Limbo Lodge (3 page)

From this horrible dream it was a relief to wake up, sweating and shivering, to see the sea, like a black mother-of-pearl floor ahead of the ship, a belt of luminous green light on the port horizon where the sun would presently shoot up, dark blue outlines of islands all around, and one in particular, straight ahead, shaped like the head of a thistle, solid-packed with trees. Even at this distance the sound of singing and drums could be heard. And a scent, almost solid in the air, of pepper, clove, and nutmeg came wafting on the warm wind.

“Aratu,” said Dr Talisman, nodding at the silhouette.

“Aren’t you excited to be going back there, Doc? Must be right spooky if you haven’t been to the island since you was five years old! Will this chap you know be there, d’you reckon?”

“Manoel Roy? I suppose he might be – if he is not playing dice at some casino in Europe.”

Now the island seemed to leap forward at them as the dawn wind caught the sails and the sun came dazzling out of the ocean’s eastern rim. White wedges of sea broke snarling against two black claws of promontory on either side of the ship, slashing waves rolled out of the dark to cream up against slate-coloured rocks. A lighthouse slipped past them. The sound of drums grew louder and louder.

“It looks like kind of an unchancy place,” Dido said, shivering. “Where’s the town?”

“Straight ahead – at the far end of the harbour. There are no beaches. The island is all rock, rising straight out of the water.”

What had been a pale speck at the waterline now resolved itself into houses like tiny white dice climbing above each other up a steep hill with some feathery vegetation among them; as the
Siwara
drew closer little black figures could be seen, darting to and fro on the dockside.

“The houses ain’t really white, though, they’re
blue
,” said Dido, puzzled, as the ship slid near and nearer to the quay. “Blue and shiny. How’s that, Doc?”

“Oh, now I remember. I remember so well! That was because of the Angrian settlers who came and lived on the island for several hundred years. They like their houses covered with blue-and-white tiles.”

“Why?”

“Because they look handsome, I suppose. And tiles keep out the rain.”

“The town ain’t very big, is it? Lucky there’s a hospital. Did your friend Manoel tell you about that?”

“Yes, he did, when he heard that I was training to be a doctor. He tried to persuade me to come back to Aratu and be a doctor there, because most of the medicine is done by witches called kanikke. The Dilendi women are witches, and the men are guides, he said.”

“Guides?”

“Halmahi people. They sing the history of the island every day. And look after the sacred stones. There was a drunken old Angrian doctor called O Medico, Manoel said, but he wasn’t much use.”

“What a lot you know about the place,” said Dido, impressed. “What about those witches, though?”

“Old shawl ladies. They have a lot of power. They make the rules. I expect the hospital is run by old shawl ladies.”

“Blimey,” said Dido, “I jist hope they take good care of Mr Mully. I wouldn’t fancy being looked after by a pack of witches. I can see why your pal thought it would be a good thing for the island if you came back and set up as a doctor here. So the witches wouldn’t be able to boss everybody.”

“I suppose that might have been his plan,” said Doctor Talisman thoughtfully. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“And what was the thing that the sailor Pepe dropped on poor Mully’s head?”

“His wedhoe. It’s a luck charm. All the Angrian men on the island have them.”

“Why, do they need luck more than women do?”

“Oh, the women have their own luck charms, but they wear them round their necks on a grass string.”

“Like yours, on your silver chain?”

“Oh, no, mine is quite different.” The doctor stroked a fine medallion, like a fivepenny piece, on a thin chain. “It has my family name on it, so – if my parents are still alive – it should be possible to find them.”

“What is the name?”

“Kirlingshaw.”

“Why,” said Dido, astonished, “I had an Aunt Tinty Kirlingshaw. Tough old gal she was. Came from the Fen country.”

“Hi, hi, ho!” shouted a sailor in the bow, and sent a coil of rope whistling across the narrowing gap of water on to the dock, where a man was waiting to receive it.

They had reached Regina, the port of Aratu.

T
HE THROB OF DRUMS, WHICH HAD GROWN
louder and louder as the
Siwara
edged her way up the long, narrow harbour, ceased abruptly the moment the first hawser was thrown ashore and made fast. Dido leaned over the rail and watched as small dark men in black cotton trousers darted about, attaching more cables to bollards on the quay, and hanging thick rope fenders between the ship and the dock wall. A taller man, white-haired and wearing elegant black silk clothes, stood with his hands in his pockets, apparently overseeing the operation.

