The Code War (27 page)

Lafi
looked behind him at the tree line and the forest behind
it. Suitable place for a burial. Should be easy. He looked forward
again. Nancy was running quite fast now, faster than necessary.
Lafi speeded up too, breaking into a trot. Nancy reached the little
sand bar.

And kept running.

'Hey,' Lafi shouted and started to
race. But Nancy was now sprinting with all of her might straight
towards the sea. She reached the first waves and splashed through
until she could run no more and then dove head first and started
striking out with all of her strength. Lafi had been taken unawares
and was caught between stopping to take a shot or chasing her into
the water. He fired off a couple of wild rounds at Nancy's
disappearing form in the surf and then ran in after her. After a
moment he stopped. With the gun in his hand he could barely swim
and he couldn't see her now anyway.

Nancy hadn't heard the shots but
continued swimming as fast as she could. She was no champion
swimmer and knew she couldn't keep going long. But the tide going
out might just save her. At the very least, it wouldn't be trying
to bring her back in. After another minute and a half, completely
exhausted and gasping for air, Nancy paused and looked behind
her.

Nothing.

Yes, there he was, still on the
shore. With the dawn light behind him she could just make out his
silhouette. He was probably hoping she would try and swim
back
in to land further up or down the
beach. Glint in his hand. Must be the gun. It was preventing him
from plunging in after her. He couldn't swim with it and he didn't
want to leave it behind. Keep hold of the gun, she whispered. That
gun in your hand could save me. She flipped over on her back still
gasping and floated. Utterly exhausted. She knew she couldn't last
long before she drowned. Maybe she had three or four minutes at the
most. The rain was still intense but there was also a breeze which
made for some choppy waves. They were only a couple of feet high,
but even so they kept swamping her face when she was trying to
breathe.

Nancy reached behind her with her
right hand and pushed it down inside her jeans. She arched her back
to open up the gap between the waistband and her spine. The effort
caused her head to dip below the waves and she swallowed a mouthful
of the Atlantic. She grasped the inflatable life ring she had found
earlier in the hinged box under the lorry and pulled it out. Her
only chance to live was if it was not punctured. She found the teat
and started to blow into it, coughing and spluttering as she tried
to breathe at the same time.

The ring started to inflate. It was a
large one, made for saving the lives of refugees at sea, not for
playing at the poolside. After two minutes more of exhausting
blowing the ring had hardened and was near its full expansion. She
slipped it over her head and pulled her arms through. For several
minutes she lay back and rested, breathing hard.

Cheat, wailed the waves. Tricked
us. Not fair.

Sunrise, and the
nigh
t turned to day speedily in the way
that it does near the equator. Over the next two hours Nancy
alternated periods of swimming with moments of rest. When she was
about half a mile from the coast she turned and breaststroked
north. She had no idea which way the nearest village was but she
knew the airport was north and that was where she was
going.

The rain stopped, the clouds lightened
and blue sky found its way through in patches. A fishing boat came
into view, a mile away. The boat was motorised and was heading out
to sea. Nancy waved her arms and shouted hoarsely but there was no
change in its direction. The boat continued.

On shore there was no sign of Lafi.

Ten minutes later, another boat sortied
out followed by another. The second of the two changed course
slightly and came in Nancy's direction. She hollered and waved for
all she was worth. A man standing on the prow was looking out for
any shimmer that might mean fish. He walked back to the tillerman.
The boat pointed itself directly at Nancy and slowed. A minute
later, strong hands were pulling her out of the water. She
collapsed at the bottom of the boat and sobbed.

It was 9.00 a.m.

'Water, have you any water?' After
several minutes Nancy managed to pull herself up on one side. She
had stopped sobbing but a blinding headache now afflicted her.

The kindest, happiest face she had ever
seen in her life swung itself into view and its owner shoved a
plastic bottle into her hands. She drank deeply and handed the
bottle back.

'Thank you,' she gasped.

