The officer nodded curtly. ‘Good morning, sir. I’m afraid I’m here on business this time!’
‘Really? Well then, perhaps you’ll be good enough to tell me what all this is about.’ Vivian forced his voice to remain level, a habit he had learned so well in the Navy. ‘And, blow me down! David Muir! What the devil are you doing here?’
‘Mr. Muir is my superior officer,’ said the other man quickly, as if eager to save Muir any embarrassment.
But Vivian was unwilling to let him off so lightly. ‘But you are mistaken, surely!’ he exclaimed.
‘No, there’s no mistake.’ Muir’s voice was flat. ‘I see you’re surprised.’
‘Well, it is a bit confusing, you must admit.’ Inwardly he thought the chap was pretty sure of himself.
‘Now, if you don’t mind, one of my men will take the wheel from you, sir, then we can have a nice, little chat.’ The officer’s gaze was shrewd and piercing.
‘Yes, I bloody well do mind!’ barked Vivian angrily, ‘what the hell is all this?’
‘Now then, sir, that’ll do,’ the red face was expressionless. ‘First of all, I want to know why you weren’t flying your “Q” flag?’
Vivian shrugged, and handed over the wheel to one of the keen-eyed young men. ‘I haven’t been abroad, that’s why,’ he lied calmly. ‘I’ve been stuck out here in the Channel, waiting for the gale to finish. You must know that, surely?’
Muir smiled softly. ‘May we go below, Vivian. My men are going to search your boat.’ He paused, watching the other man’s face. ‘We have certain information that you have unlawful goods in your possession, namely, dangerous drugs.’
Vivian glared at him angrily. ‘Rubbish. I’ve no drugs aboard, and I’ve not been smuggling!’
He allowed himself to be led below to the saloon. He saw
the
officer go on deck, and speak to Cooper, while the other man began to examine the chart.
Muir sat down; calm and assured. ‘You might as well speak up, you know. Now, where have you got the stuff? My men will find it, even if they have to take the boat ashore, and tear it to bits!’
‘I tell you, you’re mad! I’ve been taking Mr. Cooper out fishing. I often do.’
‘But what about your trip abroad you had planned?’ Muir’s voice hardened. ‘I’m not a fool, Vivian, and you and I both know what I have said is the truth.’
‘That trip hasn’t come off yet. Mr. Jensen’ll tell you, why don’t you ask him?’
‘Perhaps we will.’ He looked up sharply, as the officer came below, and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
‘They deny it, of course,’ he said testily.
‘What d’you mean, of course?’ barked Vivian. ‘We’re not all crooks, you know!’
‘We shall see, shan’t we?’ said the officer pleasantly.
Then he looked over to Muir. ‘All right to have a quick look now, sir?’
‘Yes, go ahead.’
Vivian watched from beneath lowered lids, as the two uniformed men hurried aft to begin their search. His face felt damp with sweat, when he thought what would happen when they discovered Karen’s hiding place. It made him sick with fury, to think of her name being mixed up with any suspicion of his own crime.
Muir tapped a cigarette on a silver case, his eyes mocking. ‘I really am sorry about this, Vivian. It must be a bit of a shock to you.’ He dusted a speck of tobacco from his immaculate grey suit. ‘I made rather a good stockbroker, didn’t you think?’
Vivian grinned mirthlessly. ‘I’d rather not say what I
think.
I’ve always had the greatest respect for the Customs, up until I met you!’
Muir was completely unperturbed.
Vivian heard the searchers examining the bathroom, and then the click of the deck-boards being lifted up.
‘Still sure of yourself, eh? But you really haven’t a very good story, now have you?’ The voice was patronizing.
‘I still say I didn’t leave home waters,’ Vivian’s voice sounded flat and tired.
‘Well, I don’t suppose you can produce any witness?’ asked Muir cheerfully.
‘Unless you can call
me
a witness!’ The clear voice sounded like a pistol shot in the stillness of the saloon.
Muir spun round, his jaw dropping, while Vivian could only gape with surprise at the girl’s small figure, poised on the steps.
‘Karen! What on earth are you doing here? And how did you get aboard?’ Muir stumbled over his sentences, his calm dignity gone. ‘For Pete’s sake, you were with me only the evening before last!’
She allowed him to carry on for a while, his words, like his mind, thrashing about helplessly in a wilderness.
