Part 7 (1/2)
Sister May was giving me a bed bath, with a basin of suds and a face cloth, when there was aEven I, as no stranger to the phenomenon, was impressed, while Sister May was so overcome that her voice became a husky little whisper
”Lord!” she said ”You've sure got your strength back”
”Sister May, do you think we should waste that?” I asked, and -she shook her head vehean to take a ly the Fcanvas-wrapped secret off Big Gull Island began to nag
”I'll just take a look,” I told myself ”When I a me up for a few hours at a tiet on with it Not even Sister May's devoted efforts could blunt the edge of y Macnab was i up nicely another week” ”A week, hell!” I told hiht run coker had set it up without trouble - and I was just about stony broke I needed that run pretty badly
My crew caress on the repairs to Dancer One evening Angelo arrived earlier than usual, he was dressed in his courting gear - rodeo boots and all - but he was strangely subdued and not alone
The lass with hioverrih to exchange smiles on the street Missus Eddy had suirl, that Judith Not all flighty and flirty like soood wife”
She was also good-looking with a tall y figure, neatly and conservatively dressed, and she greeted me shyly
”How do, Mister Harry”
”hello, Judith Good of you to corin He couldn'tup as he hunted for words
”Me and Judith planning to marry up,” he blurted at last ”Wanted you to know that, boss”
”Think you can keep hihtedly
”You just watch me,” she said with a flash of dark eyes that reat - I'llto let Angelo go on crewing for me?”
”Wouldn't ever try to stop hiot with you”
They stayed for another hour and when they left I felt a s to have soht soht try it Then I disain There were a hell of a lot of woht
Macnab dischargedon ht andblue smears under my eyes and I still felt weak as a baby The ar and the wounds were still open, but I could change the dressing ht the pick-up to the hospital and waited while I said goodbye to Sister May on the steps
Nice getting to know you, Mister Hairy”
”Corill you a mess of crayfish, and we'll drink a little wine”
”My contract ends next week I'll be going holand then”
”You be happy, hear,” I told her
Angelo droveover Dancer's repairs
Her decks were snohite, and they had replaced all the ork in the saloon bulkhead, a beautiful piece of joinery hich even I could find no fault
We took her down the channel as far as Mutton Point and it was good to feel her riding lightly under ines We cas and sit out on the bridge in the dark, drinking beer out of the can and talking
I told theht, and they asked where to and what the cargo was That was all - it was set, there was no argu to pick Judith up frohy There was a police Land-Rover parked beside my old pick-up at the back of the pineapple sheds and Wally, the young constable, clireeted his uncle, and then turned to me
”Sorry to worry you, Mister Harry, but Inspector Daly wants to see you up at the fort He says it's urgent”
”God,” I growled ”It can wait until toetic, and for his sake I went along
”Okay, I'll follow you in the pick-up - but we got to drop Chubby and Angelo off first”
I thought it was probably that Daly wanted to haggle about his pay off Usually Fred coker fixed that, but I guessed that Daly was raising the price of his honour
Driving onehanded and holding the steering wheel with a knee while I shi+fted gear with hts of Wally's Land-Rover rattling over the drawbridge and parked beside it in the courtyard of the fort
The massive stone walls had been built by slave labour in thethirty-six-pounder cannon ranged the channel and the entrance to Grand Harbour
One as used as the island police headquarters, jail and arovernment offices and the Presidential and State aparte office and Wally leda corridor, down steps, another corridor, more stone steps
I had never been down here before and I was intrigued The stone walls here must have been twenty feet thick, the old powder store probably I half expected the Frankensteinbehind the thick oak door, iron studded and weathered, at the end of the last passage We went through
It wasn't Frankenstein, but next best Inspector Daly waited for us with another of his constables I noticed immediately they both wore sidearms The room was empty except for a wooden table and four PWD type chairs The walls were unpainted stonework and the floor was paved
At the back of the roohts were bare hundred-watt bulbs hanging on black electrical cable that ran exposed across the beales of the irregularly shaped room
On the table lay ly
Behind me Wally closed the oak door ”Mr Fletcher, is this your firearrily ”Just what the hell are you playing at, Daly?”
”Harold Delville Fletcher, I a you under arrest for the unlawful possession of Category A firearms To wit, one unlicensed automatic rifle type Fabrique Nationale Serial No 4163215”
”You're off your head,” I said, and laughed He didn't like that laugh The weak little lips below his moustache puckered up like those of a sulky child and he nodded at his constables They had been briefed, and they went out through the oak door
I heard the bolts shoot ho well away from me across the room - and the flap of his holster was unbuttoned
”Does his excellency know about this, Daly?” I asked, still s
”His excellency left St Mary's at four o'clock this after, noon to attend the conference of Commonwealth heads in London He won't be back for teeks”
I stopped s I kneas true ”In the meantime I have reason to believe the security of the State is endangered” He so any further I want you to be sure I am serious”