Dive in the Sun (24 page)

Curtis sighed and steadied the telescope against the pitch of the ship. The wavetops loomed distortedly in the lens, and with difficulty he trained it round until he saw the sudden movement of the other vessel.

Silver-grey in the feeble sunlight, it moved purposefully across his line of sight, a white bow-wave slashing from either side of the high sharp stem as it cut into each roller and sheared the green water into a seething chaos of spray.

He watched the ship’s silhouette with practised eye, his heart heavy. A
Dardo
class destroyer, he thought, and one shell from her battery of four-point-sevens would put a quick end to all his hopes with no effort at all.

She was still about two miles away, yet even as he watched, she grew larger in the lens, until he could clearly discern the white caps on the high bridge, and the long, slender gun barrels on the fo’c’sle.

The captain padded up the ladder and paused uncertainly by the wheel, his eyes following the other ship.

Curtis snapped the telescope shut and looked up at him. ‘Have you seen her before?’

The captain shrugged vaguely. ‘Maybe,
signore
. Who can say? We often meet the patrol ships, but I do not come as far south as this in normal times!’

Duncan crawled along the deck, keeping his powerful body hidden beneath the bulwark. He slithered to a halt opposite the wheel, and supported his chin in his hand.

‘All snug an’ quiet, Ralph. How’s the visitor gettin’ on?’

‘She’s moving in,’ he answered slowly. ‘She’s bound to ask us who the hell we are.’

As he spoke, a light flickered from the destroyer’s bridge, and some of the bow-wave dropped away, as the ship slowed down.

‘She’s flashing.’ Curtis spoke in almost a whisper, his throat dry. ‘Make your reply, Captain.’

Duncan tossed the small code book across the deck to land within Curtis’s reach.

‘It gives the recognition signals in there, Ralph, and all the right dates for this month.’

He pulled the long diver’s knife from his belt and jabbed it into the deck. It quivered in the planking like an obscene crucifix, and Duncan smiled lazily at the watching captain.

‘Make sure you give the right signal, sport! We don’t want any accidents, do we?’

The captain tore his eyes from the knife and spoke quickly to the seaman at the wheel, who ran to the flag locker. He took over the wheel and jerked at the spokes uneasily, until two flags soared to the schooner’s gaff and broke stiffly into the breeze.

Jervis stood in full view by the rail, his hands clasped behind his back, as if he was Officer of the Watch in a peace-time battleship. He stared fascinated at the graceful destroyer, feeling that each pair of binoculars was trained upon him, as it might well be, and tried to keep the appearance of bored irritation which he had already seen used by German officers.

A harsh metallic voice boomed across the water, the Italian words hardened and distorted by the loud-hailer, and the captain reached wretchedly for his battered megaphone.

‘What’s he saying?’ Curtis barked, maddened by the stillness which had engulfed the schooner. ‘What do they want to know?’

‘They wish to know where we are bound. But I think they are otherwise satisfied!’

‘Tell them we are making for Bari. To evacuate wounded personnel.’

He drummed his fingers on the deck as the captain yelled
across
the narrowing gap. It seemed fantastic that the patrol ship should be satisfied, and yet why not? He tried to put himself in the destroyer captain’s place. No doubt they encountered countless schooners and other coastal craft in these waters, and there was enough to worry about already, what with the invasion and the increased sea traffic, without bothering with a vessel so obviously under the control of the German Navy. He watched, holding his breath with relief as the other ship’s screw whipped the sea into a fury, and drove her steadily on a diverging course.

Jervis stood stiffly at attention and saluted the tiny figures on her armoured bridge.

Duncan laughed. ‘Well done, Ian! Proper little Nazi you are!’

Jervis looked down at Curtis and smiled shakily. ‘Gosh, Skipper, that was a near thing!’

‘We’ll alter course as soon as the destroyer’s hull down,’ answered Curtis thoughtfully. ‘She may report our position by radio, although I doubt it. But we can’t afford to take chances. Get below, Ian, and start on your chart. I want to keep more to the eastward if possible, though it’ll be a longer way round. We can’t afford to cross swords with that sort of thing!’

Jervis watched the destroyer’s shape shorten as she turned away, a soft plume of smoke drifting from her squat funnel. ‘I wish we were in something like her, Skipper. Why, we might even——’ He broke off, his eyes wide with alarm. ‘Look out! Hold her, for God’s sake!’

