A Hidden Heart of Fire

by Edna Dawes

  Ben widened his eyes. “I never said that!”

  “You said he was as straight as they come.”

  “Sure—and so he is. I’d back all my savings against him going off the rails, but that don’t mean he’s a trusting babe. No girl, Rod can be as sharp as any of us—especially when he is after something he is determined on.”

  The expression in his eyes softened when he saw the set of her mouth. How often his wife had looked that way when he tried to explain himself to her! “So what happened last night to disillusion you?”

  She gave a wan smile. “There we were, beneath the moonlight, with everything going for us, but the frustrated passion you hint at didn’t appear to get the better of him until I started probing into what was making him tired and edgy. At first he tried to ignore the subject; but when I persisted, an uncontrollable desire to sweep me into his arms robbed him of speech.”

  “Hmm,” said Ben thoughtfully, “I should ease off him, if I were you. It must be something he wants to deal with on his own, or he’d have told me about it. By interfering, you may make matters worse—and get hurt in the bargain.”

  It seemed pointless now to tell him about the secret diving session she had witnessed. He was powerless to do anything about it, and the knowledge would only worry him.

  *

  Next evening, Meg invited Sheila Maitland and David and Rod to dinner. Everyone was friendly and charming on the surface, but Nancy had an uneasy feeling that the guests were surreptitiously watching each other.

  Nancy took the opportunity to display the underwater pictures she had taken earlier. Sheila said: “They’re really very good. If you ever tire of fashion work, I’d say you’d be welcomed by the marine scientists with open arms.” She smiled briefly. “The only snag is, you’re a woman—and they’re liable to do just that, quite literally.”

  Before Nancy could decide what the remark was meant to convey, Matt said: “That’s not a bad idea, Nancy. You’d be doing something more worthwhile than taking pictures of skinny women prancing around in impossible garments.”

  So that was how they regarded her work! Nancy bristled immediately. But before she could retort, her uncle added: “While you’re here, you should take the opportunity to practise as much as you can.”

  She smiled sweetly. “As long as Rod has no objection.” She looked straight at him, with a challenge in her eyes. “I don’t want to interfere with the scientific work, so I’ll keep clear of you all, and concentrate on the area around the headland.”

  His reaction was immediate. “There’s nothing of interest round there. We call it Disaster Point, and it’s well-named. The reefs run all along the west coast of Wonara.”

  “Don’t you ever study marine life there?” she asked innocently.

  He shook his head. “There’s nothing there to study.”

  She did not pursue the argument with him for the moment, but switched to David. “As a photographer, you would agree there’s nothing worth looking for round that side?”

  “There you have me, Nancy. I can’t express a professional opinion, because I’ve never been round that side of the island.”

  “Oh, well,” she said off-handedly, “I just might have a quick look round one morning, to convince myself.”

  “If you are set on wasting your time, wait until I’m free, and I’ll go with you,” said Rod. “I can’t allow you to dive without someone to assist you.”

  “That’s something you’ll enjoy, dear, won’t you?” Meg said, turning to her niece. She saw that for some reason Rod was getting rattled.

  Nancy turned back to David. “I’ll have to pick your brains!” she said lightly. “I’m a fashion photographer, and as such, I know a good deal about our business, but of course it’s quite different from sub-aqua work. I’m pretty pleased with my efforts so far, but I’d be glad of the advice of an expert.”

  He met the challenge in her eyes with equanimity and began to ask her what kind of camera she used for her work.

  Afterwards, she found that she hadn’t been able to catch him out, but all the same she had a feeling that he wasn’t really a professional photographer. When the conversation looked like getting really technical he would counter her questions with one of his own. It was a polished performance—but she knew it was just a performance. He’d been well briefed.

  She tackled Rod once more, just as the party was breaking up. “You free tomorrow? I’d like to satisfy my curiosity . . . about Disaster Point and beyond.”

  “Sorry,” he said tersely. “I have more important things to do.”

