we have with every meal.”
Bill wasn’t so sure. “I doubt if they can put you up.”
“I’ll take a camp bed and sleep on the veranda. She was faintly surprised by her own eagerness. “Say I can come, Bill.”
He looked thoughtful for once, but could not deny her anything so easy to give.
“Okay, you coaxing female you.” Grinning, he reached across the table and patted her hand. But don ’ t blame me if Nick kicks up the dust. Makai, from all accounts, is no place for a woman.”
CHAPTER FIVE
A WEEK later they set off up the river at dawn in a shivering mist. The boys sang and poled energetically till the sun came up, when the pace was more sluggish and except for the dip of the paddles the river was an endless channel of silence. Just before dusk they reached a village, where the local preacher put them up for the night.
Again next morning they made an early start, and soon they came to the branch river that led to Makai. About mid-morning the scene to the left of the river changed. A clearing appeared, and a native village, followed by rubber trees, young ones not yet tapped. A few miles farther on began the fully grown trees with their little grey cups sheltered by peaks to keep out the rain. They were perfect l y spaced, the earth flat and leafy between them.
After a couple of hours of looking at these regimented ranks of trees, Pat closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep against her mound of cushions.
They came to Makai soon after midday. On a modern-looking cement platform lolled a few boys, and nearby in khaki drill, his eyes shadowed by his helmet, stood Nick Farland. Bill sprang out and jabbed his partner’s ribs in greeting. Nick came down the steps, put a foot in the boat and gave Pat a hand. She jumped ligh tl y up beside him, and met those green-flecked, ironical hazel eyes that were like no one else’s. “So you had to come as well,” he drawled.
“My curiosity got the better of me,” she smiled. “Do you mind?”
“Not much good minding, is it?” He turned to Bill.
“This is what I call a plantation!” Bill exclaimed. “This is really something, my lad.” Smiling to himself, the older man strolled ahead through a path between cocoa trees.
“Patricia,” Nick drawled sof tl y, “did you come to see me or the rubber trees?”
She smiled, borrowing his mockery. “I couldn’t bear to imagine your disappointment if Bill turned up alone.”
“I’d have got through.”
“No doubt,” she answered. “It would take more than a woman to supplant the rubber at Makai.”
“You know me very well,” he agreed drily. The turn of a corner revealed a white, tin-roofed house. “You share this with Bill. The superintendent has transferred to my place for your stay. Run along in, child, and take a nice cool bath and a long cool drink. They’ll make you feel a new woman.”
“Nick,” she confronted him, chin tilted, amber eyes shaded by the brim of her sun-helmet, “haven’t you yet made up your mind whether I’m a child or a woman?”
He gazed down at her ironically. ‘You’re a mixture of the two, Patricia. A dappy kid who sees the world through dream-specs. I hope a hard taste of reality isn’t waiting round the corner to shake your dreamworld all out of perspective. I’m not good at mopping up the tears of little girls.”
“You’re better at dragging them through the jungle in a storm, eh?” She gave a laugh. “I wonder if you are such a tough nut as you make out, Mr. Farland.”
“There’s one thing for sure, young Pat,” he clicked his fingers under her tilt of a nose, “I’m the big-wheel around here, and don’t you forget any of my orders. No wandering off among the trees—the atmosphere isn’t exactly that of a Surrey pinewood.”
“I wouldn’t dream of disobeying you,” she mocked. “You might decide that I’m a little girl, after all, and tip me over your big brown knee for a spanking.”
“You could do with one of those, I
Bill wasn’t so sure. “I doubt if they can put you up.”
“I’ll take a camp bed and sleep on the veranda. She was faintly surprised by her own eagerness. “Say I can come, Bill.”
He looked thoughtful for once, but could not deny her anything so easy to give.
“Okay, you coaxing female you.” Grinning, he reached across the table and patted her hand. But don ’ t blame me if Nick kicks up the dust. Makai, from all accounts, is no place for a woman.”
CHAPTER FIVE
A WEEK later they set off up the river at dawn in a shivering mist. The boys sang and poled energetically till the sun came up, when the pace was more sluggish and except for the dip of the paddles the river was an endless channel of silence. Just before dusk they reached a village, where the local preacher put them up for the night.
Again next morning they made an early start, and soon they came to the branch river that led to Makai. About mid-morning the scene to the left of the river changed. A clearing appeared, and a native village, followed by rubber trees, young ones not yet tapped. A few miles farther on began the fully grown trees with their little grey cups sheltered by peaks to keep out the rain. They were perfect l y spaced, the earth flat and leafy between them.
After a couple of hours of looking at these regimented ranks of trees, Pat closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep against her mound of cushions.
They came to Makai soon after midday. On a modern-looking cement platform lolled a few boys, and nearby in khaki drill, his eyes shadowed by his helmet, stood Nick Farland. Bill sprang out and jabbed his partner’s ribs in greeting. Nick came down the steps, put a foot in the boat and gave Pat a hand. She jumped ligh tl y up beside him, and met those green-flecked, ironical hazel eyes that were like no one else’s. “So you had to come as well,” he drawled.
“My curiosity got the better of me,” she smiled. “Do you mind?”
“Not much good minding, is it?” He turned to Bill.
“This is what I call a plantation!” Bill exclaimed. “This is really something, my lad.” Smiling to himself, the older man strolled ahead through a path between cocoa trees.
“Patricia,” Nick drawled sof tl y, “did you come to see me or the rubber trees?”
She smiled, borrowing his mockery. “I couldn’t bear to imagine your disappointment if Bill turned up alone.”
“I’d have got through.”
“No doubt,” she answered. “It would take more than a woman to supplant the rubber at Makai.”
“You know me very well,” he agreed drily. The turn of a corner revealed a white, tin-roofed house. “You share this with Bill. The superintendent has transferred to my place for your stay. Run along in, child, and take a nice cool bath and a long cool drink. They’ll make you feel a new woman.”
“Nick,” she confronted him, chin tilted, amber eyes shaded by the brim of her sun-helmet, “haven’t you yet made up your mind whether I’m a child or a woman?”
He gazed down at her ironically. ‘You’re a mixture of the two, Patricia. A dappy kid who sees the world through dream-specs. I hope a hard taste of reality isn’t waiting round the corner to shake your dreamworld all out of perspective. I’m not good at mopping up the tears of little girls.”
“You’re better at dragging them through the jungle in a storm, eh?” She gave a laugh. “I wonder if you are such a tough nut as you make out, Mr. Farland.”
“There’s one thing for sure, young Pat,” he clicked his fingers under her tilt of a nose, “I’m the big-wheel around here, and don’t you forget any of my orders. No wandering off among the trees—the atmosphere isn’t exactly that of a Surrey pinewood.”
“I wouldn’t dream of disobeying you,” she mocked. “You might decide that I’m a little girl, after all, and tip me over your big brown knee for a spanking.”
“You could do with one of those, I
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