Sally Wentworth - Conflict In Paradise

by Sally Wentworth

  'No! If there weren't any soldiers there wouldn't be any wars!'

  'If one country has them then, we all must,' he said impatiently.

  'And does that mean that you have to be part of it? I hate everything that you stand for, Major Aston—war, violence, the principle that you can only fight force with force; and I despise anyone who is weak enough to live by those tenets!' Tansy was past caring now, she wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt her.

  'You little fool! You don't know what you're talking about.' He shook her again, angrily now. 'You live in this backwater and you think you can preach to the rest of the world. If you want to help these people why don't you do something useful? Learn how to be a teacher in the school or something, instead of running around in that damn sarong pretending to be a native girl. You say you despise me for what I am; have you ever thought that wasting your life is equally despicable?' he said harshly.

  Tansy stared at him incredulously, then, rage overcoming her, she lifted her hand and struck him as hard as she could across the face. He jerked his head back, his jaw tense. He let go of her and, very deliberately, raised his hand and hit her in return. Not a hard blow or he would certainly have knocked her down, but a stinging slap with his cupped hand that brought stars to her eyes. For a second she swayed, as much with shock as with pain, then opened her eyes to find Blake glaring down at her.

  'I'm a soldier, remember?' he said bitingly. 'When someone hits me I hit back.'

  Without a word Tansy turned and ran unseeingly from the grove and into the jungle. Whether Blake was following her or not she didn't stop to look. Let him get lost for all she cared! She only wanted to get away from the man who was so alien to anyone she had ever known before, away from all the things he stood for. She came at last to where the jeep stood in the shade of some giant ferns and went to run past it and continue along the track on foot, but, before she had gone more than ten yards, a strong arm caught her and pulled her to a stop.

  'Get in the jeep. I'll drive you home.'

  'I'm not going anywhere with you!' Tansy shouted at him.

  'Stop behaving like a sulky child. I brought you and I'm taking you back.'

  'Go to hell! ' Tansy tried to prise his fingers from her arm, but the next moment found herself picked up and thrown over his broad shoulder. Frenziedly she beat at him with her clenched fists and tried to kick him, but he dumped her in the passenger seat of the jeep and held her there while he climbed in.

  'You little wildcat,' he muttered angrily as she clawed at him. 'For someone who hates violence you really fight dirty, lady.' He kept a tight hold of her wrist until they were driving along too fast for her to jump out.

  'You great bully! You're loathsome, do you know that? As loathsome as the job you came here to do. You're just the type to use brute force to get your own way!'

  Blake's jaw was set in a hard line as he said savagely, 'Don't push me too far, lady, or one of these days I might do just that!'

  Tansy couldn't get out of the jeep fast enough when at last he pulled up outside her house in a swirl of dust. She was about to run up the path when she saw that old Amaru, the woman who kept her pigs in the prison courtyard, was sitting patiently waiting for her. Reluctantly she stopped. 'What is it, Amaru? Are you ill?' she asked in the island dialect.

  'No, girl, I am well. It is the soldiers. They want to buy two of my pigs. Shall I sell to them?' The old native woman pointed to Blake as she mentioned the soldiers. He had been about to drive off until he noticed the gesture, but then stopped to see if their talk concerned him.

  Tansy looked at him, sitting so implacably in the jeep. She shook her head decisively at Amaru. 'No, do not sell them your pigs. Tell everyone in the village, and tell them to spread the word to all their relations on the island; no one is to sell anything to the soldiers. No animals, or crops, or even fruit from the trees. Nothing! We did not ask them to come here. They must provide for themselves.'

  Blake could not have understood a word of their conversation, but he got the implication all right. He shot Tansy a look of cold rage that made her feel as if he had struck her again, then he accelerated and drove away fast up the hill.

