Dicing With Diamonds, Page 2

  Lazarus says grimly, “No doubt this government man will be the big danger when he makes his speech. Health and safety indeed.” He goes to one end of the room, flops down on a rectangle of woven palm fronds, smooths a stuffed cloth bag serving as a pillow and stretches out.

  Penny offers, “It's going to be interesting. Wonder why he specifically asked for you, Jed and myself to be present tonight?” She looks at cartons of whiskey at the other end of the room. “I wouldn't be surprised if he confiscates your contraband liquor while he's at it.”

  * * *

  Jed's fishing boat, Pride of Goodway, sails across a small bay with a deserted sandy beach.

  Akolo, standing in the bows, shades his eyes from the sun, peering ahead. “I think Sharpstone must be just round the corner.”

  Jed steers the boat closer to the shore. “I reckon. Just look at this beautiful stretch of coast and not a soul in sight. Wonderful. What's the name of this place?”

  Kami, sitting in the stern, stands up and takes off her tiny hipster skirt, revealing a brief bikini bottom. “It's always been known as Crampston Bay. I'm going in for a swim.”

  Jed turns to look at Kami and nods approvingly. “You look even better than the scenery.”

  Kami tosses her hair, smiling sweetly. “Thank you, kind sir. Are you going to stop or do I have to swim after you?”

  Jed shuts down the engine, takes a bottle of water from a small ice box, drinks and spits out a mouthful. “Ugh! Hot as hell.”

  Kami climbs onto the side and gracefully dives into the water. A large modern tuna boat sailing in the opposite direction makes loud siren blasts as it passes. Crewmen on the deck wave and whistle shrilly. Kami waves back and splashes around.

  Jed raises an arm and gives a one-finger gesture. “Yeah, go on. You're welcome to all the darn tuna. Little do you know what I'm after.” He goes to the side and looks down at Kami. “Hey, I just decided I'm after two things, not just diamonds. Guess what the other one is.” He glances at Akolo and clamps a hand to his mouth.

  Kami wags a finger at Jed. “Really, I wouldn't know where to start.” She swims round the boat and clambers back on board.

  Jed starts the engine and heads the boat back out to sea.

  * * *

  The Pride of Goodway arrives at a mooring buoy and Jed ties the boat up, looking towards the beach. “So there's Sharpstone Cave. What's that notice say at the entrance?”

  Akolo screws his eyes up and peers at the notice. “Don't know . . . too far.”

  Kami confirms. “No, I can't see either.”

  “Well I'm gonna take a look. Coming?” asks Jed. He takes off his straw cowboy hat, throws it down and dives over the side. Akolo adjusts his Lava-lava and follows, Kami not far behind. The three swim to the beach and wade ashore.

  Jed stops abruptly and points down. “Footprints. I thought Lazarus said nobody comes here. Adult feet.”

  Kami chuckles, “Or a well fed child.”

  Jed grins at her. “My, we are getting witty. Come on.” He follows the footprints to the cave and looks at the notice that reads, Sharpstone Cave. No Entry. Danger.

  “Somebody's been inside. The footprints go all the way in.” Akolo says importantly.

  “And recently too. Strange. Let's go.” Jed leads the way in.

  * * *

  Jed looks around a small, dark chamber with huge rocks littering the floor. “Pity we didn't bring a torch,” he admits. “Doesn't look much . . . pretty bare. There's been some bad rockfalls as well. Ah! There's a passage back there.” He moves to the passage, stoops and looks in. “Jeez, it's not very wide and no headroom. But the owner of the footprints went in. I don't know how far 'cos the prints stop at a rock floor. Do you think he . . . or she . . . is still in there?”

  Kami jumps back in fright. “Ow! Don't say that. It's scary.”

  Akolo blurts, “But the footprints go back down the beach to the water as well. I saw that.”

  Jed straightens and turns round. “I never thought about that. Congratulations. We can't do much in the dark unfortunately. Best to come with Lazarus because we don't know how far it goes in there and it could get tricky.”

  “You don't think whoever came here knew about the diamonds do you?” Kami asks anxiously.

  Jed frowns. “It had crossed my mind, but I'd rather not dwell on it. I'm sure it was just someone inquisitive. No point in hanging around.”

  Kami tells them, “I need to get back to help Penny with the special food for tonight. A man from the government doesn't come here very often.”

  They head for the exit.

