Hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh.
It sounded like a large multitude of voices and no-one was sure what it meant, but they were all thinking the same thing: war.
Pukz had climbed the tallest tree he could find and his expression did nothing to comfort Marlon as he undertook a less nimble climb to join him. Then he saw what had given Pukz such consternation: a wide, flat part of the valley covered, not in vegetation, but in human bodies. Men in their thousands, naked but covered in elaborate headdresses, feathers, furs and paint, doing tribal dances with spears and other weapons, back and forth around an enormous fire. They looked like ripples on the sea as they bobbed up and down, terrifying in their numbers, breath-taking in their vibrancy and sequence. They danced much as their people would have done for thousands of years, unchanged, in repetition of their ancestors; sacred parts of earth adorning their bodies as they prepared to return to it, or send others into these valley floors.
Hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh.
Marlon had to pinch himself to make sure he hadn’t been transported in time, so primitive did it feel, so powerful in its raw energy and swell.
‘How long will it last?’ he asked Pukz.
Pukz held up two fingers, then three.
‘Couple of days, huh? Where?’
He shrugged, but pointed at the field where the dancing was taking place as a guess. Marlon was still churning it over when Philippe hissed up at them.
They climbed back down to see everyone crouched and on alert.
‘Company,’ Carl whispered.
What now? Marlon wondered, frightened at the thought of being captured and led towards that massive throng.
Marlon gestured for Pukz and Dexjo to investigate and soon their fears abated as Joseph was led into the clearing, followed by Tooh.
Marlon laughed, clasping his hand. ‘You made it.’
‘Yes,’ Joseph said, looking nervous.
‘What’s wrong? Did anything happen on the way?’
‘I, er, had to pay a debt,’ he said and stood back as someone else joined their group – the person Marlon wished to see more than anyone on earth but the last person he wanted to see here. Tonight.
‘Junie?’ said Philippe in disbelief.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Marlon said, furious.
‘I have to tell you something,’ she said, appearing infuriatingly calm.
He stared back. ‘And I suppose it couldn’t wait until I got out of the stone age?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘It couldn’t.’
Everyone was still gaping and Marlon grabbed her arm, moving her away. ‘A word, then.’ He walked a good twenty feet then spun her around. ‘Do you have any idea what you’ve walked into?’
‘Shangri-La?’
‘No, not right now. In fact, quite the opposite. Hear that? That’s war, Junie. Tribal, spear-throwing, eat-your-enemy kind of war. What in God’s name did you have to tell me that couldn’t wait, because it better be good.’
‘Someone survived.’
‘Survived what?’
‘The war – I think.’
‘Half their luck. I hope we do the same.’
‘Kuji is a white man. Not a ghost or healer or whatever people believe. He’s a man, flesh and blood with white skin. Tooh told me. He met him with Pukz.’
Marlon considered that new information. ‘Why didn’t Pukz mention that?’
‘Maybe he enjoys being the village daredevil on his own.’
‘No, not that Tooh was with him, I mean, why didn’t he tell us Kuji is a white man?’
‘Maybe he did.’
‘Lost in translation,’ Marlon said, remembering Pukz pointing at Ernest on the plane. You. Kuji.
He began to pace. ‘It could be anyone…a missionary, a lost soldier…’
‘Tooh said he fell in a cloud from the sky. Sent by the gods. That’s why they fear him.’
Flashbacks of parachutes assailed him, thousands of them. Like angels.
‘He had Michael’s lighter…’
Marlon looked into her eyes, into the pain that had lived there for so long, now at the surface. ‘You can’t keep hanging onto his ghost, Junie.’
‘Someone else did,’ she said, holding the lighter up. ‘Someone held on to it down here – and I have to know why.’
‘You can’t be here! How am I supposed to protect a woman on top of everything else?’
‘For God’s sake, I’m not made out of glass. I’ve walked this far and I’m perfectly fine. And I’ve got Digger –’
‘And you’ve got legs and breasts and a beautiful face! And there are thousands of head-hunters over there having a big old war party who may just think you’d make a pretty gorgeous sacrifice – or a meal!’
She looked momentarily unnerved then flicked back her hair and regarded him coolly. ‘Well, don’t you think it might be an idea to move around them while they’re preoccupied?’
As he strode away, he wasn’t sure what annoyed him the most: the fact that she was right or the fact she was here because she still loved a dead man. Either way, this expedition was steadily deteriorating into the worst idea of his life.
It was cold and exhausting travelling on that night, but it was their best shot, Marlon had to agree. Moving around right now was their only chance of pulling this off, as Junie had so frustratingly pointed out. The ritual would actually be a perfect diversion, keeping most of the men away from the area they needed to get to – but time mattered more now. They could sleep when they got home, because by forgoing it, they would hopefully get to the site by tomorrow afternoon, find out everything they could, then get the hell out of here.
Who knew when or if they would ever take this chance again? Privately Marlon was hoping there wasn’t any potential for drilling. Only a mass development would be plausible now considering the dangers the area posed and, seeing this valley first-hand, he definitely didn’t want it being invaded by the twentieth century. It had been a mistake to show the others that canister.
