Sally Wentworth - Conflict In Paradise

by Sally Wentworth

  The activity went on until dusk, but Tansy was not there to see it; she had gone to the other side of the island and stayed there all day, not returning until the harbour was again silent and the people returned to their homes to cook their meals. That evening she asked Inara to sleep at the house and the native woman readily agreed without asking why. For some things no questions were necessary.

  Realising that this might be one of the last times that she was able to do so, Tansy put on a sweater and jeans and went up to her special place at the edge of the plantation. But even here she could not escape from the harshness of reality, for the big ship still lay at anchor in the bay, its lights reflected in the tranquil waters. Tansy wondered if Blake had asked for fresh food supplies to be brought for them; his men must be heartily sick of army rations by now, she thought with some satisfaction. Restlessly she turned her back on the ship and went to wander a little way along the path through the plantation. The gentle breeze set the fronds of the palms swaying like a dancer's skirts, but Tansy shivered suddenly. The attack by the soldier the previous night must have unnerved her, for she felt constantly as if she was being watched. Even the pleasure of this small nightly ritual had been taken from her, and she turned and hurried to the house where Inara was waiting for her.

  The unloading continued all the next day, most of the time being taken up with the precarious task of manoeuvring a bulldozer on to a raft and pulling it slowly through the sea and towards the gap in the reef. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch this tricky operation, and even Tansy stood at the window of the clinic and held her breath while she watched Blake himself take the wheel of the boat. He waited to gauge the exact time to take the raft through on the swell of a wave without having it come crashing down on to the boat if it came too fast. Eventually it was safely through and headed towards the beach where the raft could be driven ashore and the bulldozer rolled off. The supply ship didn't wait to see the end of the operation but gave a farewell hoot before turning to speed away to the west.

  Tansy, too, didn't stay to watch the end because she had arranged to speak to her father on the radio that afternoon and went back to the house to the transmitter kept in his den. Putting on the headphones, she expertly tuned in to the correct wavelength and was soon in touch with David Harland, who was still in Canberra. Air time was limited, so Tansy found herself hastily telling her father all that was happening on the island, while he in turn told her of his hopes that his friends' influence would succeed, how he had tried to persuade the NATO representatives to survey more islands, but of their refusal because of lack of time.

  'Will you be coming home now, Daddy?' Tansy asked eagerly.

  'I don't know.' There was hesitation in David Harland's voice. 'I thought of staying on here for two or three more weeks. I could do with a break after all the running around I've been doing in Australia.'

  'But, Daddy,' Tansy's voice was filled with dismay, 'we need …’ She was about to go on to tell him how much the islanders needed him on Aparoa at the moment, when a young native boy burst into the room and pulled wildly at her arm, shouting something she couldn't hear.

  'Wait a minute.'

  Taking off the earphones, she was able to hear him say excitedly, 'Come quick, Tansy! The bulldozer slipped and fell on a soldier. It was the officer. You must come quick.'

  Appalled, Tansy whispered, 'Which officer?'

  'The young one. The lieutenant who collects the shells.'

  Tansy quickly spoke to her father. 'Daddy, I have to go, there's been an accident.' Then she had grabbed her bag and was running as hard as she could towards the beach.

  When she arrived there the crowd immediately parted for her and she found that they had already freed John Andrews from under the machine by digging the sand from underneath him, and that Blake was leaning over him examining his injuries. Tansy pushed a burly sergeant who tried to hold her back out of the way and dropped down on her knees on the other side of John's prostrate body.

  Blake glanced up and then tried to keep the sight of the wounds from her. 'What the hell are you doing here? This is no place for you. I don't want fainting women on my hands.'

  Without bothering to reply, Tansy brushed his arm aside and saw that the bulldozer must have trapped John's right leg. Already Blake had applied a tourniquet, but after a swift inspection Tansy could see that there were deep gashes on his upper leg and the ankle bone was broken. Completely ignoring Blake, she turned to two of the natives and told them in their own tongue to run to the clinic and bring a stretcher, and another she told to warn Inara to prepare the small operating theatre.

  'I've told them to take John to the clinic,' she told Blake. 'The cuts will need stitching and the bone re-setting.'

  'I'll send a radio message to the supply ship and get them to turn back. They can take him to the nearest hospital.'

  'That won't be necessary. I can treat him here,' Tansy said calmly.

  'You?' His voice was scathing. 'If you think I'm going to let you play around with that boy's leg, you're crazy!'

  'Oh, don't be so ridiculous! Open your eyes, Major,' Tansy retorted. 'Who do you think looks after the islanders while my father's away?'

  'All right, so maybe he's taught you a thing or two, but you're still a rank amateur, Miss Harland, and I…'

  'No, Major,' she cut in icily as she reached for her bag, 'I'm not an amateur. I'm a qualified doctor and as much a professional as you are.'

