Crown Phoenix: Night Watchman Express Page 39

Chapter 12

  The Rescue

  andayala gulped down the last of her iced coffee and reached for another fried plantain. “Delicious,” she murmured around a mouthful of food. “Your cook has a way with spices.”

  “Thank you,” Chichilia said, motioning for Odjo to refill the visitor’s glass. Neil silently applauded her self-restraint; Mandayala had shown up just as the family had sat down to plan a way back to the other side of the Tiriumbutora mountains.

  Weko had found some detailed maps, and the brothers had prepared to take notes for the expedition. Just as they had unrolled the first draft, Mandayala had waddled up, wearing a long robe and huge turban of virulent yellow. At the sight of her, Weko, Jirili and Kakujife had grabbed the documents and quickly disappeared, leaving Chichilia, Riki, and Neil to entertain the unwanted visitor.

  “What are you going to wear to the festival, my sweet?” Mandayala reached for another plantain.

  Chichilia looked up, met Neil’s eyes, and asked, “What festival?”

  “You haven’t heard?” Mandayala was delighted that she knew something Chichilia didn’t. “My dear! Atol has called for a night of celebration. It is the eve of some new business venture, or some such thing, and he is inviting everyone to the Palace. He says it will bring great riches to the island. But, I am so surprised that Weko hasn’t told you! Doesn’t he tell you anything anymore?” Her eyes, behind folds of flesh, glittered avidly.

  Chichilia yawned slightly and said, “Weko talks to me as much as he ever did. We have just been busy with some family business lately.”

  “Really!” Mandayala sat forward, delighted. “Does it have anything to do with Riki?”

  Riki, who sat in a huge chair in one corner of the veranda wrestling with a needle and embroidery silks, looked up at the mention of her name. A demand to know what they were talking about hovered on the tip of her tongue – Neil could just see it – and she swallowed and looked down meekly at the hated embroidery.

  “Not at all,” Chichilia said, motioning towards her daughter’s chair with a smooth wave. “As you can see, Riki is busy, making a cushion for the temple.”

  “Aha,” Mandayala said, sitting back in a disappointed manner. Take that, you fat, gossiping old cow, Neil thought. “Well, still, I am very surprised that you haven’t planned your dress. I’m going to wear green and gold with matching earrings.” Neil hid a grin and thought, Yes, and you’ll look just like a bloated caterpillar.

  “I’m sure I’ll find something to wear. If it is a solemn festival, surely black or a dark blue would be more appropriate than green?” Chichilia, who always appeared so serene and polished, actually seemed to have lost her temper with the unwanted guest.

  Mandayala made a moue and darted her finger between a dish of dried pineapples and dates stuffed with fried pork, trying to decide which to eat next. “I like to be colorful. You’ll probably wear that maroon caftan of yours again, the one that everyone liked at the last party at the palace.” She speared one final bite into her mouth and got up from her seat heavily.

  “Must you go so soon? Certain I can’t persuade you to stay? No? Very well, goodbye, Mandayala. Give my regards to your husband.” After hustling her to the door, Chichilia folded her arms and watched the woman leave. Turning back to Neil and Riki, she snorted, “Maroon caftan, indeed! As if I ever owned such a thing!”

  “She’s a heifer,” Riki said and clapped one hand over her mouth. She looked guiltily at her mother.

  “You’re right, Riki. That’s exactly what she is, a heifer.” Riki’s eyes met Neil’s and they raised their eyebrows in mutual surprise that her mother had said such a thing.

  “Still,” Chichilia continued, “I wonder when this festival is going to be held. Maybe we could use it to our advantage? Atol would probably want to have most of his guards in the Palace that night, and perhaps he would relax his watch. I wonder what Weko would make of it?” She headed for the door to the house.

  “But we need to rescue Mana as soon as possible!” Neil said in a low voice. He had been hoping to leave that night.

  Chichilia, with one hand on the door, faced him and said, “I know how you feel, Neil. Still, we must proceed with the utmost of caution. Atol is an extremely dangerous man to cross.” Opening the door, she stepped into the house and called for Weko.

  “She stopped calling you Mister Neil, did you notice?” Riki said. “That means she thinks that you’re one of us now.”

  “Good,” Neil said. “Still, I want to go and rescue Mana as soon as we can. I can’t stop thinking of her, and I wonder all the time what it’s like to hang in midair in that frightful cage, freezing and hungry. In fact,” he added in a lower tone, “I have dreams about it.”