The girl burst through the hatch, her leg brushing away Curtis’s hand, as he reached vainly to stop her. Before anyone could move to intercept her, she had reached the taffrail, and stood silhouetted against the sky, her long hair streaming behind her.

Even as Curtis hurled himself across the deck, she lifted her arms high and waved with wild desperation after the destroyer.

Curtis pinioned her arms to her sides and pulled her down to the deck, so that their faces were inches apart. He stared at her wild, blazing eyes and her lips parted yet soundless, as she met his gaze with all the fury and venom of a trapped animal.

‘You little fool! What the devil are you trying to do?’ He tightened his hold as she wriggled madly under his body. ‘I should have realized that you’d try something like this!’

Duncan sprawled against one of the open wash ports, his eyes narrowed while he followed the other ship. He relaxed slightly and turned his head. ‘She’s still goin’. They didn’t notice a damned thing!’

She suddenly went limp, and Curtis released his hold, his face a mixture of anger and weariness. ‘Go below,’ he ordered, ‘I’ll talk to you in a minute.’

She stepped slowly on to the ladder, her face turned towards the ship. It was already well clear, and its outline had begun to shimmer with indistinct beauty.

Curtis felt for his pipe, his thoughts racing angrily through his brain. It was his fault. He should have been more prepared for something like this. If only she’d speak. Anything would be better than the great emptiness which seemed to fill her dark eyes.

‘I have my responsibility,
signorina
,’ he said, his voice flat, ‘just as you have yours.’

She looked at him with a long, calculating stare. ‘You do not understand, Lieutenant. You are a hard man, yet,’ she shrugged, as if dismissing him, ‘you were not always so, I think. Why do you try to prove what is not there? Why must everyone suffer because you must satisfy your own soul?’

Curtis trembled. ‘What the hell are you talking about? We are at war, in case you have forgotten, and I don’t intend to sacrifice the men under my charge to please you or any other damned——’ He broke off, angry with himself, and frustrated by the small smile on her lips.

‘Because of any damned Eye-tie? Is that what you’re trying to say?’ Her smile vanished and she dashed the loose hair from her face. ‘You are like the Germans! You delight in this war! As if it was some sort of game!’

Curtis saw the expression of agony on Jervis’s face as he reached the girl’s side in two strides.

‘Don’t you ever say that to me again,
signorina
!’ She moved back against the hatch, as if expecting a blow. ‘I’m sorry I
trusted
you, that’s all! And if the Germans are relying on your people as allies, I’m sorry for them also!’ His eyes blazed with suppressed emotion. ‘Now get to your cabin, and keep out of my way! See that she and her father understand what I mean!’ He glared at Jervis. ‘And then carry on with the navigation!’

He walked stiffly to the rail, trying to shut out the sounds of her feet on the ladder.

Duncan stood up and sat on the rail facing him. ‘That was quite a potful, Ralph! Still, I reckon you can’t blame her exactly. How would you feel under the circumstances?’

‘For God’s sake stop it!’ Curtis turned on him, his body trembling. ‘I’m sick to bloody death of being told what I must do!’

Duncan took the weight of his body on his hands and leaned slightly forward. ‘Take it easy, Ralph. I’m just sayin’ that you can’t blame the girl, that’s all!’

‘I’m not blaming her, or anyone else! I don’t give a damn what she thinks, or how she feels, so long as she doesn’t interfere with what we have to do!’ Curtis’s eyes swept furiously across the horizon. ‘And if you want to start giving me lectures, you can think again!’

Duncan stood up, his face impassive. ‘In that case, I’ll leave you alone for a bit, an’ go below. I’ll be havin’ a spot of shut-eye if you want me.’

He waited a while, watching Curtis’s stiff shoulders black against the sun. He was about to add something more, but with a grimace, he lowered himself down the ladder.

What in hell’s name is the matter with us? he pondered. It irritated him to feel this vague threat of discord between them, but it annoyed him still more that he was unable to root it out and destroy it.

All at once he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Everywhere he looked in the ship he found either soldiers or seamen, and now as he entered the cabin, he found the mayor once more in the chair, sitting gloomily with his feet resting on a locker, his eyes staring into space. The two soldiers were asleep, and in the light which filtered through the skylight, their faces appeared grey with fatigue and shock.

