A Bridge Of Magpies (11 page)

to defend himself ..

I put down my drink and faced her, both of us strained and hostile.

'You've taken a hit over this thing, Jutta. I tried to make it easy for you there on shore.
I
showed you what you asked to see. I believed–believe–your story. As much as you told me. Thousands wouldn't. I've got a job to do: don't get in the way.'

She was distant and ungiving. 'You showed me round: the benevolent grandstanding gesture! At the point of a rifle!

Watching every move!'

'You didn't come clean with me. So you got hurt.'

'Hurt! I could howl!' She stood for a long moment getting her face under control, then came up to me at the bar.

'I want to stay. Get that clear. More than anything else, I want to stay. But I'm not going to throw you a load of four-letter bitchery to try and get my way. I could also try a spot of instant sex. It would be easy now we're alone. The situation's tailor-made. Suppose I took off my clothes?'

I saw, now that she was so near-that the little spot in the corner of her eye which I thought was sand wasn't sand at all but
a
swollen tear-duct.

Ìf you taJk about it, it isn't instant'

'There's a saying that nice girls always finish last?

'I
wouldn't know, in the Sperrgebiet stakes. You're at the short end of things because whatever you're after is too way-out. Likewise, Kaptein Denny is after something-to, though I don't know what it is–not yet.'

`So you're planning a sneak search of his ship?'

`Not any more. I've changed my mind.'

`Don't let's elbow one another aside in the rush for the boat, then.'

I poured myself another slug and aJlowed it to coast over my tongue.

'Join me?'

'No.'

'I'm a good listener. Pull out the bung. Get it off your chest. Four-letter words, if it helps.'

'There's nothing more. Except ...

'Except.'

She picked up the cheap case containing her things. `You're going to dump me on the quayside at Luderitz and

76

say, the hell with you, Jutta'

'The quay, yes. The rest wasn't in my mind.'

'I've got a one-way air ticket from London. There's nothing left to pay for the return.'

`Get a refund from Kaptein Denny. It'll help.'

She looked away and I knew that he hadn't charged her for the charter of his boat. My suspicion that they might be working in tandem blew up afresh.

'Too bad. If he won't, you can always run home to Daddy:

If I'd slapped her face the reaction couldn't have been greater.

'You bastard! You unspeakable bastard, for saying that!'

`That's as good an exit line as any. Let's go.'

If she could have moved any farther away from me in the boat she would have. But we were obliged to face one another, I rowing and she sitting in the stem. The sunset was a napalm bunt on the clouds out to sea. Its flares caught Jutta's hair and made it more incandescent than gold. She'd got rid of the beret and the wind blew her long hair this way and that, changing the lights in it as it blew. It gave her something to do to fuss with it rather than endure the tight silence. I for my part was grateful for being occupied rowing. It took
a
long time to reach the island because the run of the sea was against us and I hadn't Breekbout's skill with the heavy craft. By the time we arrived at the jetty the sunset
was
gone and the sea
was
bleak and cold. The fog bank loomed close, which made for a shut-off feeling, as if Possession and the two-stack wreck were the only things left in the world.

Koch and I hosted a dismal dinner. We tried to make a party of it by selecting tinned specialities from the abundant store room, and he dressed them up skilfully over the stove. However-our attempt at a semi-festive air, helped by a couple of brandies from
Gaok's
bottle, exploded when I pitched into Jutta as soon as she appeared. She'd changed into tawny-coloured pants and a green sweater which offset her hair and made it look lovely in the dicky light. It was her first words which blew the powder-keg.

'It was a wonderful bath, even if it was cold.'

'You–had–a – bath?'

The term was unknown to Breekbout. The others gaped. 77

'What's
wrong
with that?'

'Don't you realize that every drop of water on this island is for drinking and drinking alone? That it all comes by ship from Cape Town or from the sun condensers on the roof?'

'Pulling rank again!' she blazed back 'For every petty thing you have a "do this, do that"

'My dear girl .

'I'm not your bloody "dear girl"! Nobody said anything about not bathing! It's a good thing I'm leaving:
I
couldn't stomach much morel'

I thought of the next day's journey.
A
small boat isn't the place for two people to be at one another's throats,
I
smothered my retort.

Koch also tried to be placatory during the meal, which was probably the most sumptuous Possession had ever seen; but it didn't come off: for most of the time she was irritable and silent.

It
was Kaptein Denny who put the party into neutral gear. '

What's your route to Luderitz, Captain Weddell?' he asked.

'A broad sweep out to sea to the north-west first. Then
I
head back to the land and make port.'

'Keep away from the deep sea. Use the in-shore route.'

His opinion was worth respecting. After all, he'd used Sperrgebiet waters all his life.

'In-shore? Never heard of it.'

'Between the reefs and the shore.'

'It sounds crazy.'

'Maybe. But it's
July and
the signs are there. The fog's thicker. The sea's sulky. There's heavy weather coining: a big blow.'

It flashed through my mind that
a
soft sell about the weather could be an easy way to liquidate me. Lost at sea. No trace. No comeback

'It isn't what the radio weather forecast says.'

He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to me. It was like a square bit of chamois leather. It had claws.

'Dried albatross foot. Feel it When it's soft like
now
it means something special is blowing up. Nominally it's hard.'

I showed it to Koch. He by-passed Jutta, who
sat
silent. Kaptein Denny went on, speaking with authority, 'You'll be caught, for sure. You're using a boat you don't know. 78

I don't expect Van
Rensburg
kept her up to scratch.'

I began to believe him.

Jutta interjected, Ìt won't help either of us if we're drowned.'

'Go my way and you won't be.'

