Complete Works of Nevil Shute

by Nevil Shute

  Alix asked, “What is that stuff? What’s he doing to the tent?”

  He said quietly, “It’s wild garlic. He’s making a protection against spirits. I’ve never seen this done before.”

  Satisfied with his work upon the tent, the Eskimo came over to the stretcher, and knelt down beside the pilot. He looked at him critically and laid a hand upon his forehead; then he said something to the girl. She turned to her father.

  “He wants to put some of those weeds in his bag,” she said.

  Her father said, “I guessed as much. I don’t think it can do him any harm — it’s only wild garlic. If we’re going to try mediæval treatment we may as well go the whole hog.”

  They nodded their assent to Ajago. The Eskimo undid the bag and put sprigs of garlic in beside the sleeping man, and laid a little on his chest. Then they carried him into the tent and made him comfortable upon the bed.

  They had a hurried meal; then Ajago and Lockwood spent the afternoon transferring the camp with successive journeys in the motor boat, while Alix stayed with Ross. By evening a definite improvement was noticeable. The pilot’s breathing was much stronger and the pulse was better; moreover, he seemed to be keeping warmer.

  Lockwood stood up from examining him. “It’s wearing off,” he said, a little uncertainly. “Drugs of that sort get absorbed into the system in time. It’s only a matter of time . . .”

  Alix agreed. “Of course. I mean, it couldn’t be anything else.”

  Ajago looked in at the tent door, bent over the pilot critically, and got to his feet very pleased. He said something to the girl, beaming all over his face; she turned to her father.

  “He’s saying, I told you so.”

  “Of course, he would say that.”

  The man said in Danish, “It is good. Tomorrow one will wake up.” He went out of the tent; when Alix went out later she discovered that he had spread a circle of wild garlic on the grass right round the tent.

  That night they took turns to sit with the pilot. Alix went to sleep after supper and Lockwood stayed with the sick man in the tent; at two in the morning the girl came to relieve him.

  She bent over the pilot and looked at him in the dim light of the candle lantern. “He’s ever so much better, Daddy,” she said quietly. “He’s got more colour, and he’s warmer. He’s breathing much more strongly, too, than when I saw him last. Ought we to try and wake him?”

  The don said, “I don’t think so. I should let him sleep it off.”

  The girl nodded. “All right, Daddy — he’s got plenty to make up. You go along and get some sleep yourself. I’ll be all right.”

  She settled down beside the pilot in the tent; Lockwood went to the other tent to sleep. The man lay motionless, his head a little on one side, his breathing regular and even. The girl sat by him, deep in her own thoughts. From time to time she went out of the tent and threw some wood upon the fire; the night was fine, and still, and starry. Over the barren moors and the mountains, over the icecap and the fjord, a great peace reigned. From time to time she stood outside the tent and looked around; in spite of everything she was happy. The barren landscape seemed to be a friendly place to her. There was nothing bad here, nothing to be afraid of. It was only a little strange.

  The half light became dawn, and then full day. She stayed with the pilot until seven o’clock; then her father came to relieve her, and they breakfasted. She lay down and slept for a time after that; when she got up at noon and came to see how Ross was getting on she found that he was sleeping naturally and lightly. He had turned over in his sleep.

  Alix said, “What about trying to wake him again now, Daddy?”

  Her father said, “If you like. Perhaps it would be better, if he’s going to sleep at all tonight.”

  The girl knelt down by the bed, and took one of the pilot’s hands in her own. Then she leaned across him, and with her other hand began to wipe his face with a cold sponge. In a few moments he stirred, and opened his eyes.

  He raised himself upon one elbow, still holding her hand, and looked her full in the face. “This is a good country,” he said earnestly, “better than Greenland. I will ask Leif to let us stay here when the ship goes back, and you shall have your children here.”

  There was a momentary silence.

  The girl forced a laugh. “Wake up, Mr. Ross,” she said, a little tremulously. “You’re still asleep.” She passed the sponge over his face again.

