Dark Ransom (17 page)

'Nao percebo,'
Charlie broke in when he paused for breath. 'I'm

sorry, I don't understand.'

'He says his wife's having her baby,' Philip translated curtly. 'Tell

him you'll send him a cigar, and get this bloody truck moving.'

'But that's Ana Maria!' Charlie exclaimed, distressed. 'Oh, God, that

must be why Pedrinho came to the house this morning—to get

Rosita... because of the baby.'

'These people breed like flies. What's all the fuss about?'

His callousness appalled her. 'Her other babies have died. That's

why she needs Rosita. She's a good midwife. If we hadn't taken the

truck she'd be here now, looking after Ana Maria. And we've

prevented it.'

'You're breaking my heart. Now shift.'

Cold fury hardened her sudden resolution. 'I'll do nothing of the

sort,' she said. 'There's a child's life at stake here. Manoel's a good

man- one of Riago's most trusted workers. He deserves the best care

for his wife that we can give. I'm going back to the
fazenda
to get

Rosita.'

'Oh, no, you're not,' he said savagely. 'I thought you might be

trouble, so I decided to take a hostage. Perhaps this will persuade

you to continue with the journey.' He reached into the pocket of his

shirt and took out the diamond pendant, dangling it tauntingly in

front of her. The sun caught the facets of the stone, turning them to a

blaze of fire.

Her throat tightened in anguish. 'Where did you get that?'

'I saw you weren't wearing it this morning, so I had a look round.'

He was openly triumphant. 'Call it your plane fare out of here.'

'I'm not catching any plane,' she said thickly. 'I wouldn't travel one

more yard with you.'

'Then you're a fool. You want out. I'm prepared to take you along.'

His voice grated. 'But I'm not jeopardising everything for the sake of

some brat. I've got a cache of
brute
diamonds— the commission I

was telling you about—hidden in a safe place, in addition to this

little beauty. We're going to collect them, and then we're going to

catch that plane before that bastard Santana brings the military down

on the lot of us. I heard him on the radio arranging it first thing

today. Well, I'm not interested in spending the next years of my life

in a Brazilian gaol. So drive this truck and get us out of here.'

Charlie shook her head. 'No way,' she said. 'You're on your own.

And I'm thankful your aunt will never know what you've become.'

Philip shrugged. 'Save me the sickly sentiment,' he said harshly.

'Stay and play
dona da casa
if that's what you want. But I'm keeping

the Santana diamond. I reckon you owe it to me— compensation for

the money you wheedled out of Auntie Mary, you bitch.'

He lunged across at her, impelling Charlie towards the open door of

the truck, then hit her full across the face with his open hand. The

pain almost stunned her, and she tasted blood on her mouth as she

lost her balance and fell backwards.

Hands seized her, and dragged her clear of the cabin. Manoel's

voice, oddly fuzzy, cried out,
'Senhorita. Meu Deus, Senhorita

Carlotta.'

She found she was lying on the path. The truck, with Philip at the

wheel, was lurching away, the engine screaming, and Manoel was

running after it, waving his fists and shouting.

She yelled, '
Venha ca, Manoel—
come back,' with all her might.

He obeyed with open reluctance.

'Let him go,' she said, forcing the words from her sore and swollen

mouth as Manoel helped her to her feet. 'Just let him go.'

Manoel was clearly torn between his concern for her and his worry

for Ana Maria.

'Rosita?' he asked, staring round him as if expecting her to

materialise suddenly from the bushes.

'Desculpe, Manoel,
' she said gently. 'She isn't here. She's still at the

house.'

Manoel looked as if he was about to burst into tears. He broke into

another agitated gabble of words, and Charlie put a detaining hand

on his arm.

'We will send someone,' she said haltingly in his own language.

'Onde e Ana Maria?'

Manoel had one of the largest houses in the settlement. It was

sparsely furnished, but spotlessly clean. Ana Maria was on the bed

in the inner room, twisting from side to side, and moaning under her

breath. An elderly woman sat in a corner of the room, jabbering

something which sounded like incantations, and two younger girls

stood by the bed in self-conscious helplessness.

They all gaped at Charlie as she came in. She tried to smile

reassuringly down at the pregnant girl, but her mouth hurt too much.

Manoel had commandeered an elderly jeep and was on his way to

the
fazenda,
although Charlie was sure that Rosita and Pedrinho

would have set off on foot by now.

She tried to tell Ana Maria that help was coming, but the girl just

stared up at her, her eyes glazed with pain and incomprehension, so

she said,
'Calma,'
several times instead.

And, oddly enough, her presence did seem to be having a

tranquillising effect. Ana Maria stopped throwing herself about, and

took hold of Charlie's hand, clinging to it as if it was a lifeline.

In films they always tell people to boil water, she thought. She tried

saying
'agua',
and the old woman grunted and shuffled out, coming

back almost at once with a dipper of cold water.

Well, it was better than nothing, Charlie thought, dampening her

own clean handkerchief and gently wiping Ana Maria's mouth and

forehead with it. The girl was obviously terrified, her swollen body

wet with perspiration, and her breathing shallow.

So many previous disappointments, Charlie thought wretchedly.

And if she loses this baby as well it will be partly my fault.

She bent towards her, gently squeezing her fingers. 'It's going to be

all right, Ana Maria,' she whispered. 'You're going to have a son—a

big, healthy boy who'll probably play football for Brazil. It's going

to be all right.'