  She would have liked to have seen the expression that remark brought to his face, but John began to stir just then and she had to administer a pain-killing drug that sent him back into oblivion. The two men came with the stretcher and she supervised her patient's transfer to the clinic, Blake making no move now to hinder her. Tansy left him to finish unloading his precious bulldozer while she prepared for the emergency operation. Inara was always her helper on these occasions when David Harland was away, and Tansy experienced no undue difficulties, although the operation was a rather long and delicate one as she had to carefully remove minute splinters of bone from the crushed foot. At last the wounds were stitched and dressed, the foot in plaster, and John wheeled out of the theatre into an empty side-room.

  Rubbing her neck rather wearily, Tansy removed her mask and pulled off the surgical cap as she walked into the small office. Blake rose as she entered and she wondered how long he had been waiting there.

  'How is he?' he asked.

  'He'll do. Although he won't be able to walk on that foot for quite some time. He was very lucky, the soft sand underneath him acted like a cushion—otherwise his foot would have been completely shattered.'

  'Do you have accommodation for him here?'

  'It will be best if he stays here for a few days until I'm quite sure he's got over the operation safely, then we can make other arrangements. Inara and I will take care of him. He should come round in an hour or two—you can come back and see him then, if you like.'

  'Thank you, I'll do that.' But he made no move to leave.

  'Don't let me keep you, Major. I know how busy you must be,' Tansy said sarcastically as she reached behind her to undo the tapes of her theatre gown.

  'Let me help you.'

  He raised a hand to untie the bow, but Tansy stepped quickly away. 'I can manage, thanks.' And she took off the gown.

  'So you can,' Blake said softly, and suddenly the room was filled with an electric tension. Tansy didn't look at him, instead going to sit at her father's desk to write up her report of the operation. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

  She didn't have to ask what he was talking about. 'I don't have to justify myself to you, Major,' she countered.

  He studied her for a moment, his eyes hard. 'No, you don't.' Then, abruptly, 'Where did you train?'

  'In London. My diploma's on the wall if you don't believe me.'

  'Oh, I believe you. I just wanted to see how far you'd gone in this new little game you're playing.'

  'Game?' Tansy stared at him.

&nbs
p; 'Well, isn't it a game? You could have told me who and what you were from the outset, in which case I would have treated you as an adult woman; but you chose to play at being a native girl. And you thoroughly enjoyed yourself back there on the beach when you tried to give me my come-uppance, didn't you?'

  'That isn't true,' Tansy exclaimed indignantly. 'If John hadn't been hurt you would probably never have known I was a doctor.'

  'Oh, I think you would have found a way of letting me know. You're pretty good at manipulating things the way you want them on this island. Even before we came here you were determined to make things as unpleasant as possible for us by rousing up the natives to obstruct us as much as they could by pretending not to understand English. I know Ruari said it wasn't your fault, but I bet you let them know you thought it would be a hell of a good idea,' he added as Tansy opened her mouth to protest. 'Ruari isn't the only one who speaks English, either, as I found out when I went round the villages the other day. A great many of them forgot they were supposed to be ignorant savages and asked questions about our plans. But you deliberately chose to keep me in the dark.'

  His voice was tense, his eyes dark with contempt as he went on, 'And now you've given the islanders instructions not to sell us any food. You even had the temerity to do it in front of my face! And as a doctor you must know that we need fresh fruit and vegetables to keep fit in the tropics. Ever since we came here you've acted like a spoilt, wilful child whose favourite toy has been taken away from you. You've incited the islanders to hate us and turned what could have been a peaceable mission into one which could erupt into a dangerous situation at any moment. Already today there have been two or three incidents between the natives and my men which could have become nasty if they hadn't been nipped in the bud at the outset.' He stopped for a second and looked down at Tansy where she sat, white-faced, behind the desk. 'I'm giving you one last chance, Dr Harland—stop acting like a child and start behaving like a sensible adult. You've proved that you've got a brain—use it! Tell the natives they won't lose by our coming here and let them sell us their produce. I could even use some of them to help us in our work.'

  Tansy looked at him, her temper for once held in check. 'Is that an order, Major?' she asked with deceptive calmness.

  Blake raised one eyebrow slightly as a wary look came into his eyes. 'If you want to take it that way.'

  'And when would you like me to start—how shall I put it—co-operating with the enemy?'

  'This isn't a war, Tansy,' he said softly.

  'Isn't it?' She rose now to face him. 'What else would you call it when a group of men—foreigners—come and take over your country, seize your property and take away your livelihood? Even use you to help desecrate your own lands; just like you used me when you first came here,' she said bitterly.

  'You needn't have helped us. You had a choice.'

  'No, Major, you took away my right to choose when you made me afraid for the islanders. You used my feelings for them to make me do what you wanted, and you know it. Well, it's very condescending of you, Major Aston, but you won't find any fifth columnists on Aparoa!'

  'You're being ridiculous.' His voice had an edge to it now and Tansy could see a small pulse beat in his temple just where a short curl of dark hair protruded from his beret. 'This whole operation could be of benefit to everyone if it could just be conducted in a peaceful manner and…'

  'Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?' Tansy broke in derisively. 'How you'd love to have us all running around to your bidding! But it isn't going to be that way. I was against war until I met you, but now I'm beginning to see that it's the only language you understand, so from now on you're going to have to fight every step of the way!'