Jervis looked up from the chart and smiled wanly. ‘Hello, Steve. I’ve just laid off that course the skipper wanted.’ He scratched his head with the ruler, his nose wrinkling with distaste. ‘God alone knows if it’s anywhere accurate. Even with the vaguest sort of dead reckoning it’s pretty hopeless without any proper navigation instruments. I don’t know how they’ve managed I’m sure.’

Duncan fell heavily on the bunk and sighed. ‘Don’t give it a thought, kid. We’re zigzagging all over the flamin’ ocean, so I don’t suppose it makes a blind bit of difference whether it’s accurate or not!’ He sighed again, and pulled a bottle from his inside pocket.

‘Is that whisky?’ Jervis stared with surprise.

‘Sure is. Our little friend here left it lyin’ on the table when we left his house.’ He held it up to the light and frowned. ‘Not enough to keep a dog alive! Want a lick?’

Jervis shook his head. ‘Couldn’t we give some to the wounded?’

‘I’ve already given ’em the other bottle, and some brandy I found in the crew’s quarters. ’Sides, I don’t reckon they ought to have too much till they’ve been seen again by a doctor.’ He took a long sip from the bottle and let his head fall back on the pillow. His creased face seemed consumed by inner thought and worry, which was so unlike his normal demeanour, that Jervis squatted on the edge of the bunk and peered at him closely.

‘What’s the matter, Steve? Is there anything I can do?’

‘I’m all right.’ He glared over Jervis’s shoulder at the silent figure in the chair, and lowered his voice. ‘No, I’m damn well not all right! For once I’m out of my depth, and I don’t feel … well … how shall I put it? … at home.’

‘Everything’s going well so far,’ began Jervis cautiously, but was silenced by the gleam in the Australian’s eyes.

‘How can you talk like that, man? Anything might happen. Right now; this afternoon; or at midnight. Surely you realize that?’

‘Yes, but that’s a chance we have to take.’

Duncan gripped his wrist fiercely. ‘Don’t tell
me
! I know
all
that! I suppose it’s this situation, and this flamin’ ship. Before, it was better. Just the four of us.’ He smiled with the nearest approach to sadness that Jervis had ever seen. ‘Four against the world! That’s how it was. Now look at us!’ He snorted. ‘All bits an’ pieces hangin’ together for mutual support. It’s ragged, an’ I don’t like it. I like to be able to deal with anything I’m called on to meet. I’m useless at this sort of game.’ He drank some more whisky and closed his eyes.

‘What about the skipper?’ Jervis asked cautiously. ‘What does he plan to do if we’re spotted again?’

Duncan smiled sourly. ‘Ralph? He’s so twisted up inside that he doesn’t know whether to spit, or have a haircut! What with him an’ that girl, well, I give up!’

‘She saved my life, Steve.’

‘Sure. I know that.’ Duncan sounded completely weary. ‘But what’s she up to? Blow hot, blow cold! One minute she’s a little heroine helpin’ us jokers, and the next she’s yellin’ for the Duce to come an’ rescue her! Huh, women!’

‘I don’t know a lot about women, I’m afraid.’ Jervis waited, half expecting Duncan to laugh at him, but he merely grunted, and lifted the bottle once more. ‘But she’s really lovely. I’ve never seen anybody like her.’

‘Well, if that’s how you feel, go an’ have a yarn with her. It’ll do you good.’ He grinned crookedly. ‘And it’ll give me a chance to get some sleep!’

Jervis picked up the chart and moved quietly from the cabin. He paused outside the other door, then knocked.

She opened the door immediately and stared at him in surprise. ‘Well? Have you come to taunt me?’

Jervis coloured and fumbled with the chart. She stood easily in the centre of the small cabin, her hands on her hips and her lips parted in an expression of smouldering resentment.

‘I wanted to know if there’s anything you need.’ He swallowed and stumbled on. ‘Please don’t be upset about what has happened. I know how you feel. It’s all such a beastly business.’

Her mouth softened and her slender body seemed to relax. ‘Come and talk to me, Ian. You do not mind my using your first name?’

He lowered his face to hide his pleasure. ‘No. No, of course not. Tell me what is worrying you.’

She shrugged and sat on the side of the bunk. Jervis’s eyes strayed to her slim neck and the dark shadow at the top of her dress. She had not noticed, and seemed intent on watching a small beetle which explored the bulkhead opposite her.

‘Well, Ian, I cannot tell you what happened to me. You will not believe me, because you are a man, but when I saw that ship, that Italian ship, I was so overcome that I acted without thought.’