'Lucky. You lucky lady,' said
Happy Face. The fisherman was dressed in rough clothes and he
squatted down in front of her with his thighs sticking out like
girders either side of him. His huge bare feet were like tree roots
under Nancy's nose. The second fisherman came up too, smiling with
a mouth so wide that Nancy thought of the whale that swallowed
Jonah.

Both of them showed rows of perfect
white teeth. Aren't there sweet shops around here?

Nancy coughed and vomited up the water
she'd just drunk. A thick strand of saliva dribbled from her lower
lip to the mess in the bottom of the boat. Nausea took her and the
boat span around the sky.

'You fallen otter?'

'Huh?'

'You fall in water?'

'Oh.' Damn headache. 'Yes.'

The two fishermen talked in their own
language. They seemed to be searching for English words.

'Sleep,' Happy Face said. 'Safe
now,' Jonah said.

Nancy put her head down and closed her
eyes. A few minutes later she felt heat on her face and knew the
sun had come out. The engine had started again and Nancy hoped they
were going home, wherever that was.

Happy Face gave her the bottle again.
'Drink slow,' he laughed. How were these people so happy, who had
nothing? Nancy sipped the water and eased herself up again. The
headache had receded and she almost felt alive.

She stared up at Happy Face and Jonah,
who was now at the tiller again. Spray washed over the prow and
refreshed Nancy's face. She was feeling less sick and sat up,
looking around. A much-repaired net lay at her feet along with her
UN life ring. Apart from those and some diesel fuel in cans and a
few water bottles, there was nothing else in the boat.

She looked over the side and saw the
coast only a few hundred yards away. The tall trees beyond the
beach, now lit up by the morning sunshine were waving their
friendship to her. You weren't that cuddly last night, were you?
She thought of her flight to the sea with the rain in her face and
the gloomy forest behind her. Had that really happened? Was Lafi
really going to kill her? Yes and yes.

The boat rounded a headland and
Nancy could now see their destination. A village of wooden shacks
with many colourful boats drawn up on the sand and large numbers of
people working around dozens of long tables that were set up on the
beach. Boats were setting out to sea and others were coming back
and unloading their catch. Lines of women and children were filling
baskets of fish at each boat and ferrying them in relays to the
tables for gutting and drying. Happy Face and Jonah had given up
their morning's fishing to bring Nancy home. How could she repay
them?

As they approached the beach,
Happy Face stood up high on the prow and began calling out to the
nearest bystanders. They could barely hear him above the noise of
the engine but soon people could see Nancy's face and began
shouting and pointing. A crowd gathered and moved down the beach.
Nancy watched all this with growing confidence. She would be safe
now, surely?

A figure at the rear of the beach
near the treeline caught her attention, running behind a shack.
Lafi. Oh no, not again. What was he doing here? Silly question. He
would come and mingle with the crowd, unseen, looking for a moment
when she was vulnerable. Then he would strike and make his escape
leaving her bleeding her life out on the pure white
sand.

Happy Face was still shouting to
the crowd. Moments later people were excitedly helping her off the
boat and walking her up the beach. Questions aimed at Happy Face
and Jonah in dialect. Questions aimed at Nancy in English. What
happened? Who was she? Did her boat sink? Was she from
Scotland?

Where was Lafi?

She sat down, collapsed rather,
and was joined by Happy Face and Jonah, proud of their mermaid
catch. Who could she tell about Lafi?

A local woman, dignified and
commanding, came down the beach. The crowd made way for her. She
was about fifty and carried herself like someone in authority,
stepping like a president, speaking like a caesar. Schoolteacher?
Tribal leader?

'Well this is an unexpected
surprise. Did you fall off a pleasure boat?' asked the woman. 'I'm
Doreen by the way.'

Doreen indeed. And I'm the Queen.

'I'm Nancy, pleased to meet you.' They
shook hands.

But Doreen was waiting for an
answer.

