Part 13 (1/2)
”Mr Caporetti-” he asked quietly ”How rinned, and pushed the grubby ood, I like it better than mother - and I love my mother like my life he said
”Would you like to becohed wistfully
”yes” he nodded ”But it is the iirls, and the cards they are cruel like Sergio paused to find a suitable silanced at Ruby, like a thin wooes” ”What would you do for 25,000 pounds?” Benedict asked
”For twenty-five thousand - ” Sergio's eyes were dark liquid and lovely as those of a dying gazelle or a wofisher sailed for Africa on the 4th of October As the representative of the owners, Benedict van der Byl drove down froe, and he spent an hour behind locked doors with Sergio Caporetti before the departure of the vessel
Kingfisher e, but the unscheduled delay of ten days at the island of Las Palently cabled enquiries fro troubles in Kingfisher's engine roo attended to in the Las Pale would be resumed as soon as the repairs had been effected
The japanese gentlefisher to Las Palue, so he called hiio's creas sent ashore with the excuse that the work on Kingfisher was dangerous They were installed in the best tourist hotel and liberally supplied with intoxicating liquor Sergio did not see them for the next ten days that he and Kafisher's co those ten days Sergio and Kammy discovered that despite physical appearances they were brothers
Kaht on board and they worked like furies from dawn until after dark each day Then they relaxed
Kaio's size with a face like ahat On the one occasion that Sergio saw hiear he discovered that Kammy was as bald as St Peter's doio's Thisof partners an easy io took south with him fondhat, uttering bird-like cries of encouragement and excitement, while perched like a jockey on top of a percheron io shepherded his debauched crew back aboard Kingfisher the only obvious sign of their labours was that the inspection hatch on the conveyor tunnel had been moved back twelve feet
”It is io Already he was sad at the prospect of parting They were brothers ”I signed ood guy, Ka hi him heartily on each cheek while Ka
They left hiure, while Kingfisher butted out into the Atlantic and swung away southwards
Duefully Johnny Lance glanced over at the ne bottles beyond the barbecue pits The bill for this little party would be in the thousands, but it was not an extravagance The guest list included all Van Der Byl Diamond Company'sthe for theirto a creditor as being prosperous He was going to stuff thefisher and fly the sincerely that they would be sufficiently iet on with the business of taking the Coht his eye Her humorous roll of the eyes was a plea for syed bankers and financiers whone had made susceptible to her charuiltily to find Ruby, and was relieved that she was in deep conversation with Benedict van der Byl in a far corner of the e of the dune, and lit a cigarette while he looked back across Cartridge Bay
The chartered Dakotas that had flown the guests and caterers up fros
Thethe narrow entrance to the bay The dune had been bulldozed to accommodate the tent, the laden tables, and the barbecue pits around which white-clad servants were busy, and the spitted carcasses of three sheep and a young ox were already browning crisply and erant steae of the dune He looked tired, she thought The strain of the last fewback on it now she realized that every few days had thrust a crisis upon him The terrible worry of the court case that had won them Thunderbolt and Suicide had barely ended before Johnny had faced the delays in the construction of Kingfisher, the bullying of creditors, the sniping of Benedict and a hundred other worries and frustrations
He was like a prize-fighter coht tenderly, as she studied the profile of his face now staring out to sea His stance was still aggressive, the big jaw pushed out and the hand with the arette balled into a fist, but there were blue shadows under his eyes and lines of tension at the corners of his mouth
Suddenly, there was an alertness in Johnny's attitude, he shaded his eyes with a hand before turning back towards thethe babble of their voices ”Here she comes” Immediately the uproar was redoubled and the whole party trooped out into the sunlight, their excitement and the shrillness of their voices enhanced by the Po
”Look! There she is!”
”Where? Where?”
”I can't see her”
”Just to the left of that cloud on the horizon”
”Oh yes! Look! Look!” Tracey took a second glass of chane from one of the waiters, and carried-it across to Johnny
”Thanks” He smiled at her with the ease that now existed between theet here” Tracey picked out the faraway speck on the green ocean that was Kingfisher ”When will she begin working?”
”To will it be before we knoell, if it has come off?”
”A week” Johnny turned to her ”A week to be certain, but we'll know in a day or t it's shaping up” They were silent then, staring out at the gradually approaching speck The crowd lost interest quickly and drifted back to the liquor, and the fragrant stea fro friendly silence at last She spoke hesitantly, as though reluctant to bring up a painful subject
”How long has Ruby been back now - ten days?”
”About that,” Johnny agreed, glancing at her quickly ”I haven't seen much of her, he admitted ”But she seems to be a lot more relaxed - and at least she's kept off my back”
”She and Benedict seelanced across to where the other couple were now included in a boisterous circle of revellers
”She bu offhand ”She tells me they had lunch a couple of times” She waited for him to continue, to express some suspicion or reservation, but he seean running over the day's further arrangee of the wives e go aboard
Keep an eye on Mrs Larsen particularly - she's up to her gills in bubbly” For the next two hours that it took Kingfisher to e Bay, Johnny hardly took his eyes from her unusual silhouette
She was not a pretty vessel but the white lightning insignia of Van Der Byl Diaave her a special beauty in his eyes As she passed below them and entered the bay, Larsen proposed a toast to her successful career, then they all descended the dune and cli Land-Rovers and drove round the bay to fisher had io Caporetti aiting to welcoway, and sensible to the importance of the moment he was decked in his finest and best; a double-breasted suit with a cream and lilac pinstripe set off the tomato-red silk tie, but his two-tone black and white crocodile skin shoes drew attention to his large feet and his gait was that of an euin A liberal application of a hair po smell of violets had flattened his black hair into a shi+ny slick, bisected by the ruler-straight line of white scalp which was his parting However, the aroma of the pomade was at odds with the particularly stinky cheroot of a brand which Sergio reserved for weddings, funerals and other special occasions
His beautiful gazelle eyes became passionate and dark as they lit on Fifi Larsen Mrs Larsen's tight-fitting slacks h they were full of live rabbits and her pink sweater was straining its sealed without apparent reason, flushi+ng under Sergio's scrutiny
The tour of Kingfisher began, Sergio Caporetti taking up an escort position directly behind Mrs Larsen They had hardly descended the first ladder when Mrs Larsen let out a shteen inches into the air, before co back to earth with all her plentiful wo?” Her husband was all solicitude, while behind her Sergio Caporetti wore an expression of cherubic innocence Johnny felt dizzy with alar comfortably on to those majestic buttocks
Mrs Fifi Larsen had been thoroughly goosed
In relieved disbelief Johnny heard her reply, which was preceded by another giggle
”I seem to have twisted my ankle Perhaps there is somewhere I could sit down” Johnny looked around frantically for Tracey to get Mrs Larsen out of Sergio's clutching range, but before he could signal her, Fifi was li all offers of help
”Please don't let me spoil your fun I'll just sit in the Captain's cabin for a few minutes” Quickly Johnny moved up beside the silver-haired Larsen and resolved to stay close beside hiio's quarters, he was going to ood and sure that the husband didn't join the party
”This is the explosives locker” Johnny took Larsen's arm and led him away ”We keep a store of plastic explosives for underwater blasting-” Larsen's concern at his wife's injury dissolved and he becafisher Johnny followed the line of production for hie
As they left the cyclone roo the steel door open for Larsen