Sally Wentworth - Conflict In Paradise

by Sally Wentworth

  The golden light of the dawn filtered through the windows as Tansy rose from the chair where she had been dozing and stretched her aching muscles. John was sleeping peacefully, his pulse steady and even. She turned off the electric fan and tried to think when the next schooner was due as she needed more fuel for the generator. She wondered if her father would return on it. She sincerely hoped so; she felt a great need to have him near, to have the comfort and strength of his presence and advice. Going into the tiny bathroom, she washed her face and combed her hair, then went into John's room to fold the blanket she had used to cover herself and put it away in the store cupboard.

  'Have you been here all night?'

  Startled, Tansy turned to see Blake filling the doorway. 'Yes, John woke several times in the night and needed attention.'

  'Couldn't your servant-girl have sat with him?'

  'She could, but it's part of my job, not hers,' Tansy replied coolly.

  'I'll send one of my men to take over while you get some sleep,' he said brusquely.

  Tansy looked him over calmly and her voice was formal. 'That won't be necessary, Major Aston. Inara will give John his breakfast and I have a clinic to take this morning.'

  'But it's Sunday,' he protested.

  'That's why. Everyone comes to the church in the village on Sundays, some even from neighbouring islands, and they call in the clinic on the way. I get far more patients today than any other day. So, unless you want to see me about something…?' she finished pointedly.

  'No, I came to see how John was progressing.'

  'Why don't you go and see for yourself? He should be awake by now.'

  He went in to John's room and stayed there for about half an hour until Inara came, but Tansy didn't see him go; she was too busy preparing and making up medicines that she knew her regular patients would require when she saw them that morning.

  When the church bell began to toll, doctor and patients tacitly called a halt and Tansy took off the overall she had put on over a simple white dress, and joined the throng of islanders making their way to the gothic church built of wood and grey lava-stone which stood among a grove of trees on slightly rising ground. The inside of the church was very beautiful. The walls were lined with coloured marble and stone carvings from the Hebrides, while the pews were of wood brought from the Solomon Islands, each pew end set in mother-of-pearl, patiently carved by island craftsmen, and adorned with rare shells.

  As the people entered they each went to their allotted places, the women on the right, the men on the left, with the children in the front and the old people at the back. Tansy took her place with the girls of her own age group, many of them mothers several times over, quite often by different fathers. But on Aparoa it didn't matter; if you fell out of love there were no tears or jealous recriminations and you just went to live with someone else instead. If a baby came along and the parents didn't want to get married, then the grandparents or aunts and uncles would happily adopt the child and bring it up as their own. Tansy watched in some amusement as old Tupuhoe climbed into the pulpit. He always wore his best pinstriped suit on Sundays, one that Tansy had brought him back from England and of which he was inordinately proud. Ruari smiled at her from across the aisle and Tansy smiled easily back, but she looked at him with new eyes. Were his feelings for her more than those of a lifelong friend? She despised Blake for putting the thought in her mind, but it couldn't be so easily dismissed.

  There was a noise in the doorway and the words, 'The officer,' were repeated on everyone's lips. Tansy turned and saw Blake standing in the aisle, head and shoulders above everyone else. He had two of his men with him and he quickly summed up the seating arrangements and led the men to a pew almost opposite her own. He looked across and caught her eye for a second, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. Flushing, Tansy turned away. This was carrying the war into the enemy's camp with a vengeance!

  As there was no minister the service was entirely hymns and prayers, but Tansy found it impossible to concentrate; she was too aware of Blake's presence. Why had he come here? It certainly wasn't to impress the islanders with his piety! It was more likely to show his contempt of them, to impress them with his power to go anywhere and do anything he liked on Aparoa, she thought resentfully. The service over, they filed out, the eldest first. Blake had come out ahead of her and stopped to replace his beret on his dark hair that curled crisply into the nape of his neck. Deliberately Tansy walked past him as if he didn't exist and went up to Ruari, who immediately placed his arm across her shoulders as they walked down to the village together.

