Indonesian Gold (72 page)

‘The way you both behave, the way you are always fighting.
She occupies your dreams. Is it true?'

He tried to block her retreat, stepping between Angela and
the adjacent table.
‘Okay, we met at a conference years before she came to Indonesia.'
He
leaned against the door.
‘I don't understand why this is suddenly so important,
now?'

‘Did you sleep with her?'

Campbell
was completely
nonplussed as to what might have triggered this reaction.
‘What's this all about,
Angela?'

He moved closer, again she stepped away, and crossed her
arms.
‘Well, did you?'

‘Angela…'
He advanced,
arms outstretched.

Angela flared, stamping her foot heavily, the lightweight,
timber floor cracking underfoot.
‘Stewart, answer me!'

Surprised by her sudden display of insecurity, Campbell's
forehead crumpled to the brow. Unsure of what her reaction would be to a frank response, he lied.
‘No, of course not.'

Angela's foot lashed out, cracking his shin.
‘Liar!'

‘For Chrissakes, Angela!
'
Campbell hissed through
clenched teeth, the pain in his lower leg sending him limping to a bench. He dropped to the seat,
raised the injured leg and tugged at his trousers to inspect the wound.

‘Tomorrow, I'm returning to my people in the
hills,'
she announced.
‘You don't belong here, Stewart
Campbell!'
with which, she left.

‘Wait, Angela. Wait!' He called, still in English, rising
from the bench seat. He limped after her, but Angela was already gone, heading towards her cabin
with purposeful stride. Campbell hopped back to the table, where he remained massaging the
offended limb, cursing everything female in his life.

****

Captain Subandi moved from the shadows where he had
finished briefing the two, combat-experienced soldiers charged with the responsibility for
delivering Angela to the designated pick-up point before morning, his attention now focused on
Mardidi's movements towards the river. When the young Javanese disappeared from view, the
Kopassus
pilot followed.

Twenty minutes later, a terrified and disheveled Mardidi
hurried back to Baird's quarters to change, taking care not to waken his partner as he climbed
into work-clothes. Then, armed with the torchlight he'd been given, and carried by unsteady legs,
he headed directly to Angela's quarters, as instructed. Halfway, he paused, leant against a
coconut tree for support, clutched his stomach, and retched violently.

****

Angela's face reflected her surprise.

‘Did he give you his name?'
She had been deep in thought, contemplating Stewart Campbell when Mardidi had suddenly
appeared, and relayed the message.

‘
He says he's was sent by someone from your
village.
'

‘My father?'
Angela,
immediately concerned that the chief's wound might have worsened, was already on her
feet.

‘Where is he?'

‘
Hiding down at the jetty. He is afraid to show his
face.
'

‘
And the guards
?'

‘They're sitting over there, playing cards.'
He pointed, remembering what to say. Angela squinted, recognized the
soldiers huddled together, and frowned.

‘You must hurry!'
Mardidi insisted, Angela hesitating as she searched his earnest face.

‘You'll come with me?'

He knew he had no choice.
‘Yes, of course,'
the
words near choking in his mouth,
‘but we must hurry!'

‘Show me!'
Angela
ordered, and Mardidi almost broke down and cried.

By torchlight, they followed the path down to the river,
the camp's perimeter lights deliberately extinguished in this area earlier in the night, Angela
Dau in no way suspecting the trap that waited her arrival. They walked onto the jetty, the sound
of their footsteps carrying against the background of the Mahakam River's fast moving flow,
Angela stiffening with the near sounds of a bird's woeful caw and wings flapping furiously, in
flight.

‘Where is he?'
she
asked with growing apprehension, sensing now that she might have erred in coming down to the
river in the dark.

‘In the longboat,'
Mardidi centered the torch towards the end of the jetty where a number of narrow
riverboats had been secured.

‘What…'
Caught by
surprise, Angela's startled cry was muffled by the high pitched roar of an outboard engine coming
to life as her legs were swept from beneath her body, when powerful hands reached from under the
jetty, dragging her over the side. With her lungs filling with water, Angela screamed, kicking
wildly at whoever was dragging her backwards through the river, a fierce blow to her head
rendering her incapable of further resistance.

‘Stop it, stop it, you're drowning her!'
Mardidi pleaded, the
Kopassus
soldier ignoring his call, surrendering
Angela's lower torso up to his accomplice, who was in the process of hauling her semi-conscious
body into the longboat, when the hornbill attacked.

With the most terrifying caw, the bird struck, tearing
flesh from the surprised trooper's face, the wounded solider immediately releasing his prisoner
back into the water to defend himself. The man rose unsteadily, his balance momentarily lost as
the bird dived again, his flailing arms unable to prevent the hornbill's razor sharp talons from
lacerating skin, from wherever he was exposed. The bird's frenzied attack then turned on the
second solider who had seized Angela's half-drowned form, and was dragging her back under the
jetty. The soldier screamed for assistance, his wounded comrade coming to his aid wildly swinging
a boat-pole through the air, by luck, striking the hornbill midair, sending it injured, back into
the night.

The assault had lasted less than a few seconds; Mardidi
frozen in his tracks while the two men returned to their task bundling Angela into the longboat.
They tied her hands behind her back then rolled her over, face down.

‘Get in!'
one of the
soldiers hissed.

‘I don't want to go!'
Mardidi shrieked, startled and turning to flee when he heard someone coming from behind.
It was the pilot, Subandi.

