Six
Then the fragrance reached me.
It was the same subtle perfume that had first assailed my nostrils as I had walked into the dining room, but which had disappeared as soon as the strong aroma rising from the steaming food had permeated the room. Later, as the plates had been cleared, and the Chinese tea was served, the scent had returned to tantalise me.
Slowly, keeping my breathing as regular as it had been for the previous terrifying sixty seconds, I opened my eyes, first one and then the other; not wanting to break the fantasy, for I was sure I was dreaming. But it was no dream. She was there, the high pale blue silk collar, the long black hair, the face that had filled my mind as I had faded towards sleep.
I couldn’t remember her name. It had only been mentioned the once, and I had been so entranced by the beauty of them both that I hadn’t really listened to what Tek had been saying. I looked up at her and felt at that moment that I had known her since the dawn of memory, that I had been searching a lifetime for only her.
She smiled, tiny dimples forming at the corners of her mouth. I held my hands out, taking hold of her cool fingers, and gently drew her to me and we kissed, a gentle kiss, a brushing of lips, her hair caressing my bare shoulder.
My hand ran up her spine and I felt the quiver follow my trailing fingers, until they reached the fastener at the top of that high stiff collar. I took hold of the fastener and looked into her eyes. They smiled down at mine. She turned and stood in one fluid movement as the zipper slid down her back. My fingers released the catch and my breath stopped as she let the long flowing silk gown glide to the floor. She knelt down to my side and moved into my arms as I lifted the bed covers aside.
There was nothing said – we had no need of words. Her soft breathing was the only sound that broke the stillness of the night. There was no urgency, and no grinding haste. We moved with each other and around each other with a fondness, a devotion – like lovers meeting after a time spent apart; knowing each other and at peace; together again, as one.
The night drifted into the dawn. I don’t think we slept. I am sure that I didn’t, and yet in the morning I awoke, and found that she had gone. Had it been a dream? The perfume still in the air might have been from the garden, from the night-flowering blooms. But it was not the bouquet of flowers that lingered in my memory; it was the spice of woman, a sweet female fragrance. It had been no dream. It had been real, and yet a dream that I would keep with me for always.
I awoke rejuvenated and ready for the new day. After the endless hours of travelling on the previous day, the concentration of my talks with Tek, the food and the wine, and the short period of sleep, I should have been exhausted; but the peaceful hours of lovemaking had brought a tranquility. With the release of the body had come a release of the soul.
And yet I hoped it was more than a simple release to her. I knew it was more than a single night of passion to me. I had never experienced anything like her, and I knew I would never find another to compare. She was the one I had to possess and I meant to have her always, certain that she was mine. Peggy had always said that when I fell, I would fall totally. Peggy had been right.
After a cold shower from those six sparkling lotus flowers, and dressed once again in cool clean clothes – floral-patterned short-sleeved shirt and blue cotton trousers, I felt wonderful: a spring in my step as I descended to the dining-room. It was not yet nine o’clock.
A traditional English breakfast – eggs, sausages, bacon, kidneys, toast and coffee – had been laid out on the sideboard; presumably for my benefit, as Tek was nowhere to be seen, and neither were the girls.
The ever-present Sang was once again in attendance, ready to offer assistance; and no doubt to ensure I didn’t put my nose into anything that didn’t concern me. He told me that Tek had left a couple of hours earlier to attend to some business in the city. He was expected back at the house at ten, and would be pleased to have morning tea with me.
After a leisurely breakfast, I decided to take that stroll around the inner courtyard. This area, between the house and the stone security wall, was a mass of flowers and shrubs; with two gardeners quietly working away – a full-time occupation for both of them. Flowers, but no trees, and no bushes higher than a metre; nothing that would allow an intruder to hide and glance through the windows; the entire garden a profusion of blooms – sweet-scented perfume floating on the air.
Sang had insisted on accompanying me, on the pretext of being an expert on the various orchids and exotic plants – an expert second only to Mr. Cheh, he hastily added. He wanted to make certain I didn’t overlook any of the rare and beautiful specimens that Tek had imported from far and distant places. I was tempted to explain that I was already overwhelmed by Tek’s taste for exotic blooms, but I kept quiet and merely nodded from time to time as he droned on.
Tek arrived at ten precisely. I had a feeling that if anything did go wrong with this operation; it wouldn’t be through any fault of his. How wrong I was to be.
He stepped from the car.
“Good morning,” he said cheerfully. “I trust that you slept well?” I could feel my face grow redder by the second, something that hadn’t happened for years. “As you can see,” he continued. “I had some business to attend to and had to leave early. I was certain you would excuse me for not being present when you came down for breakfast. I hope everything was to your satisfaction?”
Was he being polite, or had the last comment referred not to the breakfast, but to that something which had happened hours before? Did he know?
“Slept like the proverbial top,” I replied. “It must be the good clean air; either that or the hypnotizing effect of some exotic perfume which floated into my room during the night.”
I might as well let him know that I appreciated his gesture, if it had been at his instigation, but I hoped that it hadn’t been. I hoped that it had been her idea and hers alone. He clapped his hands together, pleased. It was the first time I had seen a smile on his face that had not been contrived.
