Dangerous Inheritance (14 page)

‘Did he?' Richard showed swift concern. ‘Darling, I'm sorry. Oh, hell! This just shows the sort of thing to which you are exposing yourself by … No, I didn't mean that. For two pins I'd break his bloody neck. But we mustn't quarrel with these people while we are their guests. Anyway, don't worry. You get in the car with the others and I'll go with him.'

In consequence, much to Lalita's annoyance he was quickly manœuvred into taking Richard as his passenger instead of Fleur. Then, with Ukwatte leading in the big car, they set off along a rough track through the jungle.

After they had crossed a valley the ground rose again then, a mile further on, they came out on to an open hillside sloping down to another valley through which a fast but narrow river ran. The road descended for a further half-mile along one side of the valley to end at a cluster of wooden buildings and palm-leaf huts. On its other side the ground rose steeply forming a barren cliff in which there were the dark entrances to a score or more of man-made caves; obviously the mine workings in the
alluvial deposits of sand and gravel from a time when, centuries ago, the river had been much deeper and broader.

Connecting the village with the far bank there was a wooden bridge, and as a short cut to the nearer workings a single plank spanned a narrow gorge some fifteen feet deep through which the water hissed and tumbled.

To Richard's surprise, at the top of the rise instead of following his father's car down the slope, Lalita braked and halted his car.

‘What's the matter?' Richard asked.

‘I do not like,' Lalita murmured. ‘The Tamils, they not working.'

Richard had already noticed a group of some sixty natives who had been squatting in the compound and who, on seeing Ukwatte's car, had all stood up.

‘So they are Tamils,' said Richard uneasily. ‘I hope there's not going to be trouble.'

Ukwatte had pulled up at the bottom of the hill, about four hundred yards short of the cluster of buildings. The Duke, Marie Lou and Fleur got out, then he drove on for a further two hundred yards, to a place where the road widened, and turned in it so that the car was facing up the hill. Meanwhile the Tamils were walking towards him. Pulling up again he stood up in the car, turned round so that he was facing them and began to shout at them in their own language. The Tamils halted for a moment, then gave an angry shout.

‘This looks bad!' Richard exclaimed. ‘Quick! Drive down and we'll pick up the others.'

‘Not'ing to worry,' Lalita assured him. ‘My father only tell them get back to work. But hothead per'aps throw stone. That why he dropped others little distance.'

As Ukwatte continued to harangue the Tamils they screamed abuse at him. Then suddenly the whole mob started forward in an ugly rush.

Before they could reach the car Ukwatte sat down, pressed the starter and ran the car forward. Swiftly its pace increased and, ignoring his passengers, he came charging up the hill.

‘Good God!' Richard exclaimed, levering himself up in his
seat. ‘Your father must be crazy to have left the others there. Come on, man! We've got to get them.'

Lalita already had his car in motion, but instead of running down the hill he gave the wheel a swift turn so that the vehicle nosed into the jungle. A moment later Ukwatte's car roared past behind them.

‘What the hell are you up to?' yelled Richard, seizing Lalita by the arm. Shaking off his grip Lalita reversed the car, then began to turn it to follow his father.

Half standing, Richard, now frantic with anxiety, was still watching the scene below. The Tamils had not halted as Ukwatte drove off, but, with threatening yells, were now heading for de Richleau and the two women. They had turned and, evidently having decided that they could not reach Lalita's car at the top of the hill, were running towards the plank that spanned the narrow gorge across the river.

‘You bloody coward!' Richard cried, striking Lalita a backhander across the face.

The car halted with a jerk. But Richard realised that there was no time to force Lalita to reverse again, or throw him out and take the wheel himself. Flinging open the door, he jumped to the ground and set off down the hill at a furious pace.

As his flying feet struck and slithered on the loose pebbles of the road, he saw that the situation was desperate. He had about three hundred yards to cover and the screaming Tamils were about the same distance behind the others. The plank bridge was only a hundred yards ahead of them and, with the lead they had, they should have reached it easily but, fit as he was for his age, the Duke was too old to run any distance.

