Part 19 (2/2)
Perhaps we should have headed this chapter - ”The Treasure That Never Was'
”Not on, cock,” I thought happily ”It was - and is” And I began onceof the story, but this time Iforwakefully in the armchair by the , and she flew at me when I entered
”Where have you been?”she deto believe it,” I told her, and I thought she ot ten seconds to cut out the introductory speeches and give oodies - after that I scratch your eyes out”
We talked until long after ht, and by then we had the floor streith papers over which we pored on knees and elbows There was an Ado, the copies of the drawings of the Dawn Light, the notes I had made of the mate's description of the wreck, and those I hadRoo flask and we drank Chivas Regal frouess in what section of the Dawn Light's hull the five crates had been stowed, guessing also how she had broken up on the reef, what part of her had been washed into the break and what part had fallen to the seaward side
I had made sketches of a dozen eventualities, and I had opened a running list of my minimum equipment requirements for an expedition, to which I added, as various iteestions
I had forgotten that she must be a first rate scuba diver, but I was reminded of this as we talked I are now that she would not be a passenger on this expedition, ed with professional respect, and theto a crescendo of physical tension
Sherry's pale smooth cheeks were flushed with excitement, and ere shoulder to shoulder as we knelt on the carpeted floor She turned to say sohts in her eyes were teasing and inviting, only inches froendary dianized the erness We were in a consu froht - which was probably the happiest thing that had ever happened to that ill-starred vessel
When at last I lifted her to the bed and ined our bodies together beneath the quilt, I knew that all the brief a with this woless What I had just experienced transcended the flesh and beca, then it was the nearest thing to it that I would ever know
My voice was husky and unsteady onder as I tried to explain it to her She lay quietly againstto the words I had never spoken to another wo which was clearly a co e both fell asleep
froe fish from the ocean's abysmal depths, a squat mis-shapen body with stubby body fins and tailfins in unusual places, and a hugefor the rest of it
The e of the jaws The iron roofs flash like signal etation The aircraft circled the island, treating the passengers to a vista of snohite beaches and water so clear that each detail of the reefs and deeps horled and s
Sherry pressed her face to the round Perspexand exclaiht as the Fokker Friendshi+p sank down over the pineapple fields where the women paused in their labours to look up at us We touched down and taxied to the single tiny airport building on which a billboard announced ”St Mary's Island - Pearl of the Indian Ocean” and below the sign stood two other pearls of great price
I had cabled Chubby and he had brought Angelo with hielo rushed to the barrier to e, and I introduced hielo's whole e On the island there is one ht have buck teeth and a squint, but if she possessed a ”clear” co squadrons around her A clear complexion did not e of the colour of the skin - and Sherry must have had one of the clearest coelo stared at her in a semi-catatonic state as she shook his hand Then he roused hi and instead took hers from her hand He then fell in a few paces behind her, like a faithful hound, staring at her sole slanced in his direction He was her slave from the first nity, as big and tiranite, and his face was contorted in a frown of even greater ferocity than usual as he tookto the effect that it was good to see me back He stared at Sherry and she quailed a little beneath the ferocity of his gaze, but then so happened that I had never seen before Chubby lifted his battered old sea cap fro polished brown doallantry, and he suelo aside when Sherry's bags were brought out of the hold, picked up one in each hand and led her to the pick-up Angelo followed her devotedly and I struggled along in the rear under the weight of e It was fairly obvious that my crew approved of my choice, for once
We sat in the kitchen of Chubby's house and Mrs Chubby fed us on banana cake and coffee while Chubby and I worked out a business deal For a hard-bargained fee, he would charter his stu new Evinrude elo would crew it at the old wages, and there would be a large ”billfish bonus” at the end of the charter, if it were successful I went into no detail as to the object of the expedition, buton the outer islands of the group and that Sherry and I would be working underwater
By the tiain, the traditional island rite of agreement, it was midafternoon and the island fever had already started to reassert its hold on my constitution Island fever prevents the sufferer fro today what can -reasonably be put off until the in their preparations while Sherry and I stopped only briefly at Missus Eddy's for provisions before pushi+ng the pick-up over the ridge and down through the Palms to Turtle Bay
”It's a story book,” murmured Sherry, as she stood under the thatch on the wide veranda of the shack ”It's make-believe! She shook her head at the sway-holed pal white sands beyond
I went to stand behind her, placingher toher own ar my hands
”Oh, Harry, I didn't think it would be like this” There was a change taking place within her, I could sense it clearly She was like a winter plant, too long denied the sun, but there were reserves in her that I could not fathom and they troubled me She was not a simple person, nor easily understood There were barriers, conflicts within her that showed only as dark shadows in the depths of her ocean-blue eyes, shadows like those of killer sharks swi deep More than once when she believed herself unobserved I had caught her looking atand hostile - as though she hated me
