Mahina

by Jack Dey

  Jennings signed the promissory note to the bank for Davis’ finance agent, taking care of the mortgage. He put it into an envelope, ready for the mail ship in the morning.

  *~*~*~*

  Lewis and Russel eyed Davis in shock, as he entered the gambling room of the hotel on Horn Island. He had the big white giant with him.

  “Come, come, gentlemen. You must give me an opportunity to win back some of that which I lost to you when we first met. Surely you still can’t be upset about a trivial matter of a gunshot wound. It’s a good thing I wasn’t aiming or the outcome may have been worse,” Davis teased.

  Lewis’ eyes narrowed into slits. “Sit down, boss, and let me relieve you of your money.”

  *~*~*~*

  Aunty Rosa smiled as she watched Elizabeth and Patch walking down into the village. Patch was in a deep discussion with Elizabeth, waving his hands around as to give weight to what he was saying. They stopped outside Aunty’s hut and Aunty smiled.

  “Well, you two children look like you having a good discussion.”

  “We are talking about Jesus,” Patch answered enthusiastically.

  Aunty smiled big.

  Elizabeth hugged Aunty, “I knew you would be pleased, Aunty.” She turned to Patch. “I have to see Merinda now. Would you mind if we talk some more a little later?”

  Patch’s face had a mixture of disappointment and euphoria, mixed together. He nodded and watched Elizabeth walk away, then flopped down next to Aunty and blew out a breath. He looked at Aunty, her eyes sparkling.

  “What’s the matter, Aunty?” Patch asked.

  “I didn’t say a word, child.”

  *~*~*~*

  Lewis all but destroyed the room when Davis left. He was madder than a house full of hornets, watching Davis walk away with his money.

  “Russel! We gonna get this boy and good. Your plan we do this week and he is going to wear the blame.”

  Lewis’ eyes were burning red. Vengeance flowed out of his hate filled heart, through his mouth.

  *~*~*~*

  Davis was surprised to see Russel and Lewis turn up for work on Monday morning. Judging by the noise coming from the gambling room as he and Dalgety had left on Friday night, the hotelier had a big bill to pay after Lewis’ tantrum.

  Davis teased them as they got onboard. ”Thanks for letting me win my money back, men. I went out and bought a whole new box of bullets with it,” Davis said, patting his pistol.

  Lewis’ eyes narrowed and he said under his breath, ”You be thanking me on the other side of your face soon.”

  Along with the six swimmer boats hanging on the davits, Davis always towed two long boats behind the schooner, making it possible to visit the other boats in his fleet and keep a watchful eye on them.

  Sailing for the same anchorage and the patch of reef he had on Friday afternoon, Davis was still savouring his defeat over Lewis at the card table on Friday night. Even though Jennings was only three hundred yards away, the defeat had put him in a good humour and Jennings’ proximity wasn’t going to spoil it.

  *~*~*~*

  Elizabeth felt exhilarated and free. Patch had led her through the sinners’ prayer at Aunty’s, and Aunty had witnessed it. She was now a forgiven child of Jesus. She had more questions than ever now and kept Aunty and Patch busy, feeding her new faith.

  She wanted to tell everyone about Jesus.

  Aunty told her that the Christian walk was an ongoing journey and that she had taken her first steps on that journey. Aunty warned Elizabeth, our old adversary, the devil, was not happy about her decision and would do everything he could to destroy not only her faith, but her, as well.

  *~*~*~*

  The morning had grown old and the afternoon was looming. By midday, it was becoming unpleasant sitting in the hot, late winter sun, the humidity starting to make the shell opening a tedious task. Lewis was watching Davis’ and the giant’s every move, waiting for an opportune moment. The shell net was coming up from the reef every half hour and the shell openers were finding it difficult to keep up. The strong box Davis used to contain the extracted pearl was sitting on the deck… open. Every once in a while, a pearl would be thrown in, extracted from a fresh shell by one of the openers.

  Davis was watching every move.

  The moment came when Davis turned away and the giant was attending to something else on another part of the vessel. Lewis nodded to Russel. Russel jumped over the side into one of the long boats, untied it from the schooner railing and paddled out a few feet away from the vessel.

  Lewis made a sudden, quick move, snatched up the pearl strong box from the deck, snapped the lid closed and threw it out to Russel. Russel caught the box, put it on the seat next to him and started paddling towards Jennings’ schooner. Lewis untied the other longboat tethered to the railing and shoved it away from the schooner. It drifted slowly away on the current. Lewis dove overboard and swam towards Russel.

  Davis emptied his six shot pistol chamber at the two fugitives, but missed on all six bullets. Lewis pulled himself up into the longboat with Russel and waited, just out of range. Davis was shouting blue murder and threatened Dalgety with all sorts if he did not retrieve the box. Dalgety dove overboard and started frantically swimming towards Lewis and Russel. As they got close to the Jennings’ schooner, Russel held out the strong box so the giant could see it and dropped it overboard.

