Part 26 (2/2)

Sherry and I slept late, gloating on the lazy day ahead and at the feeling of having the island entirely to ourselves We did not expect Chubby and Angelo to return before noon

After breakfast we crossed the saddle between the hills and went down to the beach We were playing in the shallows, and the ru and laughter blanketed any other sounds It was only by chance that I looked UP and saw the light aircraft sweeping in from the landward channel

”Run!” I shouted at Sherry, and she thought I was joking until I pointed urgently at the approaching aircraft ”Run! Don't let him see us,” and this time she responded quickly We floundered naked from the water, and went up the beach at top speed

Now I could hear the buzz of the aircraft engines and I glanced overlow over the southernht beach towards us

”Faster!” I yelled at Sherry, as she ran long-legged and fullbottoling down her darkly tanned back

I looked back and the aircraft was headed directly at us, SItill about a ined As I watched, it sank lower towards the snowy expanse of coral sands

We snatched up our discarded clothing at full run, and sprinted the last few yards into the palrove There was a mound formed by a fallen palm tree and the fronds torn off the trees by the storrabbed sherrys ared her down

We rolled under the shelter of the dead fronds and lay side by side, panting wildly froined Cessna It came down the beach and swept past our hideaway only twenty feet above the water's edge

The fuselage was painted a distinctive daisy yellow and was blazoned with the nanized the aircraft I had seen it before at St Mary's Airport on half a dozen occasions, usually discharging or picking up groups of wealthy tourists I knew that Afticair was a charter company based on the e tariff I wondered as paying for the hire on this trip

There were two persons in the forward seats of the aircraft, the pilot and a passenger, and their faces were turned towards us as it roared past However, they were too far from us to make out the features and I could not be sure if I knew either of them They were both white men, that was all that was certain

The Cessna turned steeply out over the lagoon and, one wing pointed directly down into the crystal water, it swept around and then levelled for another run down the beach

This time it passed so closely that for an instant I looked up into the face of the passenger as he peered down into the palnized him, but I could not be certain

The Cessna then turned away, rising slowly, and set a new course for thethat was co achieved his purpose, a job well done

Sherry and I crawled fro-place and stood up to brush the sand from our damp bodies

”Do you think they saw us?” she asked ti like a ht, they could hardly ht have mistaken us for a couple of native fishermen”

”Fisherrinned With those great beautiful boobs?”

”Harry Fletcher, you are a disgusting beast,” she said ”But seriously, Harry, what is going to happen now?”

”I wish I knew, lad that Chubby had taken the case of silverware back to St Mary's with him By noas probably buried behind the shack at Turtle Bay We were still in profit even if we had to run for it soon

The visit by the aircraft instilled in us all a new sense of urgency We kne that our tiht neith hi

”The Mandrake cruised for five days in the south islands They saw her nearly every day fro about like she didn't knohat she was doing he reported ”Then on Monday she anchored again in Grand Harbour Wallys says that the owner and his ent up to the hotel for lunch, then afterwards they took a taxi and went down to Frobisher Street They spent an hour with Fred coker in his office, then he drove them down to Adhed and sailed almost immediately”

”Is that all?”

”Yes,” Chubby nodded, ”except that Fred coker went straight up to the bank afterwards and put fifteen hundred dollars into his savings account”

”How do you know that?”

”My sister's third daughter works at the bank”

I tried to show a cheerful face, although I felt ugly little insects crawling around inaround Let's try and get the pump assembled so we can catch tomorrow's tide”

Later, after we had carried the water pump up to the caves, Chubby returned alone to the whaleboat and when he ca canvas-wrapped bundle

”What have you got there, Chubby?” I demanded, and shyly he opened the canvas cover It was azines of aht come in useful,”he rove and buried it beside the cases of gelignite in a shallow grave Its proxiave me a little co the water puas lanterns, and it was after ine down to the whaleboat and bolted it to aof heavy tielo and I were still working on the pu We had been on station for half an hour before we had it assembled and ready to test

Three of us dived on the wreck - Chubby, Sherry and myself - and we unport and up into the breach through the well of the hold

Once it was in position, I slapped Chubby on the shoulder and pointed to the surface He replied with a high sign and finned away, leaving Sherry and er deck

We had planned this part of the operation carefully and aited i on his way, and climbed into the whaleboat to prime the pump and start the motor

We knew he had done so by the faint hum and vibration that was transed entrance to the hold, and grasped the end of the hose with both hands Sherry trained the torchbea the open end of the hose slowly over the rotted cargo

I saw i to work, small pieces of debris vanished miraculously into the hose, and it caused a s motes of rubbish

At this depth and with the RPM provided by the petrol engine, the puallons of water an hour, which was a considerable volu area and we still had good visibility I could start probing into the heap with a je thee behind us

Once or twice I had to resort to the block and tackle to clear some bulky case or object, but mostly I was able to advance with only the hose and the jeo before it was tie of air bottle We left the end of the hose firer deck, and went up to a hero's welcoht and even Chubby was s

The water around the whaleboat was clouded and filthy with the thick soup of rubbish we had puelo had retrieved alh the outlet of the pump and rfallen into the sieve - it was a collection of buttons, nails, snia, some small copper and silver coins of the period, and odds and ends of lass and bone

Even I was impatient to return to the task, and Sherry was so insistent that I had to donate ain

We had been working for fifteen minutes when I came upon the corner of an up-ended crate sih the as soft as cork, the seams had been reinforced with strips of hoop iron and iron nails so I struggled with it for some time before I prised out a plank and pushed it back between us The next plank came free more readily, and the contents seeetable fibre

I pulled out a large hunk of this and it al of the hose, but eventually disappeared on its way to the surface I al in another area - but Sherry showed strong signs of disapproval, shaking her head, thu to direct the bea mess of fibre

Afterwards I asked her why she had insisted and she fluttered her eyelashes and looked important

”Female intuition, , I oncesmaller chunks of the fibre loose so as not to block the hose opening

I had releam of metal in the depths of the excavation I felt the first deep throb of certainty in my belly then, and I tore out another plank with furious i so I could work in it more easily