  She did not miss the tightening of his jaw.

  When the guests had left, Nancy saw that her aunt was tired, so she sent her to bed with the promise of a cup of tea. “I’ll tidy up—won’t take a minute,” she said.

  She was out in the kitchen with Matt, when the place was suddenly plunged into darkness.

  “Oh, no!” Matt said vehemently. “That’s Bessie and it’s my turn to get her working again. We’ve got umpteen things on the go in the lab and I wondered if I was overloading her. Look, Nancy, there are kerosene lamps here, for times like this.”

  A flare of a match threw yellow flickering shadows on his bent head. “There.” He handed her one of the small lanterns. “You’ll need that to undress by. I’ll take the other one with me.”

  The wick of a second lamp glowed brightly as Matt swung it up in his hand. “I trust it won’t take long, but I must get on to it right away.”

  He was off down the steps, a lonely jack o’ lantern moving across the compound, which was unlit by moonlight because of the cloud which had been building up all afternoon. Nancy heard Rod’s voice call out and Matt’s reassurance that he was on the job, then all went quiet.

  The ever-present hum of Bessie, which had ceased to bother Nancy after the first day, was now noticeable by its absence.

  She made her way to her aunt’s room with the cup of tea, but when she softly knocked and then opened the door, she discovered that Meg was sound asleep; with a smile, the girl closed the door gently, picked up a cup of tea for herself and went along to her own room.

  A green and yellow mask grinned at her in the lamplight. She screamed and backed. The gaping, misshapen mouth and burnt-out eye-sockets seemed to devour her as they moved nearer.

  The impetus of fear sent her out of the bungalow and across the compound with cries of panic caught in her tightening throat. Somewhere along the way she dropped the lamp, and it flared up harmlessly on the hard-baked ground. Without consciously registering where she was going, Nancy headed for the office, but half-way there, strong arms caught hold of her and stopped her flight. She screamed Rod’s name and fought the person who held her.

  “Nancy, it’s all right. It’s me—Alec,” said a reassuring Australian voice. “What in heaven’s name is going on?”

  “It’s there again,” she sobbed, almost incoherently.

  “Eh?” said Alec sharply. “Pull yourself together.”

  “It was there—grinning—the same one. I can’t go back. Don’t make me go back!” She gripped his shirt as she pleaded.

  “Alec, what are you doing to her!” shouted a voice from the bungalow, and Rod jumped over the veranda rail. “What is this?”

  “She came running out like a demon, half-blind with fright and gurgling about not going back.”

  “Oh, Rod,” Nancy cried, catching his arm, “it’s come again. The mask! Don’t send me back there.”

  He shook her off. “Take her into my quarters, Alec, and give her something to drink. It’s T’iang’s boys—they must be on a raid tonight. I’ll collect Charlie and David—you keep an eye on the gate.”

  Ben was awake and grumbling. “This place is noisier than King’s Cross—hello, what’s wrong with the girl?” he asked Alec, as the scientist lit the kerosene lamp on the table and revealed who they were.

  “The boys from the village are out burgling again,” Alec replied. “Where does Rod keep the drinks?”
>
  Ben nodded towards a cupboard in the corner. “Help yourself. Did Nancy run into them?”

  “I guess so; she seems terrified.”

  Alec poured a strong measure and put the glass in Nancy’s hand. “Drink that up and take deep breaths between each sip.”

  The drink warmed her, and when Alec wrapped a sheet from Rod’s bed around her shoulders, she leant against him gratefully.

  “Don’t worry,” he told her, “if Rod catches him, he’ll never do it again. They don’t usually break into the bungalows, but they probably saw you arrive and guessed you’d have some decent things. It might be as well to keep them under lock and key while you are here.”

  Suddenly, she shot up and looked at Alec with wide eyes. “Aunt Meg! She’s all alone over there. Uncle Matt is repairing Bessie.”

