The Mask of the Enchantress (24 page)

Philip went on: coming back, you know.

h, Philip, I glad,I answered fervently.

h yes, Ie made up my mind. I going to work with your father. I have a year to do in the Sydney hospitals first though. By that time, Suewellyn, youl have done with school.

I nodded happily.

It was tantamount to an agreement.

When I returned to Sydney I missed Laura. I paid a visit to the property. There was a new manager there and he and Laura had become very friendly. I guessed they were in love and when I taxed Laura with it she didn deny it.

oul be dancing at my wedding before I dance at yours,she said. on forget your promise.

I told her I hadn.

Philip wasn there. He was doing his year in the hospitals and couldn get away.

When I went back on holiday to the island it was nearly time for Cougabel baby to be born. This was a very special birth because it was due nine months after the Night of the Masks and, as until that time, she told me proudly, she had been a virgin, there could be no doubt whose the child was.

he Mask child and she have Mask child,said Cougaba proudly.

It was typical that Cougaba should go on assuming that we all accepted the fact that Cougabel had been conceived on a night of the dance although she herself had told her that the girl was Luke Carter daughter. That was a characteristic of the islanders which we found exasperating. They would state something as a fact in face of absolute proof that it was untrue and stubbornly go on believing it.

I had brought a present for the baby, for I was anxious to make up to Cougabel for my neglect in the past. She received me almost regally, accepted the gold chain and pendant which I had bought in Sydney as though, said my irrepressible mother, she was receiving frankincense and myrrh as well as the gold. There was no doubt that Cougabel had become a very important person. She still lived in our house but my mother said we should not keep her, for when the child was born a husband would be found for her and we could be sure that he would be very acceptable. A girl of the Mask, and therefore sure of the Giant special protection and one who had been born of the Mask herself, as they all believed she had, would be a very worthy wife. And as in addition Cougabel was one of the island beauties she could expect many offers.

I told Cougabel how glad I was for her.

glad too,she said, and made it clear that she was no longer as eager for my company as she had once been.

One night I was disturbed by strange noises and the sound of hurrying footsteps near my room. I put on a robe and went out to investigate. My mother appeared. She took me by the arm and drew me back into the bedroom, shutting the door.

ougabel is giving birth,she said.

o soon?

oo soon. The child is a month early.

My mother was looking mysterious and at the same time concerned.

ou see what this means, Suewellyn. It will be said that the child was not conceived on the night.

ouldn it be premature?

t could be, but you know what these people are. They will say the old Giant would not have let it be born too soon. Oh dear, this could mean trouble. Cougaba is terribly upset. I don know what we shall do.

t all such a lot of nonsense. How is Cougabel?

he all right. Childbearing comes easily to these people who live close to nature.

There was a knock at the door. My mother opened it to disclose Cougaba standing there. She looked at us with great bewildered eyes.

hat wrong, Cougaba?asked my mother hastily.

ome,said Cougaba.

s the child all right?asked my mother.

hild big, strong, boy child.

hen Cougabel

Cougaba shook her head.

We went to that room where Cougabel was lying back, triumphant but slightly exhausted. My mother was right. The island women made little trouble of childbearing.

There was the child beside her. His hair was dark brown and straightuite unlike the thick curly hair of the babies of Vulcan; but it was his skin which was astonishing. It was almost white and that with his straight hair proclaimed the fact that he had white blood in him.

I looked at Cougabel. She was lying there and a strange smile was playing about her lips as her eyes met mine and held them.

There was consternation in the household. First my mother said that none should know that the baby was born. She went at once to tell my father.

child that is half white!he cried. y God, this is disastrous. And born before the appointed time.

f course it could be premature,my mother reminded him.

heyl never accept that. This could be disastrous for Cougabel and us. They will say she was already pregnant before she went to the Mask and you know that a sin worthy of death in their eyes.

nd the fact that the child is half white

ougabel has white blood in her, remember.

es, but

ou can believe that Philip oh no, that absurd,went on my father. ut who else? Of course Cougabel father was white and that could account genetically for her giving birth to a child which is even whiter than she is. We know that, but what shall we do about the islanders? One thing is certain. No one outside this house must know that the child is born. Cougaba will have to keep it secret. It is only for a month. Explain to Cougaba. It is necessary, I am sure for us all.

And we did that. It was not easy, for the birth of Cougabel child was awaited with eagerness. Groups of people congregated outside our house. They laid shells round it and many of them went high into the mountain to do homage to the Giant whose child they believed was about to be born.

Cougaba told them that Cougabel needed to rest. The Giant had come to her in a dream and told her that the birth would be difficult. To give birth to his child was not like giving ordinary birth.

Fortunately they accepted this.

My father, always eager to turn disaster into advantage, ordered Cougaba to tell the people that the Giant had come to her in yet another dream and this time he told her that the child would bring a sign for them. He would let them know what he felt about the changes which were coming to the island. In spite of her show of truculence I knew that Cougabel was worried. She understood her people better than we did, and I have no doubt that the premature birth would be as damning in their eyes as the child color. So both she and Cougaba were ready to follow my father orders.

The only thing we had to do was keep the birth a secret for a month. In view of the gullibility of the islanders this was not so difficult as it might have been. Cougaba had only to say the Giant had ordered this or that and it was accepted.

But how relieved we were when we could show the baby to the waiting crowd. All our efforts had been worthwhile.

Even Wandalo had to admit that the color of the child indicated that the Giant was pleased by what was happening on the island. He liked the prosperity.

nd most obligingly,said my mother gleefully, e has stopped that wretched grumbling of his. It couldn have been more opportune.

So we emerged from this delicate situation. But in spite of my father assertion that it was not so very rare for a colored person who had had a white father to produce a light-colored child, I kept thinking of Philip and pictures of him and Cougabel laughing together returned again and again to my mind.