“Why, there he is! My friend – my father’s friend!” said Doctor Talisman, leaning eagerly over the rail. And, catching a pause between the shouts of the dock-workers, the doctor called out: “Manoel, Manoel! Ohé, Manoel!”

Looking up at the ship and her passengers, the white-haired man made a formal bow, and raised his hand in a ceremonial gesture of recognition and greeting.

“He doesn’t seem
at all
surprised to see me,” Doctor Talisman said, sounding a little quenched.

Indeed the man on the dock looked quizzical, as if his opponent in a game had made a move that amused him.

“Maybe he got a message on another ship from Amboina, and knew you was coming,” Dido suggested. “How long was you there?”

“About ten days. I took passage on the first ship that sailed this way.”

Now a companion-ladder was lowered, and the white-haired man came briskly up it and saluted the doctor with another low bow.

“My dear Doctor Talisman! (I assume that you
are
now a doctor?) Welcome back to your birthplace!”

“Manoel! Let me make you known to Captain Sanderson – Senhor Manoel Roy.”

“The brave Captain Sanderson of the good ship
Siwara
, I know already.” Another bow.

“And here is Dido Twite, who has come to Aratu looking for Lord Herodsfoot.” Senhor Manoel Roy seemed a little astonished at this news. He took careful stock of Dido, who, as usual, wore long, wide trousers of dark blue duffel, a close-fitting pea-jacket with brass buttons, and a white shirt with a sailor collar. She was tanned as brown as a kipper, and her hair, much the same colour, had been cut close round her head by one of the sailors, for coolness and comfort.

Manoel asked: “May I inquire why you seek his lordship, my young sir?”

“It ain’t me that wants him, mister, it’s King Jamie, back in London town; and a tarnal long time we’ve been arter his lordship; all the way from Easter Island,” Dido explained. “Is he here? On Aratu?”

“I have not met him myself, but I understand that, yes, he is – you will be happy to hear! Somewhere out in the forest, in the middle of the island. We shall have him sought for you directly.”

“Thanks, mister!”

Captain Sanderson said, “We have another wee bit problem for ye, sir: a laddie, a naval officer, Miss Twite’s companion, suffered a sore dunt on the heid yesterday, and now lies stupefied; and young Doctor Talisman here is of the opeenion that he is done for, unless the medical folks in your hospital here on Aratu can mend the wound in his skull. Can ye be of asseestance to us in this matter?”

“Oh, my dear sir! What an unfortunate misfortune! For the most grievous part of it is that our beloved and revered island doctor, affectionately known by all the citizens of Regina, died himself, only last week, of snakebite, and as of now we have no replacement for him!”

“Hech, noo, that
is
serious! What’ll we do? The puir laddie is in a mortal bad way – isn’t that so, Doctor?”

The Doctor agreed emphatically. “Yes, indeed it is. I just checked his pulse and breathing. Both are falling steadily and are now very low. I fear he will not live more than another five or six hours.”

“Oh,
poor
Mr Multiple,” Dido said sadly. “Can’t
you
do something for him, Doc Talisman?”

Manoel Roy said: “I myself was about to suggest that very thing. Here in the town of Regina we can offer a fine hospital, and a group of nurses who know their business to a nicety, are skilled in the arts and duties of healing. All we lack is a surgeon. If you, Doctor Talisman, were prepared to undertake the task—?”

Doctor Talisman turned pale, swallowed, and said, “Well – if that is the poor boy’s only hope – I suppose I can hardly refuse. I can only offer to try and do my best – I did study brain surgery in Vienna for six months – I have a basic knowledge – but will the people in the hospital allow a total stranger to come in and do this?”

“If I introduce you, yes, I am sure of it,” Manoel said confidently. “I hold the position of Mayor and Harbourmaster and head of the Civil Guard in Regina town. Furthermore I am the Sovereign’s brother. It is true that he – but never mind that. And – dear Doctor Talisman – you are not a complete stranger to us, after all. You were born in this land. When they hear your history, I am certain they will be glad to welcome you.”

Doctor Talisman seemed doubtful still, but said, “Well, there is really no time to be lost, if we are to try and save him. May we have some men to carry him to the hospital?”