  * * *

  A bright glow from the wood fire, red hot stones in an earth oven and battery lanterns illuminate the recreation area. Kami and Penny, assisted by village women, cook meat, fish and vegetables. More women stir food in a steaming giant pot on hot embers alongside. Akolo opens a large ice box, takes out two bottles of Vailima lager, hands one to Jed, sitting on the ground near the earth oven, and offers the other to Lazarus, who declines and carries on swigging from a bottle of whiskey as he mooches round. Akolo takes the bottle over to Ofa, sitting alone outside a tiny hut.

  Jed remarks, “Cold beer at last. Well done, Lazarus. You remembered.”

  “No need for sarcasm, buddy,” Lazarus grumbles moodily.

  Chief, wearing a Lava-lava, arrives with Hafoka, a Polynesian man in lightweight suit and tie, carrying a briefcase. Everyone stops what they're doing and stand to attention.

  The Chief says loudly, “Greetings. This is Mister Hafoka from the Department of Health and Safety. He just wants to say hello now, then while we feast he'll be addressing you. Mister Hafoka.”

  Hafoka clears his throat. “Good evening everyone. Please relax . . . I'm not going to eat you.” He glances at the steaming giant pot, mops his brow with a handkerchief and loosens his tie. “I hope you don't want to eat me. Thank you for turning up and preparing all that food. Let's enjoy and I'll say a little more later. Thank you.” Hafoka and Chief sit on chairs behind a low table a short way from the earth oven. Hafoka places his briefcase on the table, opens it, pulls out some documents and arranges them on the table. Everyone returns to what they were doing. Akolo takes bottles of lager over to Chief and Hafoka.

  Excited villagers, most of them carrying empty food bowls, converge on the special guest, forming a circle around the cooking area. Kami and Penny place dishes of food and empty food bowls on the guest's table. Villagers form a queue at the giant pot, help themselves to food and sit in the circle. Kami takes bowls of food to Jed and Akolo and sits with them. Penny joins them. Lazarus sits behind Jed, clutching his whiskey bottle.

  Hafoka stands up, holding his arms up for silence. The crowd fall silent.

  Hafoka begins. “The government has decided to implement a few changes here on Goodway. I'm afraid there's a bit of bad news for some of you.”

  Lazarus taps Jed on the shoulder. “Here we go. Who's first I wonder? Never mind, you'll find something else.”

  Hafoka continues. “First, the ferry service operated by Mister Lazarus Hornby.”

  Lazarus's mouth drops open.

  Hafoka points to Lazarus and tells him, “Mister Hornby, unfortunately you are violating the rules. Unseaworthy vessel, no captain's license and complaints of being in charge of a passenger boat whilst intoxicated. You are banned herewith from operating the business.”

  The crowd hiss and boo, shaking their fists at Hafoka.

  Lazarus drops the whiskey bottle and leaps up, screaming, “Don't be damn stupid, man! I'm essential to this community! Who else can supply the cheap whiskey? Eh? Eh?” He paces towards Hafoka. Jed and Akolo restrain him, dragging him back.

  Chief jumps up. “Enough! Anymore interruptions and you'll be sent home.” He sits.

  Hafoka tries again. “I haven't finished yet, Mister Hornby. I wouldn't rule out a surprise inspection by customs officials, and highly recommend you remove any contraband liquor as soon as possible.”

  La
zarus clenches his fists. “I'll remove anybody who touches my stock.”

  “Next. Namara Tuna Cannery.” Hafoka coughs.

  Jed shouts, “Just get on with it!”

  Hafoka carries on. “Totally unsanitary. Major health hazard. You must close down immediately. Movement of produce is prohibited and remaining stock must be destroyed.”

  Jed stands up and applauds. “Thank you. You're welcome to my only box of half-rotted fish.”

  “Er, Miss Penny Markham.” Hafoka looks over to Penny.

  Penny gasps and clamps a hand to her mouth.

  Hafoka, in a quieter tone, breaks the news. “Miss Markham, I'm sorry but it's been agreed all school age children must attend proper schools on neighboring islands. The authorities will subsidize travel costs for families.”

  The villagers rise up in anger, booing and hissing. Penny's eyes fill with tears and Kami comforts her.

  Chief jumps up. “Quiet! Quiet I say!” He sits.