But there were still business matters to be dispensed with, and I wanted to get these out of the way so that I would still have an hour or so to spend on more enjoyable things.
“I don’t want to sound impolite,” I said pleasantly. “But I’ve got a plane to catch in a few hours. If there’s any other matters to discuss, then I feel we should start as soon as it’s convenient for you.”
He wasn’t the only one who could be overly polite.
“Yes,” he replied. “There are; but only one or two points. Why don’t we go into the lounge and discuss them over a cup of coffee. It is still too early for whisky.”
He led the way to the door and stood aside to let me pass. The room had been aired and there were fresh flowers in a number of large vases, the flowers seeming brighter than they had the previous afternoon. Were they really more colourful, or was it my mood?
Sang was behind us as we moved back to the chairs we had spent so much time in during the previous afternoon. He carried a tray spread with cups, coffee-pot and an assortment of freshly-cut sandwiches, cakes and sweet biscuits, anticipating our needs.
After more pleasantries and the filling of cups, Sang departed and we moved to the business in hand.
“There is one thing which does concern me,” Tek said quietly, and then paused as he selected one of the tiny sandwiches from the silver tray. “Once the consignment is on board ship, we lose control. The cargo is no longer in our hands and could be subject to all kinds of contingencies.”
I wasn’t too sure what he was alluding to, but whatever it was, I didn’t like the direction the conversation was heading.
“What sort of contingencies?” I asked.
“You are now dealing in South East Asia,” he replied. “Not America, nor Europe. The ship will be travelling though the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, amidst a myriad of islands, passing many different countries.”
I was well aware of this, but I wasn’t going to be rude enough to be blunt a
bout it.
“Yes,” I said. “But what’s that got to do with us? The ship will have radar, and there’s plenty of sea-room.”
“Ah, my friend, but it is not unknown for a ship to arrive in Singapore bearing the sad news that part of the cargo has been lost overboard in a storm. There have been occasions when cargo has been jettisoned in order to lighten a ship found to be taking on water and in danger of sinking. The cause of the inflow of water is usually blamed on a crack in an overboard discharge or a cooling-water pipe. The repairs take place at sea and the faulty pipe, or whatever has been blamed, is thrown over the side. It is very difficult to prove otherwise.”
“And what happens to the cargo in reality?” I asked, knowing what was coming.
“It has either been off-loaded at some out-of-the-way port, or on to another vessel at sea; out of sight of land and witnesses. And you must remember that the wool in itself is a valuable cargo. They would not necessarily know what was inside it, not know that they were stealing from an organization such as ours.”
“But surely the whole crew couldn’t be in on it?”
“Oh yes,” he replied. “They often are. If not at the beginning, then they are at the end. They know what might happen to them if they go to the authorities. Life is not as sacred here as it is in your country. Besides, they are very poorly paid. A crewman’s share of the spoils could be much more than a year’s wages. The captain is the one who makes the largest profit, of course.”
“Okay,” I said. “All we have to do is make certain that the captain on whichever ship we select has a reputation for honesty, and a clean record. No problems!”
But he was ahead of me. “We cannot run the risk. Captains can be shifted from ship to ship as easily as can crews. We might have the consignment loaded on to a ship whose captain’s honesty is beyond question, only to find that half-way through the voyage he falls ill or is transferred to some other ship for some obscure reason. We then have a captain who is a complete stranger to us, one over whom we have no control.”
He got up from the sofa and started to walk around the room, stopped, and turned to me again. “What is more, we don’t know what temptations have been previously put before an otherwise honest captain, temptations which he finds he can no longer resist. Perhaps he now wants to leave the sea and buy that little hotel in the mountains.”
He sat down again, not yet finished, but not certain how to put it to me.
“Well?” I asked, knowing I wasn’t going to like what he would tell me. “What’s the answer to the problem?” I already had a horrible suspicion as to what it was going to be.
He leaned forward. “There is only one way we can be certain of ensuring that the cargo, or any part of it, is not hijacked during the voyage.” Here it comes, I thought to myself. “We must have somebody on board the vessel that we can trust; someone who carries enough weight and strength of character to deter the captain from even considering any action against the cargo.”
They wanted me for the job. This sort of problem had never worried George and me before. Our cargoes had been either too big to hide, or not worth enough to warrant the trouble. On a few occasions we had chartered vessels and put on some of our own people, and they knew that if anything funny happened, they were for the high jump. But those ships, and the size of their crews, had been small.
So the problem of the cut-out had reared its ugly head again, and of course I was the only one for the job. Nick would be hopeless. He worried about things too much. It needed a younger person and it had to be someone with a stake in the action, otherwise he might be just as likely to go along with a scheme to hijack the cargo – and collect a king’s ransom by way of pay-off.
It wouldn’t have surprised me to find that this very same point had been discussed by Nick and Tek when they had first entered into negotiations on this deal, and Nick had come up with my name as someone who filled all the requirements. He would have left it to Tek to persuade me. They had both waited until I was committed to the success of the transaction before dropping it on me. I had walked right in, like a lamb to the slaughter.
