The Diamond Frontier (Simon Fonthill Series)

by John Wilcox

  Nandi immediately leapt into Jenkins’s arms and he buried his moustache under her left ear and lifted her off the ground, swinging her round as though she was a doll. Then, almost in the same movement, the broad little man swung her into the saddle of the smallest horse, where she immediately hooked her big toes into the stirrups, in the Basutho style which Simon remembered so well from those days in Zululand when they had ridden together. He smiled at the thought but put his finger to his lips in warning again. He looked back at the house, but all seemed silent and the guard they had knocked senseless still lay where he had fallen. Then he led the little posse at a walk through the cattle and the gateway, out of the enclosure, on to the open hillside. There, Simon paused while he took a compass bearing roughly towards Lydenburg. Then, pointing the way for the others, he pulled on the reins, kicked in his heels and the little party was off at the gallop.

  They crested the hill well away from the farm and met a breeze that brought stimulation and exhilaration as they thundered along in the moonlight. Simon turned in the saddle, grinned at the small figure bent low over her mount’s head immediately behind him and permitted himself a whoop of triumph. They had rescued Nandi!

  Chapter 9

  Alice and Dunn rode into Middelburg with some apprehension. As they neared the outskirts, Alice’s fear that she had lost precious days and that Wolseley would have begun his advance became more intense. From the stern visage presented by Dunn as he rode beside her, it was obvious that the Natalian harboured his own concerns - had he done the right thing by throwing in his lot with this young woman? Was this the way to free his daughter? It was in silence, then, that they let their tired mounts pick their way along the rutted outer suburbs of this small farming town.

  But as they neared the centre, it became clear that Alice’s concern at least was unfounded. The army’s presence was obvious: waggons and limbers being loaded with tents, cooking utensils and boxes of ammunition; platoons of British troops in scarlet serge and white helmets marching ‘at ease’ towards the centre; mounted colonials in brown serge with carbines in their saddle holsters trotting to and fro; and, everywhere, black levies carrying spears and, sometimes, rifles being drilled by pink-faced British non-commissioned officers, who screamed in frustration at the incompetence of their charges.

  ‘Gawd,’ murmured Dunn.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your General has got himself a motley crew here, all right.’ He eased himself forward in the saddle and gestured towards the black troops. ‘He’s got all sorts. Look: there’s Swazis, Knobnoses, Mapock’s Kaffirs, blacks from Zoutpansberg . . . He must have promised ’em all the cattle and women in the Transvaal to get ’em to come and fight for him. Hasn’t he got enough redcoats of his own?’

  Alice shrugged. ‘It’s the great colonial trick, Mr Dunn. We are a small country with a big empire. We don’t like big standing armies and we don’t have enough troops to go round. The idea is to get the people of the country you’ve colonised to soldier for you - to be indigenous policemen, if you like. The Romans started it, of course, and we have developed it to a fine art in India.’ She could not keep a note of disapproval from her voice, and Dunn shot her a sharp glance.

  They reached what was obviously a central square, and Alice stopped a young subaltern to ask the way to the Commander-in-Chief’s headquarters.

  He gave her a puzzled but approving smile. ‘Just opposite you, ma’am,’ and gestured with his cane towards a two-storeyed building on the edge of the square. A pennant fluttered from a flagstaff at its door.

  ‘Of course,’ smiled Alice. ‘How stupid of me. I see Sir Garnet’s standard now. Thank you.’

  The officer was about to stride away when Alice leaned down from her saddle and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Do tell me,’ she said, ‘what on earth are you wearing on your cap?’ She gestured to a small piece of animal fur attached to the front of his headwear.

  ‘Ah, that.’ The young man looked a trifle sheepish. ‘That, ma’am, is a meerkat’s tail. All of the officers on this campaign are wearing it. We call it Sekukuni’s Button. I think it’s the General’s idea.’

  ‘Pah!’ Dunn’s disapproval was made clear.

  Alice gave the young man one of her most dazzling smiles in compensation. ‘How fascinating. Thank you so much.’