  Hafoka mops his brow with his handkerchief. “Finally, due to the unstable condition of Sharpstone Cave, experts will be arriving in the next few days to seal the cave. This will involve rock blasting so Sharpstone Beach is out of bounds until further notice. Thank you.” He gathers up his papers and places them in his briefcase.

  Lazarus shuffles round to face Jed. “Well that's your diamonds gone down the drain, buddy.”

  “Oh no they haven't,” Jed declares. “There's time to get back there and search for them. To hell with being out of bounds. We'll do it in the morning . . . and no excuses, Lazarus. You haven't got anything else to do now.”

  Lazarus scoffs, “You don't think I'm stopping the ferry service do you? Who's to know when this upstart is off the island?”

  “You help find those diamonds and there's a cut in it for you.”

  Lazarus fiddles with his eye patch. “I'd like to say yes but my good eye's playing up. Useless in a dark cave. Sorry.”

  Kami moves close to Jed. “That's that, then.”

  Jed says determinedly, “Well, Kami. We need somebody else to help in the cave. Any ideas?”

  “Why not ask Fusi Tangaroa? She's good at rock climbing and very fit.”

  “Who's Fusi Tangaroa?”

  “Daughter of Emosi Tangaroa, The boss of South Pacific Pearl Developments. Used to live on Hamerstown but went to university in Washington and more or less lives in America.”

  “Is she over here now?”

  “Yes, she's visiting her aunt. Trustworthy too. Wouldn't breath a word.” Kami looks round and nods. “Sitting right over there.”

  * * *

  Jed's fishing boat, towing a dugout canoe, approaches the mooring buoy off Sharpstone Beach. Jed, in shirt, jeans and trainers, ties the boat up. Akolo, wearing a Lava-lava, and Kami, in a top and jeans, pull the dugout up to the fishing boat's stern.

  Fusi Tangaroa, in a top and jeans, throws a waterproof bag into the canoe. “All I could find is a bit of rope, a small pick and folding knife. Oh, and I put your torches in the bag as well.”

  Jed grabs a pair of paddles and lowers them into the dugout. “Off we go then.” He climbs into the canoe and steadies it while Fusi and Kami scramble aboard. Akolo hands some bottled water to Jed and jumps aboard.

  Jed takes his straw cowboy hat off and throws it up into the fishing boat. “That's not much good if the roof falls in.”

  Jed and Akolo begin paddling towards the shore.

  * * *

  Inside the cave chamber, Fusi takes a coil of rope, small pick, folding knife and three hand torches from the bag. She loops the rope over her shoulder, puts the knife in a pocket in her jeans and picks up a torch.

  Jed takes a hand torch and hangs the pick from his waist belt. “Who want's the other torch?”

  Kami shudders. “Not me. I'll stand guard here.”

  Jed hands the torch to Akolo. “Now get this straight. You're not to come into the passage unless we need you. Clear?” Jed head towards the passage.

  “I'm used to climbing up rocks . . . not going through them,” Fusi admits as she follows Jed.

  * * *

  Fusi leads the way, crawling through a dark, low and narrow passage, her torch beam falling on a sharp turn ahead. Jed follows, shining his torch over the walls and roof.

  Fusi says, “If you spot anything that looks unusual let me know.”

  A ghostly aaagh! aaagh! echoes along the passage.

  Jed jerks his head up and cracks it on the roof. “What the . . .?”

  Fusi explains, “I think you'll find that's Akolo playing a little joke.”

  Jed shouts, “Akolo! Pack it in! That's not funny.”

  Akolo's voice booms, “Sorry.”

  Fusi picks her way over rocks as she turns into the next section. “Wow! A sheer drop. We'll have to go down on the rope.” She uncoils the rope, secures an end to a sturdy rock and throws the rope down the hole. Jed shines his torch into the drop. Fusi shoves her torch in the waistband of her jeans, lowers herself over the edge and slides down the rope, shining the torch to help Jed as he climbs down. They shine their torches up and down, side to side.

  Jed freezes. “I think I've found something.” His torch beam picks out a small area of rock on the floor close to the wall that appears to have been chiseled out and hastily replaced. “Aha!” He stoops and runs his fingers over the suspect area. “Pass me that knife, please.”

  Fusi passes the knife. Jed opens it and runs the blade in the cracks around the segment of rock. The blade sinks in easily.

  “That's it!” Fusi gasps.

