Sally Wentworth - Conflict In Paradise

by Sally Wentworth

  Her arms full of the fresh-smelling leaves, she looked down at him and knew that it was true, but some demon inside her drove her to say tauntingly, 'Oh, I know that, Major. I'm fully aware that your tastes rim to native girls like Lait!' But it didn't appear to annoy him at all, for he merely grinned again, a broad grin that lit up his face and made her heart lurch, so she added viciously, 'But if you don't mind, Major, I'll make up my own bed.

  After all, I do know where you've been!'

  Dropping the leaves, she picked up another shell and began to dig away at the sand on the other side of the fire, several yards from him. But she was tired and had hardly made much more than an indentation in the sand before she gave up the attempt and crawled into it, pulling some leaves over her as a covering. Vaguely she heard Blake building up the fire, but had already fallen asleep before the moon had risen to turn the tiny islet into an iridescent pearl in the ocean.

  Tansy dreamt that she was back in the prison cell, because it was dark and she was cold, so cold. She wrapped her arms round herself, but there was a rustling sound and she thought it was the rat again. Her skin pricked with fear as something touched her foot and suddenly she was sitting up on the sand, screaming. 'The rat! It's a rat!' Her breath came in great sobs and she shuddered with revulsion as something ran across her ankles.

  Instantly a torch snapped on and Blake was by her side. 'Tansy, what is it?'

  'The rat from the prison cell, it ran across my foot again.' Burying her face in her hands, she began to shake uncontrollably.

  Blake moved away, the torch sweeping the ground near her feet, then he was back and was forcibly pulling her hands away. 'No, Tansy, look. Look!' he commanded. 'It was only the crabs. Do you see them?'

  Slowly she opened her eyes and saw half a dozen small pink crabs scuttling away from the beam of the torch. 'Crabs! Is that all?' She began to laugh rather hysterically and it was several minutes before she could control herself and realised that Blake was holding her. Quickly she pulled away from him. 'I'm all right now,' she said stiffly.

  Softly he said, 'You've had one hell of a day, haven't you?'

  Tansy sat up straight. 'And whose fault is that?' she asked tartly.

  'Your own. You shouldn't go around stealing my explosives.' His voice had hardened with hers.

  'I'm sorry I disturbed you, Major. It won't happen again.' She lay back on the sand and tried to pull the leaves over her.

  His eyes glittered angrily in the dark. 'Tansy…'

  'Yes?' Her eyes challenged his.

  Whatever he had been about to say, he changed his mind and said instead, 'You are the most stubborn, mule- headed woman I have ever had the misfortune to meet. When are you going to learn to be sensible?'

  But Tansy had already turned her back on him, and after a few moments, she heard him return to his makeshift bed. The breeze had changed to a cold wind, its icy fingers reaching through her clothes to set her teeth chattering no matter how hard she tried to stop them. Only by stuffing her fingers in her mouth could she keep them silent, but then her arms were so cold that she had to rub them and her teeth began to chatter again violently.

  Behind her she heard a muttered imprecation, and two seconds later she was picked up and carried across to his hollow where Blake dropped her willy-nilly. Then he was beside her, pulling the leaves over them. His arms came round her; one to act as her pillow, the other to draw her back against the hard, warm curve of his body. 'Now for God's sake be quiet and let's get some sleep, woman,' he said roughly.

  Tansy didn't answer, but she didn't try to get away. Gradually the warmth came back and she wriggled so that his shirt buttons didn't press into her spine. His arms tightened momentarily and she could feel his heart beating against her shoulder blade. 'Major?' she said tentatively.

  'Mm?' He sounded half asleep.

  'There—there was something I wanted to ask you.'

  He sighed, his breath ruffling her hair. 'What is it?'

  'When I told you it would serve you right if I'd left you here alone, you said, "Yes, it would have done". What did you mean by that?'