  He turned his face away, and stared at the tent wall. “Did you say I’d been asleep?” he said after a time.

  Lockwood said, “You certainly have.”

  There was a long, pregnant silence. The man lay motionless and silent, raised upon one elbow. At last he said, “You’re Miss Alix, aren’t you?” There was a world of disappointment in his voice.

  The girl said in a low tone, “I’m Alix, Mr. Ross.”

  He glanced down at the hand that he was still holding in his own, and laughed shortly. “I don’t know why we’re doing this, Miss Alix.”

  She coloured a little, and withdrew her hand. The pilot rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry if I overslept, sir. What’s the time?”

  The don said, “It’s about twelve o’clock.”

  Ross said quietly, “I’m sorry. If you wouldn’t mind, Miss Alix . . . I’ll get up.”

  She said, “Don’t do that, Mr. Ross. Not just yet. You’ve not been very well. It’s twelve o’clock, but you’ve missed a day. You’ve been asleep for thirty-six hours.”

  He stared at her. “More like three weeks, you mean.”

  The girl shot a swift glance at her father.

  “Stay quiet in bed for a bit, anyway,” she said. “You’re not too fit.”

  He rubbed a hand across his eyes again. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what I meant by talking of three weeks. How long did you say I’d been asleep?”

  “Thirty-six hours.”

  They became aware of Ajago in the tent door, beaming all over his face. “One is awake,” he said in Danish. “I told you so.” The last part of his sentence was familiar to the don by that time, and needed no interpretation.

  The Eskimo left them and began bustling about the fire; when Alix went out a few minutes later she found him warming up some soup. She took it into the tent and gave it to the pilot to drink. He took it obediently, but spoke very little; when he did speak he was evidently still confused. Presently Lockwood motioned to his daughter, and they moved a short way from the tents.

  “I’m not going to stay here any longer,” he said directly. “We’ll go back to Julianehaab tomorrow — for a time, at any rate.”

  The girl nodded. “That’s the best thing to do. We can get the doctor there, if we still want one.”

  “Of course we do. We must get somebody to have a look at him, after a bout like this.”

  The girl said, “How are you going to get him to Julianehaab, Daddy?”

  “He’ll have to come in the motor boat with us.”

  “Leaving the seaplane here?”

  “Yes. He can come back and fetch it when he’s well again.”

  She looked very doubtful. “I don’t believe you’ll get him to do that.”

  “Well, he can’t fly it in his present state.”

  “He won’t take kindly to the idea of leaving it behind. You know he won’t.”

  They discussed this for some time, and came to no conclusion beyond the bare decision to get back to Julianehaab as soon as possible. Presently Lockwood said, “Of course, he may be better in the morning. He’s bound to be a bit confused at first, I suppose.”

  He mused for a moment. “It was a very odd thing, what he said when he woke up. Did you notice that?”

  She said very shortly, “Yes, I did.” She had no intention whatever of discussing that matter with her father. She thought he should have had more sense.

  The don was immersed in his own trend of thought. “I’m sure he said Leif. You heard that, too?”

  She was a l
ittle surprised. “Yes — he did say some name like Leif.”

  Her father said, “That’s very curious, you know. It’s not as if Leif was a common name.”

  She did not answer him, being determined to change the subject and avoid discussion of what Ross had said. Instead, she suggested that they should walk over to the seaplane, which they could see standing upon the sand across the inlet.

  They found the machine in good order; the rise of tide had not disturbed it. When they got back to the camp an hour later, Ross was up and dressed. He was much more himself. Alix went over to the fire to make tea; Ross walked a little way aside with Lockwood.

  “I don’t know what to say about this, sir,” he said. “I really am exceedingly sorry.”

  The don smiled. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. You’ve been working a bit too hard.”

  The pilot nodded. “I suppose that’s the truth of it. It’s not been very easy to get all the sleep one wanted, this last fortnight.”

  “I know — you’ve had a very heavy time. By the way, Mr. Ross, I’ve got those tablets you’ve been taking. I think I’ll keep them for a bit.”

