Part 29 (2/2)
Cannot call, because no phone handy Well, tonight he took black limousine, and he and Nast coo to this little barrio where we going, and go into nipa shack Lazada stays there with the skull Nast goes off in the limousine So what I think?”
”What do you think?” Rick asked
”I think Nast goes to get so them to Lazada So I rush off and call you Before you ca held, and we et the skull”
Chahda reached forward and switched off the jeep's headlights For an instant it was very dark, then as Rick's eyes became adjusted to the darkness he saw that the road was visible as a white pathway between the rice paddies Ahead were the lights of houses They had reached the barrio where thewas to be held
Rick looked around and saw that the sky to the north was agloith the lights of Manila Then he saw a plane take off and realized that they were only a short distance from the airport
Chahda pulled off the road into a patch of nipa palh the palms, and parked behind a feathery thicket of bamboo ”We walk to shack,” he said He took a bolo from under the rear seat of the jeep and tucked it into his belt
The Hindu boy led them a hundred yards down the road, then turned off onto a path In a , was a typical nipa hut It was built on stilts in the traditional Filipino way, and there was roo posts for a tall ht The house itself was square, alls of woven thatch made from the nipa palm The roof was pyramidal, heavily thatched with layer after layer of straw The floor was of split bay ba of whole bamboo supports
Except that it allowed ave no bar to lizards or snakes, it was ideal for the climate The openwork floor allowed the breezes to circulate through the whole house Also, housekeeping was sih the floor
Filipinos had lived in houses like this for centuries, but the influence of Western civilization was visible in the forhts It was visible in another way at this particular nipa hut, too Next to it was a shi+ny limousine, the property of Irineo Lazada
Chahda whispered, ”We get close Be very quiet and follow h Chahda led the way, and Rick and Scotty followed
There was little cover, but there was no guard outside the house
Apparently Lazada and Nast felt quite safe They did not kno effectively Chahda had shadowed them
Chahdalimousine
There was a
Rick sed hard as Chahda left the liht under the hut, but he and Scotty followed, scarcely daring to breathe
It was dark and he almost knocked over a stack of wooden boxes Then, under the hut, there was light
Rick had not realized that the ba ht up between them and see the occupants of the room!
There was Lazada, of course, and Nast And with the, ”Don't you worry about delivery If I say I'll get the skull into Macao, I'll do it You just worry about the price”
Rick recognized the nauese colony on the Chinese coast just below Hong Kong It had the reputation of being the gathering place for sun-runners, Chinese river pirates, and equally unsavory folk
One Chinese spoke in sibilant, accented English ”The price you ask is too old, at fifty American dollars an ounce What do we care if it is a very old native religious object? That has value only for an Ifugao, not a Chinese, and our custoasped Lazada and Nast were intending to sell the skull just for the gold in it!
Lazada put his hand on a box that sat beside hiold, true But perhaps you have one very wealthy custoreat value”
”If we could have the skull legally, yes But it is the only one of its kind In a few days the press will have sent its description to every city in the world, because its loss is a good news story No one in his right ht,” Nast said ”We'll have to settle for its value in weight But that's worth so”
Chahda pulled Rick's sleeve, then Scotty's The boys followed hi He whispered, ”See the box? I'm sure that is skull Now, you feel brave?”