  “I shouldn’t think he is, after the rumpus you kicked up,” said Ben dryly, “but you’d better check, Alec.”

  “Yes, sure.”

  “What about Sheila? She’s alone, too!”

  “She’s all right. I mean, she’s used to T’iang and his mob. She knows they won’t hurt her.” Alec went out across the compound. Nancy heard him climb the steps of her aunt’s bungalow, and then men’s voices. Uncle Matt was there.

  From outside came sounds of a commotion, and next minute Rod entered, carrying a leather box. He was breathing heavily and his eyes blazed with anger.

  “Caught them! Two in the stores and two in the lab. One had your camera slung round his neck, and these tied on a string.” He threw the leather case at Nancy’s feet, and dropped a trio of silver bangles, a cornelian pendant and her grandmother’s amethyst ring on top of it. “You had better check that nothing else is missing before I let them go tomorrow.” His belligerent attitude suggested to Nancy that she was being held responsible.

  “Did you get T’iang?” asked Ben.

  “He had the camera. This time I really intend teaching them a lesson. We have enough to put up with in this flaming place without their activities!”

  “Watch what you are doing,” warned Ben, “they’re queer people when it comes to taking vengeance!”

  “Sure, but I’m not letting them off, scot-free.” He went out, fuming, and Nancy picked up her jewellery.

  Shouts drew her to the window, still wrapped in the sheet, to see what was going on. The night was lit by yellow flames. In the centre of the compound were four native men in cloth skirts, with their hands tied. Their faces, turned copper by the firelight, were flat-featured and sullen, but expressions of anguish passed over them when Rod threw their masks on to the fire before their eyes, while Alec, Matt and Charlie stood by.

  Nancy felt her stomach crawl as she watched the green and yellow distorted features blacken and curl over as the heat destroyed them. On to them Rod threw four curved knives with ornate handles—then, as final punishment, he walked across and pulled from the neck of one of the men a carved wood necklace of pagan design, and tossed it into the embers. The owner of it looked across the fire and spat a curse at Rod.

  This young man could only be T’iang. There was a bravado about him which was lacking in the other three, and he had been the only one wearing an amulet. Although the loss of their possessions affected them greatly, Rod had not finished with them yet. Nancy heard him tell Matt he would help to mend Bessie, then tie the prisoners in the generator house for the night. The thieves seemed to get the general gist of this and became extremely agitated—even T’iang—but Rod was determined. This would be the last time they broke into his research station!

  “Do you think he is wise to be so tough on them?” Nancy asked Ben as she returned to sit on the bed. “They look formidable people to upset.”

  “Do you fancy another visit from them?” he asked her. “It really is getting too much. Funds are dwindling and we need every item we have here, so people like T’iang have to be made to realize it. Since Rod has no official authority over them, the only way he can do it is to frighten them off. A night spent beside machinery should make them think twice about coming again. They are terrified of anything mechanical—especially if it makes a lot of noise.”

  “But it seems a very cruel thing to do. After all, they’ve lost their masks. Isn’t that punishment enough?”

  “You stagger me, girl! Do you see them as naughty boys who’ve had their toys snatched away? For someone who has been around, you have a very comfortable concept of life. Those lads are the Mafia of Wonara; they rule this island with terrorism. In the village they do as they like. Old people are mercilessly bullied, the young girls go in fear of them, and the Chief is powerless to deal with this type of westernized gangsterism. T’iang will only be stopped when someone becomes more powerful than he is, or when someone is strong enough to stand up to him.”

  “I see. I didn’t realize the extent of their activities.”

  “Rod is being lenient of necessity. If he could give T’iang a good hiding in front of his followers, T’iang would lose all his bombast, but hated though the boy is, the Chief wouldn’t stand for a foreigner knocking one of his subjects around. We can’t afford to get their backs up. We need another twelve months on Wonara.”

  Nancy looked at him with large eyes. “Life here is not quite as dull as I imagined.”