Richard's eyes were fastened on them in an agony of fear. Even as he prayed, ‘Oh God, don't let those devils get them,' de Richleau stumbled and fell. Fleur gripped him by one arm and Marie Lou by the other. Pulling him to his feet they dragged him along with them, but their pace was slowed and the howling Tamils were rapidly gaining on them.

His lungs nearly bursting, Richard hurtled on down the slope. When he reached the flatter ground his pace increased still further by leaps and bounds. As his beloved ones
staggered up a little rise that led to the near end of the plank, the Tamils were upon them. Fleur gained the plank, pulling de Richleau after her. Marie Lou, a small courageous figure, turned at bay and hit out at the nearest native.

The man Marie Lou had struck gave back a pace, then sprang forward. Seizing her in his arms, he lifted her and turned to carry her off. Sick with horror at the thought of what they would do to her, Richard hurled himself forward. Grabbing the man by the hair, he jerked his head violently backward. The man gave a strangled gasp and dropped her. As she stumbled to her feet another of them ran at her; she dodged him, but a third grasped her by the wrist and began to drag her away.

Richard was fending off two assailants, so could not go to her help. De Richleau, white-faced and shaken, was half lying on the far side of the plank, holding a hand to his chest as he laboured to recover from his unaccustomed exertion. But Fleur ran across to aid her mother. In her hand she held a stone the size of a cricket ball. From a distance of only four feet she hurled it into the man's face. With a scream of agony he let Marie Lou go. Lurching away from him she staggered across the plank.

Before Fleur could turn and follow her a huge, half-naked Tamil seized her round the waist. But Fleur was no Victorian maiden, and now her knowledge of the facts of life served her to good purpose. Thrusting down a hand she clutched the sweating native by his testicles and squeezed them with all her strength. His eyes started from their sockets. He let out a screech that echoed down the valley then, as she let go, reeled away vomiting. Swinging about, she dashed across the plank to join her mother.

Richard could not have survived for two minutes had the Tamils been armed, but Ukwatte's arrival had taken them by
surprise while sitting in their compound holding a palaver. As things were, having been a good boxer in his youth he would have been a match for any one of them with his fists, but with four or five of them trying to overwhelm him he had all his work cut out to fend them off while holding the near end of the plank over which the others had reached temporary safety.

From blows he had received his mouth was bleeding, his left eye was half closed and every time he hit out with his right fist he was racked by a stabbing pain from having wrenched his shoulder. He dared not look behind him, even for a second, to make sure where the end of the plank was, and feared now that if he retreated further he might miss it and go over backwards into the deep gully. His three-hundred-yard run had already left him breathless when he entered the fight. He was now almost at the end of his tether.

Then a stone whizzed by on either side of him. One, thrown by Fleur, struck the man on his right on the ear, the other aimed by Marie Lou caught the man on his left in the chest. For a moment only the Tamil immediately in front of Richard continued to be a menace. Feinting with his right, Richard landed a blow on the native's sparsely bearded chin. As the man rocked back Richard turned and, swaying drunkenly, crossed the plank before the others could rally to continue their attack on him.

At its far end he turned, and not a second too soon. A scrawny fellow with gleaming white teeth protruding from his black face was coming after him. Fleur halted the man with another big stone, but only for a moment. Yet that was just enough for Richard to gasp in a breath and get a firm stance. As the man came at him again, he ducked a blow from him and hit him hard in the stomach. He doubled up, heeled over sideways and fell from the plank into the ravine.

But the far bank now swarmed with glistening black bodies. From scores of throats came howls of abuse in a high-pitched tongue. A hundred eyes, their whites showing in strong contrast to the dark faces, glared hatred. On seeing their comrade hurtle into the rock-strewn torrent below the nearest Tamils had given back, but those behind were forcing them forward. Two
had already been edged on to the plank. The foremost was only six feet from Richard. Although he would now have to take them on only one at a time he was terribly aware that his strength was ebbing. Soon his blows would be too feeble to ward them off. One of them would rush him and bear him to the ground, then the whole pack would tear him limb from limb. Yet it was not that thought that harrowed him. It was what these human beasts would do to his wife and daughter.

