HF - 04 - Black Dawn (24 page)

A noise, from behind him. He turned, stepping aside as he did so. Half a dozen men came down the street, laughing and chattering amongst themselves. They walked past him without a glance, began to drag a dinghy out from beneath the piles. Seamen. Returning to their ship, and thence, no doubt, to England. Theirs was a freedom which landsmen, and plantation owners, could never know. A freedom to leave their problems, and their women, and their detractors, and those who would give them orders, behind, and look to new horizons.

England. The boat was free of the wooden uprights, and one man was already on board, holding it close while the others got in. Mama was in England, and Father. To tell him where he had gone wrong. To be confessed to, where he had gone wrong, and to tell him what he must now do. Why, perhaps he could persuade Mama to return to Jamaica with him. It would not take very long.

The last man was in the boat. He must act now, or he would have lost the opportunity.

'Ahoy,' he said, stepping forward. The coxswain ha
d been about to cast off. 'Aye?’
'Where are you bound?' Dick asked. 'Plymouth, your honour.'

'Do you take passengers?' Dick dug his hand into his pocket, found a handful of guineas, brought them out to glint in the faint light.

The sailors exchanged glances.

'You'd have to ask the captain.'

'He's aboard?'

'Oh, aye, We're sailing at midnight.'

'Then give me a ride out to your ship. I'd talk with him.'

The coxswain peered at him. 'You're drunk, your honour, if you'll pardon the liberty. When you wakes up, we'll be at sea.'

'Aye,' Dick said. 'There's a happy thought.' He threw his empty bottle into the harbour.

8

The Brother

Anthony Hilton turned over his cards, one by one. 'Ah, bah,' he said. 'Twenty-three.' He threw them into the pile in the middle of the table.

' 'Tis that unlucky you are, Mr Hilton,' said the dealer, smiling at him. 'You'll sign another note?'

'I will not. 'Tis damn near dawn.' Tony stretched, leaning back in his chair. The other players waited, politely. Once he stopped, they had small reason to continue. 'One day, Lewis, my luck will turn. Or I'll discover how you cheat.'

'Why, Mr Hilton,' Lewis said. 'A man could take offence at that, indeed he could.'

'But you won't, Lewis,' Tony said. 'There's a pity.' He got up, draped his coat over his shoulder, stuck his hat on the back of his head. 'Good morning, gentlemen.'

He opened the door, inhaled the cleaner air of the corridor, closed it behind him, and listened to a cock crow. It was indeed all but dawn. And he had lost near a hundred guineas. Dick would not be pleased.

And then he remembered. Christalmighty, Dick would not be settling these notes. Or would he, because he was Dick? But he'd be expecting his brother to be on a ship to England. Christalmighty.

He lurched along the corridor, found the window at the end, and put his head out, once again breathing deeply to clear the tobacco fumes from his head. Of all the stupid quarrels, over a little cock teaser. But of course
it went deeper than that. Dick
had not been himself rece
ntly, had seemed to have someth
ing on his mind.

He smiled at the lightening darkness. And now he had more than just something. Ellen had been at Hilltop yesterday, was probably still there now. That would have put the cat amongst the pigeons.

'Mr Hilton?'

He turned. Noble belied his name by actually owning this establishment. He was a nervous little man, who looked even more nervous this morning.

‘I
did not wish to disturb you, earlier. But there is a young woman wishing to see you.'

'Eh? I'm not in the mood, Noble.'

'Oh, no, sir, not one of mine.' Noble allowed himself a grin. 'Although she could be, sir, given time. 'Tis the Gale girl. Harriet's daughter.'

'Eh?'

'Downstairs, Mr Hilton.'

Tony brushed the man aside, ran down the stairs. Judith sat in a straight chair at the bottom. She wore no hat, and was indeed not dressed for town at all. He had never seen her face so solemn. But how good it was to see her. So perhaps she was no more than a tease. He knew now that she was what he wanted, in every way. It was not an admission he would dream of making to anyone—save himself—but women, Joan Lanken, the blacks, expected to be mastered by Tony Hilton. And became contemptuous when he would have them respond in kind.

After Joan's sly smile, Harriet Gale, the thought of Harriet Gale and Uncle Robert, had seemed the answer to a dream. But that bitch had been interested only in
the
Hilton, in a perpetuation of her position. She had forgotten she had a daughter, who knew no other way of love, as she knew no other man.

'Judith? What has happened?'

She stood up. 'I don't know, Uncle Tony. I'm so afraid.' 'Afraid?' He took her hand; it was as cold as ice. 'Sit down. Tell me.'

'Uncle Dick,' she said. 'He's disappeared.'

'Dick? Rubbish.'

'We came into town,' she said.

'You and Dick? Why?'

'Well, there was this quarrel, Uncle Tony. Between Uncle Dick and that lady. I don't remember her name.' 'Miss Taggart?'

'Aye. And Mummy left in a rage, and then Miss Taggart left, with her mother. And then Uncle Dick said, we'll go into town and see them. He'd been drinking, Uncle Tony.'

'Dick? You mean he was drunk? Good God.'

'So we came in, Uncle Tony, and he went to the Laidlaws' house, where Miss Taggart is staying, and they wouldn't let him in. So then he went to the Park Hotel, where Mummy is rooming. But. . . ' She bit her lip.

'She wouldn't let him in, either?'

'She had a man with her, Uncle Tony. He
...
he hit Uncle Dick.'