  Riki put down her sewing and coming over to him, wound one arm around his waist, and gave him a squeeze that nearly crushed his ribs. “I know how you feel,” she said. “Still, you have to be patient. Isn’t that what you always say to me?”

  Feeling somewhat better, Neil nodded.

  Later, when they gathered at the dining room table, Weko spread out the huge map of the island again and leaned over it, tracing the coastline with one forefinger. “Hmmm,” he said to himself. Neil, who sat as quietly as possible, nearly screamed with frustration.

  Jirili leaned over the back of his father’s chair and pointed to another spot on the map. “Maybe here?” he suggested.

  “What are you talking about?” Neil managed to croak.

  “We’re just trying to – we’re looking for –” Weko’s voice died out as he poured over the map again. Isn’t that just like a grown-up, Neil thought, and his fingers curled into his palms. You tell them about your own project because you need their help, and they take over the whole thing. Across the table, Riki winked at him in a sympathetic manner.

  “What of this festival that Atol has proposed?” Chichilia came in with a huge plate of fruit and biscuits. Riki, instead of grabbing the plate and eating all the best bits, actually took it from her mother and passed it to one of her brothers.

  “It’s in about a week’s time. You were thinking we could use that to our advantage?”

  “The thought had crossed my mind, yes.” Chichilia smiled back at Weko with complete comprehension. “I thought that the Palace would be too busy with the preparations to notice our little expedition.”

  “I can’t leave Mana there for that long!” Neil said. “I’m sorry, but you haven’t seen that cage swinging in the high wind. I’d be sick in about five minutes, and she’s been there for days and days now.”

  Weko nodded. “Perhaps you are right, although it would be convenient to go the night of the party. Still, convenience is not always the best option.”

  “Well, thank goodness for that!” Neil leaned forward and took a slice of papaya from the dish. “Can we go tonight?”

  Weko glanced out of the window. “Mmmm. It’s afternoon now. What do you think, Jirili? Kakujife?”

  “Best not to rush things,” Jirili said.

  “Although we should rescue her as quickly as possible,” his brother objected.

  “True, but we need to have a secure, organized plan.”

  “Well, there are several hours until nightfall,” Weko said. “No moon again tonight, which is in our favor. Which way did you say you took to return home, Riki?”

  Riki pointed on the map to the ring of rocks that bordered the island south of the Tiriumbutora. “There. The path goes from our house to the Palace, but it branches off just here. If you keep heading east, eventually you reach a space between the rocks.”

  Weko nodded. “And there is a flight of crude steps up the cliff, you say?”

  “Yes.”

  “Right,” the man answered, standing up decisively. “Jirili, you and Kakujife get supplies together. Riki, tell Odjo to prepare some food and drink. Chichilia, get some rubber-soled shoes for everyone, including Neil here. Neil, help my sons pack up the supplies and help Odjo with the food. I’ll prepare the house so it will
look as though we are still here tonight after we leave.”

  After a moment of hesitation, everyone stood up and moved off, heading in different directions. Neil, following the two tall brothers, reflected that Weko, once he started moving, was very good at giving directions. No wonder he had done so well for himself in the bolemor exporting business.

  That night, a line of black figures moved slowly up the rocky coast. All of them were dressed in dark clothes, so it was difficult to see them if you didn’t know they were there. The path from their house had taken them right to the eastern shore, just as Riki had said, and now they were negotiating their way through the large, sharp stones that lined the island on that side. Good thing that my boat didn’t land here, Neil reflected as he followed Kakujife’s large back, or I would have been dashed to pieces on those rocks.

  It was much easier going this way; it was also better when there were other people to carry supplies and point out possible pitfalls. Neil nearly plunged into a deep puddle of thick, bubbling mud at the start, and he would have been soaked had not Jirili grabbed his arm and pulled him to safety in time. Further down the path, Odjo lost his balance and sat heavily in dark, warm water. Still, besides a show of temper, no one was any the worse for these minor incidents, and after what seemed like a very short time indeed they arrived at the stone steps.

  “Jirili and Kakujife, Odjo - come with me,” Weko whispered. “Everyone else stay here.”

  “Papi!” Riki protested. “Neil and I can come up and keep watch in the tunnel for you!”

  “Not you,” Weko said in a tone that broached no argument. “Neil, you may come if you don’t mind facing a guard in the tunnel.”

