Angel's Ransom (11 page)

‘Could you turn on a light, please? I’ve brought you some dinner.’

He switched on the overhead light. She carried a galley stew-pot and a long loaf of French bread.

‘It isn’t everything it might be,’ she said. ‘They’ve thrown all the knives overboard, so I couldn’t cut the bread,
and I couldn’t get the stove going to heat anything. But it
’s
food.’

‘I’m grateful. Did Holtz let you out to take charge of the galley?’

‘He let us all out, an hour ago. I took over the galley because it gave me something to do besides sit and think
about how gullible I am.’

‘What else has happened?’

‘Nothing in particular. Your boss was pretty - graphic -about what he thought of me, when he had a chance to express himself.’

The constraint in her voice told him how savage Freddy must have been. He said, ‘Don’t let it bother you too much.
He
’s
inclined to be graphic when Freddy Farr
’s
comfort is
interfered with,’ then changed the subject by inviting her to
take the wheel while he ate.

‘Keep the compass card as nearly on one hundred and ninety as you can. When it slides off don’t bring the wheel
too far over too fast to put it back. You’ll wobble a little at
first. It doesn’t matter.’

‘What happens if I wobble a lot?’

‘Jules will be up to straighten us out. I’d rather it didn’t happen.’

‘Oh.’

He explored the contents of the stew-pot while he waited for her to talk. She had brought, besides the bread, sausage,
cheese, and fruit. He discovered that he was very hungry,
and remembered that he had not eaten since breakfast.
While he was making up for
the lack of lunch, she said un
expectedly, ‘Are you going to go on doing just what they
tell you to do as long as they tell you?’

‘Unless I see a chance to do something else with safety, yes.’

‘I liked you better when you tried to wreck us.’

‘It didn’t accomplish anything, beyond getting us both beaten up.’

‘That
’s
not the point.’ There was obstinacy in her voice, and something else. ‘It was a gesture. It showed that you
weren’t afraid of them.’

‘I’ve learned to be afraid of them since then.’

‘I shouldn’t think you’d want to confess it.’

‘It would be unintelligent not to confess it. Holtz is a killer. They’re taking a big risk for an amount of money that
means nothing to Freddy. I’m willing to help them get it,
if it
’s
necessary to assure that they’ll let him and us go
afterwards.’

‘You’re the only one who will help them, then.’ She was standing very straight at the wheel, in profile toward him,
and he saw the stubborn set of her chin. ‘Freddy is fighting
them. So is Bruno.’

‘In what way are they fighting?’

‘They’re going to break into the bar.’

As an anticlimax it was stunning. He could think of nothing to say before she went on coolly, ‘They’re going to
put messages for help in the bottles and throw them overboard ! And if it is only a gesture, I admire them for it.’

‘It
’s
a gesture that can bring them more harm than help. There isn’t a chance in ten thousand that a message will be
picked up in time to do us any good. Tell Freddy I said to
leave the bar alone.’

‘Tell him yourself, if you want to!’ She motioned at the door. ‘Go ahead! I’ll hold the wheel for you. Go give your
own orders!’

‘I can’t leave the pilot-house.’

‘You mean you’re afraid to leave! You’re taking orders now, not giving them!’

She was deliberately
taunting him. He did not under
stand what she was trying to goad him into, or why, but he said, ‘Certainly I’m taking orders. We’re all taking orders.
If we refuse, we die. It
’s
as simple as that.’

He had finished his meal. When he went to take the wheel, she turned suddenly to face him, her back against the
spokes, her arms wide, barring him.

‘Wait! Isn’t there anything that can make you oppose Holtz?’

It was a plea. He said patiently, ‘Why do you want to oppose him? To save Freddy
’s
money?’

‘He tricked me!’ Her eyes were angry, too bright. ‘He hit me in the face, and threatened to kill me, and laughed
at me for a fool! I’m not going to forget that!’

‘He’ll do worse than laugh at you and hit you in the face if you try to fight him. Let me have the wheel.’

‘I’m going to fight him!’ As he came closer she backed away, toward the door. Fiercely, promisingly, she said,
‘We’re all going to fight him, except you! Bruno said you
wouldn’t help, but I didn’t believe him! I do now! You -you coward!’

‘Tell Bruno I’ve given orders to keep away from the bar.’

‘I will not! I’ll help him break it open! I’ll write messages
for him! I’ll throw the bottles into the sea!’

‘Don’t be the fool that Holtz said you were! This thing has been plotted like a military campaign! It
’s
not to be
defeated by throwing bottles
into the sea! He’ll kill you -’

She was gone. He took a quick step to follow her, and was
checked by the sight of the unmanned, idly-rocking wheel.
Slowly, unwillingly, hating himself for his response to the
command, he turned back to the charge that held him in
bondage to the
Angel
.

Jules
relieved the wheel at midnight, yawning like a man who has just been wakened.

‘Catch a sleep while you can, Captain,’ he said. ‘And if you want to get any oiling done before morning, now
’s
your
chance. Just stay close to the engine-room.’

‘There are other things besides the motors that need
attention
,’ Blake said. ‘I’ve got to make an inspection of the ship.’ The sailor shook his head, unsmiling.

‘Not tonight you don’t. Holtz is on the prowl, and he isn’t anyone you’d want to step on in the dark by accident. Stay
in the light, where he can see you.’

