Sad Wind From the Sea - Jack Higgins [41]
The rest of the morning was a nightmare. The stench from the marshes coupled with the furnace heat of the sun sapped their strength and for the first two or three miles they had to push and haul the boat through what could only be described as liquid mud. At two o'clock, after five hours of sweat and agony, they came out into a broad waterway and Hagen called a halt for rest and food.
Tempers had noticeably frayed and nobody seemed to have much appetite. The mosquitoes were beginning to be a nuisance and the repellent cream which Rose had discovered in the first-aid box didn't seem to affect them much. Rose looked particularly washed-out. All morning she had toiled with the rest of them and the labour had obviously affected her frail body. Mason's face was blotched with insect bites and the cuts and bruises left by the fight looked particularly unhealthy. 'How much longer of this?' he demanded. 'It's bloody murder.'
Hagen shrugged. 'I warned you,' he said. 'Anyway, with luck things may be easier. Let's hope this channel goes in the right direction.' He went into the wheelhouse and pressed the starter and took the boat forward at a slow speed.
He carefully steered along the winding course, occasionally turning into tributaries to keep the correct compass bearing. It was almost with surprise that he took the boat into a broad lagoon one and a half hours later and cut the engines. 'This is it,' he announced.
There was an excited babble of sound from his three companions. Rose stood at the rail, a hand shielding her eyes from the sun, and slowly pivoted, her eyes covering the entire lagoon. Her shoulders drooped. 'This isn't it,' she said.
Mason cursed. 'Are you sure, Rose?'
She nodded. 'It was much smaller than this and completely surrounded by reeds. I remember my father running the boat into the reeds to hide her and then we suddenly came out into this small lagoon. It was pretty dark but I remember quite clearly.'
Hagen climbed up on top of the wheelhouse and looked around. He could see nothing, only the reeds stretching away into the distance. He jumped down on to the deck and started to peel off his shirt. 'There's nothing for it,' he said to Mason. 'We'll have to go for a swim.'
Mason grinned and began to undress. 'We're certainly having to do things the hard way on this trip,' he said.
Mason went over the side and struck off in one direction and Hagen smiled confidently to Rose and said: 'Don't worry, angel. We'll find your secret lagoon.' He vaulted over the side and started to swim in the opposite direction to Mason.
The water wasn't as bad as he had expected. It smelled a trifle earthy but not offensively so and the coolness was a pleasant relief after the heat. He swam into a narrow lane that cut into the reeds and followed its course for several yards. When it came to a dead end he swam into the reeds themselves. It was easier than he had expected, and within a few seconds he came out into a small lagoon. For a moment his spirits rose and then disappointment came. The water was quite shallow and clear to a sandy bottom and there was no sunken launch. He turned back into the reeds and swam in another direction.
Every so often he hailed the boat and heard Rose's clear voice replying, and in this way he managed to keep a sense of direction. Now and then he could hear Mason's voice in the distance but he seemed to be having no better luck. After half an hour he began to tire and followed the sound of the girl's voice until, finally, he came out into the lagoon again. Mason was already on board and gave him a hand up. They sat smoking cigarettes and Mason said, 'He couldn't have been that far out when he took his bearings, could he?'
Hagen tried to look cheerful. 'No, it must be around here somewhere,' he said, and inside he was thinking of a dying man on a sinking boat in the dusk. He tossed