But he couldn’t undo that fact now. They knew the site was there, and sooner or later someone would have come to investigate – probably Philippe, with a lot more ammunition and men. Best to do it now when he could do everything he could to discourage progress and protect this untouched world and the hidden race of people that belonged here. Western culture would be like a drop of poison that spread through it, infecting it like a plague, much as it had for many other native peoples of the world, including his own. Marlon’s Miwok blood ran cold at the thought.
Yes, completing the expedition now was in the Kurelu’s best interest. He only hoped it was in theirs too. Sympathetic to this ancient race he may well be, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t also terrified of being caught in the middle of whatever it was that sea of warriors were up to. And it wasn’t as though he could put the image of thousands of armed cannibals out of his mind.
The drums beat through the thick night in continuous, dark threat, the already dangerous forest now alive with the call of war, warning them to go back with every step they took forwards. It thumped in their chests and leapt through their veins, reminding Marlon of similar fearful moments during the war. The pound of shells through woolly mountains. The whirr of engines from black dots carrying shiny pencils. The only thing keeping his focus away from it was the woman in front.
Junie was climbing a slippery slope and he held her hand to help. She was doing well to keep up, her figure silver in the moonlight, but he walked near her protectively at all times, Digger nearby. The others had been aggressive in their questioning of why she had come and how to get rid of her, but Marlon had reasoned that there was nothing else for it: she had to come with them, and in the end no-one could argue that piece of logic. And there had been no time to stand around and do so.
But that was two hours ago and exhaustion was now taking its toll. Even with the jungle pulsing at their fear their bodies were heavy with fatigue and it was Philippe who finally called for a break. They took one reluctantly, falling to
the ground and pulling out water and assorted pieces of food.
Marlon passed Junie a canteen and she drank, her features pale.
‘You all right?’
She nodded and he knew she would say she was even if she were dying, perhaps just out of pure damn stubbornness.
‘Still angry?’ she whispered back as the others conversed in murmurs nearby.
‘Yes.’
She drank again, watching him, then ventured something else. ‘I have to know, Marlon. For all of the people who loved them. I’m here on their behalf too.’
‘I thought you said you trusted me.’
‘You told me not to, remember? Besides, you didn’t have all the facts.’
‘Joseph would have filled me in.’
‘But I –’
‘Cut the bullshit, Junie. You came because you’re sick of being told no.’
She studied the canteen. ‘I guess that’s true. It’s the first time I’ve done something rash in a very long time, you know.’
‘And how does that make you feel? Happy now?’ he said, unable to stop the sarcasm from creeping into his voice.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘But maybe it’s a start.’ She took his hand behind a tree trunk and he looked down at it, surprised.
‘You know, I really hate it when women throw my words back at me.’
‘Maybe you should stop being so charming,’ she said. She leant against the tree then, resting her eyes, but she didn’t let his fingers go. And somehow all the anger he felt simply slipped away with that tender little act, leaving her words to echo in his mind as he stared out at the menacing forest. Whatever charm he had couldn’t compete with the perfect memories she had of her lost lover.
‘It’s no use, you know,’ he said, more gently now. ‘Loving a ghost.’
Her eyes remained closed but she answered him at least. ‘I know.’
Marlon held her hand just a little tighter before letting it go, knowing that if they made it through to tomorrow it would bring that ghost as close as he would ever be. He could almost smile at the irony of it as they sat among the drums of war, trying to find a way to bury a soldier from battles past.
But like Junie had said, it was just something she had to know – what happened in the end – and if she needed Marlon to walk with her through the last hours of Michael’s life, then so be it. Because the only way she would ever find new love was if she let the old one go.
Forty-eight
‘There.’ Pukz pointed and they moved down the hillside with excitement. Two full days and a night of walking had depleted them all, but the drumming had finally faded mid-morning. And now it seemed they’d actually made it to the site where the sample had been taken.
Philippe moved over to where Pukz now stood, smacking the damp area near the water with his stick, and sure enough, the black oil oozed from the ground, thick like blood, as the natives had termed it. An apt description, all things considered, Marlon thought. Carl knelt down and the men began to converse excitedly as Pukz moved away.
‘Mission accomplished,’ said Felix, sitting down on a fallen tree trunk and fanning his face with his hat. ‘How long till we can get out?’
‘They’ll want to investigate for a while – I’d say a few hours or so. Meanwhile I have something I need to check out with Junie. I’ll take Tooh and Joseph, if that’s okay. And Digger,’ he said, patting the dog as he sat by his side. They were good friends now, probably because he sensed Marlon’s protectiveness over Junie. Dogs were experts on loyalty.
‘How long will you be gone?’
‘Not sure, maybe till nightfall.’
‘All right,’ said Felix, a little uneasily.
‘Tooh,’ he called and the man made his way over, Joseph and Junie following. ‘Let’s go.’
They said their goodbyes and Tooh walked them towards the river, which was quite shallow at this juncture but Marlon still held Junie’s hand tightly as they crossed. He hadn’t come this far for her to float off down the Baliem.