When she answered him, her eyes flashed like blue ice, and her voice was filled with contempt.
‘I have been aboard here enjoying myself!’ Her tone was as cold as her eyes. ‘Just as Philip will tell you! But you couldn’t understand that, could you, being a stockbroker, or is it Customs officer now?’
Two bright spots of colour rose in Muir’s cheeks, and he bit his lip. ‘This had nothing to do with the way I felt for you, Karen,’ he pleaded. ‘I had no idea——’
‘No idea I’d find out you had been lying to me, is that what you’re going to say?’ In her anger, her Danish accent became more pronounced.
Behind him, Vivian could feel the two Customs officers breathing heavily, no doubt wondering what was happening.
‘But, Karen, surely you realize I had my duty to do?’ Muir seemed oblivious to the fascinated audience.
‘All I know is,’ and for the first time the girl’s lip trembled slightly, and Vivian noticed her knuckles gleaming white on her clenched hands, ‘you told me that you were in love with me, and that you wanted me to marry you!’
The words dropped like pebbles into a still pool, and Vivian, who had been feeling something like pity for the man, was moved to a sudden anger by this revelation.
One of the Customs officers cleared his throat noisily. ‘I take it then that the boat’s okay?’ The question was directed at the confused Muir.
‘Oh, er, yes,’ he stammered. ‘This is Miss Jensen. She’s just stated that she’s been aboard all night.’ He turned back to the girl. ‘Is that right?’
‘Yes,’ she said deliberately, ‘all night.’
‘But, Karen_____’ began Vivian hastily.
‘All night!’ she repeated, ‘and unless you think I’ve been over to wherever-it-is, doing a bit of smuggling, I think you’d better go!’
Muir nodded to his men, and the boarding officer sighed deeply.
‘Well, so long, Mr. Vivian, thanks for letting us look round,’ was all he said, but his eyes were angry, and cheated.
Vivian watched the three officers swing aboard their own craft, and was suddenly aware of Muir by his side.
‘Apparently I was wrong,’ he said quietly.
‘About a lot of things, I should think,’ answered Vivian coldly, and as Muir turned to board his boat, he held out his hand. ‘Here, you dropped this a while back!’ In his
palm
lay the Customs identity card. ‘So you see, I
did
know, and it’s not likely I’d try anything stupid, knowing that, is it?’
Muir’s face was white, and he took the card unbelievingly, and stared at it.
The boats moved apart, the Customs launch thrashing the water into a froth with her screws, as she manœuvred clear, but Muir didn’t look back.
Vivian stood quite motionless, his heart still pounding, and his scalp tingling with sweat.
‘Jeez! They’ve gone!’ Cooper peered round the side of the hatchway.
‘Oh, go to hell, and get on with your fishing!’ he shouted, and stamped back to the wheelhouse.
Karen still stood by the door, but quite limp, as if her anger had drained the life out of her. At the sound of his approach, she lifted her face, and he saw that her eyes were brimming with tears. She didn’t resist, as he pulled her gently against his chest, and held her tightly to him.
‘It’s over,’ he said quietly. ‘I hadn’t realized it meant so much, that you were so involved.’ The words sounded inadequate.
Her answer was muffled by his jersey against her mouth. ‘It’s all right, Philip, I didn’t know what I wanted, when I met him.’
‘You mean, you do now?’ He spoke the words carefully, but his quick breathing betrayed his feelings, and she raised her tear-stained face to his, and he noticed the soft fragrance of her hair, the gentle curve of her lashes.
‘Yes, I know now.’ There was emphasis on each word. ‘And I do not think that you will ever let me down!’
Then her hands were about his shoulders, and he felt her body pressing against him. Her eyes were misty, and he felt her tremble. The next instant, he pressed his mouth to hers,
and
a great excitement seemed to sweep down and engulf him, and send his senses racing wildly. They broke apart, and for a moment they just stood looking at each other, as if for the first time.
‘My darling,’ his voice sounded weak. ‘Everything’ll be all right now!’
Her small hands moved quickly and excitedly, to her hair, her throat, and plucked at her jacket, like two tiny, blind animals, lost and bewildered.
‘Please, Philip,’ she gasped. ‘We must be calm!’ But all at once she was laughing, and tears of happiness washed away the strain and the worry from her face. ‘Oh, Philip, I’m so very happy now!’