Tek glanced across at me. “Yes. It must be you. There is no other person who could fill the position.”
I was tempted to suggest that maybe a sea voyage might be good for his health, but didn’t think he would see the humour. So I just sat there, saying nothing, letting him break the silence that suddenly filled the room.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
He knew, but I would give it to him anyway.
“Tek, I’ve always kept myself once-removed from the action. If I travel on the ship then I’ll be connected to the cargo and I’ll be the first bastard grabbed if anything should go wrong. I don’t like it.”
And the look on my face said again all that my words had told him, and more. “Why not send Sang?” I added as a brilliant afterthought.
“Sang knows nothing of this transaction,” he replied. “He does not even know why you are here.” He paused. “Don’t worry,” he said pleasantly. “There is no way that you need to be linked to the cargo. You do not have to travel as the company agent, or even as anything even remotely connected with the cargo.”
“Go on,” I replied quietly. “I’m listening.” Whatever he had to say, it had better be good.
“As you are aware,” he continued. “Most of these cargo ships have some sort of passenger accommodation even though it is rarely used. There must be a dozen reasons why a person such as yourself might prefer to travel by cargo vessel rather than by air or on a regular passenger liner. You could be a person with plenty of time to spare. Or perhaps even an eccentric who wants to see how the other half lives.
There was the hint of a smile forming at the corners of his mouth. It was starting to amuse him, but I didn’t think it was in the least bit funny. I was getting ready to tell him so, but he hadn’t finished.
“Better still,” he went on. “You could be a writer gathering material for the great novel you plan to write. There must be many good reasons.”
Unfortunately, he was right. We did need somebody on board to keep an eye on the cargo, and it could be done as innocently as he had said. If it all went wrong – if the marijuana were discovered – there would be nothing to connect it with me, an innocent bystander. I might come under scrutiny, but there was nothing the authorities could prove; and that was the main thing.
“You’re right,” I agreed reluctantly after a prolonged silence. “Much as I hate to admit it.”
He clapped his hands together. I think he had been worried that I might have told them all to go to hell. That would have created a real problem; for me, more than them. I would have been more than a simple embarrassment.
“Good, good.” He smiled. “So that is settled. Let us hope it is the Singapore registered ship which turns out to be the one most convenient for our cargo.” I had a strange suspicion that such might be the case. “That way, we can be certain of getting you a berth. There are many strings which can be pulled if the need arises.” I looked at my watch. Time was moving on.
“Tek, you said there were a couple of points you wanted to discuss. What’s the other one?”
I hoped that we had gone through the lot, but I wasn’t certain what small surprises he might still have in store.
“No,” he replied. “That is all I wanted to raise with you. I think we have now covered everything. As long as you keep me regularly informed of your progress.” I assured him that I would. “Ah, here is Sang with your luggage.”
My clothes had still been strewn around the room when I had come down for breakfast.
We moved from the lounge, back into the enormous hall, and I couldn’t resist looking up towards my suite, thinking about the night, and her long black hair. She was still nowhere to be seen, and no mention had been made of her or her girlfriend. I had thought at first that perhaps they were sleeping, but not now, not this late. I still couldn’t recall her name and turned to Tek, to ask him, but thought be
tter of it.
He moved across to an inlaid lacquered cabinet standing by the massive main entrance, then opened a door and took out a small parcel wrapped in red rice paper.
“My nieces had to leave early. They asked me to apologize for not being able to say goodbye to you. I drove them into the city. Mee Ling asked me to give this to you. It is a gift.” He handed it to me. “There is one thing that I must say. They were guests in my house, of the new generation but from good families. I would not want you to think otherwise.”
I felt ashamed, and yet elated. She had come to me because she wanted me, and for no other reason.
I moved to the car, another Mercedes, larger than the one the previous day. I turned to him as I climbed in. “Goodbye, Tek. Please give my fondest regards to Mee Ling. I’ll see you both in about three months. Thank you for your hospitality.”
Those three months would take forever.
“Have a pleasant journey back to Australia.”
The car moved away along the gravel drive, through the wrought iron gates standing open in the stone wall, down the road and through the security fence. I held the parcel in my hand, savouring the mystery of its contents.
We reached the airport with time to spare and the driver stayed with me in the airport lounge, chatting about Singapore and its people. Before long I was on board the aircraft, en route for Sydney.
Once we had cleared the runway I opened the parcel, taking great care with the rice paper wrapping. Inside was a delicately carved teak box – as old as Singapore itself. I opened the lid and there, resting on a fold of red silk, was a single perfect orchid. I lifted the silk to my lips, the delicate aroma of her perfume bringing the memory flooding back, bringing an agony of longing, of wanting Mee Ling.
I felt the warmness of the tear as it ran down my cheek.
“Don’t worry, sir,” the air-hostess whispered into my ear. “We have taken off safely. We’ll get you down into Sydney without any problems.”
THURSDAY'S ORCHID Page 9
