Dangerous Waters (4 page)

He nodded.
“
Don
’
t walk too fast or you
’
ll be tired before the day
’
s begun. We
’
re not trying to escape, anyway.
”

“
Is it quite impossible for me—escape?
”

A shrug.
“
Weigh it up for yourself. The river boundary of Vinan is about fifty miles long and this is where it begins. There are several villages in those fifty miles, and at every one of them the sudden stranger, white or brown, will be questioned. One could slip past them in the dark because their precautions won
’
t be so strict as those enforced here, but it would mean loitering between villages and taking a week or more to do just fifty miles. Even then you couldn
’
t be sure of getting away with it. If you were caught, incarceration would be a sight more uncomfortable than it is here. And the whole thing would depend on your being able to shake off this chap who
’
s right behind us, and a hundred others who are within call. Force wouldn
’
t get us anywhere at all.
”

“
Then
...
then persuasion?
”
she queried hopefully.

He shook his head and let out a long breath.
“
I tried it last night, played chess with the old chief for four solid hours. I even got him to take off his jacket so that I could slide a finger into his pocket for the key to the desk; he
’
d hidden it.
”

She smiled weakly.
“
Thanks for trying, anyway. Did you
...
did you really stay because you hoped you could help me?
”

“
Don
’
t get any wrong ideas,
”
he said, a trifle crisply.
“
I merely happen to be the only white man around, and you
’
re a bit too young to be left about in the jungle. I didn
’
t like the idea of your travelling back alone on the steamer, but when I thought it over, leaving you here seemed worse. It
’
s not that you
’
d come to any harm, only that you
’
re so unfamiliar with it all that you
’
d drive yourself nuts just thinking about things. I talked myself hoarse with the headman, but it did no good. If I
’
d known what to expect here I could have said from the beginning that we were travelling together—cousins or something like that. I might have moved him. But I
’
ll admit it never occurred to me that an educated Malay could be so stubborn about the letter of the law. He was kind and courteous, promised that you would be looked after in every way and that he would give instructions for your care on the steamer back to Shalak. But that was all. You
’
re twenty and unmarried.
”

She thought of something, said breathlessly,
“
Supposing I was going to Penghu to get married? I could pretend that, couldn
’
t I?
”

He looked at her enigmatically.
“
You
’
d have told him yesterday, wouldn
’
t you? He wouldn
’
t believe it now that he knows it was your sister
’
s marriage that brought you.
”

Her face was young and thin as she bent her head; faint hollows showed below her cheekbones. She spoke quietly and without hope.

“
I had a horrible night. For a while I slept heavily, but after that I lay awake thinking about Annette. The last I heard from her was the week before I sailed, and she
’
d written that about ten days before. I don
’
t know what
’
s happening, or how she
’
s feeling, but I do know that she
’
s depending on my arriving at Penghu before her marriage. I
’
d do anything to get there soon
...
anything
.”

There was a brief silence. Then he said coolly,
“
There
’
s a way that we can do it, all fair and above board. There
’
d still be the sticky canoe journey, but nothing else to worry about. You
’
d get your passport and a permit. Want to hear about it?
”

She looked up, startled.
“
Of course! I
’
ve told you I
’
ll do anything!
”

He plunged his hands into his pockets, drew a breath and said, with a slight drawl,
“
The old chap is the headman of the whole territory. He
’
s magistrate, registrar and chief of police—in fact, seems to have absolute powers. He says he
’
s willing to marry us.
”

“
Good grief,
”
she whispered.
“
He must be mad!
”

His faint grin mocked at her.
“
That
’
s exactly what I thought, but why shouldn
’
t we please him, to get you away from Vinan? I
’
m absolutely certain he can
’
t marry English people, but if he thinks he can, why not take advantage of it? He looked up some of those musty old papers he keeps, and told me the ceremony is a short civil ceremony, after which he has to sign a certificate, with us. He seemed to think that having stayed one night in Vinan was sufficient residential qualification.
”

But I can
’
t believe it! Why should he consent to it? He knows we
’
re strangers to each other.
”

“
In spite of his education he has the fatalistic oriental outlook. A Malay sees a girl who would suit him, and so long as her parents are willing, he marries her. The girl
’
s permission is not sought, neither does she get to know the man before marriage. So that aspect hardly occurs to old Kim Mali.
”

She laughed nervously.
“
Will he believe that you looked at me and decided I might make a good wife?
”