  When Rod eventually walked up the steps with Matt and entered the room, Nancy was curled up asleep on his bed, with the sheet clutched to her and that glorious red hair fanning out round her head.

  Ben looked at the other two men and grinned.

  “Seems a shame to disturb her. I doubt if she’d settle in her own bed with the memory of the fright she has just had, and the idea of T’iang and Co. tied up in the generator room is upsetting her. Our Miss Martin is not as hard-baked as she would have us believe.”

  “Leave her here, in that case,” said Rod. “I’ll shake down in the office.” He looked at Matt. “That okay by you?”

  The older man nodded, straight-faced. “I don’t know who you think is chaperoning whom,” he said.

  Chapter Four

  The following morning it was raining. Nancy couldn’t think what the noise on the roof was. From the window, the cove looked angry and dangerous and the compound was a red pool foaming under the cascade of water. Rain ran off the rooftops in solid sheets, making it impossible to see clearly. To her surprise, she found herself in a strange bed—then remembered the events of the night and looked across to the other bed quickly. But Ben was still sleeping. She went on to the verenda and looked out.

  Her eyes turned to the near end of the cove and saw the boats being thrown against the jetty with damaging force. Then, from behind the boathouse, she saw men appear, battling to stay upright on the lively planks, heads bent against the wind and driving rain.

  One of them, Charlie by the look of his stumpy figure, untied the smallest of the boats and began to drag it shorewards, his feet slipping on the jetty as he struggled with the undertow which was threatening to drag the boat away.

  The remaining four split up to manage the two larger craft. With two men in each, the boats were taken out just beyond where the breakers began rising into separate peaks.

  Heavy anchors were thrown overboard. Then, to Nancy’s consternation, the occupants dived over the side and disappeared from sight, but she had forgotten that Australians were used to seas of this nature and had the experience needed to swim through waves of enormous size. Even so, it was a good ten minutes before she saw the first man scramble out through the spew of water and turn to look for the others.

  It was David. Alec appeared a few seconds later and joined him, wiping the blinding wetness from his eyes with one arm. A minute passed, and then another, and still the two remaining men had not been sighted. Alec and David were joined by Charlie, who had successfully beached the small dinghy, and all three were giving signs of anxiety as they stared into the sea. Nancy felt her stomach churning. Uncle Matt and Rod were still out there somewhere!

  Spouting water from the overhanging roof
made it hard to see, and she leant out farther until the fine spray shooting off the main downpour covered her face with a glistening mist. If there was moisture in her eyes, it could only be due to this!

  Although the men’s shouts were carried away on the wind, it seemed from their actions that somebody had been sighted. There was a concerted rush into the waves and everyone disappeared beneath them.

  The entire group of five men, one being carried, presently emerged with difficulty and gained the beach.

  Despite her concern about Matt, Nancy felt a rush of thankfulness that it was not Rod who was lying there on the beach, so still. Then she pushed the thought away in shame.

  Charlie and Alec returned to their quarters, leaving Rod and David to carry the unconscious man between them.

  Without giving any thought to what she was doing, Nancy rushed out into the rain.

  She cried above the thudding rain: “Is he all right?”

  “Yes.” There was only that terse reply from David before Meg appeared.

  The group moved through to the bedroom, where they got Matt on to the bed and wrapped in blankets to counteract shock. David was taking command in a way which showed it was not the first time he had dealt with accidents, nor was he ignorant of medical knowledge, it seemed.

  “Matt was thrown against the boat just after he jumped,” he told Meg. “He is probably concussed. There’s no vital damage done, from what I can see. Keep an eye on him until he comes round. I’ll be back when I have dried out.”

  They came out, two tall man in swimsuits, their torsos shiny with the wet which dripped from their heads. A duo of strength, thought Nancy involuntarily.

  Rod caught sight of her. “You had better put some dry clothes on and make breakfast. Meg is occupied. Can you cook?”

  “I’m not completely useless,” she said bitingly. “I think I can manage a little womanly job like that.”