I think my feelings toward Philip changed at that time. Or perhaps I was changing. I was growing up.

Susannah on Vulcan Island

Soon after that I went back to school for my last term; and when I came back Philip was installed on the island.

To be with him again reassured me that my suspicions were unfounded. Cougabel had planted those thoughts in my mind and she had done so deliberately. I remember Luke Carter saying that the islanders were vindictive and never omitted to take revenge. I had made Cougabel jealous and, knowing my feelings for Philip, she was repaying me through him.

Silly girl! I thought. And sillier was I to have allowed myself to believe what I did for a moment.

The baby flourished. The islanders brought him gifts and Cougabel was delighted with him. She took him up to the mountain to give thanks to the Giant. It occurred to me that, whatever else Cougabel was, she was very brave, for she had deceived her people and yet she dared go to the mountain to give thanks to the Giant.

ut perhaps she was thanking him because she was extricated from this difficult predicament,my mother suggested. ut in fact she should be thanking us.

I was very happy during the months that followed. Philip had become like a member of the family. I was finished with school, and my parents were happier than they had ever been beforeexcept for those rare moments which my mother had once mentioned. I realized now that they were at peace. As time passed danger receded and their big anxiety had been on my account.

Now I knew they were thinking that I should marry Philip and settle here for the rest of my life. I should not be confined as they had been. I should be able to take trips to Australia and New Zealand and perhaps go home for a long stay. The islands were prospering. Soon they would be growing into a civilized community. It was my father dream. He wanted more doctors and nurses; they would marry, he said, and have children.

Oh yes, those were dreams he and my mother shared; but it was the fact that they believed my future was settled which delighted them most.

There was another matter. I had noticed one of the plantation overseers, a very tall, handsome young man, was constantly near the house waiting for a glimpse of Cougabel. He liked to take the baby from her and rock him in his arms.

I said to my mother: believe Fooca is the father of Cougabel baby.

he thought had occurred to me,replied my mother. She laughed. She was laughing a great deal these days.

ou can see how it happened,she went on. hey were lovers. Cougabel probably knew she was with child on the night of the dance. The scheming little creature! Really, one has to admire her. She is bright, that girl. Luke Carter was a shrewd fellow and I think he has passed on some of his attributes to his daughter. It is miraculous the way she has turned this situation to advantage.

So we laughed at Cougabel deception and, when Fooca came to Cougaba and offered to marry her daughter, we were all delighted.

So was Cougabel.

We were allowed to attend the marriage ceremony as she had lived in our house. She was kept all night in one of the huts with four selected unmarried girlsll virginsho anointed her with coconut oil and braided her hair. Fooca was in another hut with four young men who tended him. Then in the late afternoon the ceremony was performed in the middle of the clearing. The girls brought Cougabel out of the hut and the young men brought Fooca. Cougaba stood there holding the baby, who was solemnly taken from her by two women and given to Cougabel. The bride and bridegroom held hands while Wandalo chanted something unintelligible to us and Cougabel and Fooca jumped over a palm log together. It was a log which was kept in Wandalo hut and was said to have been thrown out of the Giant crater years ago when he had all but destroyed the island. The log had endured as marriage should. It was symbolic.

After that there was feasting in the clearing and dancing, though not of the frenzied kind that took place on the night of the Dance of the Masks.

After we had watched the ceremony of jumping over the log, Philip and I wandered down to the shore. The singing at the wedding had begun and we could hear it in the distance. We sat down on the sandy beach and looked out over the sea. It was a beautiful scene. The palm leaves waved slightly in the balmy breeze which came across the water; the sun, which soon would set, had stained the clouds blood red. Behind us loomed the mighty Giant.

Philip said: never dreamed there was such a spot on earth.re you going to be content here?I asked. ore than content,he said and, turning on his side, leaned on his elbow and looked at me. am so glad,be went on, hat you and Laura were friends. Otherwise you would never have come to the property and we should not be here together like this. Think of that.I said: thinking of it.

h, Suewellyn,he murmured, hat a tragedy that would have been!

I laughed. I was so happy.

I heard myself saying: hat do you think of Cougabel?The suspicion was still lingering, although I almost believed it was nonsense. I wanted to talk of it, though. I wanted to be assured.

h, she a minx,he said. o you know, I wouldn be surprised if she leads that what his name? Fooca? a dance.

he is considered to be very attractive. These people are often beautiful but she stands out because she is different, you see. That touch of white

h yes, your father was telling me that her father was a man who used to be here.

es. We were shocked when the baby was born. He is even lighter than Cougabel.

t happens like that sometimes. The next baby may be quite black. Then perhaps shel have another of a lighter color.

ell, she has jumped over the log now.

ood luck to her,said Philip. ood luck to everyone on the island.

t your future now.

He took my hand and held it. es,he said. y future our future.

The sun was low on the horizon. We watched. It always seemed to disappear so quickly. It was like a great red ball dropping into the sea. It had gone. Darkness came quickly. There was no twilight, which I vaguely remembered only from my childhood in England.

Philip sprang up. He held out his hand to help me and I took it.

He put an arm round me as we walked to the house.

I could hear the singing of the wedding party, and I felt that all was well with the world.

A week passed. The ship was due at any time now. My father was looking forward to it. It was bringing the supplies he needed.

It would bring mail too. Not that we received much but Laura was a good correspondent and there was usually a letter to me from her.

I wondered how she was getting on with her love affair and whether she really would be married before I was. I was sure that Philip loved me and would ask me to marry him. I wondered why he hesitated. I had passed my seventeenth birthday but perhaps he still considered me too young. Perhaps I seemed younger than I actually was because I had lived so much of my life shut away from the world. However, although he made allusions to the future, he had not yet asked me to marry him.