  It was late in the afternoon before Tansy had dispensed the last bottle of medicine, listened sympathetically to the last list of symptoms and scolded the last patient for not taking more care of a festering wound. The natives tended to think that she had medicines to cure anything and as a result wouldn't look after themselves properly, so that wounds often became infected through neglect

  Rather wearily she went to see how John was and found him propped up reading one of the books on shells that she had lent him.

  'How are you feeling?' she asked, and stuck a thermometer in his mouth before he could answer.

  He mumbled something rather indignantly while Tansy took his pulse. 'My foot hurts like hell,' he complained when she removed the thermometer and marked up his chart.

  'That's hardly surprising. Bulldozers are pretty heavy.' His temperature was up and his skin felt hot. 'I expect you'd like a bath?'

  John looked at her, his face a picture of mixed emotions. 'Well, I… er…'

  Tansy grinned. 'Don't worry. We have a male orderly for that kind of thing. I'll send him in to you.'

  She went to arrange it and asked the orderly to stay with John while she and Inara went back to the house for a meal. Afterwards she sat on the veranda and looked across the bay. Some of the visitors from other islands were taking their white-sailed canoes through the coral reef to where the blue sea sparkled with light. They looked primitive and colourful, singing as they paddled, and Tansy wished that John could have seen them, for this was much more the South Pacific he imagined. She smiled to herself at his romantic idea of a tropical island, then sobered as she thought that the islanders had little enough reason for feasting at the moment. As she brooded on this, an idea began to form in her mind. By going to the church that day Blake had thrown the ball into her court and she rather thought that she saw a way to return it with a vengeance.

  Forgetting everything else, she hurried down the road to Tupuhoe's house and found him and Ruari talking to a native girl, Lait. The two girls greeted each other warmly, for they were friendly, although Lait had a reputation—even among the Aparoans—for taking more lovers than anyone else. And there were plenty of men for her to choose from, for Lait was a beautiful young girl, her long wavy hair framing a round face with eyes as black as pools at night She had a rich, full mouth and a splendidly proportioned body underneath her brightly coloured sarong, while in her hair she wore a wild orchid—on the left side to show that she was looking for a sweetheart. Ruari brought out some cans of beer which the four of them sat on the veranda to drink.

  'Are there any feast days coming up soon?' Tansy asked casually.

  Tupuhoe looked at her in some surprise. 'No, not unless someone decides to get married or have a birthday party.'

  'Couldn't we invent a feast day? A really big one?'

  'I suppose we could, but why?' the headman asked.

  'A last fling before our life changes?' Ruari put in bitterly.

  Slowly she replied, 'Well, no. I was thinking of using it as a cover.'

  'As a cover? What for?'

  Tansy looked at them steadily. 'A spot of sabotage.'

  Ruari choked over his beer and Lait sympathetically slapped him on the back. 'Tansy, just what idea have you got in that mind of yours?'

  'The soldiers have had everything their own way up to now. I think it's about time we started to retaliate,' she told him with a grin.
/>   'How?' Ruari asked suspiciously.

  'By stealing their explosives,' Tansy replied promptly.

  They all stared at her and then Ruari let out his breath in a low whistle, slowly shaking his head.

  'It could work,' Tansy said quickly before he could object. 'If we told the soldiers that there was a big feast day and that it was the custom of the island that everyone should be invited, that it would be an insult to refuse, then they would have to attend and it would give us a clear field to steal the explosives—oh, and the detonators —we mustn't forget them. And you know something about engines, Ruari, you could sabotage the bulldozer. Put sugar in the petrol tank, perhaps.'

  Ruari looked at her admiringly. 'You don't do things by halves, do you? It's a great idea, Tansy, but it wouldn't work. The Major is much too experienced to be caught by a trick like that. He'll insist on leaving at least one soldier to guard the explosives. And he'd keep a watchful eye open to see that nothing out of the ordinary was going on.'