  They dismounted and tied their horses to the hitching rail in front of the headquarters, and on presenting her credentials, Alice and Dunn were allowed to enter. They sat in the hallway on a hard bench while an orderly hurried away carrying Alice’s card and a request for a few moments of the General’s time. The request was rejected. The C-inC, it seemed, was too busy. Alice sighed. Obviously the piece she had cabled giving the details of the invading force had met with disapproval. She scribbled a note hoping that an appointment the following day would be convenient and they left.

  ‘Never mind, Mr Dunn,’ she said. ‘Tomorrow will do. Now let us find somewhere to stay and I must catch up with my colleagues - the competition here, you know - to find out when the advance is likely to begin.’

  They found rooms in a modest hotel and, leaving Dunn to rest after their journey - he was far from being fully recovered from his injuries - Alice sought out the small house which had been requisitioned for use by the press corps. This had grown considerably since she, Willie Russell and one other had constituted it in Pretoria. Now there were twelve journalists, including representatives of the main news agencies, accompanying Wolseley on his expedition and Alice found herself once again admiring the sagacity of Cornwell, her editor, in sensing that this little conflagration in a corner of the Transvaal could provide a good news story. She was relieved to find that the great-bearded Russell was in town, for his absence would have meant that this most enterprising of journalists had sniffed out some development that could have left her high, dry and scooped. She was delighted when he expressed the same sentiments about her arrival.

  ‘I’ve been worried,’ he said, bowing over her hand. ‘Have you been up to something?’

  ‘Ah no, Willie. I promise. Just trying to help a friend. Do we know when the General will advance?’

  ‘Any day now, probably. I think he is a touch apprehensive about moving into the rough country to the north. He needs better information about water and fodder for the horses than he has now. He has a scouting party out there, probing, but it’s hard desert country and local knowledge is virtually impossible to get, I hear. He can’t leave it too long, though, or the Boers will start to say he is funking it.’

  Alice thanked him and then retreated to the hotel to gain a little rest and put her thoughts in order. As she lay on her lumpen bed, with its horsehair mattress, she attempted to concentrate on the campaign ahead and to marshal her arguments if and when Wolseley attempted to deny her permission to travel with the rest of the press party to report the attack on Sekukuni. But her thoughts kept returning to Dunn. Had she done the right thing in insisting he come to Middelburg to see the General when perhaps it would have been better for everyone had he joined forces with Simon? Simon. Ah Simon! Why had he now begun to dominate her moments of introspection: smiling that sad smile of his, with his gentle brown eyes, his quiet air of resolution, that slim, firm body . . . Damn! She pulled the pillow over her head.

  A note came back from the General that evening, intimating that he would see her at eight the following morning - but only for a few minutes. She hurried to tell Dunn and they set off early the next day. On this occasion Alice eschewed the temptation to enlist femininity to her cause and chose to appear professional in her jodhpurs and riding boots. Dunn, she was glad to see, had found a clean shirt from somewhere. They were received, with some surprise and a faint air of annoyance, by Wolseley.

  ‘I expected you to be alone, Miss Griffith,’ he said. Sir Garnet was wearing his blues, with a Sam Browne belt and his revolver in a buckled holster. There was a sense of purpose about him, very different from the gently bantering gallant Alice had last met.

  �
��My apologies, General, but I do think it important that you see Mr Dunn.’ She effected the introductions and Wolseley gestured for them to sit.

  ‘Dunn, yes,’ he said. ‘I remember. You did good work with the Eshowe column, I hear, when Chelmsford went in to Zululand again from the south.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘Well, you’re a long way from home. You’d better tell me why.’

  Hesitantly at first, with many a glance at Alice, Dunn told his story, in level, matter-of-fact tones, but gaining in confidence and authority until he mentioned his daughter, when his voice broke for a second. At the end, he reached into a capacious pocket in his riding coat and pulled out a small hessian sack, knotted at the top, which he put on the desk before Wolseley.

  ‘The diamonds?’ queried the General.