'Hit him? Beat him up, you mean?'

Her chin flopped up and down, as she nodded.

'Christalmighty. So what happened then?'

Judith Gale inhaled, slowly. 'He left, Uncle Tony. He just walked out of the hotel. But he was very upset, and he had a bottle.'

'What time was this?'

She shrugged. 'About eight o'clock last night.'

Tony felt in his fob, took out his watch. The time was a quarter to six. 'He probably fell down and is sleeping in a ditch.'

'I've looked, Uncle Tony. Well, I waited at the hotel for him to come back. Then I started looking. I've walked all Kingston, Uncle Tony.'

Tony frowned at her. 'You have wandered the streets of Kingston all night. Unmolested?'

'Nobody bothered me, Uncle Tony.'

'Good God Almighty. You are an odd child. Don't you realize that he's gone back to Hilltop?'

'His horse is still outside the Park Hotel, Uncle Tony.' 'Eh?' Tony seized another chair, pulled it next to hers, and sat down.

'And I met one man, Uncle Tony, last night, who remembers a drunken man leaving the Park Hotel. He can't be sure it was Uncle Dick, but the time would have been about right. And Uncle Tony, the man walked towards the docks. The harbour, Uncle Tony.'

Tony gazed at her. Dick, drunk and irresponsible? He would not have said that was possible, for such a level-headed prig. Although he had had a lot on his mind, and more building up all the time. But not enough, perhaps. Unless . . .

'So what do you think has happened to him?'

She licked her lips. 'I think he may have fallen in. Or . . .'

'Or jumped? Because he was beaten up by some client of your mother's?'

'He was very upset,' she said.

It was quite light now; the clerk was snuffing the candles. And Judith thought Dick might have committed suicide. Now why should a girl like Judith Gale even think in terms like that?

And if she had cause, what unimaginable vistas were suddenly opening in front of him. Dick had run away from something. That seemed fairly obvious. From Ellen? Hardly likely. She still had every intention of marrying him. From Harriet's friend? That was nonsense.
All he had to do was declare h
imself to the Custos and they'd have the fellow in gaol. From something on Hilltop? Of whic
h he knew nothing? Or from some
one.

And did it matter, alongside the plain fact that the owner of Jamaica's biggest plantation had apparently lost his senses, with a crop to be ground?

'Uncle Tony?' she asked. 'You will do something?'

Tony smiled at her. 'I will, Judith. When you tell me exactly what happened between you and my brother.'

'Se
ven hundred and four, Mr Hilton’
said the clerk. 'But Mr Hilton, there's a man in there.'

'Never,' Tony remarked. The clerk looked at Judith.

'You sit down here,' Tony said. 'I'm going to have a word with your mother.'

The clerk licked his lips. 'This man
...
he had a fight with your brother, we think, Mr Hilton.'

'Oh, aye?' Tony said. 'Tell me about it.'

'Well, there was this noise, and a bump, and I went upstairs, with Harvey, the boy, you know? And there was no one there. But Mr Hilton had just gone up . . . and then, about an hour later, he came down, staggering, and went out of the door. And then, another half-hour later, that young lady came down . . .'

'They'd been in one of your empty rooms,' Tony said. 'Recovering. But you remember all of that. As a matter of fact, old son, I would write it out, just to be sure you have it straight. I'll pick it up in a moment.'

'You be careful, Uncle Tony,' Judith said.

'I'm a careful man.' Because he did not want sex from Harriet Gale. Thus he could be the masterful man every woman who had never shared his bed supposed him to be. There was a paradox. One he found amusing, when he was in the mood to be amused.

He climbed the stairs, and at the top took off his coat and laid it on the floor; the bandanna he used when rising to keep dust from his mouth was in the pocket; he wrapped it several times around his right hand, to bring the fingers together and protect them. Then he knocked on the door of room seven hundred and four.

After a few minutes, it swung in; the time was still only eight-thirty. 'Christ,' said the large man. 'Another one?'

'Good morning to you,' Tony said, and hit him in the belly. The man wore only a pair of pants, and they were no protection. He gave a gasp and his face came forward. Tony put his left hand on his shoulder to stop him, and while he was momentarily checked, hit him exactly on the point of the jaw with his protected right fist. The man gave a sigh, and his knees lost all their strength. Tony caught him under the left arm as well, and gently laid him on the floor. 'And to you,' he said to Harriet.

She sat up in bed, naked, stared at him in total horror.

He dragged the large man into the corridor, sat him against the wall, re-entered the room, closed and locked the door.

Harriet licked her lips. 'What. . . what do you want?'

Tony crossed the room, sat on the bed. 'To talk with you. I believe Dick came here last night.'

Her head flopped up and down.

'And was ejected by your friend. I imagine you were pretty angry with Dickie boy.'

She gasped for breath. 'He just stood there, while that. . . that bitch kicked me out.'

'And she did, kick you out,' Tony said with great satisfaction. 'You must show me the mark, some time.'

'You . . . how did you know?'

'Judith told me. She told me a lot of things. Such as how, after leaving you last night, Dick raped her.'

'He did what? Oh, that little whore. Rape
her?
She's been dying to get him between her legs for months. Years, maybe.'

'Harriet,' Tony said, gently. 'You just do not seem to be paying attention. Judith was raped. She may not know it, yet, but you had better be sure she finds out. A fourteen-year-old girl? Of course she was raped.'