  The box sunk to the bottom of the sea floor.

  Lewis jumped out of the longboat, a knife between his teeth, duck dove and started swimming towards the Jennings’ diver working the reef, one hundred feet down.

  Dalgety, catching sight of the disappearing strong box, effortlessly duck dove the hundred feet down, took a hold of the box from where it had landed on the ocean floor and started toward the surface.

  Meanwhile, Lewis swam towards the diver from the longboat. He remained underwater as he swam, to prevent being seen by Jennings’ schooner crew. Reaching the airline and signal rope leading down to the diver, he cut through them with two quick movements of the razor sharp blade. He quickly swam back to where Russel was waiting and pulled himself into the longboat.

  Russel frantically pulled on the oars, rowing towards another of Davis’ schooners close by. Once they were close enough, they slipped over the side of the longboat into the water, let the longboat drift away on the current, climbed aboard the schooner and their friends hid them. Lewis and Russel were banking on not being detected. The amount of small boats in the water around the schooners during shell harvesting, allowed them some protection from suspicion.

  Dalgety, still holding his breath, could see from where he was that the diver was in trouble.

  The divers’ assistant on deck wasn’t aware that the diver was having difficulty and continued joking with a fellow crew member, nearby.

  Dalgety surfaced, gasped in another three heavy breaths and dove down to try and assist the trapped man, the strong box still in his hand. The assistant looked into the water, saw Dalgety’s form heading down toward the diver and raised the alarm. He pulled on the signal rope and it came in easily. So did the airline. Examining the airline and rope, he could see they had been cut.

  Dalgety reached the man again. He was blue and unconscious, his suit full of water. The leaded shoes still held him in place on the ocean floor. A trapped air pocket, in his helmet above his head, kept him floating upright, as if he was standing. Studying the diver closely, Dalgety could see that he was dead. He panicked and swam away.

  *~*~*~*

  The Horn Island hotline was brimming with rumours. The news spread through the community like a wildfire. Lewis had torn up the Horn Island Hotel in a blind rage and was out to do someone some harm.

  If you saw anything, you’d better keep your mouth shut… or you would be next.

  The message was clear.

  *~*~*~*

  CHAPTER 44 - THURSDAY ISLAND 1882

  Dalgety held onto the rope ladder on the side of Davis’ schooner wit
h one hand. Catching his breath, he firmly grasped the strong box in his other hand. He looked back towards Jennings’ schooner. There was a lot of frantic activity and shouting. He handed the strong box to Davis and then relayed what had happened. In his horrified mind’s eye, he could still see the blue flesh and the blank gaze of death from the trapped man.

  Davis felt a pang of anxiety. Lewis had done this to shut him down and it looked like he had succeeded.

  Davis was furious.

  *~*~*~*

  The late afternoon sun had developed a bite in the last couple of days and the humidity was starting to climb. It was a sure sign that the mild spring days were nearly over, and the dankness and discomfort of the wet season would soon be upon them. To the east, storm clouds began to form and the south easterly winds were turning northwest. It was November and the wet season build up had started. The oppressive heat and humidity would build into massive electrical storms. Impressive to watch, but the respite from the humidity that the rains would bring, would not come until late December, or later.

  Elaine loved living on Thursday Island. The torrential rains, storms and cyclones of January, February and March were easier to bear than the tyrannical build up, heat and humidity of November and December. She shook the thought from her mind and tried to concentrate on the demanding issues of running her household. Even though it was a hot afternoon, she felt a chill run through her body and she shivered.

  It was Monday. The afternoon sun shone directly in through the drawing room window, making the room as hot as a sauna. Another indication the wet season was on its way. Martha had forgotten to draw the heavy drapes again. Elaine, slightly annoyed at Martha’s forgetfulness, unhitched the fabric curtain from their elegant, tie back retainers and pulled one curtain into the middle of the window. As she reached across for the other curtain to complete the block out, she glanced down at the harbour. Eight schooners were anchored at the Jennings’ anchorage and a male figure was walking determinedly along the bay side, up toward the house.

  A sudden twinge of apprehension gripped at her stomach.

  She stood between the curtains, watching the figure coming closer, the task of closing the drapes froze, uncompleted. The fear began to rise as she recognised John’s gait. She ran to the door to meet him.

  The look on John’s face frightened her and she stammered to ask what was happening. John choked, as he tried to relay the circumstances of the unusual visit. Elaine faltered and he caught his mother as she collapsed in front of him and carried her into her room.

  *~*~*~*

  The Customs Office had been advised of the death of the diver and an investigation was impending. The officials had suspended the operations of the fleet and they were ordered to remain at anchor, until the circumstances surrounding the death had been examined.

  The police had been informed and had despatched a crime specialist from Brisbane.

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