  'The guard we can deal with easily. We'll just take the feast to him. A few glasses of toddy or some even stronger drink and we'll be able to overpower him. They've stored the explosives in the cellar at the prison, and we know it isn't locked because old Amaru lost the key years ago.'

  'And Major Aston?'

  Tansy frowned. She had no illusions about deceiving Blake. He would be watchful as a cat, alert for signs of anything even slightly suspicious.

  'I can look after the officer,' Lait broke in, and Tansy looked at her in surprise. 'I have seen him many times and he is one handsome man. Also he has looked on me and liked what he has seen,' she added complacently, running her hands down her hips. 'When I dance before him and give him food and drink from my own hands, then he will suspect nothing. And when I take him into the jungle it will be many hours before he starts again to think about his explosives.'

  Tansy looked at her, knowing it was true. If Lait wanted a man, she got him. From the big grin on Ruari's face, Tansy strongly suspected that he, too, had fallen for her charms, and she felt a strong urge to slap the grin from his face. 'Well, I suppose that will work,' she said ungraciously. 'But we must see that all the soldiers are —er—entertained as well. Not having had any fresh food for so long they'll probably gorge themselves until they can't move anyway.'

  'No, Tansy,' Ruari said firmly. 'Forget the whole thing. It's too risky. Somebody might get hurt and it's bound to land us in a lot of trouble.'

  'But we've got to do something,' Tansy said desperately. 'We can't just sit back and let them take over the island.'

  'Tansy is right,' Tupuhoe broke in unexpectedly. 'We are still men and we must fight for what is ours. We will carry out this plan.'

  Ruari looked at their eager faces and then shrugged helplessly. 'All right, have it your way. After all, what have we got to lose?'

  Tansy grinned at him. 'When shall we hold the feast?'

  'It can't be done immediately,' Tupuhoe told her. 'We have to kill the animals and prepare the earth ovens in which to cook the food. Then the toddy and the other drink will have to be made and we will have to find a hiding-place for the explosives. It will take several days.'

  'So long?' Tansy said in some dismay. 'But they might have started blasting and knocking the trees down by then. Still, I suppose it might lull them into a false sense of security.' Really, she thought, it was amazing how easily these military phrases came to her tongue!

  They settled down to go into details of their plan and finally decided that Ruari should go to Blake that very day and invite the soldiers for the following Thursday.

  'I will tell everyone in the village and have the oven dug,' Lait offered, her eyes bright with excitement and anticipation.

  'Are you sure you don't want to ask the soldiers yourself, Tansy?' Tupuhoe asked.

  'Good heavens, no! If I asked them they would be certain it was a trick.'

  Ruari walked up with her to the house and went on up the road to the prison, while Tansy wondered just how Blake would receive the invitation. He would be extremely wary, she knew, and they would have to be very careful not to arouse his suspicions. But it would be interesting to see if the high and mighty Blake Aston would succumb to Lait's charms.

  By Tuesday, John Andrews was well enough to be helped out of bed and to sit in a chair by the window, his foot perched on a stool. He was becoming extremely bored with being inactive, so Tansy had a couple of natives carry her father's chest of shells into his room and he happily set about arranging them properly.

  'Are you sure your father won't mind?' he asked politely, his hands already hovering over the drawers.

  'On the contrary, he'll be delighted. He always intended to do it, but just never seemed to get round to the job.'

  'From what I've read, some of these are really superb specimens.' He glanced up at her. 'Blake tells me there's going to be a big feast day soon. Is it to commemorate something?'

  'The anniversary of the election of the first chief,' Tansy invented rapidly.

  'Am I going to miss it?' he asked wistfully.

  'Certainly not! You're going to be carried out there in an armchair from the house and have a padded footstool for your leg. Everyone goes to this feast. Now, if you're comfortable, I have to leave you. The schooner is coming in and I have to make sure they've brought all the supplies I ordered.'

