The Siege Of Apuao Grande

by John Muir

CHAPTER 29

  PATER’S GUEST

  Sleepily, and very slowly, Pater rolled his head away from the rough wetness licking his cheek and ear. It was like Ness waking him in the night when she wanted to play more sex games. But Pater was soon alert enough to know that it was not Ness. He did not want to move suddenly in case whatever it was also took fright and struck back at him with fangs. He decided to risk slowly opening one eye. He could not see what it was as the creature was now behind him.

  Licking now began on the back of his neck. He tried to think what creatures salivated over their prey before killing them. He hoped the slow movement of his hand toward the diving knife strapped to his leg was imperceptible. The rubber safety loop over the handle was difficult to free without lifting his leg off the ground to release it. The bristles of the creature were now pushing right into the hair at the back of his head as it made a little grunting sound.

  His hand closed around the handle of the knife. The folds of the sheet prevented him pulling the knife fully out of the sheath. He wondered how he could roll free quickly, and strike with the knife at the same time. He felt a light push on his shoulder and saw a grey bristle-haired body appear in front of his face.

  "Shit Fred, you bastard." Pater, relieved, realised that the restaurant dog had found him and was nestling into him for attention. He breathed out the tension he had felt.

  "You fucking little shit."

  Fred's head moved back and forth as though looking at him quizzically wondering what the fuss was about.

  Pater sat up quickly concerned his little outburst might have been heard by anyone nearby. Fred moved away as Pater made a quick grab for his pistol to be ready in case a face came peering into his little bower.

  After listening for a short time he was satisfied that there was no other human presence. Fred meanwhile had sat a couple of feet away looking at him. Pater looked back and felt a grin come onto his face. He was pleased to have company, any company. He had never felt this pleased to see the little terrier before despite Fred having just given him a huge fright. Fred often followed him home from the restaurant after the evening meal and slept on Pater's porch on an old blanket in a box that Pater had provided.

  As he thought about it he wondered about Fred's ability, or lack of it, as a watch dog. The only times he had ever heard Fred bark was when he chased the turkeys. Fred's presence might be a danger. He would befriend anyone that fed him and might lead the wrong people to this hide-away.

  Pater knew he had not had much sleep but it was enough for now. He would take a siesta later at the hottest time of the day. The guerillas would be less active at the same time too. Even Filipino guerillas would find difficultly breaking habits of a lifetime.

  From now to then, he would carefully reconnoitre to see what he could do to strengthen his weak position.

  ----------

  Heidi delivered a walkie-talkie to Helmut at the sand-spit to Little Apuao. He had little to report. One of Helmut's groups had been to the small barrio to tell them what was happening. They displayed a total disinterest only asking whether they could leave the island to fish. After being told they could, they asked not to be dragged into any conflict, or put in any danger. After reassurance the barrio head thanked them and told the other assembled villagers. Heidi decided not to tell Helmut about the problems of the escapes and the little girl at this time. He was a man of few questions and he knew better than to ask. He was here on a mission and Heidi knew his temperament could not really be bothered with the problems that she was beginning to feel.

  She sat down, back against a tree, two metres from where Helmut sat and watched his eyes move slowly and steadily over the cover of the rain forest of the nearby island at the end of the sand-spit. The angle of her sitting allowed her to see Helmut's profile. She could see the family resemblance between, Helmut and his older sister, Gerda.

  Heidi was surprised at the sudden thought of Gerda. She had not thought about her for quite a while, but now Gerda suddenly seemed an important part of this mission.

  It was during Heidi's second year at the over-crowded Catholic Church-run orphanage in West Berlin she first met Gerda and Helmut. It was just before her thirteenth birthday when Gerda arrived with her talkative and rowdy young brother. Because Heidi was the same age as Gerda she was asked to be Gerda's mentor and they were put in the same dormitory. Helmut, still only seven, threw such a tantrum about being separated from Gerda that he was allowed to share Gerda's small bed in the already over-crowded orphanage.

  Heidi, quite aware of her own plain looks, was happy to have a genuine and very pretty friend. Gerda was the prettiest girl in the orphanage by far. Heidi was vaguely aware of the problems that accompanied pretty girls, even pretty boys, in the orphanage, but it had never affected her directly. She had never been called to any of the Brothers' offices at strange hours.

  Within days of her arrival, Gerda was summonsed to the office of one of two Brothers whose eyes she had caught.

