Flood of Fire (46 page)

Zadig shook his head. ‘No, Bibiji. That is not why you have sought him out – it's because only you can give this boy peace of mind. Only you can give him a sense of having a place in his father's world. Very few women would have the courage to do what you are about to do, Bibiji. You must not flinch now.'

Shireen's hands rose to her fluttering heart. ‘Oh but I'm afraid, Zadig Bey!'

‘Bibiji, you don't have to go through with it if you don't want to,' said Zadig. ‘Why don't you wait and see? I will say nothing to him until you give me a sign.'

So it was arranged between them that Shireen would watch from a distance while Zadig welcomed Freddie on board.

When Freddie's lighter pulled up Zadig went down to the maindeck while Shireen hid herself in a corner above, on the quarterdeck. From the shelter of the balustrade she kept watch, veiled by a shawl, as Freddie stepped off the side-ladder and boarded the
Hind
.

He was trim in figure and of medium height, dressed in shabby European clothes: a fraying linen suit and a wide-brimmed hat. The sun was at such an angle that Shireen could not get a good look at his face, which was shaded by the hat. But then, as Zadig was leading him across the deck, they happened to run into Zachary, with whom Zadig had become acquainted in the course of the voyage. He stopped now to make introductions: ‘Mr Reid, this is my godson – Mr Freddie Lee.'

‘I am glad to meet you, Mr Lee,' Shireen heard Zachary say as he stuck out his hand.

‘And I too, Mr Reid,' Freddie responded. Looking a little flustered he took off his hat and held it to his chest; only now was Shireen able to get a proper look at his face.

He was skeletally thin, with sunken cheeks, hollow eyes and an unclipped beard – but none of this surprised Shireen. What startled her was that the cast of his countenance seemed completely Chinese, so much so that at first it seemed impossible that he could be Bahram's son.

But then, as she looked on from above, Shireen slowly began to
revise her first impression: the more she looked at Freddie's face the more she saw echoes of Bahram's – in his dark, heavy eyebrows, his full lips, and most of all, in his fine nose, with its hint of a curve. Then Freddie happened to smile – ‘You have never been in Singapore, eh Mr Reid? I would be glad to show you around, lah!' – and for an instant it was as though she were looking at a long-ago version of Bahram himself. It amazed her now that she could have doubted for a minute that the boy was her husband's son.

When Zadig's eyes flickered in her direction she gave him a nod and went hurrying down to the passengers' salon.

To her relief the salon was empty. She seated herself on a settee, facing the door, and removed the veil from her face.

Freddie entered the salon ahead of Zadig and, to Shireen's astonishment, when their eyes met he gave her a smile and a nod, as if to say that he recognized her and knew who she was.

‘Freddie,' said Zadig. ‘I want to introduce you to someone—'

Freddie cut him short. ‘There is no need, lah. I know who she is.'

Summoning a smile, Shireen patted the space beside her, on the settee.

‘Please … won't you sit down?'

When he'd sat down, hat in hand, she pronounced his name experimentally – ‘Freddie' – and extended her hand towards him. If he had put out his hand too she would perhaps have shaken it, but he didn't, so her hand strayed towards his face and her fingertips skimmed over his eyebrows, touching his nose and chin – and suddenly it was as if Bahram had come alive and was sitting beside her. Her eyes flooded over and she pulled Freddie towards her so that his forehead sank on to her shoulder: she could tell that he too was sobbing now, just as she was.

When she looked at him again, his eyes were red and there was a kind of wildness in them: it was as if the curtains of adulthood had parted to give her a glimpse of a deep well of suffering that went back to his boyhood.

‘I've been waiting for you, lah,' he said, almost on a note of accusation. ‘I was thinking when you would come, eh?'

‘But how could you know that I would come?'

He smiled. ‘Because my father tells me, ne? He always say you will come, before month of Hungry Ghosts.'

Here, seeing that Shireen had gone pale, Zadig signalled to Freddie to say no more. But Shireen would not let him stop. ‘Go on. Please. What else does your father say?'

A few minutes passed before Freddie spoke again. ‘He say that I must go with you. I must burn offerings for him and my mother, at his grave in Hong Kong.'

