by John Muir
CHAPTER 27
DADDY, WAIT FOR ME
APUAO GRANDE
The four guards were feeling confident about the security of their charges. They had ignored their strict instructions of maintaining position at each corner and had all gathered at the front entry, talking and laughing.
Suddenly it went black. There was no bang as Doug had expected. The sudden switch from bright light to pitch black meant that Doug could not see anything. He realised now why Pater had covered his eyes. It avoided the temporary blindness before readjusting themselves to the lesser light.
He quickly, but gently put down his little burden, wrapping her as he did so. Then felt for where Pater was laying. Pater had already gone. The guards were yelling and obviously stumbling as they tried to make their way back to their assigned positions. Doug's groping fingers soon found the gap created by Pater, and he pushed it hard. It moved easily. He quickly lay on his back and slid out under the wire. As he cleared his feet he could hear one of the guards curse as he fell over something in his blind rush. The dull light of the moon was starting to improve Doug's vision. He began to make out the bigger shapes of the buildings. He paused in a crouch ready to run toward the kitchen area of the restaurant. From there he would make his way along the nipa huts to the north and crawl down to the sea. He hoped none of the other guards he saw had these night glasses that Pater mentioned. He sensed rather than heard someone else also sliding out under the wire after him.
He sprang from his crouch and ran to the first part of his cover by the kitchen before pausing for the run to the nipa huts. There seemed to be other quiet footsteps behind him. He looked back but could not see anyone. It was easy for his imagination to be over-active with the yelling and panic from the guards.
The effects of the moonlight on his eyes were now helping his vision. That meant that the guards too would be better able to see. He could see the sea. He crawled up to the low embankment where the grass had stopped growing where it met the sandy high-water mark. Two bancas were pulled partly up on the sand just to his front. He would use that as cover as he first entered the sea. He paused again before beginning his slide along the sand. Who was it behind him? He could not see anyone else and he did not have time to stop and find out.
Belly down he began his crawl. He realised that where he had chosen was not the smoothest he could have hoped for. Broken shells were cutting his skin, especially his hands, knees and feet. Now was not the time for complaining. It was too late to change his mind. With some relief he made the shadow s between the bancas without being seen. Then seconds later he reached the sea but with mixed feelings. The salt water caused short sharp pains in every cut he had suffered on the way.
Strong torches were now playing up and down the beach and around the trees. Some were emanating from the restaurant and others were making their way along the beach further south of his location.
With strong strokes he began to pull away from the beach. He had to suppress a curse as he dragged his feet over an outcrop of shallow coral. Once past that he felt he was on his way.
As soon as he felt he was about one hundred metres out, he paused to look back at the shore. Standing near the banca where he had entered the water was a tiny little figure. It was about to enter the water as he had done.
"God, No!" he called out. It was his little girl.
"Daddy! Wait for me," she called out.
Doug could just make out the voice.
"Go back!" Doug pleaded.
"Daddy, please wait for me."
She entered the water now. Doug knew she could not swim. He saw the jerking light of a torch carrier running along the beach toward where she was.
Suddenly the water was deeper than her little body, and Doug lost sight of her as she went under. He panicked and started to swim as fast as he could back toward the shore. The torch carrier seemed to be playing his torch on the water where she had entered. It was obvious from the frantic jerking of the beam that the torch carrier could not see anything.
Doug tried to swim faster but could not seem to increase his speed. Another torch-light played out to sea picking him up in its strong beam.
He had to stop and tell them where to look.
"No, no, there by the banca!" he yelled.
The holder of the torch ignored his directive and continued to play the beam on him. Another figure joined the one holding the torch on him. Both were holding weapons at the ready and aimed at him.
"No, not me, my daughter! She's in the water! Save her, please!"
They continued to ignore his pleas.
Now in total panic he began to claw at the water as fast as his arms would turn. His feet seemed to be dragging and not responding to his demand for extra kicking.
Immediately his feet finally touched the shallows he stood and started looking around. The two guards waded in and grabbed him.
"No, not me, my daughter is somewhere in here, she can't swim. She's only four."
The guerillas realised what was happening and started to play the torch on the water around them. Another torch carrier joined them, and all four, including Doug waded in the water looking and feeling frantically for any sign of her.
Time was passing by too fast for Doug. He realised that every precious second was valuable. If she could not be found very soon it would be too late for any hope of resuscitation, if it was not too late already.
