Remember Me - Lesley Pearse [116]
She was finally brought out of it by Will. She heard his voice and that of James Martin.
‘She must get better,’ she heard Will say. ‘Wanjon wants to see her.’
‘She’s just worn out,’ James said. ‘There’s no hurry, he’ll wait.’
Mary had no desire to see or talk to anyone, she was happy in her little twilight world where no pain and anxiety could touch her. But Will’s voice struck a chord somewhere inside her, reminding her that she had responsibilities.
‘Will?’ she muttered, trying to focus her eyes and see him.
‘That’s my girl,’ he exclaimed, and knelt down beside the mat and took her hand in both of his. ‘You’ve been scaring us all. We thought you were lost to us.’
His hands were rough and callused, but the tenderness in them touched something deep inside her. ‘Charlotte, Emmanuel, are they dead?’ she asked.
‘Would I be sitting here grinning at you if they were?’ he replied.
She saw his grin then, the same cheeky one which had made her smile on the Dunkirk, but it was a minute or two before she realized what was different about him.
‘Your beard,’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s gone!’
He rubbed his bare chin. ‘A change was in order,’ he said.
He looked much younger without it, and although his face was very bony and gaunt, he looked much better. His eyes had regained the sparkle she had noted so often in the early days, and apart from flaking skin, he looked none the worse for their ordeal.
‘Where are we?’ she asked.
‘In Kupang, where else? Aren’t I the wonder boy getting you here?’
Mary smiled weakly, for his bragging assured her she wasn’t dreaming. ‘Where are the children, and the others?’
‘All close by, nothing to worry about,’ he said. ‘Emmanuel’s still weak, but he’s getting better by the day. You’re the one that had us in a spin.’
Mary sat up gingerly. She looked down at herself and found she was wearing a kind of shirt, long, loose-fitting and striped.
‘How long have I been here?’ she asked in bewilderment.
‘Ten days now. You’ve been waking and taking food, then going off again. But you’ve got to take notice now. The Dutch Governor, Wanjon, wants to see you.’
Will and James helped her up and took her outside. Mary stared around her in utter surprise. Although she hadn’t consciously formed any picture of the surroundings beyond the walls of the hut, she’d assumed by the amount of noise that she was in a town. In fact it was just a group of round huts, the roofs made of broad leaves. They were encircled by tall trees and thick bushes, like nothing she’d ever seen before. Around a dozen or so small, naked, brown-skinned children were playing together, and a few chickens, a couple of tethered goats and a group of old people sitting together completed the picture of a peaceful village.
‘That’s jungle,’ James said, pointing to the trees. ‘Through there,’ he pointed to a well-trodden track, ‘is the beach, as pretty as a picture.’
‘I thought there was a town.’ Mary frowned in bewilderment. She vaguely remembered warehouses and brick-built houses at the wharf. Lots of people, hustle and bustle.
‘There is, back there.’ Will waved his hand vaguely. ‘You and the children were brought here after you passed out.’
Will helped Mary to sit down on a log, and then, sitting with her, he and James explained what had happened. After being given some food and drink and a night’s rest, they were taken to see the Dutch Governor, Timotheus Wanjon. They told him the story they had rehearsed while at sea, that their whaling ship had been wrecked back in the reef, and they’d taken to the cutter and sailed here.
‘He swallowed it,’ Will grinned. ‘Like I told you, being first mate of a whaler, I could have my wife and kids with me. I told him I thought the captain and the rest of the crew were in the other boat and maybe they’ll turn up too before long. I told them my name was Broad, wouldn’t do to use Bryant in case they get to hear of the escape from Sydney.