‘Get in the boat!'
the
Captain marched up and struck Mardidi savagely, the blow sending the light-framed Javanese
crashing to the deck. The pilot stepped forward and kicked him for good measure, then reached
down and dragged Baird's lover the remaining distance, by the hair. Whimpering, Mardidi took his
position in the boat. The pilot then threw a plastic bag containing Sharon's clothes, and items
of personal jewelry.
‘When you get there, put her in these. Don't forget the rings – and the
gold ankle-chain. Remember! Put them on the woman, not in your pockets. Screw it up and there'll
be no bonus. And don't forget to cut her hair. Now, get moving!'
he snapped at his
subordinates, adding in threatening voice,
‘and make sure you're ready for me at 0630
hours.'

The Yamaha engine roared into life, Subandi monitoring
their departure until the longboat disappeared amongst the cover of darkness. Within the hour his
men would have positioned themselves and their captive at the south end of the former island
colony destroyed in the recent
Kopassus
raid. He had selected the devastated village to
facilitate the next stage of Sharon's exit scene, reasoning that the possibility of detection
would remain minimal, as the site had been abandoned. And, having reconnoitered the area and its
surrounds from the air, the Captain had seen nothing even closely representing a threat that
might jeopardize their plans. Angela Dau would be transported to her former home and held
captive, until the time for her to die had arrived.

High above the rainforest's canopy a hornbill wavered in
flight, the injury inflicted upon one wing during the attack forcing it to seek refuge until it
could regain its strength. The bird dropped from the sky and came to rest in the tall
meranti
at the edge of the Longhouse island forest where restless spirits wandered through
the sacred grotto, in the darkness of night.

****

Penehing in Hiding

Shaman Jonathan Dau awoke in a bed of sweat, his heart
thumping wildly, his right shoulder burning with pain, the dream of a hornbill falling from the
sky, its image turning into that of Angela's before crashing to earth, all too real. He searched
the heavens for further signs, examining the stars, touching the wind, but found nothing there.
He turned to prayer, beseeching ancestral spirits to keep his daughter – and spiritual heir, safe
from all harm. That this recurring dream had never been so clear, troubled him greatly – Jonathan
now deeply concerned for his daughter's life. The chief summoned Udir, and confided in his
friend.
‘It was foolish of me to send her back to the mining camp. I can sense it in the air –
she's in grave danger.'

‘Then we should go to her,'
Udir recommended,
‘we can leave now, if your leg is up to it.'

The shaman checked the bandage.
‘It will get me down to
the river. We'll take four of the younger men in a longboat. The rest should remain here, just in
case.'

‘
How will you penetrate the mining camp,
unseen?
'

‘We should tie up, short of the site. You and I would
enter the area through this section,'
Jonathan drew in the sandy
loam with his finger,
‘and the others can create a diversion here.'
He indicated the point
with an X in the soil – this was the Madurese laborers' shanties.
‘They'll set fire to the
buildings then retreat to the longboat. We'll grab Angela and take her into the heavily-wooded
area across here.'
Another X was drawn.
‘We'll then cut through and regroup with the
others where the longboat is moored.'

‘With your leg, we should allow two, perhaps three
hours to get down to the river in the dark. The others can go ahead and prepare the boat, meet us
on this side of the falls. Another thirty minutes, say, an hour to place us in
position…'
Udir paused,
‘that would mean we'd be at Angela's
door by around three, latest three-thirty. We could be in and out within fifteen minutes.'
Udir raised his eyebrows questioningly.
‘We should leave now, Jonathan, if we are to get there
in time for our men to create that distraction without being seen. Some of the Madurese will be
around and about preparing for first prayers, and we wouldn't want them sounding the alarm. We
don't have any recent intelligence, but we should assume that the camp is still heavily
guarded.'

‘
I agree. Wake the others, now. Tell them to gather
their weapons. We'll leave immediately.
'

****

Mahakam Tributary

Angela's temples throbbed from the punishing blow; her
badly bruised body slowly recovering from shock, now trembling with the chill of fear. Desperate,
she attempted to untie her hands, but failed.
‘Please, please don't do this!'
she pleaded
— her entreaty lost amidst the powerful outboard's growl. She bent her knees and attempted to
roll into an upright position, rewarded with another cruel blow, sending her
unconscious.

Mardidi, eyes blurred with streaming tears dared not look
back, his whimpering sobs only encouraging a cruel smile on the soldier's face, crouched
behind.

‘Far enough?'
Mardidi
heard the soldier ask, failing to recognize the imminent danger.

‘Yeah, this is okay,'
the man forward snorted,
‘do the miserable little shit.'

Mardidi heard these words and his eyes opened wide, the
cold steel that slashed his throat preventing any scream. The killer heaved Mardidi's body over
the side, dipped the blade in the river then wiped it against his side.

The vessel continued towards its destination, delivering
its precious cargo to the designated site. There, the soldiers carried Angela's limp body up the
muddy banks, dumped her on the ground, started a fire then settled down to fill in the hours
under cover of the towering
meranti
tree.

****

Longdamai Mining Camp

For Sharon, pumped with nervous energy and what amounted
to a continuous adrenaline rush, sleep failed. She remained glued, impatiently monitoring the
time, counting down the minutes before she could leave, frustration building when the hands on
her watch appeared to slow. In six hours she would be on her way; after that, another three,
perhaps four hours, and she would be sitting on the deck of the vessel that would take her home
to the Philippines, where she would assume Angela Dau's persona, then fly to Hong Kong where her
fortune from gold awaited.