That had been before we came to the island, and now it see in the sun; as though here she could cast aside some restraint of the soul which had curbed her spirit before
She kicked off her -shoes, and barefooted turned withinarms to stand upon tiptoe to kissme here”
Mrs Chubby had swept the floors and aired the linen, placed flowers in the jars and charged the refrigerator We walked through the shack hand in hand - and though Sherry murmured admiration for the utilitarian decor and solid leaets just before she starts pushi+ng the furniture around and throwing out the lovingly accumulated but humble treasures of a e the bowl of flowers that Mrs Chubby had placed upon the broad ca to see soht did not perturbed into swimsuits in the main bedroom - for I had found in the very few hours since we had become lovers that Sherry had an overdeveloped sense of personal modesty, and I kneould take time before I could wean her to the standard casual Turtle Bay swi attire However, it was some compensation for my temporary overdress to see Sherry North in a bikini
It was the first time I had really had an opportunity to look at her openly Theabout her was the texture and lustre of her skin She was tall, and if her shoulders were too wide and her hips a little too narrow, her waist was tiny and her belly was flat with a sht that the Turks were right in considering the navel as a highly erotic portion of a woman's anatomy - Sherry's would have launched a thousand shi+ps
She didn't like ot,” she said, and wrapped a towel around her waist like a sarong But she walked bare-footed through the sand with an unconscious push and sway of buttock and breast that I watched with uninhibited pleasure
We left our towels above the high water e of the clear warm sea She sith a deceptively slow and easy stroke, that drove her through the water so swiftly that I had to reach out myself and drive hard to catch and hold her
Beyond the reef we trod water and she was puffing a little ”Out of training,” she panted
While we rested I looked out to sea and at that ether in line abreast, bearing down on us swiftly and I could not restrain uests” I told her ”This is a special welcome” The dolphins circled us, like a pack of excited puppies, ga while they looked Sherry over carefully I have known theers, and it was a rarity for the and then only after assiduous wooing However, with Sherry it was love at first sight, alelo had de her on the Nantucket sleigh ride while she squealed with glee The instant she fell off the back of one, there was another prodding her with his snout, co fiercely for her attention
When at last they had exhausted us both and a bull dolphins followed Sherry into water so shallow it reached to her waist There he rolled on his back while she scratched his belly with handfuls of coarse white sand and he grinned that fixed idiotic dolphin grin
After dark while we sat on the veranda and drank whisky together, we could still hear the old bull whistling and slapping the water with his tail, in an atte I gaht of island fever and the teer in bed, especially as” Sherry awoke beside irl, and her eyes were clear, her breath sweet and her lips languorous
We had to check through the equipine to drive the compressor Chubby was sent off with a fistful of banknotes and returned with aattention As that occupied me for the rest of the day, Sherry was sent off to Missus Eddy's for ca equipment and provisions We had set a three-day deadline for our departure and our schedule was tight
It was still dark e took our places in the boat, Chubby and Angelo at the motors in the stern and Sherry and I perched like sparrows on top of the load
The daas a flaold and hot red, promise of another fiery day, as Chubby took us northwards on a course possible only for a sood skipper We ran close in on island and reef, sohteen inches of water between our keel and the fierce coral fangs
All of us were in a mood of anticipation I truly do not believe it was the prospect of vast wealth that excited ood boat like Wave Dancer - rather it was the thought of rare and exquisite treasure, and the chance to win it back froht had been merely bullion in bars or coins I do not think it would have intrigued me half as much The sea was the adversary and oncecolours of the dawn faded into the hard hot blue of the sky as the sun rose out of the sea, and Sherry North stood up in the bows to strip off her denim jacket and jeans Under them she wore her bikini and now she folded the clothes away into her canvas duffle bag and produced a tube of sun lotion hich she began to anoint her fine pate body
Chubby and Angelo reacted with undisguised horror They held a hurried and scandalized consulation after which Angelo was sent forith a sheet of canvas to rig a sun shelter for Sherry There followed a heated exchange between Angelo and Sherry
”You will daelo protested, but she drove him in defeat back to the stern
There the two of them sat like e brown scowl and Angelo openly wringing his hands in anxiety Finally, they could stand it no longer and after another whispered discussion Angelo was elected as eo to enlist elo pleaded ”She will go dark” ”I think that's the idea, Angelo,” I told him However, I did warn Sherry to take care of the sun at noon Obediently she covered herself e ran ashore on a sandy beach to eat our midday meal
It was the middle of the afternoon e raised the triple peaks of the Old Men and Sherry exclaimed, ”Just as the old mate described theh the narrow stretch of calm water between the island and the reef When we passed the entrance to the channel through which I had taken Wave Dancer to escape frorinned at each other in fond recollection, then I turned to Sherry and pointed it out to her