The Darkest Heart (23 page)

‘We'll have to stop if it rains.' Mine were the first words anyone had spoken for some time. ‘If we push hard, we might make it to Piratinga before the rain hits us. We don't want to get caught out here on—'

‘Just keep going,' Leonardo told me.

‘We're going to
have
to stop if it rains.' I said, sensing the wind pick up around us. ‘Better to stop there than anywhere else.'

‘We're not stopping.' Leonardo stood and came towards me, reminding me that he was in control now.

‘If the rain hits us, it might as well be dark. We're not going anywhere in the kind of rain that's coming.'

‘This another one of your lies?'

‘No. Maybe I should even stop here, where it's safe.'

I didn't want to stop, though, and I didn't want to press on to the Rio das Mortes. Piratinga was within range now. Just another hour or so and we could be there.

The old man was sweating and shivering. A bead of blood had trickled from his nose and trailed to his lip where it had welled in a single ruby tear and dried the colour of rust. It looked like he had a rash coming too.

‘Shit.' I banged my fist in frustration and set the boat straight down the centre of the river before leaving my seat.

‘Where do you think you're going?' Leonardo asked as I pushed past him.

‘There's nowhere for me to go. We're on a boat.' I moved to the side of the
Deus
, sensing Leonardo's suspicion. I could almost feel him tensing, finding the reassurance of his pistol.

‘Don't do anything you—'

‘I have to see where it is,' I said, looking at the sky and leaning out around the housing at the back, where the rifles were snug in their cases. The river was taken from sight by the bend we had just rounded and above it, where everything was blue just a few
moments ago, things were beginning to change. I watched the bruised sky behind us, seeing the transformation as torment built in the distance.

‘Well, at least we know which way it's coming from,' I said. ‘Straight up our arse. And it's coming fast.'

Leonardo came to the stern, keeping a safe distance from me, but leaning out to see the thunderheads gathering. Together we watched them swell and I tried to make a guess at how long it might take for the rain to reach us. I could see it a long way off, like a sheet of haze cutting my view.

‘It's close.' I said, going back to the wheel and looking at Raul and Daniella. ‘We're going to have to stop soon. At least this cool air should make it a little easier on you, old man.' But with the breeze pushing on us already, it wouldn't be long before the rain caught up.

I turned the boat in towards the bank, searching for a spot where it would be safe to anchor.

‘I told you; no stopping until—'

‘Shut up.' I turned on Leonardo. ‘Shut up and let me get on with this. If we stay out here, with rain like that, we'll be blind. You saw it, too. You've seen what's coming.'

Leonardo hesitated, looked at me, glanced down at his gun. ‘You're lying.'

‘If you want to shoot me, you're going to have to shoot me.' I was sick of him now. Sick of this whole trip. ‘If I don't put this boat in, we're going to get caught out here and we're going to be screwed. I'm not going to be able to see and, at best, we're going to get beached. At worst we're going to hit something and the boat's going to sink. Either way I hope you can swim, and both ways you're not going to get your guns to Mina dos Santos on time.'

And then the boat lurched as the hull came into contact with something in the water, something smooth like a raised hump of sand. The engine sputtered as we passed on, the boat groaning as it ground over the obstruction.

Leonardo put out a hand to steady himself on the gunwale and stared at me as if I had drawn a gun and shot him.

I grabbed the wheel and took us away from the shallows, and when I looked back at Leonardo, he had pulled Daniella close to him and was holding his pistol to her waist. ‘Don't do that again.'

‘I didn't do anything other than take my eyes off the river. Now do you understand? In a few minutes I won't be able to see anything. We need to stop.'

‘Keep going.'

‘I saw your face just then. You were afraid. How much worse do you think it will be when the storm is here? You're frightened by a small bump like that, think what it will be like in the rain.'

He didn't reply.

‘You're afraid of the water, aren't you?' I released the wheel. ‘You can't swim.'

‘Watch where you're going.'

‘Oh, you mean you want me to steer the boat?' I took advantage of his fear. ‘You want me to watch where we're going?'

‘Yes.'