  Once inside the house and in her room, Tansy examined her face in the mirror. The marks of his fingers could still be plainly seen on her cheek. She stared at her reflection for a long time, trying to come to terms with the violent emotions that the man had aroused in her. Never before had her passions been so provoked that she had struck someone. It was against every principle she upheld. And, she thought ironically, she had been proved right, for violence had begat violence; the mark of it was on her face! Why had she so lost control of herself? Blake had hurt her when he had accused her of going native, of wasting her life, but she could simply have told him that he was wrong, that she was a doctor. But it had been his ready assumption that she was just a lotus-eater that had hurt, she admitted to herself. He hadn't even bothered to wonder what she did when she wasn't acting as interpreter for him, just took it for granted that she lazed around and gossiped like the native women. Inevitably she began to wonder why it had hurt so much, but she pushed the thought quickly to the back of her mind. Blake Aston was different from any other man she had ever met, had excited emotions that she didn't know she could feel, and for her own peace of mind it would be better to keep her thoughts and her perrson as far away from him as possible. Decisively Tansy sent Inara to tell her four native rowers to get the sailing canoe ready—it was time she visited some of the outlying islands.

  It was while she was in the clinic collecting some drugs to take with her that Ruari came to find her. One swift glance at her set face and he knew that her mission had't ailed. Typically he didn't bother to ask for explanations.

  'How long will you be away?'

  'About three or four days, I should think.'

  'You have told everyone not to sell them food. Is that wise, Tansy?' he asked gently.

  'We don't want them here. Why should we feed them? Anyway, they'll probably be leaving very soon so that the Major can submit his report.'

  'No, he told me that he would be sending his findings over the radio and he is to remain here until a decision is made. Then, if Aparoa is chosen, he and his men will start clearing the plateau and blasting the harbour straight away.'

  Tansy turned and looked at him, a box of drugs in her hand. So by going away she wouldn't have seen the last of Blake after all. For it was a foregone conclusion that Aparoa would be selected; she had spent hours poring over her father's maps of the other two islands and could see even from those that they wouldn't be as suitable as Aparoa. She shrugged; what did it matter? It would be easy enough to keep well out of his way, and he certainly wouldn't be seeking her out again.

  'Well, they'll just have to eat the rations they brought with them, won't they,' she told Ruari callously, adding, 'By the way, don't tell him I'm a doctor, will you? Let him think that Daddy is the only one on the island.'

  Ruari studied her thoughtfully. 'What is between you and Major Aston, Tansy?'

  'Nothing!' Tansy replied vehemently as she dropped the drugs into her bag. 'Absolutely nothing!'

  CHAPTER FOUR

  It was five days before Tansy returned to Aparoa, her journey delayed by a storm. Five days in which she had done her best to forget what might be happening to her beloved island and of the man who was awaiting orders to ravage it. But when they paddled through the gap in I lie coral and entered the lagoon all looked the same as before; the coconut palms on the plateau nodded their heads gracefully towards the ocean, children played and swam at the river's mouth. For a moment her heart lifted, but then she saw the army boat tied up at the old jetty and knew that the soldiers were still there.

  Ruari was waiting to meet her and lifted her from the canoe to the shore. The sadness in his bleak face told Tansy that all hope had been in vain.

  'When?' she asked him in little more than a whisper.

  'Major Aston received confirmation that Ap
aroa had been chosen only this morning. It seems that your father had some influence after all, and his friends put up many arguments against using the island, but they weren't strong enough. Come, you are just in time. Everyone has been called to the meeting house. The Major says that he will tell the villagers himself and he wants me to translate.'

  Already there was a mass of people waiting in the cleared space outside the meeting house, but, for Aparoa, it was a silent crowd. Gone was the usual shouting and laughing, the jokes and the cheerful badinage. Instead they talked quietly among themselves, murmuring, conjecturing, knowing that their lives were going to be changed but not really believing it, hoping against hope that all would be as it had always been. Tansy stayed at the back of the crowd, shaking her head when Ruari went to draw her into the meeting house with him. He didn't press her and soon he, Tupuhoe and Blake came out on to the veranda to face the villagers.