“I will arrange for that at once.” Manoel retreated down the ladder, and Captain Sanderson hurried away down the deck, looking harassed, muttering something about stores and cargo. Doctor Talisman turned to Dido and said: “Dido Twite: since it does riot sound as if your Lord Herodsfoot will be found within the next few hours, if he is away in the forest – will you be so kind as to come with me to the hospital and assist me there – should that prove needful?”

“You mean,” said Dido gulping, “with poor Mr Mully’s operation?”

“Yes. That is what I mean. For all we know, the staff in the hospital may be old witches, with their heads wrapped in cobwebs and tools made out of sharks’ teeth or bamboo splinters. Luckily I have my own surgical implements with me, so that is no problem.”

Dido said: “Yus, of course, Doc, I’ll help you, if that’s what you want. Though I don’t know a blame thing about doctoring; but I’ll be glad to do anything I can for poor Mr Mully. He’s been right kind to me. That looks like the fellows coming now with a push-cart; you better fetch up your cutting-tackle, Doc.”

Studying them as they approached, Dido thought gloomily that the group of men on the quayside with the stretcher looked like mourners prematurely celebrating Mr Multiple’s funeral. They moved and spoke to each other soberly; they were black-haired, brown-skinned, like the dock-workers, but much taller, and with sharply chiselled features. They looked as if they had been carved out of wood. Dido guessed that they were Angrians, whereas the dock-workers, much more cheerful and lively, were Dilendi or Forest People.

The stretcher had two wheels, like a rickshaw; two of the men pushed it, two pulled. Mr Multiple, still deeply unconscious, was lowered over the ship’s side in a sling, and carefully positioned on a mattress stuffed with leaves, that rustled under him. He was motionless and hardly seemed to breathe.

Doctor Talisman, carrying a bag of equipment, slipped quickly down the ladder, closely followed by Dido, and they followed the stretcher across the wide stone quay. It was all inlaid, Dido noticed, with small oblongs of marble about the size of dominoes. They were either black or white, and were formed into patterns, squares, circles, and geometrical designs. Some of these looked like chess – or chequer-boards; others seemed to be designed for games that Dido did not know. It’s no wonder Lord Herodsfoot wanted to come to this island, she thought; it all seems to be set up for games. Indeed she saw two men playing a dice-game on one of the patterned squares.

Shiny-fronted houses, blue-and-white tiled, lined the rear of the quay and rose, one above the other, up the steep hill behind. Some of the tiles formed pictures, women spinning, men fishing, or digging; others were merely flowers or stars. Dido followed the doctor up a narrow, steep, black-and-white paved street. The town seemed almost unnaturally clean, bare, and silent. The hush was eerie after the mutter of drums as the ship made her landfall. But of course it was early still. However, Dido noticed that they were watched, as they walked, through tiny grilled windows and iron-barred gateways, by silent, black-hooded figures.

This is a right spooky place, Dido thought.

Suddenly a small group a few yards distant down a sidealley parted, and a black-clad figure darted towards the stretcher with arms outflung.

“
My son! My son!
”

The voice had in it a mixture of rapture and appeal.

“Croopus! Now what?” muttered Dido.

Two more women now left the group and ran after the first. Dido supposed they were women, for they had black skirts down to the ground; but their faces were invisible, wrapped in black, with only slits for the eyes. Their voices were low, urgent, and concerned.

“No, no, Modredal That sick man is not your son. Your son is far from here. Go back now. Go back to your home. You should not be on the street.”

The woman sobbed and protested – but humbly, in a murmur, as if she did not expect to have any attention paid to her.

The man, Manoel, who had followed the stretcher from the quayside, now intervened. He spoke a few quick, harsh words in an undertone, marshalling the group of black-clad figures away down the alley from which they had come.

The men with the stretcher had gone steadily on, as if this was no concern of theirs.

But Doctor Talisman had paused, and while there was still a bit of distance between them and Manoel and the men in front, Dido said softly: “Doc Talisman! There’s a thing I better say now while no one else is near by. Listen – you’re really a
gal
, ain’t you? Like me? Rigged out as a feller? No business of mine why you do it, but Mr Mully and me, we both of us twigged your act – at least I’m pretty sure he did – and, and I jaloused as how I’d better let you know. You got your own best reasons for doing so, I reckon. None o’
my
affair. I’m on your side, whatever it is – buckle and thong! Jist figured I oughta tell you.”