  That began Gerda's abuse at the hands of the Brothers. The demands were also sometimes made during the day but most frequently after lights out. If she was summoned during the day, outwardly Gerda showed no emotion or reaction to the sexual abuse that was taking place. She was protecting her young brother, Gunter, from even knowing what was happening by explaining that her absences were because she was needed to help with extra homework. At night, after these abuses, when she got back to the dormitory, and if Gunter was asleep, she would crawl into bed with Heidi and cry herself to sleep in Heidi's arms.

  One night, several months after their arrival, a Brother came to take Gerda to his bed. Finding that Gerda was already with another of the Brothers, he grabbed a sleeping Helmut, despite Heidi's protests. Helmut's screaming could be heard throughout several of the nearby dormitories.

  When Gerda returned she found a still inconsolable Helmut sobbing in Heidi's bed. Heidi remembered the look of hatred on Gerda's face when she discovered what had happened while she was out of the dormitory. She took Helmut to her bed and sang one of the many songs she regularly sang quietly to him each night until he fell asleep. Then when Helmut had fallen asleep, Gerda got into bed with Heidi and made Heidi promise that if anything ever happened to her, that Heidi would take care of Helmut. Heidi swore she would on the dictionary that her Mother had given her only days before both her parents had been killed in a car smash.

  The next night Gerda was summonsed again. Heidi thought it was strange that Gerda had not returned by wake up time the next morning.

  Soon after breakfast, all the orphans were surprisingly ordered back to their dormitories. Then, mid-morning, two men in dark suits collected Heidi, Helmut and their few belongings, and without explanation took them on their first ever aeroplane flight. They were left at a new orphanage in Saarbruchen near France.

  Helmut had changed overnight. He was no longer outgoing and loud, but withdrawn and silent. He had made no protests about being separated from Gerda or being with Heidi.

  It was not until three years later that Heidi learned what had happened. Gerda had stolen a carving knife from the kitchen then killed and gutted first one then another of the Brothers that had been abusing her. The Brother who had abused Helmut was found dead with his penis removed and stuck into his own anus. Then Gerda slashed her own wrists and sat locked in one of the toilets until she died.

  Heidi never had the courage to tell Helmut what had happened. He already had enough suppressed hate for several dozen people. They were both very anti-establishment and very ready recruits for terrorism when they were approached.

  ----------

  Pater intentionally avoided using the paths in case he ran into any of the guerillas. His extra caution and the thickness of the rain forest made his progress much slower. Both times paths needed to be crossed he paused for several minutes listening for any changes to the familiar sounds of the jungle. Then he crossed quickly. He wanted to be reasonably close to the pump house because several of the pipes takin
g water to the restaurant were still above ground. Some had minor leaks therefore he could get water from them as he needed it.

  Quietly, within 100 metres of the pump-house, he checked out some of the side-paths known only to a few locals and barely discernable at their entry. On one he found a table-size cleared area 25 metres off the main path and three metres into the bush of the side-path. It was covered in cogon grass slightly raised above the other parts of the jungle floor and drier than its surrounding area. He risked a quick inspection from the side-path and was satisfied that his hideaway and its entry were invisible to users of either path, though he would have at least partial sight of any side-path users.

  In case he needed to shift quickly, he did not empty all the contents of his pillow-case kit he simply covered it with leaves to disguise its outline. Some of the food and kit he would cache elsewhere in case his first hide-a-way was discovered.

  He checked his .22 pistol and its loaded magazine and wrapped it in one of the pairs of underpants he had stuffed in the quiver. He put the .22 inside a larger than normal pocket of his cargo pants. For the first time he was pleased that his bow was a re-curve bow and not one of the more common compound bows as used at the restaurant. He could easily run with his bow unstrung, or if needed, have it strung up and readily carried across his body. Strung up and across his body was probably wiser, as the time and considerable effort was needed to bend the bow to fit the string. That meant it could not be readied quickly to fire an arrow. By contrast if he had a compound bow, the pulleys and counter-pull string guides would prevent his carrying it over his chest.

  Pater stood up and pulled down on the top of the bow with all his weight to bend it, then slotted the string into the grooves. He pulled two arrows out of the quiver to be handy if needed. He looked at the tips of the arrows and felt disappointed that they were target heads not the barbed hunting type. The target head would not do as much damage as the hunting arrows which were designed to cut on entry and maximise damage by cutting blood vessels and muscle tissue.