  “But Papi,” Riki said. She looked up at Chichilia, who had resignedly settled on the flat rock that Neil had fallen on before. “Why can’t I come? Because I’m a girl? That’s just silly.”

  “I must say, sir,” Neil said, “Riki’s a lot of good on an expedition. She saved my skin a few times when we came here before.”

  “When you left my house without permission and trespassed on our island, you mean,” Weko said. He considered, and said, “I may regret it, but very well. Riki, you come too. My dear, you will watch the coast for us?”

  “Certainly.” Chichilia crossed her ankles and leaned back composedly. She looked as though she were going to read a novel, or have some tea. “Do take care, my dear.”

  Weko winked at her, and they began the long climb up the stairs. Ascending wasn’t as bad as climbing down those frightful, rudimentary steps, and after a few minutes, Neil could see the outline of the cage, hanging from its stout iron chain. He touched Jirili’s arm and pointed, and the brother looked and nodded.

  Neil could just make out a dark shape huddled at the bottom of the cage. It was so motionless that his heart stopped for a moment. Mana couldn’t be dead, could she? No, she must just be sleeping. That was all. That had to be it.

  “Mana! Miss Postulate!” he hissed, but the figure didn’t move. After a moment of hesitation, Neil continued the climb. There was nothing he could do for her on that crumbling step.

  They reached the stone platform at the top of the climb at last, and Riki and Neil squeezed back into the tunnel. There was just room for the Weko, his two sons, and Odjo on the top of the cliff. Weko got down on one knee and whispered, “Miss Postulate! Princess!”

  There was no response. Weko tried again, but there was only silence. He got up, dusted off his knees, and said in Lampalan, “We’ll have to risk it anyway. Jirili, you and Kakujife lie down here on the ledge and try to pull that chain outwards. Odjo and I will help once you get some slack onto the rock. And be careful, everyone, we don’t want to go over that cliff.”

  From the tunnel, Neil could just see the straining backs of the two sons as they lay down and began to pull. The brothers exhorted each other with terse comments: “It’s beginning to move – I say, watch that chain, it’ll have your finger off – it’s slipping – watch out, Jife! That’s torn it!”

  The chain dropped with a clank, and patiently the two began again. Riki hopped up and down with excited agony and gnawed on one nail. Neil chewed the inside of his lip. Please, he thought, looking out from the tunnel up at the stars. Please let them be able to rescue her. Please. I can’t do anything else to help her, but if there is anyone out there, please.

  The brothers bent over the rock and hauled at the chain. Neil suddenly had a horrifying vision of the cage slipping out of their hands and pulling them both over the edge of the rock. “Stop!” he shouted.

  Weko looked at him in astonishment. “What is it, Mr. Neil?” he asked.

  “I just don’t want to put your sons in danger,” Neil muttered.

  Jirili suddenly yelled, “That’s it!” He and Kakujife hauled up a loop of the huge chain, their muscles bulging and straining, and Odjo and Weko instantly seized the links and began to haul. Slowly the great coil of metal clinked onto the precipice until a pile of the stuff lay on the flat stone.

  “How strong do you think that ledge is?” Riki muttered, her eyes glued to the scene.

  “Don’t even think about that,” Neil warned. After a minute, he felt a skinny hand slide inside his own, and he gratefully clasped back. It was somewhat of a comfort to feel her small, wizened claw.

  “There’s the cage!” Weko said. The men groaned and pulled, their faces growing purple with the effort. There was a bump as the top of the cage hit the underside of the jutting rock.

  “Now!” Weko grunted, purple in the face with effort. The men groaned as they pulled, but suddenly there was a sigh as the chain slipped.

  “Stand back!” Jirili yelled. They dropped the chain and flung themselves back against the rock as the chain slid with ominous rapidity over the rock and crashed down on the underside. From far away, Neil thought he heard an ominous flop, as if an inert body had landed on an unyielding floor.

  “Mana?” Neil called. There was still no answer from below.

  “Sorry, Neil,” Weko panted. “I could tell the chain was going to go. We just can’t get the cage up over the lip of the rock.”

  “Father, what if I climbed down the chain and got the princess out that way?” Kakujife asked.

  Jirili, instead of automatically agreeing with his brother, frowned. “That would be most dangerous,” he said. “You could slip on the chain, or the cage could fall. We don’t know if the link that attaches it to this rock is strong enough to bear your weight. And you must bear in mind that is must also carry the cage and the princess.”