They walked for about two hours then paused at the sound of human activity, hiding behind some bushes as a village came into view. It was quite small and looked innocent enough with its quaint mushroom shaped roofs and elderly women chatting in the sunshine. No men were visible, although plenty of children ran around.
Tooh pointed to a hut perhaps a hundred feet away, isolated from the rest, with its own garden plot in front, and Marlon nodded. He made his way towards it stealthily, only to return ten minutes later with a shake of his head.
They couldn’t very well search every abandoned hut in the area, nor every piece of forest nearby where the man might have gone, so Marlon took the chance.
‘Ready?’
Junie was so filled with nerves by now she couldn’t speak, so she gave him the thumbs up instead. They stood, walking in single file into the village to make contact with this lost race of people at last.
One by one, the inhabitants came out to stare.
‘Kuji,’ said one, pointing, and another came closer, an older woman, and touched Junie’s arm. She said something then, peering at Junie’s eyes, and they all came closer to investigate. The old woman was pointing at the sky and Marlon wasn’t sure if they thought Junie was a spirit or just that her eyes were the same shade of blue, or something else entirely.
Marlon nodded at Tooh and the man did his best to talk, although it was a different language down here. A few words got through when Junie produced the lighter and they pointed at the hut, chatting rapidly.
‘What is it?’ Junie asked and Joseph took her shoulder, already guessing.
Tooh looked sad as he delivered the news, making a moving motion with his arm and pointing back.
‘The river?’ said Joseph.
‘Yes,’ Tooh confirmed.
The old woman held Junie’s blue eyes with her own dark brown, understanding there as Tooh said the words.
‘Kuji dead.’
There’d been no evidence to collect in the hut, nothing to tell them about the man in the end, only the bare essentials of village life. Nothing to say he was Australian or even white. Only that he was very tall for these parts, judging by the way he slept.
Junie felt as if Michael had died a second time, so strong was her disappointment. It was with heavy feet that she followed the others along the path with Digger, who seemed to sense her sadness, licking her hand every now and then.
She had believed so blindly she would find answers that she could scarcely fathom she’d been wrong. She’d even dared hope that it was Michael, of course. So foolish. Junie wished she’d never heard of this false Shangri-La, feeling worse than just lost – now she was devoid of any emotion, save the need to be with Frankie; at least there she’d find Michael’s smile. Still in the world. Real.
Marlon was watching her, she could feel his kindness and concern, and she wanted to thank him for trying but even those words couldn’t be found as they reached the river once more. She was too heartsick to speak. There had been a surge in tides and the water ran faster now. Maybe that was how it happened. Maybe the current had caught him by surprise, whoever the man had been.
‘Hey,’ called Joseph, waving over at Philippe and the others across the water. They waved back but then something made them freeze. Then panic and run.
Hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh.
Junie watched in shock as men rose from the forest, rushing towards the party on the opposite side of the river, throwing spears as they crowed for war.
Hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh, hoo-ahh.
‘Shit,’ she heard Marlon say as he and Joseph took out their guns and began shooting in the air. Junie realised she was still standing and went to crouch when fire ripped through her shoulder and she fell instead, straight into the cold water where her head found a rock and everything turned black.
The last thing she heard was a man call her name, but it wasn’t Marlon. It wasn’t his voice at all.
‘Come on – wake up, please wake up.’
That was Marlon’s voice, she realised as she opened her eyes.
‘Oh, thank God. Come on, we have to get out of here. Can you walk, Philippe?’
‘Oui,’ he grunted, holding his side as Felix strapped a wound.
‘Digger?’ she asked as he shook his wet fur over her.
‘He must have pulled you out,’ Marlon said. ‘We found you around the bend on the shore.’ He ripped the material away from her shoulder as Felix finished with Philippe and rushed over to check her head then bandage her wound.
‘We’ll have to watch out for concussion but this isn’t too deep,’ he said, running water over her shoulder wound. ‘Hold on.’ He bandaged her shoulder quickly and precisely but it hurt like hell and she gritted her teeth.
‘Where are…?’
‘They ran off when we fired the guns, but they could come back. Nearly done there, Felix?’
The doctor fastened the last of it. ‘Finished.’
‘Let’s go,’ Marlon said, half carrying Junie away from the area the men had come from. ‘Which direction should we take?’ he called to Joseph, who was staring at tracks in the sand.
‘This way,’ he said suddenly and they found themselves moving down an obscured path, Joseph leading them at a run.
Green, Junie found herself thinking as it passed by in mottled shades around her. So much green.
‘Stay awake,’ Marlon warned, lifting her closer against his side as they went.
It’s like a tunnel…a chlorophyll tunnel, Junie mused, drowsy with the patterns. I’m going to be hunted and killed here. Then the tunnel will turn white and lead me to Michael.
‘Stay with me.’
Stay with Marlon.
Junie focused on him as hard as she could, holding on with what strength she could summon as he propelled her forwards.
‘It’s all right, Junie. I’ve got you now.’
It seemed endless, this flight through the green, but they finally stopped and Marlon let them collapse and rest. It was deep forest now. The tunnel had turned shadowy and mysterious, the sun struggling to break through, and Junie blinked, trying to halt the fall of her eyelids into total darkness.
Worth Fighting For Page 34
