Battle Cry - Leon Uris [216]
“Do any of you guys speak English?” I asked.
Their answer was a repeat of the bowing.
“Put your hands on your head,” I ordered and pointed. “Both hands! All right, get on your knees. Cover me, Mary, I’m going to frisk them.”
I ripped the faded smelly jackets off their backs and went through their pockets. From the corner of my eye I caught sight of a native waving a Japanese rifle in their direction.
“Get that rifle, Marion.” Still covering me, he walked to the native and asked for the weapon. The native balked. Marion snatched it away from him.
“We are taking these men prisoner,” I yelled to the crowd. “We must question them.” There was a buzz and a few English-speaking natives nodded and explained to the others.
“Hey, Mary. Sourface here is an officer. I got some maps off him.”
“Good. I hope these people don’t give us any trouble till Danny and Andy get here on the alligator.”
“Ask for some rope.”
Two small lads were sent scurrying back to the huts.
“All right,” I barked, “on your feet. Stand up, keep your hands high. All right, you people. Clear a path…out of the way.”
We edged cautiously into the mob, trying to avoid a clash. I walked in front of the prisoners, clearing the way, and Marion behind. Suddenly a young girl burst forth in my direction. I tried to block her but she shoved past me and threw her arms about the Jap officer.
I grabbed her and threw her off. She fell to the ground sobbing and screaming hysterically. The mob turned its anger from the Japs to the prostrate woman. They jeered and began a chant which meant no good. Several natives ran up to her and prodded her with the ends of their sticks. Marion turned to help her.
“Stay out of it, Mary. It’s none of our business!”
“But we can’t let them kill her.”
I grabbed a native standing by me. “Speak English?”
“Yes.”
“Where are the Sisters, the mission…do they still live?”
“Sister live. Father die.”
“Where are they?”
He pointed north to Taratai Island.
“Get in boat and get Sisters. Bring them here quick or I cut your tongue out. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Hurry then.” He scurried off. I wheeled into the mob and picked out two of the largest specimens I could find. “You two, speak English?” One did.
“Put this girl under arrest. Put her in hut and guard her till Sisters come.” The natives hedged away. “If you do not obey me, there will be much trouble.” I squeezed off a shot into the air. The sudden crack silenced the makings of the lynching.
“She no good. Live with Japanese man. She no good.”
“Do as I order. I return tomorrow. She better be alive.”
Reluctantly, they dragged her off. She was still shrieking, her face distorted in tortured anguish.
I was relieved when we got our quarry to the beach. The two boys returned with rope and we bound the Japs hand and foot and made them lie near the water’s edge. I caught sight of the alligator plodding through the water several hundred yards to the south.
“Mary, there’s a blinker gun by the radio. Get it and signal them in.”
As Marion dashed away, the officer turned to me.
“You are a sergeant, are you not?” he said.
“I thought you couldn’t speak English.”
“As one soldier to another, I beg you. Let me have your knife.”
“Aren’t you a little late for hari-kari? If you wanted to knock yourself off you had all week to do it in.”
“I only stayed alive for the sake of the girl. I plead with you…shoot me then.”
I shook my head. I was sorry that I had gotten mixed up in the whole miserable affair. The iron monster cut sharply toward shore. Its motor roared as it emerged from the water and its knife-edged treads rumbled on the coral.
“Hey, get a look at them broads,” Andy shouted as the motor stopped.
“Mac, you bastard. You mean you been going past that stuff all day and you made us ride in this claptrap?” Danny said.
“You guys got a smoke?” I asked.
“Here, Mac,” Danny said, jumping to the deck. “We got a whole case. Enough for the battalion. Andy and I already put aside two packs apiece for the squad. What the hell you got there?”
“Prisoners. The natives stoned them out of some trees.