*

Zachary's first impressions of Singapore were disappointing: from a distance the settlement had the appearance of a clearing in the jungle. Nor did it improve greatly on closer inspection: Boat Quay, where he had disembarked from the lighter that had brought him over from the
Hind
, was a muddy mess, and he had to scramble across a teetering bamboo jetty to get to the shore.

Yet, even though the port looked more like a fishing-village than a town, there was nothing sleepy about it. Stepping off the jetty, he was swept along by a crowd to an open crossroads that went by the name of Commercial Square. It was lined with saloons, shipchandling establishments, shops, brokerages, barbershops and the like.

Spotting a sign with ‘tiffin' on it, Zachary went in and ordered some tea and mutton patties. While waiting to be served he picked up a copy of a paper that had been left behind by another customer. The paper was called the
Singapore Chronicle
and Zachary's eyes went straight to a column that began: ‘In some quarters of this town, the retail price of a chest of the best Bengal opium has risen to 850 Spanish dollars.'

Zachary sat back, stunned. He had been led to expect that chests would fetch seven hundred dollars if he was lucky: this was a windfall!

Wolfing down his patties and draining his tea, he stepped outside, into the sunshine, and looked at the square with new eyes. How was it possible that a ramshackle place like this could pay such steep prices? It defied belief.

A touch on his elbow woke him from his reverie.

‘Good day, Mr Reid!'

Turning with a start, Zachary found himself face to face with the man he had met yesterday on the deck of the
Hind
– he could not immediately remember his name. He was dressed as he had been the day before, in a light linen suit.

‘Freddie Lee,' said the man, extending his hand.

‘Hello, Mr Lee!' said Zachary, giving his hand a shake. ‘Nice surprise to run into you here.'

‘Why surprise?' said Freddie gruffly. ‘Singapore is a small place, ne? You have seen the town?'

‘No,' said Zachary. ‘This is my first time ashore.'

‘Come – I show you around,' said Freddie. ‘Small place; will not take long.'

Some instinct stirred within Zachary, making him hesitate. But then Freddie added: ‘Don't worry, lah – you and I, soon we will be shipmates.'

‘Really? You'll be travelling on the
Hind
?'

‘Yes. My godfather, Mr Karabedian, he invite me share his cabin. I will go with all of you to China, lah.'

Reassured, Zachary said: ‘All right then, Mr Lee. I don't mind taking a look around.'

Falling into step beside his guide, Zachary followed him down one street and then another, taking in the sights as they were pointed out to him: this building here was the London Hotel, established just a year ago, by Monsieur Gaston Dutronquoy; that over there was the portico of St Andrew's Church; and there in the distance was the governor's mansion.

‘Look around you, Mr Reid,' said Freddie. ‘Look at this town, lah, Singapore, and all fine new buildings. Look at ships in the harbour. You know why they come? Because this is “free port” – they pay no duties or taxes. So where does the city get money?'

‘Can't tell you, Mr Lee.'

‘Opium of course – is a monopoly of British government. Opium pays for everything – hotel, church, governor's mansion, all are built on opium.'

In a while the streets became narrower and dustier and Zachary had the sense that they had left the European part of the city behind. Then they came to a road that was little more than a dirt path, winding up a hillside; it was rutted with cart tracks and lined on both sides with shacks and huts. There were plenty of people around, but they were all Indian or Chinese, and none too reputable by the looks of them.

A twinge of apprehension shot through Zachary now, slowing
his steps. ‘Thank you, Mr Lee – but it's getting late. I think I'd better get back to my ship.'

Instead of answering Freddie nodded, as if to signal to someone behind them. Glancing over his shoulder, Zachary saw that they were being followed by two burly men. They too had slowed down.

It dawned on Zachary now that he had allowed himself to be led into some kind of trap. He came to an abrupt halt. ‘Look, Mr Lee,' he said, ‘I don't know what your game is, but you should know that I've got nothing of value on me.'

Freddie smiled. ‘Why you insulting me, eh? Don't want your money, Mr Reid.'

‘What do you want then?'

‘Want you visit my friend, lah.' He pointed to a door that was only a few yards away.

‘Why?'

‘My friend want to meet you, that's all,' said Freddie laconically.