  His voice, when he spoke, sounded tired, but not from lack of sleep. 'I didn't intend you ever to go in that cell. I thought you'd take one look at it and refuse to go anywhere near it. It was a ruse, you see, a bluff to make you tell me where the bulldozer part was. But I should have realised that your stubborn pride wouldn't ever let you give in to me.' His hand came up and gripped her shoulder painfully. 'Then I thought for sure that you would only be in there for a few minutes before begging to be let out of that hell-hole. The sergeant was outside the door all the time, waiting to open it at the slightest sound. I got hold of Tupuhoe so fast he didn't know what had hit him. I thought that immediately he saw you in there he would give me the part and let you out, but that wonderful old man is as pig-headed as you are. We just sat there—for hours—waiting for one of us to break, while you…' He stopped, his voice jagged, his fingers tightening on her shoulder until she winced. 'So now you know. You called my bluff and I came darn near to losing that particular battle. I was about to order the sergeant to let you out when you started screaming.'

  'So that's something else I have to thank the rat for,' Tansy said wryly.

  'Which rat are you referring to—the animal or the human variety?'

  She smiled slightly in the darkness, then, 'Major, I….’

  But he wouldn't let her finish. 'Not now. Go to sleep.' And he moved his arm to encompass her again.

  His confession—for what else could it be called coming from a man as hard as he?—had given her a great deal to think about. But not now; now she was too tired and comfortable to keep awake. Tansy nestled deeper into his arms and heard him give a little grunt deep in his throat before she drifted off to sleep.

  She awoke to the sun hot on her back. Woke to a gleaming, dazzling world, a peaceful sun-warmed vista that made the long night seem as if it had never been. Remembering where she was, she sat up hurriedly, but of Blake there was no visible sign, only the indentation of his body in the sand so close to hers. A plume of smoke drifted lazily into the sky from the fire which he had relit, and Tansy stood up to look for him, shaking the white sand from her hair and clothes. Then he came striding along the beach towards her, a couple of fish dangling from his hand.

  'Good morning. I trust you approve of fish for breakfast?' He was barefoot, his hair still wet where he had obviously been for a swim.

  'That sounds fine.' Tansy tried to speak lightly, but she couldn't help feeling self-conscious about their recent enforced intimacy.

  'Good. It will be ready in ten minutes if you want to go for a swim.'

  He busied himself over the fire and she slipped gratefully away to strip off her clothes and dive into the soft waters of the lagoon, there to explore the bewilderingly lovely garden of coral beneath the surface. When she returned to Blake her face was bright and glowing. She sniffed the air hungrily. 'I could eat a horse!'

  He looked pained. I did ask you if fish was all right.

  If you'd said you wanted a horse I would have got you one.'

  Tansy chuckled and dropped to the sand as she took the platter he held out to her.

  Blake glanced up at the column of smoke rising high into the air above them. 'Do you think they'll see that from Aparoa?'

  'I should think so. They'll be on the look-out now anyway.'

  And almost before they had finished eating, Tansy heard the throb of the army boat's engines as it sped across the sea towards them. Strangely, she felt a sudden reluctance to return to Aparoa; to return to the knowledge that the man beside her was her hated enemy, who was determined to destroy all that she held dear. Although he still had to find the dynamite, she reminded herself. But even that thought gave her little comfort, for she knew that it would only delay the inevitable, not stop it completely.

  Sadly she looked at the approaching boat, but her eyes opened wide as she heard Blake, who had also risen to watch it, say casually, '
You realise that we'll have to get married now, don't you?'

  Keeping her voice light, Tansy replied, 'I'd no idea you held such old-fashioned notions, Major. I think my reputation will survive a night spent alone with you.'

  Raising his eyebrows, he said mockingly, 'My dear Dr Harland, I wasn't thinking of your reputation—I was thinking of mine!'

  The soldiers had brought one of her rowers with them to show them the way over the coral reef for the dinghy and soon they were on board. She caught one or two half-hidden grins from the men, but a look from Blake soon wiped them away.

  As soon as they were on their way back, the sergeant turned to Blake and said triumphantly, 'We've found the explosives, sir. They were hidden in a couple of caves on the mountain. Some youngsters set off a few detonator caps and the sound led us to it.'

  Blake shot Tansy a quick look, but said evenly, 'Well done, Sergeant. I take it it's now safely under lock and key?'