  He knew they would be looking for him now. He also knew that he needed sleep. Laying the blanket over the cogon grass he pulled the now dirty sheet over him. He had no fears about the jungle creatures that would crawl over him in his sleep. As he felt sleep start to overtake him he hoped that he would not snore loudly. Ness complained he did. Snoring could easily give his position away. He thought it would be good to have his Ness with him now. She was as resourceful as he was. There was no-one among the guests that he felt he wanted with him as help. They all seemed too soft for what he wanted to do. Now that his kit was checked he could sleep.

  ----------

  T.A. was amazed so many slept so easily. Not because of the events of the previous few hours but because of the hard tarsealed surface they were laying on. He could possibly understand why the Japanese could. They were used to sleeping on futons, on a hard surface. Maybe even understand that those like Gunther and Graham, in their state of intoxication could sleep irrespective of where they were. But some of the others that T.A. thought were light drinkers had succumbed to sleep. Thankfully the children were all quiet.

  The snoring of several nearby was another reason he could not sleep. He kept on thinking about Malou and hoped she might have got some sleep for at least part of the night. Then he remembered how quickly and easily she seemed to be able to sleep under any circumstances.

  After the panic when Pater, Doug and his daughter got out, T.A. could only try and guess what had happened to them. Someone, if not all three, had been caught. The guards had been more diligent in their duties since.

  T.A. looked at the still forms sitting or lying around the tennis court. He tried to work out who else was missing beside the Germans and the Iranians. He did not know how many Japanese there were supposed to be so he did not know if they had all been caught. Perrhaps there were others who had not been picked up. He slowly scanned the still forms around him again. He did not know if any Filipinos had got away. Even if there were some guests running free outside, what could they do against such well equipped insurgents?

  ----------

  Heidi felt control over what was happening was slipping from her grasp. Yet, with the exception of the restaurant shooting and the escape, all the objectives had been achieved. Perhaps it was just tiredness. She had to beat this feeling. She did not know how long this mission was going to last and she should not be feeling this spent already.

  The muggy heat had drained her energy more than she expected. She was aware of that, but having to wear the hood at all times meant that she was heating up more than usual. If she could focus on the plan she had formed over the preceding days, it might get her mind re-organised and back on track.

  The plans started to flood back into her mind. But rather than easing her panic she felt it was adding to it. There were many things she had planned to do immediately after first light and they were still not done.

  She told her group to wait where they were. Going into the nearby Brooke house she wanted to urinate and wash her face in the hope that it might help clear her mind. Although she had conducted her ablutions before in the company of men she just needed a few minutes to herself to regain her composure.

  While she sat on the toilet she thought about the events leading up to the present. She closed her eyes at the thought of the quiet friendly fat old guy lying dead on the bar. She took a deep breath, then, burst into uncontrollable sobs at the realisation that the actions of the mission had caused the death of the old guy and probably the death of the pretty little girl too. The old guy had been so insistent that she cover herself from the suns rays to prevent painful sunburn. When she did get too burnt one day, he simply gave her a cream to rub on the pain without making any comment about her stupidity in not taking his advice. The little girl, as well as giving Heidi one of her precious chips, had also asked Heidi to look after her doll, while the little girl went to the toilet. Now they were both dead.

  After washing in the cold water she felt ready to start the day as intended, before things went awry. Feeling confident, she walked out of the house and back to her group.

  "If any of you want to go inside and freshen up, you've got fifteen minutes."

  There was a little discussion in her group after Domingo translated and four of the group immediately ran into the house.

  While waiting, Heidi let her mind run over the things she had to organise in the next few hours before she could take a break, and possibly grab a few hours sleep.

  She did not know how long she had been deep in thought, but as she looked up from her seated position with her back against the tree, her little group were back together, standing and waiting for her to start the new day.

  She looked at the masked faces and wondered if they were smiling or sneering at her. Their eyes gave nothing away. One, then another stretched out their arms for her to grab and help her up. She now felt that at least it was not a sneer.

  The group followed her to the beach by the overhanging tree where the .50 calibre machine gun was set up. She was surprised there were six people here.

  "Anybody here speak English?" she asked.

  "I do ma'am," responded one of the six men around the gun. Four of them were asleep.

  "I want you to move the gun up onto the grass and off the sand, but still under the tree. Cover it enough so that it can't be seen by anyone approaching from the sea."

  "OK ma'am."