  Already the jetty was crowded as the two-masted, white-painted schooner, its sails filled by the friendly trade winds, sailed towards the bay. Several canoes had gone out to meet it and everyone on the shore was filled with excitement as the boat was brought skilfully up against the stone jetty. Shouts of greeting filled the air, while the captain, a deeply tanned American, was hard pressed to keep the people from jumping on the deck before he had tied up. Tansy looked eagerly for her father and felt a sharp stab of disappointment when she saw that he wasn't on board.

  Stores began to be unloaded while the native women crowded on the deck to buy lengths of brightly patterned cloth to make into new dresses for the feast, and their menfolk bartered for bottles of beer and rum. Several of the soldiers had come down to watch and soon some of them were buying souvenirs from the ship's stock; carved masks and items inlaid with beautifully worked mother-of-pearl. Tansy was checking her list of supplies when she noticed one of the soldiers further along the jetty examining a knife he had just bought. At that moment a drum of fuel-oil was being unloaded by a small crane and swung towards him. He jumped out of the way, but in doing so cut his thumb open with the sharp blade. He cursed loudly as the blood gushed out and dropped the knife, only to exclaim again as it fell into the sea. Without thinking the soldier kicked off his shoes and plunged down into the lagoon after it.

  Tansy let fall her list and cried out a warning, but it was too late to stop him. She knew only too well that the open wound on his hand would attract the sharks within minutes once they caught the scent of blood. Tansy yelled to some mussel divers and they came running at her call, but before they could even get from the deck of the schooner to the jetty, a tall figure had come running forward, pulling a knife from his belt as he ran. Then Blake was diving cleanly into the water as a shark's fin broke the surface only fifty yards away. For a few moments the water was clear and Tansy could see Blake reach the other man and start to pull him towards the surface, then the shark came into view and Blake pushed the soldier behind him and turned to face it. The divers ran past her and plunged gracefully into the sea, almost as much at home in that element as on land, then the water frothed to a turmoil as all hell broke loose below the surface. The soldier who had gone in first was pulled out of the sea safely, but Tansy felt sick inside as a cloud of blood-soaked water swelled up from below.

  Heads broke the surface then and Tansy felt a wave of dizzy relief as the other three men were quickly hauled on to the jetty. The water continued to boil as other black-finned sharks came quickly to the area and tore apart the dead shark that the men had killed. Pulling herself together, Tansy went over t
o see if any of them had been hurt. The soldier's thumb was badly gashed and would need a couple of stitches, but the natives were perfectly all right and had already gone unconcernedly back to their bartering. It wasn't until Blake turned round that she saw that the left side of his back was covered with blood beneath his torn shirt.

  'It's nothing,' he said quickly when he realised that she had seen. 'It wasn't the shark, I scraped myself on some coral.'

  'You'd better both come up to the clinic,' Tansy said rather breathlessly.

  Once there, Blake motioned for her to treat the other man first and Tansy quickly did so, although she strongly suspected that Blake was hurt more than he admitted. The soldier was looking very shamefaced and took himself off hastily as soon as she had finished, obviously not liking the look in Blake's eyes that boded ill for him later.

  'All right, Major, strip off and lie on the examination couch, please,' Tansy instructed as she went to wash her hands and prepare fresh dressings. She filled a hypodermic with antibiotic to prevent infection and turned with it in her hand. Blake was obediently lying on the couch all right, but he had taken off only his shirt and shorts.

  'I thought I told you to strip,' she said tartly.

  He turned slightly towards her and Tansy saw the mass of silky dark hairs on his broad chest. 'I know you did, but I'm not used to women doctors, especially young and attractive ones.'

  Tansy realised that she had him at her mercy for the first time and she began to enjoy the situation. 'Oh, come now, Major, there's no need to be bashful. After all, as you said yourself, when you've seen one you've seen them all!'

  His eyebrows flew up. 'Well, really, Doctor!' And he began to shake with laughter.