‘Then let her go.'

Leonardo thought about it. He looked to the bank, then at the unmanned wheel.

‘So,' I said, lowering my hands, letting the boat find her own course. ‘What's it going to be?'

Leonardo shook his head and forced himself to smile as if this was going to be his decision. He was telling himself he was still in charge, that he could laugh it off. Truth was, though, none of us was in control any more, not as long as that weather was bearing down on us.

‘OK,' he said, pushing Daniella away from him. ‘Do what you have to do.'

I guided Daniella past me, indicating that she should go to the bow. There was fear and anger in her eyes, her hair falling forwards around her face, her shoulders hunched as if something wild were trying to inhabit her. Her usual poise was forgotten, and I squeezed her hand, hoping that it would instil just a little reassurance. When emotions like fear and anger mix, they can blind people into taking risks. Daniella had already struck out
at Leonardo once, and I didn't want her to do anything else that would endanger her.

‘Stay calm,' I whispered. ‘Save your anger.'

Once she was out of Leonardo's reach, I turned back to the wheel, putting my hands on it and giving my attention to the riverbank. ‘You made the right decision,' I said to Leonardo as I scanned the shoreline for something with a little shelter – perhaps a small inlet, a sandbank behind which I could tuck us – but on this side of the river there wasn't much. ‘A few more minutes and we'll be blind. You thought that bump we just had was bad? That's nothing. In the storm, I reckon you'd shit yourself.'

‘Don't try to play me,' Leonardo said. ‘You won't win.'

‘Why don't you just sit down,' I replied. ‘This isn't a competition.'

And then, over the sound of the
Deus e o Diabo
, I heard the engine of another boat. A higher-pitched drone, coming from behind, growing louder by the second.

A smaller, faster boat.

31

I stopped the engine and hurried back to the gunwale, leaning out and waving to attract the attention of the smaller vessel.

‘What the fuck are you doing?' Leonardo gripped my shoulder, dragging me away. ‘What now? Get back here and control this damn boat.'

‘They can take the old man,' I said to him. ‘Take him back to Piratinga for us.'

I raised my arm to wave again, but Leonardo grabbed it, pulling it down. ‘No one's getting off this boat. Let them pass.'

‘They've seen the rain, too,' Daniella said, coming to stand with us, keeping away from Leonardo. ‘They're trying to outrun it.'

‘They stand a better chance than we do,' I agreed. ‘They'll be in Piratinga in no time. Let them take the old man. Please.'

The boat was gaining on us and, for the second time in two days, we could see two men, both sitting near the back. One of them was controlling the outboard, the other holding onto his hat with one hand, his shirt open to the wind. I knew that Raul would be better off with them. Their boat was much smaller, and it would skip across the water. It would take us close to an hour to reach Piratinga if we were going that way, but they would be there in half that time. They'd probably get there before the rain.

‘You're not making the decisions,' Leonardo said. ‘We keep moving.'

But he was too late. Both men had noticed us and turned their boat towards us, slowing the engine.

‘Jesus Christ.' Leonardo raised his pistol a touch more, as if
he was considering putting it to use, then he kicked the gunwale and swore.

‘Try not to kill anyone this time,' I said.

‘I will if I have to.'

‘You won't have to,' I said. ‘Let them take the old man. Daniella, too. After that, I'll do whatever you want.'

‘No one's getting off this boat. And don't you forget – I'll kill her.' Leonardo moved to stand beside Daniella. He put one arm around her waist and pressed his pistol against her hip so I could see it, but it was shielded from the approaching vessel. ‘Or maybe kill you first and have some fun with her. She's pretty. Maybe enough to make me forget about the guns altogether.' He stared at me for a moment, listening to the sound of the motor coming closer.

‘Let them take the old man,' I said. ‘Please. He's of no use to you. After that I'll do whatever you want.'

‘Get rid of them.'

The outboard sidled up to us, and the man at the front took hold of the tyres while the one operating the outboard dropped the engine to an idle and picked up a rifle which he set across his lap.