They had reached the door now; Freddie held it open and ushered Zachary in. ‘Please, Mr Reid – step in.'

The room that Zachary stepped into was so dimly lit that he was momentarily unsighted. As he stood on the threshold, blinking his eyes, he became aware of a strong, cloying smell – the sweet, oily odour of opium smoke. When his eyes grew accustomed to the murky light he saw that he was in a large, cave-like chamber, with several couches arranged along the walls. The windows were shuttered and what little light there was came from gaps between the tiles on the roof.

In one corner a pot of raw opium was bubbling upon a ring of glowing coal. Two boys were tending the stove, one stirring and the other fanning the flames. When Zachary and Freddie stepped inside, one of the boys came over to remove their shoes. The floor was made of beaten earth; it felt cool beneath Zachary's bare feet.

‘Come na, Mr Reid.' Freddie ushered him towards the far end of the room, where two waist-high couches were arranged around an octagonal, marble-topped table.

Stretching himself out on one of the couches, Freddie gestured to Zachary to recline on the other. ‘Please be comfortable, Mr Reid.'

Zachary seated himself on the edge of the couch, in a stiffly upright posture.

‘Tea, eh Mr Reid?'

A boy appeared, with a tray, but Zachary was now so ill at ease that he ignored it.

Freddie reached over, picked up a cup and handed it to him: ‘Please, Mr Reid, is just tea, lah. You must allow me to welcome you properly. Two years back did not think we would meet again like this.'

It took a moment for this to sink in and when it did Zachary almost dropped his teacup. ‘What the hell do you mean, “two years ago”?'

‘Mr Reid, still you do not know who I am?'

The light was so dim that Zachary heard rather than saw him smile.

‘I don't know what you're getting at, Mr Lee,' he said quietly. ‘As far as I know we met yesterday, on the deck of the
Hind
.'

‘No, no, Mr Reid. On another ship we met, long ago, lah. Maybe will help you remember, eh, if I call you “Malum Zikri”?'

Zachary sat bolt upright and strained to look through the dimness. ‘I don't know what in hell you're talkin about, Mr Lee.'

‘If you would try you would remember Malum Zikri.' Freddie laughed. ‘It was on
Ibis
, ne? Remember Mr Crowle, lah? First mate's cabin? Remember his knife? He try do something – maybe stab you, maybe worse? But something happens – you remember? Someone comes in, ne?'

Suddenly, with the vividness of a nightmare, the memories came flooding back to Zachary: he was back on the
Ibis
, in the first mate's cabin, trying to steady himself against the pitching bulkheads. Mr Crowle was looming above him, holding a page torn from the crew manifest: ‘Lookit, Reid, don't give a damn, I don't, if ye're a m'latter or not … y'are what y'are and it don't make no difference to me … we could be a team the two of us … all ye'd have to do is cross the cuddy from time to time …' Then the flash of a knife-blade, and a snarl: ‘I tell yer, Mannikin, ye're not nigger enough to leave Jack Crowle hangin a-cock-bill …'

‘Remember, eh, Malum Zikri?'

Freddie rose to light a lamp and held it to his face. ‘See now who I am, lah?'

It was not so much his face as the manner of his movement –
quick, economical, precise – that confirmed to Zachary that Freddie was indeed the convict from the
Ibis
. Exactly so had he appeared in the hatchway that night, armed with a marlinspike, intent on settling his own scores with Mr Crowle. And no sooner was that done, than he had vanished, like a shadow – Zachary's last glimpse of him was on the
Ibis
's longboat, with the other four fugitives, pulling away as the storm howled around them.

Zachary dug his knuckles into his eyes, in an effort to erase these images, trying all the while to hold on to everything he knew to be true: which was that the fugitives had died soon after his last glimpse of them. It was impossible for a craft like the longboat to survive a storm of such violence, he was sure of that – and besides, had he not seen proof of their drowning? The boat itself, upended, with its bottom stove in?

It struck him that the fumes from the boiling opium might have disordered his mind: everything around him seemed uncanny, hallucinatory, alien. He extended a hand towards his host, as if to make sure that he was real and not a shadow.

The figure on the couch did not flinch. ‘Yes, Mr Reid. Is me – not a ghost.'