  “We have to try something,” Kakujife said.

  “And,” Weko added, “How do we know that you can even get inside the cage once you reach her?”

  “Father, we have to try,” Kakujife said. “Jiri, you lie down and keep an eye on that link in the rock. Yell if you see it starting to move and I’ll nip up at once.”

  “Bravo, Jife!” Riki shouted. Neil nodded; he felt that his heart was too full to say anything. The bravery of Riki’s brother, whom he had often mocked as a nodding shadow of his father, was unbelievable.

  Kakujife grinned and crawled to the edge of the rock. He looked down and shouted back, “I can reach the chain! This just might work!” His arms reached down, and his body slid off the ledge where they all were standing.

  Neil squeezed his eyes shut and began his inward chant again. Please, he thought, please let Kakujife come back safe. Please don’t let me be responsible for his life. I just couldn’t bear it. Beside him, he could hear Riki murmuring something as well, and she gripped his hand tighter.

  A few tense minutes followed. Neil could hear Kakujife’s grunts grow harder to hear as the man descended. Weko lay down on the rock beside Jirili and watched the progress.

  “He’s reached the cage,” he said. “Neil! Riki! Better get back off the ledge, in case something happens. You too, Odjo,” he added, looking up at the cook’s girth.

  Riki and Neil hopped back into the tunnel, and after a moment, Odjo squeezed in
next to him. “Father, what’s happening?” Riki danced up and down with frustration.

  “That bloody cage is nailed shut,” Weko said. “He can’t get in. Odjo, hand me that knife, would you?” He seized the long instrument and called down to his son. “Jife! I’m dropping a knife – make sure you catch it!” There was a short pause, and he said with satisfaction, “Excellent. Nice catch! Wait - Damn it! They used bolemor! He’ll never hack through that!” He shouted again, “Jife! Use the knife on the nails! Get them out of the wood!”

  A few more minutes of tense waiting followed. Riki stopped her dance and stood still. “Oh, I just can’t bear it,” she moaned. Neil disengaged his hand from her grip and put his arm around her. She turned to him and buried her face in his chest. Odjo looked surprised, and he gave Neil a big smile and two thumbs up. Neil rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help grinning back.

  “Hang on. Here he comes,” Jirili said. “And, by Jove, he’s got the princess!”

  “How can he climb with her on his shoulder?” Neil blurted out. Riki moaned again and hugged him tighter, but Odjo grunted. “Master Kakujife is very, very strong,” he said.

  Weko and Jirili suddenly bent down over the lip of the rock ledge. Their back muscles strained as they pulled Mana’s limp body over the edge. Kakujife pulled himself up, sweating profusely, but with a huge smile on his face.

  Weko started forward. “Fantastic job!” he began, but Neil stopped him.

  “Weko!” he screamed. “The ledge! It’s starting to crack!”

  Indeed, there were ominous sounds coming from the rock as a long crack appeared right at the edge of where it entered the tunnel. Jirili, Kakujife and Weko, who was bearing the body of Princess Manapalata, jumped forward into the tunnel. Odjo, Riki and Neil scrambled backwards to give the huge men room.

  At that moment, the stone crumbled and disappeared. A few seconds later, there was a huge crash as the cage, the chain and the huge rock they had hung from for so long crashed onto the shore below.

  “Mami!” Riki gasped.

  “Chichilia!” Weko said at the same time. He peered out of the cave, and he sighed with relief. “She is fine,” he said. “Your mother stepped well out of the way once she saw Jife starting his descent.”

  Jirili looked out over the shoreline. He raised his fist and shouted at the ocean, “Dastards! Who would dare to treat a woman in such a way!”

  “Oh, well said, Jife!” Riki said, from the shelter of Neil’s arm. “I never knew you had it in you!”

  Neil realized that he was still hugging her. He quickly let her go. “How about the Princess? Is she all right?” he asked

  “She is alive, but just barely,” Weko said. “Jirili, stop that. Let’s get out away from this hell-hole and get her back to the house.” He stepped off the lip of the cave and onto the precarious steps, and Jirili followed. Neil and Riki came next, Riki looking uncharacteristically solemn. Jife climbed slowly, still winded from the rescue. Last in line, the huge figure of Odjo carefully negotiated the steps, carrying the sleeping figure of Princess Manapalata carefully in his arms.