Passage by Night - Jack Higgins [21]
Aleko brought the drinks and they solemnly toasted each other. As Manning put down his glass, one of them said, 'You here for the fishing?'
'I'm a photographer. A big American magazine's just commissioned me to do a feature for them.'
'On Harmon Springs?'
Manning shook his head. 'On Cuba. They want me to go to a place called San Juan. Take a few pictures. See how things have altered since the revolution.'
They looked at each other in surprise and then one of them raised his glass. 'Good luck, my friend. You're going to need it.'
'Any special reason?'
'Nobody goes to San Juan these days. It's the last place God made.'
'I was told differently in Nassau. I heard that boats from here often made the trip.'
'That was last year. Things have changed plenty since then.'
Manning took out his wallet. 'I'm on a pretty good expense account. I'd pay well.'
The man who had been doing most of the talking laughed harshly. 'My friend, we have a saying. If you want a man to risk his life for money, look for a poor man.'
The other two laughed uproariously and one of them said, 'He should try Papa Melos. The state he's in, he'd do anything.'
Manning got to his feet and moved across to the bar. 'Did you hear that?'
Aleko nodded. 'They're right in what they say. Before the crisis, many of our boats called at San Juan with tuna. The Cubans are forbidden to come north so the prices were high. Since the crisis, everything's changed.'
'You mean the Cubans have forbidden you to call?'
Aleko shook his head. 'Not exactly, but the atmosphere's bad. One can't tell which way they will jump. Nobody wants to lose his boat.'
'Who's this Papa Melos they mentioned?'
Aleko smiled. 'A wonderful old man. He runs a motor cruiser, the Cretan Lover. His only boy, Yanni, was drowned last year. He has a daughter, Anna, a bright girl. He sent her to America to be educated. A place called Vassar. Maybe you heard of it?'
Manning grinned. 'I've heard of it all right.'
'He squeezed himself dry to keep her there and after the boy was killed, he had difficulty in getting good catches. The girl turned up three months ago. When she found out what had happened, she refused to go back. She's been crewing for him ever since.'
'What do they go after - tuna?'
Aleko shook his head. 'Not any more. There's a reef about ten miles west near Blair Cay. The old man found mother of pearl there. He's been diving for it lately.'
'At his age?' Manning said incredulously. 'How deep?'
'Fifteen, maybe twenty fathoms, and the suit he's using must be all of forty years old.'
'He must be crazy.'
'He doesn't want to lose his boat, that's all. That and Anna are the only two things he's got left in the world.'
'Do you think he'd be interested in running me across to San Juan?'
Aleko shrugged. 'A desperate man is capable of anything.'
'You never said a truer word.' Manning picked up his grip and the cameras. 'I'll have a look at that room now, if you don't mind.'
As he followed Aleko along a whitewashed corridor, a sudden spark of excitement moved inside him as he realized, with complete certainty, that he had found the solution to his problem.
Aleko was the owner of a small twelve-foot launch which he was willing to hire out. Two hours later after a change of clothes and one of the best meals he'd had in a long time, Manning took her out of the harbour and turned west along the southern tip of the island.
The sea was like glass and the cloudless blue sky dipped away to the horizon. He lit a cigarette and sat back in the swing chair, one hand on the wheel, wondering about Papa Melos. What made a man keep on fighting when every card in the deck was stacked against him? There was no answer. Some men went under struggling to the last. Others sank without a cry.
He rounded Blair Cay within forty minutes and saw the boat anchored about a quarter of a mile out in the gulf. He slowed down and coasted in towards her, aware of the dull rhythmic throbbing of the mechanical pump that forced air down through the blue water to the man