  Blake's face was completely impassive as he told them all exactly what he was going to do. He explained that a government official would come and work out adequate compensation for everyone who had lost their land or their livelihood. His voice was strong and clear, as if he was merely addressing his men instead of ruining a way of life that had been in existence for a thousand years. His eyes swept the crowd and came to rest on Tansy, her silver-blonde hair making her immediately noticeable. Did his voice falter for just a second? If it did he recovered so quickly that it was impossible to say with any certainty.

  Carefully Ruari interpreted his every word until the end. There was a moment of silence, every face turned up to him, expecting more, and there was so little to give. Some began to ask questions. When would the work start?

  'Tomorrow,' Blake replied. 'And every day until the job is done.'

  Many muttered resentfully, but others said, 'Aita Pea- pea. It doesn't matter. We can do nothing,' and gathered round Tupuhoe, who comforted his people as best he could while Ruari went with Blake in the jeep to repeat the message in all the other villages on the island.

  Tansy took her clinic and later in the afternoon got out the pony and trap to visit her bedridden patients. Everywhere there was the same dismay and hopelessness, for the plantation was the whole island's source of a cash crop. Unhappy faces looked into hers, begged her for reassurance, but Tansy had none to give; her heart was as heavy as theirs.

  That night she went to Tupuhoe's house and stayed there for a long time trying to plan what was best to be done; where was the best place for a new plantation to be cleared and planted; could the mussels be transferred further down the bay; where could they find enough grazing for the cattle? They talked for horns and it had been dark for some time before Tansy left the men still talking. Dressed in her sarong and with a flower in her hair, she walked along deep in thought. Then, without warning, a man stepped out from the trees ahead of her, a dark shadow, but not dark enough for her not to see that the man was in army uniform. For a second she thought it was Blake, but the man, although tall, wasn't tall enough.

  'What do you want?' she asked sharply.

  'Oh, it's not a question of what I want, darlin',' the soldier said with a cockney twang to his voice, 'it's what I'm going to give to you.' As he reached out for her Tansy turned instinctively to run, but he was swift on his feet and caught her easily, turning her round to face him and pulling her close to him.

  'Come on, darlin'. I only want a few kisses. The other blokes go for the native girls, but they don't turn me on, not like you do. And you wouldn't go around dressed like that if you weren't hot for it.' He had been drinking and Tansy could taste the stench of beer on his breath as he pressed his lips against hers, his stubbly chin scraping her skin as she struggled to get free.

  She scratched his face and he swore at her, then deliberately tripped her so that she fell to the ground with him on top of her. Desperately Tansy tried to yell for help, but he covered her mouth with one hand while with the other he tried to pull the sarong from her writhing body. Tansy bit his hand as hard as she could, ready to scream as soon as he drew away. But suddenly his weight was pulled off her, she heard the sound of some heavy blows landing on flesh and scrambled to her feet in time to see Blake Aston landing a blow to the soldier's jaw that sent him crashing senseless to the ground.

  Tansy could only stand and stare as Blake stood over the fallen man, then she became aware that the sarong had fallen off and she turned with trembling fingers to retrieve it and put it on. Her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't tie it properly and Blake came silently to do it for her. She looked up at him, tried to say something, but found that she couldn't speak.

  'I told you not to wear that damned thing!' he said savagely, and then she was held in the warm safety of his arms as she burst into tears and cried out her shock and terror on his shoulder.

  At last her sobs steadied and she became aware that he was gently stroking her hair. 'I'm—I'm all right now, thank you,' she managed.

  He smiled at her politeness. 'You'd better come and sit down for a while. Here.' He offered her his handkerchief as he led her to a fallen tree trunk.

  'What about the soldier?' Tansy asked hesitantly. 'Is he badly hurt?'

  Blake glanced back at where the man still lay stretched out on the ground. 'No, he'll be all right. I'll deal with him in the morning when he's had time to sober up.'

  'You won't—you won't court-martial him or anything?'

  'Not unless you bring a charge.'

  'What will you do with him?'

  'Confine him to the prison building, give him all the worst jobs to do until we leave. That should dampen his ardour for a bit. Feeling better now?'

