escaping somewhere. Mark looked out of the porthole and what he saw
over the water made him acutely unhappy. “Damn them, what are they
doing on deck?” he muttered – “This is no time to be hanging around
here.” His nervousness increased and he conferred with one of the
guards in a low voice. An argument seemed to develop as the guard
answered back, but Mark overbore him. With a black glance and a
reluctant shrug the guard opened the saloon door and went out.
I looked at Geordie with hopeful eyes and he nodded grimly. The odds
were improving, but anything we tried would have to be done before the
guard returned. Geordie’s hand crept towards the heavy glass ash tray
on the table and then relaxed near it. He couldn’t throw it faster
than the guard could shoot – but he was ready if a chance came up. We
were all sitting tensely.
There was a reddish reflection in Mark’s face as he went again to look
out of the porthole. Evidently things were stirring on Falcon. I
said, “What’s going on out there, Mark?
His voice was strained. “It looks as though Falcon is going to bust
loose.” I felt suddenly colder. Mark and I were possibly the only two
people on either ship qualified to have any understanding of what that
might mean. I said, “How close are we?” “Maybe a quarter of a
mile.”
He straightened his back and added, “It’s happened a couple of times
this week already. It’s never amounted to much. A great sight, but
that’s all.” But he was not convincing.
We were much too close to Fonua Fo’ou. To Ramirez and Hadley it might
seem a good safe distance, especially if they had been watching
pre-eruption patterns all week, but Mark and I knew better. We knew
what volcanic eruptions could do.
No wonder Mark was scared. So was I.
He looked at the remaining guard, hesitated, and then spoke to him.
The guard shook his head vigorously, and as Mark started to leave he
stepped in front of the door and raised his rifle.
Campbell said ironically, “What’s the matter, Mark?
suddenly increased and Esmerelda lurched, her joints squealing a
protest. We swung.
round, still locked with Sirena. There was a sudden blast of acrid
sulphurous smell in the air. Mark’s eyes darted from the guard to me
and our glances locked as tightly as the ships.
Mark said sharply, “He doesn’t want to be left here alone with you
lot.
I must wait for the other guard.” He crossed to the porthole and
looked out again and I felt bile rise in my throat.
Geordie said, “What the hell’s the matter … ?” He didn’t have time
to finish. Esmerelda gave another great lurch and went over almost on
her beam ends. I. slithered helplessly towards the side of the saloon
and jarred my head against the table as I fell. There were sounds of
bedlam above decks.
The ship righted herself and we fell back in a jumble of bodies.
I heard Campbell groan; it must have been hell for him in his
condition. Geordie was up first. He grasped the ashtray and hurled it
at the guard, and then leapt the length of the saloon. The guard tried
frantically to retrieve his rifle from the deck where it had fallen.
He had his fingers on the butt when Geordie kicked him with precision
in the jaw and his face disappeared into a bloody ruin.
Ian had gone for Mark and any trace of his normal Highland gentleness
had vanished. His face was a mask of rage.
Geordie had grabbed the rifle and turned it on Mark. They converged on
him, but Mark managed to evade them both and scrambled towards the
saloon door.
There was a curious flicker in the air and he slumped, his hand clapped
to his right hip, and I saw blood welling between his fingers.
I had raised myself to go after Geordie and a shouted word of protest
was already on my lips, but as Mark fell both Ian and Geordie came to
an abrupt stop, the momentary bloodlust dying from their faces.
All eyes were on the gleaming, bloodied blade on the floor beside
Mark.
“Who threw the knife?” I demanded.
Taffy came from the far end of the saloon. “I did.” He saw the look
that sparked in my eyes and added hastily, “I wouldn’t have killed him,
Mike – even though he deserves it. I know where to put a knife.”
“Well, you’d better come and get it,” I said.
He came forward to take it from the deck and carefully wiped it on his
trouser leg. Clare was looking at him ashenfaced, but Paula had
already pushed forward to Mark’s side.
I said, “I saw you searched like the rest of us, Taffy. How did you
hide the knife?” “I had it dangling down the small of my back on a
piece of string. It’s an old trick but they fell for it.” For the
moment the crisis was passed. I looked anxiously out to sea. There
was a haze of steam in the near distance and beyond it the swell of
sullen black clouds still rolled skywards.
The sea was choppy, with little eddies swirling here and there, and
around the fringe of the steam there was a white roil of froth.
The smell was fitful and nasty. Closer in, I saw our motor launch
swinging astern with nobody on board her.
There was no sign of Bill, nor of anyone else on deck.
In the saloon Ian was helping Campbell back onto the settee with Clare
to lend him a hand. Paula was bandaging Mark and Geordie was searching
the prostrate guard.
Taffy was missing.
“Geordie, where’s Taffyr “Danny Williams was a special mate of his, you
know.” “Damn it, we need team work, not singleminded heroics.”
“Easy now,” Geordie said. “Taffy never was a good team man, but he’s
deadly on his own. He’ll do a hell of a lot of damage.” urgently.
“All right for him, but we need a plan of action Taffy’s loose and Bill
is somewhere on deck, and with luck Rex and Jim are with him.
Maybe they’ve been able to do.
something. And there’s us – three men and a rifle. “And if I-” “Four
men,” snapped Campbell getting to his feet. those sons of bitches
haven’t searched our cabins there’ll be guns in them.” He met my eyes
with a cold blue glare. He was no good in a brawl but give him one of
his target he could be deadly. Clare looked from her father there was
something of the same hard wildness in her eyes. “I’m coming with
you,” she said.
“Clare, you can’t. .
She cut in decisively. “I’m a pretty good shot too, remember?
Better than you, Mike. You’re going to need all the help you can
get.”
She was determined to stay close to me and her father, and she was
right.
We would need her. And if it came to the worst, for her as for the
rest of us, death by a bullet was preferable to drowning, clawing for
air in a scuttled ship. My throat closed up with fear for her but I
couldn’t argue with her decision.
She moved to the liquor cabinet. Several bottles had broken in icked
She picked one up and stared at the jagged edges. She said slowly,
“I’ve seen them do this in movies.” I thought that she could probably
never use it, but it gave her some confidence. Geordie actually
chuckled from the doorway. “That’s the stuff,” he said.
“Come on. We haven’t much time. Me first, then Ian. Mike, you bring
up the rear.” Paula was bending over Mark. She met my eye and shook
her head slightly. Mark lay back with his eyes closed, though whether
he was unconscious or shamming it was impossible to guess. “Okay,
Paula, you stay here with him,” I said.
Geordie opened the door and slipped out.
One by one we followed him cautiously into the passageway. He hadn’t
gone more than a few feet when he stopped, stepped over something and
then moved on. It was the body of our second guard. He must have been
on his way back to the saloon when he met up with Taffy.
His throat was cut in a gaping gash and the front of his shirt was
sodden and dyed scarlet with blood. Clare swayed a little as she
looked down and I took her firmly by the arm and pushed her past.
We moved ahead to Campbell’s cabin and went inside to find that it
hadn’t been searched. Campbell took his valise from the bottom of the
wardrobe and unrolled it, looking satisfied and stronger with every
movement. There were three guns in it, his own and Clare’s, and the
one Geordie had taken from Ramirez back in Nuku’alofa. Father and