  "Unfortunately you're going to have to hurry a bit. It's quite possible that the daily banca of tourists might still arrive from Mercedes. They probably don't know what's happened here yet. We don't want anyone seeing weapons, and we don't want any passing boats to spot anything. OK?"

  "Yes ma'am," responded the obliging little man. "We'll have it all set up and hidden in less than 10 minutes. The extras here are from the barrio group to catch up on sleep. They'll be going back shortly."

  "I'll make sure a walkie-talkie radio is given to you so we can pass on any inst
ructions. I expect it all to be quiet for a few more hours."

  "Thanks ma'am. Any chance of any food or drinks?" asked the little man.

  "Yes. As soon as the gun is set up one of you go to the restaurant. Leave your weapons behind and get some food and drinks for all of you. I don't want guns to be seen from offshore. After eating, the extras must go back to the barrio. One of you can sleep while the others keep watch. "

  "Yes ma'am, thank you ma'am."

  Heidi walked off the beach to the tractor path between the houses where they had gathered some of the hostages the night before. As she walked toward the restaurant she turned to her little group.

  "Where are you Domingo? I need your interpreter skills."

  One of the escorts hurried to catch up to her.

  "I'm here."

  "When we get to the restaurant get someone from the staff to organise cooking. We must have continual supplies of food ready and distributed to everyone in the field as well as feeding the hostages."

  "Yes ma'am. I've been told there is a good supply of rice and most other basics."

  "Good. Get someone else to gather up containers to deliver water on a regular basis to everyone. Tell whoever is to deliver them, that they are not to carry any weapons or walkie-talkies. I don't want weapons seen."

  Heidi's real reason for this instruction she kept to herself. She was more than a little worried about Pater wandering around the jungle. He could easily overpower a lone man delivering food and water to the others, and take his weapon. It would be worse if he got hold of a walkie-talkie. He could remain one step ahead of them.

  "We can probably buy fish from the local barrio if we let them go out normally," suggested Domingo.

  "Good idea. Tell the group guarding the kitchen. I will make the payments."

  Heidi felt a little guilty that she did not trust any of the group with money payments. She had been long enough in the Philippines to know that everyone else would try to make a profit.

  In case the daily banca from Mercedes still arrived at the normal time, they would have to be ready for it. One way to find out if it was still coming would be to make the normal daily radio contact with base in Manila. She would need the co-operation of one of the staff who knew the radio system.

  Twice daily, the resort called Head Office in Manila by radio telephone. Each time to check on incoming passenger numbers and to advise about departing passengers who wanted accommodation on their return to Manila. Other general information regarding needed supplies was also passed on. Heidi knew from overhearing previous communications that the conversation was stilted if the manager was around, but flowed freely if he was absent. So there would be a plausible reason if the Manila staff thought the conversation was stilted.

  The morning call to the resort was always between 7:45A.M. and 8:00A.M. Heidi felt she had enough hostages and hoped the incoming banca was cancelled. Until official word of the take-overs was announced nationally it was up to her to keep the events of the previous night secret from the outside world.

  She turned to her interpreter Domingo.

  "Send one from our group and find Boy or Dandan. Whichever one you find I'll meet by the pool as soon as he can get here."

  Domingo nodded and translated to one of the others who immediately ran off in the direction of the local village barrio.

  "Gee," said Heidi, I'll be glad when we can use the portable radios to send messages."

  "Why not now?" queried her interpreter.

  "Just security in case someone else around the area happens to be tuned in. Once the news of the takeovers is public, we'll distribute and use them. Until then; no.”

  She led the group to the umbrella hut by the pool and sat on one of the cleverly cut and inverted truck tyre tubes that formed a comfortable seat.

  The guards on the perimeter of the nearby restaurant seemed as relaxed as their captives within. Some hostages were still lying on the floor on makeshift mattresses dozing. Others were seated in small groups speaking in hushed tones and looking around like guilty children. The cicadas had reduced their early morning crescendo to their steady morning hum.

  Heidi sensed the approach of another group and looked toward the trailer and carabao path that ran between the ex-pats houses.

  "Tired?" came the voice from behind the mask.

  Heidi recognised it as Boy.

  "Yes, it will be good to have a little sleep."

  She stood up from her comfortable seat.

  "You wanted me?" asked Boy.