  Ross smiled wryly. “I was wondering what had become of them. All right, sir — I expect they’re better with you than with me. I don’t suppose they really do one any good.”

  “I don’t suppose they do. Look, Mr. Ross — I’ve decided to go back to Julianehaab. I’m going to stay there for a week at least. We’re all tired out, and we all need rest. I’m going to stop all work now for a week, and then we’ll see how fit we are to come back here again. As a matter of fact, the survey’s practically finished. I should be quite content to go home now and study the air photographs, and come back next year with a digging party.”

  The pilot thought about it for a minute. “I see. You want to go back to Julianehaab right away?”

  “That’s quite definite, Mr. Ross.”

  The pilot said, “All right, sir. If you don’t want to come back here, we can finish the survey in a couple of flights from Julianehaab. If we’re going to do that, I’ll fly the machine back tomorrow and you can go with Miss Lockwood in the motor boat — unless you’d rather come with me. That would be better. There’s no point in you sitting in the boat for all that time.”

  The don hesitated. “One of us should stay with Ajago. As a matter of fact, I want you to come back with us in the motor boat, Mr. Ross. You can come over and fetch the machine later on.”

  Ross stared at him. “I can’t do that, Mr. Lockwood. We can’t leave the seaplane here.”

  The other faced him. “That’s what I want to do, Mr. Ross.”

  “But why, sir?”

  “I don’t want you to fly again until you’ve had a good long rest.”

  The pilot’s lips set mulishly. “I’m quite all right. If you think I’m not, sir, then I’d rather stay on here for a few days. But I’m not going to leave that seaplane here and go away, when I’m responsible for it. We paid over twenty-five thousand dollars for that seaplane, sir. You can’t leave that amount of money blowing round the wilderness.”

  They argued the point for a few minutes; the don found the pilot courteous but entirely stubborn. “With every respect, sir,” he said, “I know when I’m fit to fly and when I’m not. I don’t want to break my bloody neck any more than you want to see me break it. But I’m not going to leave that seaplane out here and go back to Julianehaab.”

  They reached a complete deadlock, abandoned the discussion without quarrelling, and had tea. The meal finished, Ross insisted on walking over to the other cove to examine the machine himself; he took Ajago with him to assist in shoring up the floats if that were necessary. Lockwood and Alix stayed behind in the camp; he told her the substance of their discussion.

  She nodded. “I knew he’d take it like that. What are you going to do, Daddy?”

  “I don’t know. He’s in a very nervous state. If we did stay here for a few days doing nothing, I don’t believe he’d rest. He’d always be fussing round his aeroplane.”

  She fully agreed with her father. “He’d be much better back at Julianehaab under the doctor’s eye. You’ll have to let him fly it back.”

  “He might faint in the air and kill himself. It’s not a thing to be decided lightly.”

  She bit her lip. “I don’t see what else we can do. If he stays here he’ll only make himself ill again. Look how he’s gone off now.”

  They stared across the water to the other cove, where Ross and Ajago were busy with the seaplane.

  “It’s a devil,” said Lockwood. “Whatever we decide to do may turn out wrong.”

  An hour later the pilot returned. Alix went out to meet him on the hill.

  “Good evening, Mr. Ross,” she said. “How are you feeling now?”

  In the calm evening light he stopped by her. “I’m right enough, Miss Alix,” he said quietly. “Still, I think it’s a good idea for us to go back to Julianehaab for a bit. It’ll give us time to sort things out.”

  She nodded. “Daddy wants to make a start early tomorrow morning. You’re going to fly the seaplane back, aren’t you?”

  The pilot glanced at her. “That’s what I was planning to do. But Mr. Lockwood didn’t seem to think that was a very good idea.”

  She smiled. “Don’t worry, Mr. Ross — I’ve had a talk with him, and he’s coming round. Let me have another word with him. It’s the only thing to do, for you to fly it back. If you’re going to do that, I’d like to come too.”