It was the Duke who now temporarily saved the situation. On the slope below the caves several broken pit props and other mining debris lay scattered about. Stumbling to the nearest short length of timber, he snatched it up, ran the few steps back and thrust it into Richard's hand. Now that he had a weapon a new surge of hope revived him. While the Tamils were hesitating to attack him again he had had a short breather. Then, gathering his remaining strength, he took a pace forward and swung his rough cudgel at the nearest man's head.

The Tamil threw up a knotted arm to fend off the blow. The rough wood cut savagely into his muscle. He gave a whimpering cry, stepped back, missed his footing and, his arms and legs whirling, plunged into the gulf below. Again Richard struck out. His second victim was not even quick enough to raise his arm. The cudgel struck him fairly on the head. He collapsed without a sound, blood seeping through his matted black hair as he rolled off the plank.

The aged Duke, although no longer capable of taking part in a fight, still had an eye for a tactical situation. ‘Now's our chance,' he shouted to Richard. ‘Come back and we'll pull the plank in.'

Fearful of meeting the same fate as his predecessors, the nearest Tamil was stoutly resisting the efforts of his companions to thrust him forward. While they struggled there Richard beat a swift retreat. Marie Lou and Fleur, regardless of their nails, were already frantically digging away the earth in which the end of the plank was embedded. Richard was hardly past them when they had their fingers under it.

‘Heave!' cried the Duke. ‘Lift, then pull on it.'

Exerting all their strength, the two women raised the end of
the plank a few inches. Richard stooped, grasped it and added his weight to theirs. Suddenly the far end of the plank came free. They all went over backwards, but the plank tilted sharply then, wrenching itself from their grasp, shot downwards to land with a splash in the river.

For a couple of minutes, while the thwarted Tamils continued to yell at them, they remained where they had fallen, striving to get back their breath, and unutterably relieved at the thought that they had escaped from their enemies. But the moment the Duke saw that they had partially recovered he roused them to fresh action. Standing beside them he had been anxiously watching the Tamils on the far bank. Their excited chatter had suddenly ceased. As one man they turned away and the whole mob began to run down the road towards the mining village. Instantly he guessed their intention and cried:

‘They are making for the bridge down there. In ten minutes they'll be across and swarming up this side. We can't stay here or they'll get us yet, and we'll all be murdered.'

As Richard, Marie Lou and Fleur got to their feet, the Duke pointed to the cliff behind them. ‘The mines! To get into one of them and hold it is our only chance.'

The nearest cave-like entrance to a mine was only fifty yards away but the path that led up to it was steep and littered with loose stones. De Richleau had to be helped as they made their way up, and when they reached it he panted, ‘The entrance is too wide. We'd not be able to keep them out. It's worth a few minutes to find a stronger situation.'

Quickly they traversed a twenty-foot-wide ledge along the cliff face, on to which a number of the mines opened. As they came to the fourth Fleur, who was leading, cried, ‘This is a good one! It's not very wide and there are some boxes and things with which we can barricade ourselves in.'

They were still short of breath from their recent climb and without exchanging a word they set to work, knowing that their lives again depended on their exertions. The mining material Fleur had seen consisted only of a few wooden cases, some bundles of pitprops and a roll of wire netting. Hastily they made as good a barricade as possible with them across the ten-foot-wide entrance to the cave. The few boxes made a barrier only two feet high with small gaps between them. The ground was too hard to drive the pitprops into it and they had no nails to fasten the wire netting to them; but by wedging the props as best they could then tying them criss-cross with some pieces of
cord they came upon, and weaving the wire netting in and out, they succeeded in making a breast-high palisade.

These poor defences were scarcely completed when the sound of many tramping feet, coming from the opposite direction to that by which they had reached the cave, announced the approach of the murder-lusting mob. As the leaders caught sight of the barricade they halted, giving yells of triumph, and their followers surged up behind them until the broad shelf outside was packed with screaming Tamils.