Pete rubbed a meditative hand over his jaw.
“
He doesn
’
t know me, so he might. He merely said point blank that if I was so anxious to get you away from Vinan I could do it legally, by a simple form of marriage. I
’
m not sure that even he feels the marriage would be binding; he didn
’
t
say and I naturally didn
’
t ask, and risk his retracting. I simply thought it over during the small hours and decided that if I
’
m to get back to my job and you
’
re to attend your
s
i
s
t
er
’
s
wedding, this bogus knot had better be tied. The only other way is to try an escape, without your passport and permit, but the whole village—and probably the villages up-river—will be alerted if we do. Whether you like it or not through the strangeness of the circumstances you
’
ve become important here. I
’
m less so because I
’
m a man, but they
’
re watching me too. I doubt if anyone could sway them from the hard-and-fast course. Kun Mali is venerated here; he comes from a line of sultans.
”

She nodded, and again bent her head.
“
But it
’
s not the sort of thing you can do lightly, is it? Not even in pretence. We
’
d both feel horrible frauds.
”

“
Is your sister worth it?
”

He would have to put it like that, of course. Terry said,
“
Yes, she
’
s worth more
...
much more.
”

“
Then shall we go ahead with it?
”

Her throat had gone dry.
“
Well
...
what about you. If it became known you might find things unpleasant.
”

“
It won
’
t become known. The marriage certificate, or whatever it may be, will get us through Vinan territory, and after that we
’
ll tear it in small pieces and sprinkle them on the river. If you won
’
t accept it for your own sake, you
’
ll have to do so for mine.
”

“
For yours?
”
she echoed blankly.

He gestured impatiently.
“
They
’
re expecting me back at the rubber estate in six days
’
time. I can
’
t stay here any longer in case there are hitches on the way, and I haven t time to take you back to Shalak. I
’
m not going to leave you bucketing about in a strange country.
”

“
But why not? I
’
m not
your responsibility.
”

There was an expression almost of distaste on his angular face as he answered,
“
I
’
m not suggesting anything that any other man in my position wouldn
’
t suggest, if he were unmarried, but anxious to return to his job. If I set out without you I
’
d probably have you so much on my mind that I
’
d turn back and waste, a couple of days.
’
He paused a
n
d added,
“
If you really want to attend your sister s wedding this is your only chance.
”

“
You
’
re sure it
’
s
...
just a sham?
”

“
Good heavens, do you suppose I might consider accepting the old man
’
s offer if there were the least chance of it
’
s being the real thing?
”

She shook her head.
“
No, you wouldn
’
t. I don
’
t seem to have much option, do I, but I do wish I had time to think about it.
”

Very casually, but with brutal directness, he said,
“
If you
’
re afraid I might take advantage of a phoney marriage certificate, you needn
’
t be. I
’
ll have my hands full with getting us there—no time or energy for going all romantic with an English rose under a Malayan moon.
”

She gave him a pale fleeting smile.
“
I wasn
’
t thinking about that. You
’
ve just been on holiday, and probably had a surfeit of romance.
”

“
Could be,
”
he said laconically.
“
You
’
d better leave the arrangements to me. I
’
ll come to the rest-house as soon as everything is settled.
”

It was strange, but as they turned to retrace their steps she felt his withdrawal as if it were physical. He stalked at her side with his head up and his mind apparently on the organization of the trip. When he left Terry at the rest-house she went inside and stood still, with heat beating at her forehead and pins and needles in her limbs. Why, oh, why, wasn
’
t she suddenly exhilarated by the knowledge that, if all went well on the river, she would not disappoint Annette? Why did even the contemplation of this bogus marriage with Pete Sternham make her feel as if she were taking a nightmarish step with her eyes bound? After all, however lazy and arrogant he might appear, he was an Englishman and presumably chivalrous as well. She had to trust him. But trust a stranger who seemed to care so little about other people? Well, she would have gone with him without question yesterday if old Kim Mali would have allowed it—gone blithely and gratefully for the several days
’
trip to Penghu, and tried to do her share of the paddling and food preparation. That was the way she had to regard it now. The ... the mock marriage was merely to placate the old headman. It meant nothing whatever to either partner i
n
it.

Still, she thought hollowly, as she dropped her toilet articles
’
into the floral bag, relations were going to be rather strained for the first fifty miles—until he destroyed the evidence of the expedient they had to use in order to escape from Vinan.