  Blake leant to place his hands on the desk which brought his angry eyes down level with hers. 'Don't fight me, Tansy,' he said softly. There was a threat in his voice, but was there also the smallest note of pleading? Tansy's eyes stared into his and she found that her heart was beating painfully in her chest. 'You can't win and you're only going to get hurt in the process.'

  At that Tansy's head came up and her chin jutted defiantly. 'Don't be so damn sure of yourself, Major. You may just have the unique experience of losing a fight!'

  Blake straightened up, his face as black as thunder. Then he turned precipitately and strode out of the room.

  Tansy sank down into the chair again, the battle of words leaving her feeling weak and drained. It gradually dawned on her that she had committed the whole island to a sort of guerilla war and for a moment she was appalled at what she had done. Then indignation came pouring back. How dared he come and start to preach at her? Blake might only be acting on instructions from above, but as the representative of the faceless THEM who issued the orders, he would have to be the one to take the consequences. No government on earth should have the power to take away a man's right to live where and how he wanted. Tansy determined there and then that Aparoa's objections were going to make themselves felt!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  When John Andrews recovered consciousness Tansy was sitting at his bedside, ready to comfort and reassure him. With light fingers she took his pulse and told him quietly where he was. He cheered up a bit when he learnt that he had suffered no permanent injuries, but groaned when Tansy told him it could be months before he would be completely recovered.

  'Oh, lord, I suppose that means they'll ship me back to England and I'll get posted away from Blake's command,' he said ruefully.

  'Would that matter so much?' Tansy asked as she helped him to sip some water.

  'I'll say it would. Blake isn't like some of the other senior officers; he really shows you how to go about things and helps you to get on. I was jolly lucky to get sent here with him. Not that Aparoa's anything like I expected,' he admitted as he sank back against the pillows again.

  'Oh? What did you expect?' Tansy encouraged him to talk, pleased that he seemed to have come out of the operation so well.

  He grinned rather shamefacedly. 'Well, I suppose I expected it to be rather like the films. You know, dusky maidens in grass skirts doing the hula-hula while we sat around feasting under the stars. But instead everyone has kept out of our way, except the kids. The adults just watch us sullenly and won't speak to us—and as for the dusky maidens, they run a mile if we even smile at them.'

  Tansy laughed at him and told him to rest. 'Go to sleep and dream about your hula-hula dancers,' she advised him.

  John grinned and looked up at her. 'You're a nurse or doctor, aren't you?'

  'Now how did you guess that?'

  'You took my pulse so professionally, and besides, you've got very bossy. Women always get bossy when they've got a man helpless.'

  'Why, Lieutenant Andrews, I had no idea you were such a man of the world,' she said in mock amazement. 'Now go to sleep.'

  'See!' he said with smug satisfaction.

  Inara was waiting to sit with John through the evening and Tansy told her that Blake could go in to see him if he came. She herself went home to rest for a few hours before returning to spend the night at the clinic. Inara said that Blake had called with John's belongings, but that John had still been asleep and so he hadn't disturbed him. When John woke again the anaesthetic affected him and he felt ill and nauseous. Tansy gave him an injection to relieve the symptoms and settled him down for the night before carrying in a chair for herself and plugging in a reading lamp.

  For a couple of hours she caught up on various medical journals, occasionally making notes in a small notebook; there were one or two articles on tropical diseases that she found particularly interesting and wanted to follow up. Several times John stirred restlessly, the dressings on his legs and the heavy plaster on his foot making him hot and uncomfortable. An electric fan helped to cool the air of the hot, still night a little, but Tansy went to the open window to get what little breeze there was from the sea.

  She felt a strange sense of frustration, a feeling that was alien to her nature, for she was generally cont
ented with her life. But tonight she felt the need of something she couldn't define. The great silver disc of the full moon, surrounded by its satellites of distant stars, seemed to smile mockingly down at her. She longed for something, but didn't know what it was. Then the remembrance of Blake's kiss came flooding back to her. She felt again the bruising intensity of his lips against hers, the strength of his powerful arms holding her close against him, and she suddenly realised that her frustration was as much physical as mental. Was that what was wrong with her? The very thought made her despise herself. A man took her in his arms and cold-bloodedly kissed her for no other reason than to teach her a lesson, and here she was mooning about the place like a lovesick schoolgirl! But it hadn't been cold-blooded; it had been warm and passionate. He had kissed her as though he meant it. Blake might despise her, might have set out to teach her a salutary lesson, but in that moment he had shown that he wasn't entirely immune to her.

  And her feelings towards him? They were easy enough to define. She hated him as she had never hated anyone before in her life! Okay, so he had some good qualities, she would allow him that. His men respected and admired him: he was gentle and charming with the old and infirm, and the children flocked round him wherever he went, much as they followed Tansy. But against this he was a ruthless and dedicated soldier, and as such was Tansy's avowed enemy. There had been a declaration of war between them that afternoon and Tansy had no illusions about the conflict that lay ahead; she was up against a tough professional who would stop at nothing to achieve his own ends!