  Jed takes the small pick from his belt and chips away at the rock. It dislodges easily so he lifts it clear, kneels and looks into the revealed space. A discolored tuna can sits in a shallow hollow. The top has been opened, leaving jagged teeth around the edge. He lifts the can out and peels back the lid. “Empty. It's empty.”

  “Oh no. No,” Fusi groans.

  Jed looks down into the hollow. “Hang on. What's this?” He lifts a piece of flat rock from the hollow. “There's a message or something scratched on this . . . not very clear. Here.” He passes the rock to Fusi.

  Fusi shines her torch on it. “It says, I got here first.”

  Chapter 3

  Ofa, using a sharpened wood pole, levers the Namara Tuna Cannery sign from the front of the closed cannery. It thumps to the ground in a cloud of dust.

  Jed, sitting at the long table, looks at the sign. “I said I'd be biting the dust this year.” He slowly turns the old tuna can recovered from the cave in his hands. “This was opened recently. The sharp edges are still shiny.”

  Penny walks round the table, stopping behind Jed. “I've got a terrible suspicion. I hope I'm wrong.”

  “It seems we're all thinking the same,” mumbles Jed, tossing the can on the table. He stands, shuffles down to the water's edge and splashes in the surf.

  Penny follows him. “You only have to look at the facts. Lazarus claims he spent a day adrift with engine trouble. You found fresh footprints on the beach and into the passage. He acted strangely when he got home. Why didn't he want me inside his house until he'd finished doing something with that wooden crate?”

  Jed kicks up spray. “He declined to go back to the cave with me even with the offer of a cut of the proceeds. And the note scratched on the rock is the sort of thing Lazarus would do.”

  Penny stops walking. “Yet somehow I still can't believe he'd do something like that. It's worrying. What can we do about it anyway?”

  Jed turns, walks back to Penny and shrugs disconsolately. “Not much. The island has it's own laws . . . despite that Hafoka fellow interfering. The Chief makes the rules and allows them to be bent.”

  Penny snaps, “Well I think we should take the law into our own hands. After all, the government have as good as thrown us off the island.”

  Jed perks up. “Where do we start?”

  “By taking a look inside Lazarus's wooden crate . . . while he's away on Rockyway.”

  “
I doubt he's left it unlocked if there are diamonds in it,” Jed remarks sourly.

  * * *

  Inside Lazarus's house, Jed and Penny stare at the wooden crate with a cloth cover over it.

  Jed turns back the cover, revealing a hefty combination padlock. “As I thought. Locked. Well and truly.”

  “Doesn't look good. Lazarus hasn't got any valuables,” Penny says.

  “Or didn't have.” Jed paces to and fro. “I reckon we'll have to get him to invite us over. That shouldn't be difficult if we bribe him with a few bottles of whiskey. I'll ask him for a discount, mind you.”

  Penny snaps her fingers. “Wait a minute. He had a bag . . . a holdall. He put it behind the crate.” She looks behind the crate. “It's still here.”

  Jed mutters, “He always takes a bag when he goes to sea. Let's take a look anyway.”

  Penny lifts the holdall onto the crate. Jed opens it and rummages inside. Footsteps patter behind them.

  Jed and Penny swing round.

  Kami and Akolo walk in.

  Jed scowls at them. “You could have warned us.”

  Kami looks at Jed curiously. “Sorry. We're just so worried. What are you doing?”

  Penny tells her, “Looking for diamonds.”

  Jed closes the holdall and puts it back behind the crate. “Just a load of junk. Let's see how heavy this thing is.” He bends and lifts one end of the crate. “Hmm. No weight at all.” He tips and shakes the crate. “There's something sliding about in there. Something small.”

  “Diamonds!” Akolo exclaims.

  Penny looks round the room, crosses to the sleeping area, picks up the makeshift pillow, shakes and squeezes it and throws it down. “Not really anywhere else to hide them. I think you're right, Jed. Ply him with whiskey and get him to open that darn box. Or just get him to talk when he's out of his mind.”

  Kami offers, “He could have taken them off the island. Probably sold them on Rockyway.”

  Jed snorts, “Rockyway? Who'd he know there who could buy diamonds . . . or even risk it?”

  Akolo chirrups, “I think he's got them on the ferry . . . under a deck board.”

  Jed smirks. “On that floating deathtrap? It's got more leaks than the Titanic.”

  * * *

  Battery lanterns illuminate the inside of Lazarus's house. A few full bottles of whiskey stand on the cloth covered crate. An empty bottle lies on its side alongside them.