  "Yes. It's strangely peaceful again isn't it? Just like it was before this happened. We've changed this paradise to hell for everybody. Anyway, I want you to get one of the staff to make the normal morning call to Manila. Act as if nothing has happened here. But get our caller to find out if anything has happened in Manila or anywhere else."

  "OK, but what about the morning banca. Do you want any more tourists?" asked Boy.

  "No. We'll take them in if we have to. Split them up straight away on their arrival. Can I leave that to you?"

  "Sure," replied Boy, "but we better greet the banca without weapons except for a couple of hidden pistols in case the banca driver gets funny about having strangers greeting them."

  "No, you'd have to remove your masks. Get the guard and one other staff to meet the banca. The guard is already terrified and won't cause a problem. Just in case, have two of you men stand nearby to hear any of the conversation. Someone might try to get a message out. Your men will have to disguise themselves. Tell them to wear a diving mask."

  As Heidi finished, a masked guerilla came running around the restaurant from the beach, and began muttering something to Boy.

  Boy turned to Heidi and she noticed him nodding his head side to side.

  "What is it?" asked Heidi.

  "They found the little girls body trapped under a banca near where she went into the water," said Boy.

  Heidi felt her heart sink as all the breath left her body. Unconsciously she closed her eyes to suppress the possibility of tears. Although she knew there had been virtually no chance of the girl being found alive she had still hoped for a miracle.

  Boy went on. "It won't be possible to get the body out until the tide rises a little more. She's been crushed under the banca. What do you want done?"

  Heidi felt her stomach give a sickening turn as she imagined the heavy weight of the banca crushing the tiny girl. It was a few seconds before she felt the bile in her throat subside enough for her to speak. Why was she feeling like this now? She had seen other dismembered bodies before and felt nothing.

  "Get two of the men into snorkelling gear when the tide lifts the boat. When they can get the body out, make sure nobody in the restaurant can see. Wrap the body and put it in the banca with the other three bodies. I don't want Doug and Alona to see her. Later today somebody can take the banca to sea, out of sight of the restaurant. Weigh the bodies down and toss them into deep water."

  Heidi hoped the shakiness she could feel in her voice was not obvious to the others. She felt relieved as Boy turned to his men and give instructions in his language. Four left in two groups of two in different directions. Eventually he turned back to Heidi.

  "They'll see to the little girl," he said quietly. "I couldn't do it myself. I don't want to see the body."

  Heidi felt inward relief. It was not just her feeling the disappointments. Boy was feeling it too. She had been wondering if she was becoming involved, and too soft to successfully carry out the mentally testing parts of the operation. No, it was not that. On previous missions she had not been in lengthy contact or never met the victims. But these people on the island that she had life and death control over were not faceless strangers.

  "I'll see to the radio transmission myself," continued Boy.

  "O.K., I'll check Helmut’s group at the sand-spit to Little Apuao then check the ridge position. What about the locals in the barrio?" asked Heidi.

  "Dandan relieved Rico and Lorna a while ago. Their group
is catching a little sleep where and when they can."

  "Yeah, there are some on the beach. I'll pass out the walkie-talkies shortly. I'll set them up for selective paging and give everyone a list of which number everyone has. I don't want them used before the morning banca arrives, O.K.?"

  Boy nodded. He pointed toward the beach.

  "They're in a plastic wrapped box under the tree, twelve I think. Batteries already included."

  "I might as well get them now," responded Heidi.

  One of her group anticipated her instruction, gave his M16 to a colleague and ran off toward the beach. Within two minutes he was back with the box on his right shoulder.

  Together Heidi and Boy tore off the plastic and opened the box. They each extracted one from the individual plastic wrappings and attached the flexible aerial.

  "On the paging, you'll be number seven. I'll use the number one, Helmut will be two. Aziz and Raji three and four, Ali and Mohammed five and six. Dandan eight, Rico and Lorna, nine and ten. I'll keep the other two with me for now. I'll give number eleven to the machine gun group under the tree."

  "OK," responded Boy.

  Heidi slid the walkie-talkie pouch onto her belt, slipped the radio into it, gave a tired "follow-me" wave of her hand, and turned away from Boy to walk in the direction of the sand-spit to begin her rounds.

  Boy sat on the seat vacated by Heidi. He similarly fastened the pouch and watched as Heidi walked past the tennis court. He switched his gaze to stare into the sparkles of light reflected in the swimming pool.

  "It did not seem fifteen hours since he'd been cooling off in the pool with some of the other guests that he now held hostage? More like weeks." he thought.