ Kella told Schuman. ‘But I’m afraid you won’t be locking me up tonight.’
‘Are you serious, Sergeant?’ asked Boehrs. He gestured at the Guadalcanal men waiting impatiently behind him. ‘I suggest you make your way to the store shed immediately. For some reason my colleague Mr Schuman seems averse to seeing you get hurt. I have no such reservations.’
‘I should save your breath,’ Kella said. ‘I’m afraid you’ve both got rather a long walk ahead of you.’
He nodded towards the shadows under the trees leading up the cliff path. They were materializing into dozens of semi-naked crouched forms moving out of the bush area. The latest arrivals spread out into a deep, threatening semicircle. They were small and slim, wearing loincloths and armed with spears or bows and arrows. Kella wondered if the tips had been coated with the customary poison made of ivy paste. The Guadalcanal men looked around in alarm. Another flotilla of islanders was swimming ashore, and more men were advancing up the beach, shaking the water vigorously from their bodies like savage dogs, to complete the encirclement of Boehrs and his men. Taking in the situation, the Guadalcanal mercenaries stood very still, clustering together for comfort and reassurance. Boehrs half raised his pistol. Kella shook his head.
‘Not a good idea,’ he said. ‘At best you’d get off two or three shots before they turned you into a human pincushion.’
‘You would be the first one I’d kill, I promise you that,’ Boehrs said vindictively.
‘That’s why it’s not a good idea, for either of us,’ Kella said.
Without waiting for his employer, impassively Schuman lowered his rifle to the ground and placed his hands on his head. Boehrs hesitated and then reluctantly followed suit. A plump islander with an amiable face, wearing shell bracelets on his wrists, pushed his way through the crowd. People made way for him respectfully. The plump man issued a few orders to the crowd. The men around him scattered in silence. Some of them started putting the finishing touches to the destruction of the dolphin pens. Others entered the tents and huts distributed about the camp and started carrying out their contents and piling them on the ground. Boehrs uttered a grunt of protest and moved forward involuntarily. Schuman placed a restraining hand on his arm. Boehrs subsided, chewing his lip and looking on as his possessions were ransacked. The plump man indicated that Kella should walk down to the beach with him.
‘Thank you, Kella,’ said Solodia, the high priest of the dolphin people. ‘We could have done it without you, but it was brave of you to risk your life for our dolphins.’
Solodia was in his forties. Like his forebears he had been selected for his position by acclaim, because of all men of his clan still alive, not only was he the finest navigator but he also had the greatest affinity with the sea beasts. Already he was being allowed to swim with the dolphins out at sea. It was accepted among his followers that when he died, he would become a dolphin and sport out in the great ocean with the others for ever.
‘Not so brave,’ said Kella. ‘I knew that the men from your villages were watching everything that was happening from the bush. They must have been there for days, ever since the German white man started trapping the dolphins.’
‘But you also knew that they would not attack until I gave the word,’ said Solodia. ‘You couldn’t be sure that I was near enough to take control, so you freed the dolphins on your own.’
‘The last time I saw you, by the reef shark shrine before I left for Tikopia, you were heading south,’ Kella said. ‘That probably meant that you were walking to the dolphin villages on Small Mala, which, as you say, are a long way from Kwaio country. However, the German told me that he was shipping the dolphins out of the country tomorrow. That meant I couldn’t wait until I was sure that you’d got here, which was what I wanted to do. I had to destroy the dam on my own and hope that you were on your way.’
‘You made the German very angry. We could all see that. He could have shot you.’
‘He might have,’ said Kella. ‘But the half-caste who works for him is a clever man. He knew that if I died there would be a blood feud between the Lau people and him. Under those circumstances it would serve his interests for him to do his best to persuade his boss to let me live.’
‘And the dolphin people would have been after him as well,’ promised Solodia. ‘The half-blood and the German would have been dead before the next full moon, that is certain. But that wouldn’t have done you any good if you had two or three bullet holes in you by then. It was a courageous action and the dolphin people are in your debt.’