  'Yes, sir. With a double guard.'

  'Were any of the youngsters hurt?' Tansy asked tonelessly.

  'No, miss. It just frightened the wits out of them.' The sergeant's voice wasn't without sympathy, but she turned and looked out across the water feeling miserable inside. So it had all been for nothing, after all—their planning, the feast, the careful choice of hiding place. What had it all added up to? They had delayed the work for only one day.

  Half the village seemed to be waiting on the jetty and beach when they sailed into the harbour and eager hands reached out to help her out of the boat and draw her towards the road. At the first of the houses Tansy stopped and glanced back. Blake was standing on the jetty, looking after her. For a long moment she stood there, then turned and went with her fellow islanders.

  Within half an hour of their return Tansy could hear the raucous roar of the bulldozer engine as it moved ever nearer to the coconut plantation. Going first to Tupuhoe's house, she commiserated with the old man and promised to send a radio message to Ruari telling him it was safe to return. At her own house, Inara was waiting for her with avid curiosity, but Tansy shrugged off her questions as she changed her clothes.

  'How is the young officer?' she asked instead. 'Have you been looking after him?'

  'Yes, but he is not a good patient, that one. Last night he wanted me to give him some crutches, but I say no, not until Doctor Tansy comes back.'

  'I promised him I'd take his stitches out today. I'd better go and do it now before he starts fretting.'

  When she reached the clinic she found John already sitting in a chair by the window; he had a magazine in his hands but flung this aside as soon as Tansy came in. 'I heard you were back. Everyone was really worried when Blake didn't turn up last night. At first I was afraid that he'd been kidnapped, so I sent the men out searching, but then we realised that you were missing too, so I thought that…' he stopped abruptly and looked away from her.

  'Yes,' Tansy said slowly, her colour heightening, 'I can imagine just what you thought! If you'll give me your arm I'll help you back to bed so that I can take out your stitches. Then I think you might as well join your comrades in the old prison today instead of waiting until tomorrow,' she added tartly.

  'Look, Tansy, I'm sorry,' John said awkwardly as she supported him across to the bed. 'I didn't mean to imply…'

  'Didn't you?' she asked evenly.

  'Well, all right, perhaps I did. But Blake can have almost any woman he wants; he's that type of man. But I didn't want him to add you to the list. You're—sort of special—a friend.' He looked up at her earnestly as he tried to make her understand.

  Tansy looked at him for a moment and then gave a slight smile. 'All right, I accept your apology. And for your information nothing happened between us. He's still Enemy Number One as far as I'm concerned, and if the canoe hadn't overturned we would never have got stuck on the atoll.' She turned to wash her hands and prepare her instruments. 'Does Blake have that reputation, then? As a womaniser?' she asked casually.

  'Not really. It's mostly women who get attracted to him, but I've never heard of him showing more than a passing interest in anyone. There was one officer's wife I heard about who…'

  But Tansy found that she didn't want to hear. 'Lie still now while I take your stitches out,' she interrupted quickly.

  Dressed in white coat and surgical mask, she concentrated on her task, but almost dropped the tweezers she was holding as a loud explosion shook the thin walls of the building.

  'What on earth was that?'

  John looked at her unhappily. 'Dynamite. Blake must have started widening the gap in the reef. I expect he'll really push on with the work now; he's got quite a bit of time to make up.'

  And push on he did, for later in the morning, after Tansy had seen John safely transferred to the prison, a young native boy ran to tell her that the soldiers were about to cut down the first of the coconut palms. A large crowd of people had collected on the plateau to watch, and Tansy slipped through them to stand at Tupuhoe's side. The soldiers looked uneasily at the natives so that the sergeant looked towards Blake, who was standing by the jeep, his face quite devoid of any emotion. He nodded briefly and the sergeant ordered the men to continue.

