Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [71]
‘He could be anywhere,’ agonised Conrad, holding his head.
‘I know his places,’ said Ahmed. ‘Crew all ready, must not miss tide.’
‘Tell me where to look for him while I get the sulky ready,’ sighed Conrad.
After they left, Olivia had a sudden thought. She hurried from the house and down to the office. Conrad’s room was locked, but hearing a thud next door, Olivia cautiously opened the door.
There was Tyndall, sprawled sound asleep on a cane lounge, one foot having dropped to the floor. He was still in his clothes from the evening before, stubble showed on his chin and he was breathing heavily, lips slightly parted. There was an empty whisky bottle on the floor.
‘Tyndall!’ Olivia shouted and banged the door loudly behind her.
It took a few seconds for him to open his eyes and focus on the figure standing over him.
‘Have you been here all night?’ demanded Olivia.
‘Nope.’ He sat up, rubbed his eyes and his rough cheeks and chin and stared at her before asking, ‘What time is it?’
‘Time to sail. Ahmed is looking for you. The crews are on board. You’d better get going.’
‘We’ll get there. Full steam ahead.’ He climbed slowly to his feet, pulled on his skipper’s hat and gave her a cheeky salute.
‘John Tyndall, you are incorrigible.’
‘What would I do without a partner to keep me on the straight and narrow?’ mused Tyndall as he stumbled past her to the stairs.
Still feeling somewhat appalled and annoyed, Olivia returned to the house where she was confronted by a distressed Yusef.
‘Mem! Niah gone. No here. Run away.’
‘What!’ Olivia rushed to the servants’ quarters to find Niah’s room empty of her few possessions.
It wasn’t till that afternoon, when the Shamrock was well out to sea, following the Bulan and several other luggers, that the Japanese diver came on deck looking quite flustered.
‘Stowaway,’ he said, pointing to the main cabin.
Tyndall stepped through the hatch to find Niah sitting calmly on his bunk. She looked up at him and flashed a happy smile.
CHAPTER TEN
A message was sent to Olivia and Conrad informing them of Niah’s whereabouts via a lugger returning with a sick diver. Aware that Tyndall was less than pleased at her presence, she initially kept very much to herself. A bunk was rigged for her behind a canvas curtain in the small compartment for’ad of the main cabin, an area that contained water tanks and the sail locker in which Niah had concealed herself until the schooner was well out to sea.
As the days at sea and on the pearling grounds passed routinely, Niah became more and more involved in helping around the boat, establishing a polite but discreet working relationship with the crews on both the Shamrock and the Bulan. The cook on the Shamrock treated her like a servant, sending her to the galley for more rice, or mugs of sweet black chicory coffee during meals. She talked mainly to Ahmed, their homeland links providing the foundation of a more relaxed relationship. Together they made several trips in the dinghy between the two vessels, occasions Niah used to question him about the unusual white man who had saved her from slavery and who was now at pains to ignore her.
Ahmed answered her questions discreetly. Out of loyalty to Tyndall he avoided responding to those he thought were too personal. He found it enjoyable having her on board for she was no trouble, had an easy sense of humour and was incredibly beautiful, a matter that he found more than a little disturbing. It was also a matter that made him ponder on his master’s attitude to the girl. The forced distancing from her would be hard to maintain much longer, and then … ah, everything is in the hands of the Almighty One, mused Ahmed.
Some evenings, particularly on Sundays if the weather was calm, many of the luggers and schooners working the grounds would anchor within easy distance of each other, and crews and skippers would exchange visits, enjoying shared meals, drinks and gambling