The chill implication of the warning remained with Blake as he went down the ladder. He did not see Holtz on deck,
but he had a strong consciousness of being under
observation
. The feeling was unpleasant, but the fact that he was
being watched meant that the viper could not be stepped on.
Furthermore, Holtz would not be watching him if there
were trouble in the salon, so Freddy and Bruno had either
not yet attempted to break into the bar or had managed it
without attracting attention. But in the latter case Freddy
would not fail to attract attention for long unless he were
kept out of sight. He did not hold liquor well, or quietly.

Blake went aft when he had finished with his duties in the engine-room. Freddy was still sober, desperately so. He
paced the small length of the salon, unable to sit still.
Valentina sat at the radio, exploring shortwave channels for
news broadcasts. Bruno watched her with a sullen
concentration
of interest as obvious as her indifference to it, and
Laura di Lucca in turn watched Bruno with an expression
of naked jealousy that was painful to see. Marian was not
there.

Blake stopped in the doorway of the salon, where he could see the outside deck. Forward the only illumination was a
faint green reflection from the starboard running light, aft a
glow from the deckhouse windows. There were a number of
vantage points from which Holtz might be eavesdropping, but Blake could not guard against all contingencies. What he
had to say required saying whether he was overheard or
not.

He said bluntly, ‘I think it
’s
about time we had a meeting of the minds.’

Freddy stopped his pacing. The others looked up, seeing Blake there for the first time.

‘There
’s
been talk of breaking into the bar,’ he went on. ‘If you haven’t already been told how I feel about the idea,
I’m against it. I think we had all better agree right now that
none of us will take any independent action without the
approval of the others.’

Freddy said,
‘
S
am!’ in a voice of warning and disbelief. Bruno said contemptuously, ‘Don’t hesitate to advertise our
plans, Captain.’

‘I’m trying to save your neck. And yours, Freddy. You’ve already gone against Holtz
’s
orders once. You know what
he hands out for that.’

‘But he said I could have a drink! You heard him!’

‘He said you could have a drink when he got around to unlocking the bar. I say the same thing. I never had to make
this point before, and I don’t like doing it now, but I’m in
command of this ship. You only own it.’

‘You’re not getting very far with your command at the moment, are you?’ Bruno moved to face him. ‘Come off it,
Captain. You have no authority. You’re in exactly the same
position as the rest of us, except that you’re more timid than
we are. If you don’t want to help us, leave us alone. Go prove
you couldn’t have had anything to do with it when it
happens.’

Blake kept his temper with an effort. He said, ‘I’ll leave you alone when I’m certain you’re not going to do anything
childish.’

‘Childish!’ Freddy
’s
face was haggard. ‘Do you know what it
’s
like to be dying on your feet? I’ve got to have a drink! I’ll
shake to pieces if I don’t get something! I can’t think, I
can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t sit still! Is that what you call
childish?’

‘You’ll just have to sweat it out, unless you can talk Holtz out of the key.’

Laura di Lucca said, ‘Do you seriously expect any one of us to ask that little monster a
favor
, Captain?’

‘I expect you to recognize the truth. He
’s
running things, whether we like it or not. Your husband could get worse than
Freddy did for defying him. Even if what he is planning to do
had a chance of success, and it hasn’t, he couldn’t hope to
get away with it without being seen.’

‘I want to be seen,’ Bruno said. ‘Now that you’ve had your say, why don’t you go away? Nobody sent for you.’

‘
Caro
!' his wife protested. ‘You’re being rude! Besides, if what the captain says is true, I refuse to let you take the risk.
You simply may not
–’

‘Be quiet!’ Bruno snapped. ‘Are you leaving, Captain? Or shall I put you out?’

Blake thought, I've got to keep my head.

Punching Bruno
’s
face wouldn’t help. But there seemed to be very little else that would help. Freddy, grey and
twitching, was hopeless, Laura di Lucca ineffectual to check
her husband. Blake looked angrily at Valentina, not with
hope.

Quite unexpectedly she said, ‘I agree with you, Captain. It would be very foolish to do anything the little man wishes
us not to do.’ She snapped the switch of the radio off, turning her attention and her honey-
color
ed eyes to Bruno.
‘Perhaps you will listen to me. Do not take this risk.’

Laura di Lucca stiffened perceptibly. Freddy groaned, ‘Valentina!’

‘Nor you, Freddy. It is too dangerous. I will bring you some medicine to make you feel better, and there will be no
more talk of breaking locks.’

She rose serenely from her chair, a queen dismissing her court, and disappeared down the companionway to the
cabins below. No one spoke again.

Afterwards Blake cooled his temper at the cruiser
’s
rail with the salt spray from the
Angel
’s
bow-wave whipping up
out of blackness to wet his face and hair. He was grateful for
Valentina
’s
help, resentful that he had needed it, bitter that
he had been so stupid as to give orders he could not enforce. The habit of giving orders was a hard one to break. Harder,
he found, than learning to take them.

He was aware that the door of the salon had opened briefly, then closed again. He did not look to see who had
come out on deck until a trick of the sea breeze brought him
the faint scent of a woman
’s
perfume. When he turned,
Valentina stood beside him. There was enough illumination
to show the unlit cigarette between her lips.