Call it a professional courtesy, thought Kella self-deprecatingly, but he could not think of a phrase in either of their languages or in pidgin that would cover the expression. Instead he extended a hand to the high priest of the dolphins.
‘I must be on my way,’ he said. ‘May the dolphins and the sharks live together in peace under the protection of Agalimae, the high god of the universe.’
Kella walked over to Schuman, who was standing quietly under the shelter of a palm tree. ‘I’ll remember that you persuaded Boehrs not to kill me,’ he said. ‘I had no idea you were so kind-hearted.’
‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ said the half-caste. ‘I know you, Kella. You would never have come back and released the dolphins and made so much noise about it in the process unless you were pretty sure that help was on its way. You knew that Mr Boehrs and the rest of us were about to be overwhelmed by an invasion from the dolphin worshippers. If they had found your dead body by the pool, our throats would have been cut by now.’
‘Probably,’ agreed Kella. ‘So you made sure that I stayed alive. Well, if you weren’t soft-hearted, at least you showed a bit of common sense. You’d better start taking your boss back to Auki. I’m going to ask you to walk all the way, I’m afraid. That will give you time to reflect upon the error of your ways and give everyone the opportunity to cool down. I take it you know the way over the mountains? You should reach Auki on foot in three or four days.’
Schuman nodded. ‘Very well,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m sure we’ll be meeting again, Kella.’
‘If I were a gambling man, and I am, I’d put money on it.’
‘I’ll look forward to that,’ said the half-caste. He looked over at the stunned Boehrs, who was watching in disbelief the systematic looting of his goods by the islanders. He beckoned to the German to join them. ‘We’d better be on our way, Mr Boehrs,’ he said.
‘Are you going to let them treat me like this?’ asked Boehrs dazedly. He seemed too overwhelmed by what was happening to remain outraged. ‘I’m paying you to deal with these situations.’
‘You pay me to keep you alive, Mr Boehrs, and so far I’ve managed to do that. Take my word for it, not everyone who c
omes up against Kella is that fortunate.’
‘But he’s a policeman!’ said the German. ‘Does that mean nothing to him?’
‘He’s a lot of things, Mr Boehrs, and at this moment upholding the British rule of law among the dolphin worshippers is very low on his order of priorities. Kella has just sorted out a very difficult custom dispute in rather a clever manner. You may have lost a little money on the deal, but at least you’re still alive. I don’t think we should impose upon the sergeant’s good nature any longer. In short, my urgent recommendation is that we stop pushing our luck and start walking. Shall we go?’
‘But what about all my equipment?’ asked Boehrs, gesturing wildly at the piles of loot.
‘That stays here,’ said Kella. ‘The islanders will divide it up among themselves after you’ve gone. If it’s any consolation to you, you will have contributed significantly to the local economy and general standard of life for the next few months.’
‘But this is theft!’ screamed the German.
‘I prefer to think of it as reparation for all the damage you have caused to the dolphins and their gods. As Schuman says, you’re a businessman; I suggest that you enter it in your ledger in the losses column.’
‘Are you serious? What’s the matter with you, man? You’re supposed to be one of the civilized natives! Whose side are you on, for God’s sake?’
‘Nobody’s,’ said Kella. ‘That’s part of the problem.’
With an effort Boehrs brought himself under control. ‘As soon as I get back to Honiara I shall be making an official complaint about your part in this matter,’ he promised.
‘That is your privilege, sir. However, my role in the affair has been relatively trivial. You interfered with local traditions and trespassed on custom land. I was fortunate enough to come along in time to save you from the consequences of your impulsiveness and general ignorance.’ Boehrs started to speak, but Kella raised his voice. ‘Oh, I know you have a temporary lease on the land on this section of the coast, but through hundreds of years of usage, the dolphin men happen to own all the sea. By taking the dolphins from their waters, you broke both the local and the national law.’ He paused. ‘The expatriate official who granted you your lease probably didn’t know that, but that’s a matter you can discuss with your legal representatives when you get back to Honiara.’