'I, em, I had an accident. These
two men saved me from drowning,' Nancy indicated Happy Face and
Jonah who were sticking close to her and smiling like politicians
on election day.

'Good,' said Doreen and started talking
to Nancy's saviours in their own language. There were lots of
questions from Doreen and answers from Happy Face, who seemed to
speak for the two of them.

'Let's get you dried out.' Doreen
summoned Nancy to follow her up the beach while some of the crowd
started to melt away, show already over. Just a tourist who'd
fallen off a yacht. No story there after all. Probably drunk.
Westerners!

Nancy was sure Lafi was biding his time,
waiting for a moment when she'd be left alone. Doreen wouldn't be
able to protect her, that was for sure.

Nancy put her arm around Doreen and
pulled her to a stop. 'A man tried to kill me,' she whispered
urgently. 'A man with a gun. I swam into the sea to escape.'

Doreen pulled away in alarm. What sort
of people was the young white lady involved with?

'I think he's hiding behind that
shack. I mean that building. Waiting for me. If you don't believe
me please take a look.'

Doreen now took a long look at Nancy.
She was quite a sight to be sure, bedraggled and shoeless. But she
didn't look drunk and she didn't look drugged. Nancy looked back at
Doreen, imploring her with her eyes. She knew she was being sized
up.

There was still a small crowd around,
including Happy Face and Jonah who wanted to know the outcome of
their morning's work. Doreen turned to them and spoke rapidly
without raising her voice. They looked at her in surprise but in a
moment ran up the beach and peered behind the shack. Clearly there
was someone there as Nancy could see Jonah speaking.

'Be careful, he's got a gun,' she
shouted.

But a moment later the chase was on.
Lafi broke from cover and started to run up the beach. Now, through
the trees, Nancy could see the lorry. If he could reach that, he'd
get away.

Lafi brandished his gun and
shouted at his pursuers. At the top of the beach two fishermen
emerged from the trees carrying a long net between them and walking
slowly towards the boats. They heard the commotion and saw Lafi
with the gun in his hand, a crowd from their own village chasing
him.

The two fishermen advanced on Lafi
holding their net between them. They unfurled the sides of the net
threatening to make a catch of him. As they rushed down at each
side of Lafi he fired off a shot. One of the men clutched his arm
but didn't drop his side of the net. Lafi tried to jump the
advancing mesh but his feet slipped in the sand and he ploughed
straight into it. In a moment he was trapped and the two
net-carriers together with Happy Face and Jonah grabbed him and
pinned him.

Jonah took Lafi's gun and held it high,
its very existence evidence of Lafi's guilt. The wounded
net-carrier was holding his arm which was bleeding lightly.

Lafi was marched down the beach
towards Doreen and Nancy. The crowd had gathered again but this
time it was a very angry crowd indeed. There were jeers and shouts
and jabbing of fingers in Lafi's direction. More people were
running in from all directions.

A man appeared behind Lafi bearing
a fishing spear. Its sharp tip and barb made for landing sharks. He
used it to prod Lafi and keep him moving forward.

When they reached Doreen, the crowd
quietened.

'Tell me what this man did,' Doreen said
to Nancy.

Nancy breathed in deeply. She didn't
know if this was an impromptu trial or if the police had been sent
for and, whichever it was, what the outcome might be.

'He tried to kill me. I ran into the sea
and swam away.' Doreen rapidly translated this for the villagers
who began shouting and chanting again.

Nancy noticed some small children
in the front of the crowd, holding onto their mothers'
skirts.

'Before that, he was carrying
thirty-five children in a lorry across the border. South. That
lorry.' Everyone followed her outstretched arm and could just see
the outline of the truck through the trees. As those who understood
English translated for the others, the crowd's anger turned to
fury. Lafi was not of their village, probably not even of their
tribe. He had shot one of them with a gun. Now he was accused of
child-trafficking, something that all the parents present regarded
with horror. If Nancy had been worried that Lafi might try to
implicate her in his guilt, she had no need. His time was up.