  'Yes, thank you.' Tansy had become acutely aware that only a moment ago she had been held in his arms, even if it was only to comfort her. 'I'm afraid I made your shirt wet.'

  He grinned, a slightly crooked grin, that Tansy had never seen on his face before. For a moment it made him look somehow boyish, and infinitely attractive. She suddenly remembered how much she hated him.

  'I'd better get home. I'll have the handkerchief sent up to you tomorrow.'

  She rose to go, but he put out a hand to stop her. 'Wait, Tansy, I want to talk to you.'

  'What is it?' She had stopped, but stood with her back to him making no effort to rejoin him on the tree trunk.

  'You know you shouldn't be out alone, don't you? And I told you not to wear that sarong. The soldier was at fault, but you put plenty of temptation in his way.' There was a rough edge to his voice.

  Tansy turned and stared at him. 'Are you trying to tell me that it's dangerous for me to be out alone at night? Have you so little control over your men that the island women aren't safe any more? We were perfectly safe before you came. No native would attack a woman!' she said bitterly.

  He stood up and came to stand beside her, any gentleness disappearing completely from his manner. 'I can't confine all the men for the whole of the time they're not working. And if you go flaunting yourself…’

  'I don't flaunt myself!' Tansy interrupted indignantly, then added caustically, 'And just what were you doing out here tonight anyway, Major Aston? Have the tropics got to you, too? Were you looking for a native girl to amuse yourself with? Well, you shouldn't have too hard a search; the people on Aparoa don't suffer from civilised sexual repressions, they're open and candid about it. But they don't go creeping around in the dark, or forcing themselves on someone who doesn't want them. They just have to ask, and if the answer's yes, they go off into the jungle and make love!'

  'And is that what you were doing when I caught you on the beach with your native boy-friend?' Blake cut in, his eyes blazing.

  Tansy looked up at him in consternation. 'Ruari isn't my boy-friend. We were brought up together.'

  'Isn't he?' Blake stared grimly in the moonlight. 'Maybe you'd better try telling him that. It certainly seemed like it from the way he held you and looked at you that night!'

  Shaking her head in incredulous repugnance, Tansy started to back awa
y from him as she would from something dirty. 'You're disgusting, and you have a vile mind. You may be an officer, but you're certainly not a gentleman!'

  'I don't feel like a gentleman—not as far as you're concerned.'

  'And you certainly don't act like one! Or you wouldn't have hit me like you did.'

  There were steely glints in his dark eyes as he glowered down at her. 'No, I don't, do I? Would you rather I'd done this?' He pulled her roughly into his arms and kissed her with such intensity that her lips parted beneath the pressure of his mouth. He held her closer until her body fitted into the hard curve of his and for a few breathless seconds Tansy was too overwhelmed to resist him, but as she came to her senses she started to struggle wildly. Immediately he let her go and stepped back.

  Raising her hand to her bruised lips, Tansy said slowly, 'Why did you do that?'

  'Because you went too far this time, and because I'm Just a common soldier, isn't that what you think me? Did you expect something better of me?' he jeered at her derisively.

  'No. No, I didn't. You're no better than he is,' Tansy said, pointing to the man who was beginning to stir on the ground. Then she turned and ran towards the comforting safety of her own home.

  Soon after dawn the next morning the island was a hive of unusual activity as the natives busily rescued what I hey could before the destruction began, while the soldiers were out with their equipment, pegging the site to be cleared. The road to the plateau was thronged with horses and wagons, trailers towed by bicycles and even hand-pulled carts as everyone collected the coconuts and took them down to the villages to be stored. Sometimes the jeep's horn would blare as the natives took their time in moving to make way for it to pass, and more than once a confrontation between soldier and hot-headed native as one got in the way of the other was only prevented by the intervention of one of the officers or by Ruari and Tupuhoe. Towards noon a large ship appeared on the horizon and anchored in the bay, outside the coral reef. Everyone who was not working immediately went down to the beach to watch the smaller army boat ferry equipment from the ship to the island, the explosives and detonators being brought carefully ashore first and stored in the dark cellars of the old prison.