He smiled and I found myself warming to him. He'd been the skipper Captain Murray said he'd like around if his ship was in trouble.

'Make a good offing to the north-west once you get clear of Possession,' he went on. 'It's going to be squally from the north-west and west, to start with. You don't want to be close to the land then. Later head back shorewards and keep inside the shoal plateau all the way up the coast.'

`You talk as if I meant to sail. I'll use the engine, of course.'

'In your place I'd sail. After the squalls you'll find the wind will hang in the
west
and then back strongly to the south-west. If you stick inshore you'll make most of the passage with a free wind. But if it gets too bad-and I think it will -you you can hole up in Alabama Cove. Perfect shelter. But you won't make the cove if you head out to sea'

Maybe the brandy had stoked Koch up more than he showed because at the mention of the name Alabama he suddenly burst into the song which is as traditional to South Africans as 'Waltzing Matilda' is to Australians:
Here comes the Alabama, the Alabama comes o'er the sea,
Here comes the Alabama, the Alabama comes o'er the
sea .

Breekbout grabbed a tin dish and started to thump out the catchy rythmical beat. All of us except Jutta joined in the rest of the song.

Girl, girl, the reed-bed girl-the reed-bed is made up for
me,

On which I can sleep.

Girl, girl, the reed-bed girl, the reed-bed is made up for
me,

On which I can sleep.

The
Alabama
was
a
famous Confederate raider which harassed Yankee shipping off the Cape during the American Civil War. She was joined by
a
consort, the
Tuscaloosa.
The
Alabama's
exploits won the hearts
of
South Africans and were commemorated by the strolling Malay singers for whom Cape Town is famous.

Our nonsense seemed to snap Jutta out of her fit of the blues-especially when the four of us stomped out a kind of war dance. Perhaps that is
how
the ditty was born in the first place.

I said to Kaptein Denny when I'd sat down and got my breath back-'I knew the
Alabama
had a base somewhere on the Sperrgebiet but I didn't know where.'

'You'll see Alabama Cove and Tuscaloosa Rock for yourselves if it turns out to be the breed of buster I think's coming-' he replied. 'You'll bless them before you're through, too. When do you leave tomorrow?'

'As soon as the fog starts to lift.'

'It'll be a hairy trip, very hairy,'

'Where's this cove place?'

'About half-way to Luderitz.'

Breekbout broke in unexpectedly on our conversation. '

Give me another shot of brandy, skipper–the ghosts are coming in with the fog tonight.'

Kaptein Denny added,
'She's
coming!'

I explained to Jutta. 'Possession's favourite apparition: a lady without legs. A couple of dogs, too, beside which the Hounds of the Baskervilles looks like a pup.'

tried to keep it light but she shivered and shed the cheerfulness she'd had during the song.

I
tried to jolly her further. 'You have the distinction of being the most tangible female ever to have set foot on Possession.' But she didn't respond.

Breekbout threw back his brandy at a gulp.
'Sy stinger soon
piss-pikkewyn.'

She staggers like
a
sozzled penguin-' I translated for her benefit, but even Breekbout's unique gift of articulate speech failed to cheer her. Perhaps it was untranslatable anyhow. I tried to shut him up but he went on, with a kind of lugu, brious, serio-comic deadpan humour, 'I'm now going to put another light in the window so that the ghost can see her way properly.'

'He talks of her
as
if she were real!' exclaimed Jutta, 80 .

Kaptein Denny said, 'On Possession ghosts are as Beal as I don't know what made me say it or why. I didn't intend to kill the party stone dead but I did. There was too much going on below the surface–and the lost city was just below the surface.

'As Swakop or the
City of Baroda
or
U-160:

'Who
did you say?' The legless ghost might have confronted Kaptein Denny, the way he looked.

`Swakop.'

He appeared to need both the ghost lights and the brandy. I intended to
string him
along because of my suspicions, but Jutta spilt it about the tape recording before I could stop her. The fact that he didn't know about it was a point in her favour.
The tape wasn't
the sort of
thing
partners would have kept from one another.

Her explanation gave him time to hang on to the ropes and get his breath back. I watched him all the way. So did Koch.

'Is that all?' he asked.

'Isn't it enough?' I countered.

`Nothing

about ...?' He let the question hang.

Jutta's voice was stony with resentment. 'I'd gladly play it over to you but the strong arm of the law has taken it away from me'

I'd locked away her tape-recorder and documents in a steel cupboard. This
was
in the headman's cottage, which I'

d allocated to her, while the men shared the bunkhouse. I'd begun to feel better disposed towards her after finding out that Kaptein Denny didn't know about the tape; moreover, Yd been so struck by the evidence of the feeling which Julia's mention of it had aroused in him that I reckoned a full playback might bring out other interesting things
as
well.

'Why not?' I asked; and
Jutta
looted surprised. 'We're becoming involved with one bit of Possession's spooky past, so why not some of it that% for real? That tape's history wired for sound. I'll go and get it'

Outside, the fog was so thick it was like custard, and my torch didn't penetrate, just threw back a yellow blob of light. If it hadn't been for the concrete path I would have strayed. The smell of the sea was everywhere. It was quite 81

still, and I had my doubts about Kaptein Denny's gale forecast.

I
collected the tape from the grim, cold cottage and returned thankfully to the bunkhouse fire.

But my moment had passed as far as Kaptein Denny was concerned. He sat poker-faced and listened with an impenetrable, impassive air while Jutta re-ran the recording. Even the final drama failed to send him, although it had Koch chain-smoking and made me forget to ask him whether the U-boat's two torpedoes which missed the liner had exploded against Possession's cliffs. Even Breekbout-who didn't understand most of it, was infected to the extent of helping himself, unasked, to a few more drinks.