More figures now joined them and rapid words passed between them as more then joined the search.
Doug's heart fell more with every passing second. He collapsed on the sand sobbing as he realised that it was already too late.
"Why now, why?" he sobbed.
She had needed him and called out to him. She had called him Daddy for the first time. She had been in his total care for the first time too and he had let her down. It was the first time that Alona had left her in his care and he had let this happen. Why had he left her? Why had she followed him? He had left her fast asleep. How did she find the hole in the fence? Now she had vanished.
There were now about a dozen searchers, many with torches but still nothing found in the water. Two of the guards picked Doug off the sand and dragged him back in the direction of the restaurant. The others continued searching in the water.
How could he face Alona? How could he tell her?
The darkened restaurant was just to his front. A hooded figure brought Alona out of the dark into the moonlit patio at the front.
She pulled away from her guard and rushed at Doug throwing her arms around his neck.
"You're safe," she said.
He stumbled out some incoherent words which he did not know whether they made any sense or not. She suddenly released her hold on his neck and stepped back to look at him. Then she let out a long and piercing scream before falling to her knees on the ground, picking up the loose sand and throwing it anywhere and everywhere.
Doug just collapsed to a sitting position and watched helplessly as she repeated her screaming and throwing.
A short hooded figure placed a rug over his back, and two others moved over to try and console Alona who had now fallen fully prostrate on the ground, sobbing and beating her closed fists onto the ground.
Her actions continued for several minutes. The guards did not interfere. Eventually Alona's actions stopped and subsided into regular and steady sobs. Doug moved closer and put his arm around her. Then picking her up carried her into the restaurant.
Some candles had been lit on the restaurant perimeter casting an eerie light. The captives inside parted to make way for them as they entered. There was a lot of murmuring but no questions. Doug was thankful for that. Even the language being spoken around him seemed distant and strange to his ear. Maybe the guards were telling some of the others what had happened. His subconscious registered the sound of some women bursting into tears.
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When the lights blew, Heidi and her group were patrolling the tractor path to make sure none of the less disciplined groups we
re taking the opportunity to ransack the houses. Immediately it became dark she yelled to the others.
"Sit down and cradle your weapons. Listen for noises around you and do not move. Wait for your eyes to adjust."
There was a quick translation to those that did not understand English. Then the group instantly obeyed and all sat.
While she sat and waited, she wondered who had got away from their earlier round-up and sabotaged the lighting power source.
She could hear the yells of panic in the distance emanating from the restaurant. She knew and realised it would have created panic not only among the prisoners, but also the guards. As soon as she felt comfortable in the reduced light, she stood and headed off at a trot to the restaurant followed by her little group. Some had not adjusted to the night and were stumbling in the dark. She hoped their weapons were on safety.
As she passed the Simpson house, she thought she might need the help of one of the staff to sort out the problem. She stopped and told one of her group to get a male staff member who knew about the power system, and bring him to the restaurant. She continued on with the remainder of the group.
Immediately she arrived, one of the guards from the tennis court ran over and advised that they had discovered a hole in the fence. They had to assume that someone might have got out.
"Get back there, and wait. I'll come and check it out as soon as I've finished in the restaurant."
The court-guard, span around and ran back in the direction from which he had come. She turned to the one in her group she had come to know as Domingo. He was the one assigned to her by Dandan as her main translator.
"Take one other man and check out that nobody has got out of the restaurant. They must have candles in there somewhere. They've used them on the tables. Get some lit and set them around the perimeter so they can see anybody crossing the light. That should make sure nobody tries a late escape."
Domingo nodded at one of the others and headed into the restaurant. Heidi stood outside the restaurant and looked at the still nervous restaurant guards crouched and pointing M16's at the helpless occupants within. She hoped there would not be a sudden panic from either side. This tension could make an over-zealous guard start shooting. If one started, the others would automatically follow suit. She was not so worried about the regulars that had spent time training in Libya, only the irregulars who were there to boost the numbers. They were an unknown quantity. A slaughter could easily result.
Boy's group arrived and Heidi noticed his men immediately moved into the restaurant and started saying a few words to each of the restaurant guards.
Boy came up to her side. Heidi could not figure out how he could select her from all the others wearing hoods.
"I hope you don't mind," Boy said. "I told my men to tell the guards not to be so jumpy, and not shoot at the prisoners. If they have to shoot, shoot in the air."