I recognised the man at the front, but couldn't place him. He was tall and dark, sinewy like a labourer, with a distinctive mark on the cheekbone under his right eye, where the skin was much darker. And then it came to me: I'd seen him drinking in Ernesto's a few times, talking with the others. I wasn't sure what he did, but I'd seen him hanging around with the men who worked over at the soya factory, so I guessed maybe he was a worker from there, too. He wasn't a
pistoleiro
, but I found myself looking at his clothing, searching for the tell-tale bump of a concealed weapon. Leonardo would be doing the same.

The only thing I could see was the hunting rifle, lying across the second man's lap. It was a standard twenty-two, the type of gun people used for hunting
paca
in the forest, maybe shooting a caiman, but if he was a good shot and he raised it quickly enough, he could protect his friend from where he was sitting. There were other things too; some lines, hooks, three good sized
tucunaré
wallowing in the inch or so of water which slopped in the bottom of the aluminium boat.

‘Marcio, isn't it?' I said, aware of Leonardo watching me.

‘Marco,'
he replied, standing up and putting his hands on the gunwale so he could look into the
Deus
and survey our boat.

‘Yeah, Marco. Sorry.'

‘You're Zico, right? Raul's friend.' His eyes lingered on Leonardo for a moment, before he looked at Daniella. ‘And you're the girl from the shop?'

Leonardo nudged her and Daniella nodded. ‘Yes.'

‘You I don't know.'

Leonardo smiled as if he were the luckiest man on the river. ‘I'm her boyfriend.'

Marco considered his words, looking from me to Leonardo. ‘What happened to your leg?'

‘Bitten by a
jacaré.'

‘For real?' Marco didn't look convinced.

‘Sneaked up on the beach last night and grabbed him in his sleep,' I said.

Marco whistled and shook his head, then looked at Daniella. ‘You OK? Need some help?'

Beside me, Daniella grunted as Leonardo prodded the pistol into her.

‘No,' I told him. ‘We're good.' I was desperate to ask for Marco's help, but it might lead to something unspeakable, and I couldn't let that happen.

Marco came to the front of their outboard, climbing up onto the tyres so his face was level with my chest. He brought a rope with him and tied it off to one of the cleats on the
Deus.

Leonardo shifted, keeping his gun hidden.

The man in the boat sat up a little straighter and rested his hands on his rifle.

‘This is Raul's boat. Where's Raul?' Marco eyed me with suspicion.

‘He's sleeping.' I hated saying it. I was betraying the old man instead of helping him.

‘Sleeping?' Marco hesitated for a moment, maybe wondering if I was trying to trick him, then he took his eyes off me and leaned over to see along the boat. ‘Is that him there? He looks sick.'

I turned towards the old man as if I hadn't known he was there. He was slumped in the wheelhouse, his head resting on the dashboard, one arm dangling down. Rocky was tied beside him, looking forlorn.

‘He's fine,' Leonardo said. ‘A little fever is all.'

‘What kind of fever?' Marco asked. ‘Dengue? There's been dengue in Piratinga, you know.'

‘We'll get him home soon enough,' Leonardo replied.

‘Not as fast as I can,' Marco answered. ‘Storm's coming. You want me to take him?'

Beside me, I could feel Leonardo's tension. He was losing control of this situation and his temper was rising. These two men were not as easy a target as the two he had killed yesterday. Those men had been close together, lined up below him, easy to pick off. These two were separated, and suspicious. It would take seconds for the man in the boat to pick up his rifle, so Leonardo would have to shoot him first, but that would leave three of us for him to control and he didn't know whether or not Marco was armed. Even for a man like Leonardo, those odds were not good.

‘We'll make it,' Leonardo said, struggling to keep his tone level. ‘We'll get there in time. Before the rain.'

‘In this shit heap?' Marco said. ‘Come on, you know how slow this is.' He looked at me. ‘We put him on my boat, I can get him to Piratinga in no time.'

Marco studied Leonardo for a moment, as if he didn't quite trust him, then hauled himself up onto the
Deus.

I took the opportunity to show Leonardo a discreet and questioning look.