She went on talking quietly, keeping her voice level, almost

hypnotic, as the minutes dragged past. The room was getting like a

sauna, and she could feel beads of sweat trickling down her nose,

and running between her breasts and shoulder- blades. The other

women had retired to the doorway, and stood watching, so she and

Ana Maria were virtually alone.

She talked about her life in England, the impulse that had brought

her here, and the unresolved conflict which had forced her to

remain.

'And now, just when I have the chance to leave, I blow it—because I

feel responsible. Because I suddenly seem to care about what goes

on here on the plantation. And I can't afford to care. I could have

gone, and I should have done. So why am I still here? Tell me that.'

Ana Maria moaned, then cried out, her body twisting awkwardly.

Charlie swallowed nervously, stroking her forehead, smoothing

back the damp hair. 'It's OK,' she soothed. 'Rosita will be here soon.

She only has to come from the house. She can't take much longer.'

Ana Maria, of course, didn't understand a word she was saying, so

just who was she trying to convince? she asked herself.

Meanwhile, even her untrained eyes could see that a new phase in

the girl's labour was beginning. She tried desperately to remember

all the things that her sister Sonia had told her self- importantly

about Christopher being born. She wished now she'd paid more

attention to Sonia's complacent stories about being the star of her

natural childbirth classes in the first instance, and subsequently

about her stoical endurance during the actual heroic struggle to

bring Christopher into the world.

But that had been with all the resources a private nursing home

could provide. Sonia's experiences would hardly correlate with Ana

Maria's in this two-roomed house in the rain forest. No gas and air

here, or sterile conditions, and no incubator for a baby in trouble.

Ana Maria's hand convulsively tightened its grip on hers. She was

grunting, trying to sit up, her eyes glassy with a new and powerful

concentration, the veins standing out on her forehead.

Oh, God, Charlie thought despairingly. The baby's coming. It's

coming now. What can I do?

She turned, gesturing frantically at the old woman, who began to

rock backwards and forwards, making strange wailing noises.

'A lot of help you are,' Charlie snapped, her nerves fraying.
'Venha

ca,
" she commanded the women in the doorway, but they backed

away, hands pressed to their mouths.

Ana Maria gave a kind of feral roar, halfway between a scream of

agony and a shout of triumph. Charlie moved frantically to the end

of the bed, just in time to receive the baby- crimson, slippery and a

boy—in her shaking hands. For a moment the child lay, his limbs

moving almost questingly, as if missing the warmth and security of

the womb, then his mouth opened and a cry of wavering outrage

filled the room.

Through a blur of swift tears Charlie wiped his nose and mouth

clean, and put him in Ana Maria's arms.

There was a sudden hubbub in the outer room, and Rosita flew in,

with Manoel behind her, checking as she saw the girl on the bed, her

pale, weary face alight with joy as she offered her son her breast.

Then she took in Charlie's presence, and a squawk of dismay

escaped her. Exclamations and commands began issuing from her

like a rattle of machine-gun fire, and Charlie found herself being

hustled out of the way as the older woman took charge.

She went without protest, feeling totally limp. She was thankful she

wasn't being called on to cut the umbilical cord, or perform any

further service, because she wasn't sure she could cope. As it was,

the events of the past half-hour were certainly some of the most

telling in her life so far, and she was grateful for having shared

them.

Agenor came to her side.
'Senhorita—
you are here.' His face was

bewildered. 'The
patrao—he
think you gone. He follow—go search

with many soldiers.'

She said gently, 'It's all right, Agenor. I'm quite safe, as you see.'

In a little while Manoel came to her. Beaming with pride, he took

her hand and kissed it, and burst into impassioned speech.

'He wishes to thank you,
senhorita,
for the safety of his son,' Agenor

translated. 'Also Ana Maria, if you will go to her.'

'But I didn't do anything,' Charlie protested. 'I was just—here.'

She was ushered back into the inner room. Ana Maria was cradling

the baby in her arms, her face worshipful.

'Obrigada, senhorita,'
she whispered, holding up the small bundle.

Charlie stared down at the baby's angry, puckered face. She put out

a finger, and felt the tiny hand grasp it firmly. And in that moment

she knew, instinctively and unquestionably, that she was indeed

carrying Riago's child inside her. Her throat tightened

uncontrollably.

What can I do? she thought. Oh, God, what can I do?

CHARLIE
was very quiet during the jeep ride back to the house. Her

companions were subdued as well, their elation over the safe birth

of Manoel's son clearly tempered by concern for Riago.

Although she'd redeemed herself to some extent by acting as

emergency midwife to Ana Maria, Charlie was conscious that she

was in disgrace for helping Philip Hughes—'that worthless one', as

Agenor, his dark eyes openly censorious, had called him—to

escape, and therefore exposing the
patrao
to the risks of hunting

him down in the rain forest.

Without her intervention Philip, she was given to understand, would

simply have been detained at th
e fazenda
without danger to anyone.

And if she had not been seen to accompany him Riago would have

had no reason to take an active role in the search for him.

Now there were fears, Agenor told her, that he might be caught in

the crossfire in the vicious little war which had been raging for

months between the
garimpeiros
and the wealthy gem dealers in

Manaus. A war in which Philip Hughes had been wounded, several

others had died, and which the military authorities were determined

to end, along with the wholesale smuggling of uncut stones.