  The whirr of a rotary saw filled the silence as they cut through the first tree. The great palm broke loose and almost imperceptibly started to fall with a great tearing groan of sound. Mortally wounded, the tree twisted like a man who had been shot, then fell crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust. Then the men moved on to the next palm as the bulldozer effortlessly uprooted the stump of the once proud tree. For a little while longer they watched before Tansy led Tupuhoe gently away. The old man seemed to have aged greatly in the last few days; his back was no longer as straight as it had been and there were lines of sadness in his face. Tansy was filled with a fierce gladness that they had tried to fight the soldiers, however unavailing their efforts. Tupuhoe would have that, at least, to look back on with pride amidst the depth of his unhappiness.

  The jeep overtook them as they walked down the hill; going down to the harbour to supervise the work there. Tansy supposed. It seemed that Blake couldn't get the job done fast enough, for all day long the noise of demolition continued, only to cease when it was too dark to carry on with safety. And at first light the next morning, although it was Sunday, the machines started up again. He drove his men on relentlessly, so that by the time Tansy emerged from her afternoon clinic half the plantation had disappeared.

  That evening she spent at Tupuhoe's house, for Ruari had returned and wanted to know all that had happened in his absence. He was furiously angry at Blake's treatment of them and it took much persuasion from Tupuhoe and Lait, who was also there, to stop him from going to the prison there and then. Tansy, however, took little part in the conversation, content to let the others do the talking. They sat on the darkened veranda, only a lamp inside the house giving a mellow light through the window. Grey clouds scudded across the face of the moon and then it began to rain; hissing, pelting drops that bounced fiercely off every surface, turning the dusty road into a muddy stream within minutes. Ruari and Tupuhoe went to see to their livestock while Tansy and Lait sat together to watch the rainstorm end as suddenly as it had begun.

  'It was a good job we didn't have the feast today,' Tansy remarked. 'It would have been washed away in that downpour.'

  Lait laughed. 'Also it would have made the jungle floor very wet!'

  Tansy didn't answer, remembering just who Lait had taken into the jungle that night.

  As if guessing her thoughts, Lait continued, 'He is one strange man, that officer. While we sit at the feast I teach him the kiss of Aparoa, with lips to the forehead and then nose against nose, and he seems to like this and to like me. But when I lead him into the jungle and find a good place he wants only to talk. He asks me about you and about Ruari. Always he wants talk, not make kiss. Then he says he must look to see if the young officer is all right and we go back to the feast. Then, when he sees that you have taken the young office
r to the clinic, he says he must return to the prison and he leaves me behind. Why you think he does this, Tansy?'

  'I—1 can't think,' Tansy replied, but she remembered Blake's broad grin when she had accused him of preferring native girls. Had he done it deliberately to get under her skin? To make her—jealous? But why should he think that she could possibly be jealous when he knew that she hated and despised him? Because she had told him so often enough, hadn't she?

  The air was filled with that washed-clean aroma that always came after a long time without rain and the scents of the jungle stole out to fill the night, as she walked slowly home with Ruari by her side. He reached up and broke off a delicate, deep-pink hibiscus blossom and gave it to her to put in her hair, little drops of moisture still clinging to the petals. Tansy automatically put it in the left side to show that she had no sweetheart and didn't notice the quizzical look in Ruari's eyes.

  'I'm worried about your father,' she told him. 'It isn't doing him any good to be here at the moment. Can't you take him away to visit your relations on one of the other islands for a while?'

  Ruari shrugged, a quite un-nativelike gesture. 'I don't think he would go. He wants to be with the people, which is understandable. If his asthma gets worse I'll try to persuade him to go, but I'm afraid he won't listen.'

  'Well, I'll keep an eye on him, of course, but his strength seems to have diminished rapidly lately,' Tansy sighed.

  They talked for a little while longer before Tansy entered the house and went to bed, fully expecting to wake to the sound of the saw cutting through the remaining palms. But instead she was jerked into wakefulness by the jangling sound of the emergency bell attached to the radio and hurried downstairs to take the message while Inara went running to rouse her rowers. Soon she was scudding across the sea, the sail billowing in the moonlight, to attend a woman with a difficult childbirth, the destruction behind her, her only worry that she might not be in time. Quite often the native mid-wives would leave calling her until the last minute and she would arrive too late to help the patient, but this time the woman had been sensible and she got there in time to save both mother and child.