  He said, “Of course, Miss Alix. There’s no point in you sitting in the boat for all those hours.”

  They turned and walked back to the camp. Ross went into his tent; the girl went and found her father. “I’ve been talking to Mr. Ross, Daddy,” she said. “You’ll have to let him fly the seaplane back tomorrow — he’ll never agree to leave it here.”

  The don said, “I suppose he won’t.”

  “I told him I’d go back in it with him. You won’t mind going alone with Ajago?”

  He was silent for a minute. Then he said quietly, “You’re all I’ve got now, Alix. I want you to feel that your life is your own property. But — don’t go and chuck it away.”

  She nodded gravely. “He must have someone with him,” she said. “It’s been our expedition, Daddy, and it’s our fault that he’s got into this state.”

  They understood each other perfectly. “You must do as you think best,” he said, a little heavily. “If you want to go with him, I wouldn’t stand in your way.”

  They spent the evening packing up the stores and photographic gear and loading them into the boat, in readiness for an early start. They went to bed early. From time to time throughout the night Lockwood woke and raised himself to look at the pilot; each time he found him awake, lying upon his back, staring at the tent cloth. When dawn came and they got up, he said:

  “Did you sleep at all?”

  Ross answered, “I think I may have done. Anyway, I’m all right, sir.”

  Conveniently, the tide was high at about eight o’clock. They struck their camp and loaded everything into the boat; then they motored over to the other cove. It took their united efforts to launch the seaplane down to the water again on greased timbers laid beneath the floats, but after an hour of heavy work she floated. Ross and Alix got into the cabin, and the motor boat towed the machine from the cove out into the fjord. Then they started the engine, and cast off.

  Lockwood stood tensely watching from the boat. The seaplane taxied a little way away and headed into wind. The engine roared out, the white feathery spray flew sideways from the floats and she made a perfect take-off, circled around, and took a direct line for Julianehaab.

  The don relaxed. “Get along now,” he said to Ajago. “As quickly as you can.”

  Three-quarters of an hour later the seaplane swept over Julianehaab in a wide gliding turn, flattened out close above the surface of the harbour, and made a good landing. She lost way upon the water and came to a standstill, with the en
gine ticking over slowly. The pilot dropped his hands from the wheel, and turned to the girl beside him with a faint smile.

  “I know why you came on this trip, Miss Alix,” he said. “I’d like to say ‘thank you’ before it gets cold.”

  She said, “Don’t be absurd.”

  He leaned across and slapped the trouser pocket of her overall. His touch gave her an unreasonable thrill. “What’s that bottle in your pocket?”

  She said, “It’s my smelling salts, Mr. Ross.” She pulled it out and showed it to him.

  “I suppose you brought that along in case you felt a little faint.” He prodded the bulge in her other pocket. “What’s this one?” He pulled it out. “Oh, I see — brandy. I suppose that was to pour over your plum pudding.”

  She laughed. “I always take that with me when I travel.”

  “Surely,” he said. “In case the engine driver gets sick.”

  There was a momentary silence.

  “I hope I’ll never be so foolish as to fly when I’m not fit to fly,” he said. “But you couldn’t know the ins and outs of that.”

  He turned the seaplane and taxied in towards the beach where he had overhauled her before leaving for Brattalid. “Tide’s falling,” he said. “If we’re going to be here for a week I’ll put her up on shore at once. Maybe we can get her right out, up above high-water mark.”

  He stopped the engine, and the floats grounded on the sand. A few men came running down towards them; Alix and Ross got down onto the float and jumped on shore. An hour later the machine had been pulled safely above high-water mark and firmly pegged down.

  They carried their sleeping bags up to the house, unlocked it, and dumped them on the beds. Then Alix said:

  “We’re going to see the doctor now.”

  Ross hesitated. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Miss Alix.”

  She said, “I do. If my father arrives tonight and finds you haven’t seen the doctor, I don’t think he’ll be very pleased. You can’t pass out for thirty-six hours and do nothing about it. Be sensible.”