"Thanks Boy, You did well. Do you know what happened with the lighting?"
"Just a brown-out, they happen a lot in the Philippines."
"What's a brown-out?"
"Oh, just a loss of power."
Heidi thought the expression 'brown-out' as quaint.
"What caused it here?"
"Probably overloading the electricity generator. Too many lights on."
"You mean we're not part of a national grid?"
"No, the island will have its own generator. It'll be petrol or diesel driven. You must go through the houses and switch off all the lights to reduce the chance of it happening again when the power is restored."
"You organise that. I’ll go to the tennis court and see what's happened there."
"Sure, while they're doing the lights, I'll check the beach," said Boy.
She was pleased he was not just a yes man. He had thought out his actions and his suggestion was practical.
"Get it done," she said.
He whistled, and within seconds his men joined him. He quickly told them what he wanted. They ran off in the direction of the houses as he headed for the beach.
She was looking forward to the sunrise. It was not too far off now. Then things might be able to settle into a reasonable routine.
Domingo ran to her from the restaurant.
"Something's happening on the beach. Someone's trying to swim away."
"Oh God, what next. Tell them to let him go. No shooting. It doesn't matter now if someone gets away from the island. We've virtually completed our preparation. Send one from our group to the beach to tell them to let him go. Then he can join us at the tennis court."
As soon as Domingo passed on the order he joined Heidi's group and they headed to the tennis court.
The guards were nervously wandering back and forward outside the perimeter with one exception. One guard was standing at the fence where even in the dim moonlight she could see the part of the wire pushed out.
"Domingo. Get the hostages to line up against the fence. Go inside and count them. I'll try and see if I can pick who is missing from out here. Take my torch and shine it on everyone's face so I can see them."
Even in the moonlight she felt she already knew who was missing. It was the face she first looked for, Pater's. He was the only real standout as determined and resourceful. There was more to his background than the staff knew or was prepared to disclose. He proved that by throwing one of her men through a window. He was not a man to be easily pushed around. The obvious preparation he had made for his escape in digging the base areas of the wire showed his escape had been thought out. He had anticipated the "brown out."
She was hoping it was him making a total break for it and swimming to another island. He would be a greater threat if he had stayed on the Island.
As the torchlight played on the other faces, she realised that Doug Maddigan and his daughter were also missing. Doug could not take his daughter with him on a long swim, so it had to be Pater swimming. Doug and his daughter should be easy to find, given time. The daughter would need feeding, and her crying, wherever they were, would give their position away.
Domingo came back and quickly confirmed that there were two adults and one child missing. Heidi was pleased she had paid attention to all the faces over the previous days.
As she began thinking about rostering her teams off for essential sleep, Boy ran over to her. From the nodding of his head she could see that something had happened that he was not happy about.
"We had one swimming away, it was Maddigan."
"What about the daughter?" asked Heidi.
"He apparently left her behind on the beach, but she must have tried to follow him."
"What the hell are you trying to tell me?" she demanded.
"She's vanished, we can't find her."
"What the hell do you mean?"
"We're searching the water where she went in. There's no trace, no trace at all."
"What are you saying? Has she drowned?"
"It seems so, but they can't find the body."
"Are you sure she's not with Maddigan?"
"Yes, Maddigan swam back to shore when he saw his daughter go into the water. We've got him. But we still can't find the girl."
"Jesus Christ, what else can go wrong in three hours? Does Alona know yet?"
"They're together now."
"Leave them together, tell the guards in the restaurant. Separate them from the others, but keep them under guard. Put them in the T.V. room by themselves. Just let them be together, alone."
"O.K., I'll arrange that now," Boy responded. "I'll be pleased when the sun’s up."
"Me too," replied Heidi as Boy turned and left.
She stood there, feeling alone despite being surrounded by her masked group. She pictured the face of the little girl offering her a chip a few days before. She sensed the emotions that Alona and Doug would be suffering.
Heidi felt too many events were happening uncontrollably around her. Now it was worse because they now had a protagonist of unknown skills and determination hiding in the jungle. Pater
might turn out to be an unpredictable enemy in his actions.
The sky began its daily routine giving light to the firmament beneath it. The cicadas had begun their welcoming chorus. Heidi felt mentally and physically spent and wanted to crawl off somewhere for a sleep. She knew it would be several hours yet before she could rest.