  Dunn nodded. ‘Twenty-three of them, Sir Garnet. I have come to hand them in to you as the Commander-in-Chief here. But on the condition that you help me.’

  Wolseley’s good eye remained quite cold. ‘So you want me to detach a platoon of my men to go back with you to Kimberley to free your daughter from her captors?’

  ‘That’s about it, General.’

  ‘And, in return, you will give me the diamonds?’

  ‘Er, yes, sir.’

  Alice realised that this interview was going quite the wrong way.

  ‘Sir Garnet,’ she began.

  The little man held up his hand. ‘Thank you, Miss Griffith, but I think I have grasped the situation.’ He leaned forward. ‘Now listen to me, Dunn. Many would regard your story as being a complete cock-and-bull confection. But I happen to have had confirmation of some of it, at least, from young Fonthill in Durban. So I realise that you are telling the truth and, of course, I sympathise with you about the plight of your daughter. But you must realise that I am about to embark upon a remarkably difficult military exercise, on the success of which hangs important issues. As Miss Griffith knows,’ he shot a quick and not exactly approving glance at Alice, ‘I have precious few British soldiers of the line available to me here and I have to place great reliance upon colonial troops and black levies. Under these circumstances, I could not even begin to consider detaching some of my more reliable men to help you. Can you not go to the police?’

  Dunn’s face was black. ‘They hardly exist in Kimberley. Do you know the place?’

  ‘Whether I know it or not is immaterial. I am in the middle of a military campaign and about to fight a most dangerous enemy force, in the midst of a country whose white population is antagonistic towards us. Apart from my inability to spare men, I cannot afford to risk provoking that population further, which could happen if I send soldiers to Kimberley. Now, if you can wait until I have beaten Sekukuni, then I may be able to help you. But not until then.’

  Dunn scowled and slowly rose to his feet. ‘Then I will take my diamonds and go elsewhere, General.’

  Wolseley also rose. ‘Oh no you won’t, Mr Dunn.’ As he spoke, that telltale scar under his blind eye glowed whitely again. ‘Those diamonds are not your property. They have been stolen and it is my duty to take possession of them and see that they are returned to their rightful owners.’ He picked up the little bag, slid open a drawer in his desk and dropped the diamonds into it. ‘There can be no question of these stones being used as a kind of bargaining counter. I have no idea of their value, but I am quite sure that, in the wrong hands, they could be used to the detriment of Her Majesty’s Government here in the Transvaal. I cannot afford to take that risk. I will see that you have a receipt for them, but they must remain with me.’

  The two men confronted each other across the desk, the diminutive General, resolute as a bantam cock and exuding command from every inch, and the tall Natalian, clenching and unclenching his fists, his face now consumed with anger.

  ‘Look,’ said Dunn, making an obvious attempt to control his voice, ‘I came here in good faith because this lady said it was the right thing to do. If you take those diamonds, I have nothing I can use as a negotiating tool to get my daughter back. I am prepared to give them up, but only in return for help. For God’s sake, man, you must see that.’

  Wolseley’s back seemed to become even straighter as he looked up into the face of the big man opposite. ‘Now look here, Dunn. I have not the desire, the time or the authority to negotiate with you. You have admitted that you stole those diamonds from the diamond thieves themselves and you did not wish, at the time, to use them as a bargaining counter. Your intention was, as I understand it, to keep them for yourself. I could, therefore, throw you in jail—’

  Alice rose, her face flushed. ‘But General—’ she said.

  Once again Wolseley cut in, his voice sharp and cold. ‘Please be silent, Miss Griffith. This matter does not concern you. If you believe, Dunn, that your daughter remains in some sort of captivity and that there is insufficient constabulary strength in Kimberley to help you, then you must go to Pretoria and make your case to the civil authorities there. I repeat that I will do what I can to help you after the successful conclusion of my campaign against Sekukuni, but for the moment, I regret that I cannot be of assistance to you and I must ask you to leave.’

  The two men continued to confront each other in silence for perhaps thirty seconds. Then, slowly, keeping his gaze on Wolseley, Dunn moved to his left to get round the desk. ‘I want those diamonds back,’ he growled.

