Tears of the Moon (23 page)

‘Olivia … ’ began Conrad, appalled at her questioning of the offer.

The falcon eyes of the pearl buyer from Paris didn’t flicker as he stared at Olivia without expression. ‘I have considerable expenses. If you would prefer to travel to Rue Lafayette or Hatton Garden yourself … ’ He gave a shrug. ‘Besides, you are first-time clients, we have not established a trading relationship as such where I can offer you
un prix special
… ’

‘It seems to me this is the time to do so then,’ said Olivia sweetly. ‘A special price now will assure we continue to do business with you, for we will know you are a fair and reasonable man. It would save us the trouble of negotiating with other buyers.’

Conrad decided to maintain his silence. Olivia had scored a point. He was at once surprised at and proud of his wife’s boldness.

The pearl buyer unfolded his glasses, slowly put them back on and reached for the scrap of paper. He drew a line through the bottom figure, wrote a new figure and handed the paper back to Olivia. ‘Does that establish a relationship between us, Mrs Hennessy?’ he asked with a thaw in his formal demeanour.

She gave him a brilliant smile. ‘Indeed it does. Star of the Sea Pearls looks forward to seeing you next season, Monsieur Barat. Isn’t that so, Conrad?’

‘Er, yes, quite so … ’ he glanced at the notepad sheet Olivia handed to him.

The pearl buyer stood and put on his jacket. ‘Please allow me to celebrate our business dealing with an aperitif in the Lugger Bar.’ He held out his
arm for Olivia to take as Conrad opened the door for them and they all stepped into the garden.

Niah appeared to have settled down. Olivia had had an Indian tailor run up several simple outfits for her, as Niah was reluctant to wear European clothing and preferred sarongs. Olivia had to agree privately she thought this a far more practical outfit and wondered if she might ever dare wear one, away from public gaze. In the back of her mind was the possibility she might take another trip on the
Bulan
and she imagined how perfect such attire would be on a boat. She wished Conrad enjoyed the sea more so that they could take some trips together.

While the sea might not have held any lure for Conrad, shell and their possible haul of pearls certainly did. He began spending more time in the packing shed when the shell openers and cleaners were at work.

‘So, we’ve got you away from the figures at last,’ said Tyndall, who was watching the men drag the crates of shell to one side ready for shipment.

‘I’d like to be writing up more pearl sales as well as shell,’ remarked Conrad with enthusiasm. ‘I must say it was quite an experience dealing with Monsieur Barat. There really is something special about pearls, isn’t there. Everything about them has a different excitement—the find, the peeling, the selling. When do we start deep diving?’

Tyndall laughed. ‘Bejesus, Conrad, you’ve really taken to this business, but you’ll have to be patient during the wet. It’ll be a few months before we get
back to sea. There’s plenty to keep us occupied. Got to finalise the crews, and there are the changes to the lugger.’

‘The new diving suit we ordered from Perth should be on the next steamer,’ added Conrad.

‘I thought I might take a turn on the bottom,’ announced Tyndall casually. ‘Can’t be that difficult to get the hang of.’

‘Do you think that’s wise, John? Damned risky business. One hears such terrible stories … And what about the chap we got the boat from. He’s not good for anything now.’ Conrad was genuinely concerned at the prospect.

‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll have Ahmed on top keeping an eye on me, and I’ll get plenty of advice from our diver. Which reminds me, we’d better sign him up.’

Olivia was excited at the prospect of them being ‘proper pearlers’, as she put it. She wanted to know every detail of the changes to the lugger and the new gear which they were accumulating in Tyndall’s office. She even suggested that she join in negotiations with the Japanese diver.

‘Now that’s one area of business you’re not sharing,’ admonished Tyndall, shaking a finger at her. ‘We wouldn’t get anyone to work for us if a woman got involved in the act.’

Olivia glared at him in reply.

‘It’s a cultural thing, no insult intended,’ he explained, then hurriedly changed the subject. ‘Hey, have you seen the diving gear? Just had the helmet
overhauled.’ He led her to a corner of the room where the baggy diving suit was hung, metal boots and helmet piled on the floor beside it.

‘Those boots look terribly big,’ said Olivia.

‘Here, try them on,’ enthused Tyndall, pulling them out while Olivia slipped off her shoes.

She put a foot in each of them, then burst out laughing. ‘They’re ridiculous. I can’t move they’re so heavy.’

Tyndall bounced back to the pile and lifted the copper and brass helmet. ‘Might as well do the full thing, try the hat,’ he laughed, carefully placing it over Olivia’s head, resting it on her shoulders, then stepped back.

Olivia’s muffled giggle gave way to a sudden cry for help, but it was too late. Her legs buckled as she tried to lift her feet, and she toppled over. Tyndall dashed forward and caught her in his arms, but he was off-balance and they both fell to the floor, overcome with helpless laughter.

‘Good Lord, Olivia, whatever are you doing?’ gasped Conrad as he took in the scene having just come up the stairs. ‘What’s going on?’ he snapped.

‘Just testing the gear, Conrad. Testing the gear.’ On his knees Tyndall helped lift the helmet off Olivia’s head.

Olivia lay flat on the floor, her feet still stuck in the diving boots, and looked up at Conrad, first seriously, then burst out laughing again at the absurdity of the situation.

‘Really! This is very embarrassing. You’re behaving like a child,’ Conrad reprimanded her and then stomped off to his office.

Tyndall helped Olivia to her feet, and they exchanged mock grimaces behind Conrad’s back.

Several months later the Star of the Sea Pearl Company was back in business with the
Bulan
refitted for deep-sea helmet diving with accommodation, new hand pump and tender’s equipment in place, crew hired and the
Shamrock
fitted out as a mother ship to deliver supplies and collect shell hauls.

Prior to setting out to sea, Tyndall joined the Hennessys for dinner. Niah helped wait at the table, she and Olivia showing off their respective limited knowledge of English and Malay. Niah knew this was a farewell for Tyndall before he and Ahmed went away to sea again.

Tyndall and Conrad celebrated the forthcoming enterprise heartily with far too many drinks. When Olivia bid Tyndall goodbye and good luck she knew he was going to head to the bars in Chinatown.

She wagged a finger at him. ‘You behave yourself and don’t miss the tide in the morning!’

‘Ahmed will get us to sea, don’t you worry. What are you going to do while I’m away?’ he slurred. ‘You’ll find it very dull without me around. You’ll have to go and play ladies again.’

‘We’ll manage perfectly well without you,’ she answered, trying not to sound upset at his drunken state. ‘You just bring back lots of good shell and pearls.’

‘Don’t you wish you were coming too?’ He lurched a little as he peered intently at her face, but her expression was hidden in the shadowy night.

‘Good night, Captain Tyndall,’ she said firmly from the verandah. ‘And bon voyage.’

Conrad was already snoring lightly in his chair and Olivia sighed as she watched Tyndall, staggering slightly, disappear into the night. It would be an adventure to go out to the pearling grounds where the banks of shell were hidden fathoms deep. Maybe … one day.

The next morning as Conrad walked carefully about the house complaining of feeling out of sorts, a worried Ahmed arrived on a borrowed bicycle. ‘Mem, mem, tuan no on schooner.’

‘I knew it,’ she said, slamming her hand on the doorpost in exasperation. ‘He went to Chinatown after he left here late last night. Conrad, you’d better help Ahmed look for him.

‘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 with dice and cards. Tyndall was busy building up friendships with as many skippers as possible, particularly those working independently or belonging to the smaller fleets. He saw the chance for profit next season by acting as a mother ship to other luggers, packing and carrying shell as well as selling food, fuel and grog.