needed all his attention on such a trip as this ... and no man could remain other than completely aware of such a woman when she was near him.
Nothing moves fast in the tropics, yet despite that I had lined up the boats, boatmen, and equipment within a week. Raj was instrumental in bringing everything together as always. Even when I had no money he stuck with me. "You make better job, boss," he'd say when I pushed him to look for work elsewhere. "We don't work much but we make lots money!" I'm not sure that I'd have liked the irregular pay if I had been in his place. But Raj seemed to come alive when trying to figure out something he'd never done before and the jobs we got were always a challenge of one kind or another.
Around Marudi I caught sight of John and Helen once or twice, it wasn't a big place. He was not one to take his attention from whatever he was doing to nod or say hello but once or twice I got a smile from her. Then for several days in a row I didn't see either of them.
The day before we were supposed to leave I spotted the Lacklans coming up the path from town. And something their postures, the way they walked? told me the plan had gone wrong.
"Kardec?" There was a bluster in his manner that seemed ready to challenge any response that I might have. "We've made other arrangements. I'll pay whatever expenses you've incurred so far." Helen did not meet my eyes.
"Other arrangements?" The answer was evasive. "You've decided not to go?"
"We'll be going, but with someone else. How much do I owe you?"
Frankly, it made me angry. The deal had been all set, and now ... I stated my price and he paid me. Helen merely stood there saying nothing, yet it seemed she was showing a resentment or anger that I had not seen before. "Mind telling me how you're going?" "Not at all. But it doesn't really matter, does it?" His very arrogance and coolness angered me, and also to have all my excellent planning go for nothing. "It matters a great deal," I told him. "There's one other man that would take you upriver who is trustworthy, a native named Inghai, and he's down with a broken leg. If you go back in there with another native, you're a fool!"
"You're calling me a fool?" He turned on me sharply, his eyes ugly. For a minute I thought he was going to swing on me and I'd have welcomed it. I'd have liked nothing so much as to help him lose a few teeth.
Then I had an awful premonition. Jeru was up to his old tricks again. "Look," I asked, "is it a native? Did he show you a diamond? A big stone? Something about twenty carats?"
They were surprised, both of them. "And what if he did?"
"You tried to buy it and he wouldn't sell. Am I right?"
"So what?"
"If I am right, then this was the same fellow who guided two parties up the Baram before, one group from Kuching, one came over from Sibu. None of them ever came back."
"You're implying that he had them killed? For what reasons? For the diamonds they found?"
"Diamonds mean nothing to him. I believe he used the one stone he has to lure them upriver so he could murder them for their possessions."
"Nonsense!"
"He was an old man, wasn't he? With a deep scar on his cheek?"
Their expressions cleared. "No." Lacklan was triumphant. "He was a youngster. No older than your houseboy."
So they had switched, that was all. The trick was the same. The stone was the same. And they were not the first to do it. It had been done by the Piutes in Colorado, eighty or ninety years ago, with gold nuggets for bait.
"Have it your own way, Lacklan. It wouldn't matter if you were going alone, but you're taking your wife along."
His face flamed and his eyes grew ugly. "My wife is my own concern," he said, "and none of your affair."
"You're right, of course, only I'd do a lot of thinking before I'd let bullheadedness risk my wife's life. Risk your own all you like."
"Nonsense!" Lacklan scoffed. "You're just trying to scare us to keep our business."
So they walked away and I could see Helen talking
Nothing moves fast in the tropics, yet despite that I had lined up the boats, boatmen, and equipment within a week. Raj was instrumental in bringing everything together as always. Even when I had no money he stuck with me. "You make better job, boss," he'd say when I pushed him to look for work elsewhere. "We don't work much but we make lots money!" I'm not sure that I'd have liked the irregular pay if I had been in his place. But Raj seemed to come alive when trying to figure out something he'd never done before and the jobs we got were always a challenge of one kind or another.
Around Marudi I caught sight of John and Helen once or twice, it wasn't a big place. He was not one to take his attention from whatever he was doing to nod or say hello but once or twice I got a smile from her. Then for several days in a row I didn't see either of them.
The day before we were supposed to leave I spotted the Lacklans coming up the path from town. And something their postures, the way they walked? told me the plan had gone wrong.
"Kardec?" There was a bluster in his manner that seemed ready to challenge any response that I might have. "We've made other arrangements. I'll pay whatever expenses you've incurred so far." Helen did not meet my eyes.
"Other arrangements?" The answer was evasive. "You've decided not to go?"
"We'll be going, but with someone else. How much do I owe you?"
Frankly, it made me angry. The deal had been all set, and now ... I stated my price and he paid me. Helen merely stood there saying nothing, yet it seemed she was showing a resentment or anger that I had not seen before. "Mind telling me how you're going?" "Not at all. But it doesn't really matter, does it?" His very arrogance and coolness angered me, and also to have all my excellent planning go for nothing. "It matters a great deal," I told him. "There's one other man that would take you upriver who is trustworthy, a native named Inghai, and he's down with a broken leg. If you go back in there with another native, you're a fool!"
"You're calling me a fool?" He turned on me sharply, his eyes ugly. For a minute I thought he was going to swing on me and I'd have welcomed it. I'd have liked nothing so much as to help him lose a few teeth.
Then I had an awful premonition. Jeru was up to his old tricks again. "Look," I asked, "is it a native? Did he show you a diamond? A big stone? Something about twenty carats?"
They were surprised, both of them. "And what if he did?"
"You tried to buy it and he wouldn't sell. Am I right?"
"So what?"
"If I am right, then this was the same fellow who guided two parties up the Baram before, one group from Kuching, one came over from Sibu. None of them ever came back."
"You're implying that he had them killed? For what reasons? For the diamonds they found?"
"Diamonds mean nothing to him. I believe he used the one stone he has to lure them upriver so he could murder them for their possessions."
"Nonsense!"
"He was an old man, wasn't he? With a deep scar on his cheek?"
Their expressions cleared. "No." Lacklan was triumphant. "He was a youngster. No older than your houseboy."
So they had switched, that was all. The trick was the same. The stone was the same. And they were not the first to do it. It had been done by the Piutes in Colorado, eighty or ninety years ago, with gold nuggets for bait.
"Have it your own way, Lacklan. It wouldn't matter if you were going alone, but you're taking your wife along."
His face flamed and his eyes grew ugly. "My wife is my own concern," he said, "and none of your affair."
"You're right, of course, only I'd do a lot of thinking before I'd let bullheadedness risk my wife's life. Risk your own all you like."
"Nonsense!" Lacklan scoffed. "You're just trying to scare us to keep our business."
So they walked away and I could see Helen talking
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