  ‘No, no, Mr Dunn,’ Alice called and reached out to put a restraining hand on Dunn’s arm, but Wolseley was quicker.

  He banged the desk hard. ‘Sergeant!’ he shouted. ‘Orderlies . . .’

  Immediately, the door was flung open and a young red-coated infantryman, rifle and bayonet fixed, entered.

  ‘Arrest this man,’ ordered the General, ‘and put him in the guardhouse. If he attempts to resist or run away, shoot him.’

  Dunn stood for a moment, glowering at Wolseley. ‘Bastard,’ he said. Then, with a quick look at Alice - expressing a mixture of both appeal and resentment - he allowed himself to be led away by the orderly, now joined by a moustached sergeant.

  Slowly, as though to get her breath back, Alice resumed her seat. So too did Wolseley. ‘Sir Garnet,’ said Alice, ‘I am so sorry that that happened. But you can see that the man is clearly at his wits’ end.’

  ‘I quite see that.’ The General was perfectly composed. It was as though he had just brushed away a too-frisky puppy. ‘But he was threatening, and frankly, Miss Griffith, at this point in this campaign I just can’t afford to let myself be roughed up by some malcontent. I have far more important things to do. And there was no way I could allow those diamonds - whatever their worth - to be made available to Boer elements who could use them to buy weapons for their revolutionary purposes. You must see that.’

  ‘Yes, I do. But may I beg you to be lenient with him. Perhaps just a couple of nights in a cell before releasing him . . . ?’

  ‘Very well. Perhaps I was a little harsh. But it must be my decision as to how I deploy my men. And you know very well that I have few enough for the job in hand as it is . . .’ He frowned and looked away for a moment, gazing out of the window as though Sekukuni’s Fighting Kopje was looming there. ‘It is undoubtedly going to be a rather tougher task than I at first envisaged. Although,’ he hurried on, returning his gaze to Alice, ‘we shall prevail, of course. Now, as far as this man is concerned, I shall let him cool down in the guardhouse for a day or two, but not press any charges against him. If you have influence over him, then do try and persuade him to return to Pretoria and lay charges with the constabulary there. Now, young lady, I wish to talk to you - for a few moments only, I am afraid, for I have many urgent tasks to perform.’

  Ah, thought Alice, here comes the verdict and the sentence. She steeled herself for an argument. ‘Of course, Sir Garnet,’ she murmured. ‘I am sorry that this matter has taken up so much of your time.’

  He waved his hand. ‘When we first met, I warned you that I would not allow you to go forward with my column i
n the final stages of the attack on Sekukuni’s stronghold. Well, I am informed by my superiors back home - rather surprisingly, I must say - that I must not discriminate against you because of your gender.’ He pronounced it, with some emphasis, as ‘gendah’, and as though the word in itself was rather offensive. ‘Therefore I am prepared to allow you to accompany the other members of the press contingent,’ again, he stressed the last two words as though they represented something strange, new and rather reprehensible, ‘on the advance towards our final attack. However,’ he paused, lowered his chin and looked grimly upwards at her as a headmaster would warn a difficult pupil, ‘under no circumstances will you approach the firing line - whatever your colleagues do. Is that understood? Do you accept these conditions?’

  Alice smiled inwardly. Good for Cornford. He must have anticipated her problem and lobbied extensively on her behalf. What the hell! She would give any pledge that was necessary to get near the action. But once the firing began, she would be her own woman. She shared her smile with Wolseley. ‘Of course, Sir Garnet. That sounds eminently reasonable.’

  The General’s eyebrows shot up. He was clearly relieved not to have to cross swords in argument again with this young woman. ‘Good. Splendid. Now, there is something else. Once we advance, we shall - we must - impose a system of security clearance upon the writings of, ah, you people. Not exactly censorship, you understand. But our cabling facilities will be under great strain on the advance and we must ensure that the use of them by the press is, er, to the point and, er, so on. I am sure you understand?’