He stepped towards her again, but she shook her head violently, her hair shimmering in the sunlight. ‘No, Philip, I am going to your cabin to have a little cry.’ She paused, dropping her eyes. ‘And when I come up again, I will try to behave like a lady!’ And blowing him a kiss, she was gone.
For a while, he didn’t know what to do. He stared blankly at the chart, ran his hand over the compass, and without thinking, twisted his pipe in his grasp, until with a sharp snap, the stem broke in two pieces. He laughed aloud, his face boyish, and split into an uncontrollable grin.
Vivian steadied
Seafox
on her new course, and brought her head round until it pointed towards the grey finger of Ramsgate breakwater. A black Starboard Hand buoy bobbed and curtseyed in salute, as the sturdy, little yacht passed close by, and Vivian peered out along the deck, to make sure that Morrie was getting the mooring lines laid out. He noticed that the decks, so recently running with spray, were now dry, and steaming slightly in the bright sun, which bathed the sea, and the red-roofed houses on the shore, with warmth. The clouds had vanished with the gale,
and
even the surge of the tide seemed humble in its presence.
As he squinted against the glare, and pulled down the peak of his cap to shield his eyes, he noted the multicoloured throng of people on the harbour walls. So like Torquay, he thought, and his heart warmed at the prospect of taking Karen there, to be free, and away from all complications.
His eyes softened, as he saw Karen, bright and beautiful against the blue sky, her hair rippling in the sea breeze, the skirt flapping at her brown limbs. She gripped the guardrail, and laughed back at him, her teeth white and gleaming.
A shadow fell across the boat, as he swung her under the lee of the high wall. His watchful eye followed the tiny figure of the harbourmaster waving him to a free berth, and as the boat glided easily into the sheltered water, he stopped the engines, and allowed her to nose alongside the green, slimy piles. The fenders squeaked, and several willing hands took the warps. He cut the power, and listened to the engines shudder to silence, and at once, the sounds of the outside world, of laughter, and distant music, filtered down to him. He patted the wheel affectionately, and stepped off the grating.
‘Well done, old girl,’ he murmured. ‘Now to get the rest of this affair straightened up.’
Karen was chatting and smiling with the harbourmaster, who was writing out the berthing ticket. He grinned a welcome.
‘Hallo, Mr. Vivian, nice to see you again.’
He quickly arranged for fresh fuel and water, and watched the man climb up the long ladder to the harbour wall.
‘And what were you conspiring about?’ he chuckled.
‘I asked him if he knew where I could get some sandals.
He
said there’s a place by the harbour entrance, so I can walk there in my bare feet!’ Her eyes shone brightly. ‘I can get you a bucket and spade at the same time!’
He waited while she went below to ‘powder her nose’, as she put it, and Cooper walked softly over to him, brushing furiously at his jacket.
‘Looks as if I’ve slept in it!’ he muttered bitterly. ‘What are you going to do now?’ His eyes were sharp and watchful.
‘Well, I’ve got some shopping to do,’ said Vivian casually. ‘I suppose you’ll be off to London to break the news to Mason, eh?’
Cooper rubbed his chin. ‘Guess I’ll ‘phone him, and tell him what’s happened. He’s not going to like it, though.’
‘He’ll like it even less when Mr. Jensen closes up the beautiful partnership,’ said Vivian grimly. ‘He doesn’t like being led up the garden. Any more than I do.’
Cooper’s face darkened. ‘I hope he doesn’t do anything hasty, we’ve been kinda depending on him.’
‘Well, that’s all finished,’ he snapped.
Cooper shrugged. ‘I’m off, then.’ He beckoned to Morrie, who was gazing up at the faces of the holiday-makers who were admiring the yacht. ‘C’mon, bonehead! We’ve got work to do!’
The big man didn’t even glance at Vivian, and his eyes were dull, almost unseeing.
Vivian shuddered. What a pair, he mused.
‘I’m ready!’ The girl was at his side, smiling at him. She had discarded her jacket, and her blouse made her look cool and carefree.
With his hand on her arm, he guided her through the jostling throng. When they reached the end of the outer harbour, they stopped, and looked back at the graceful, white hull, dwarfed by the rough stonework. Her sides glistened, and the reflected lights dappled the boat with
gold.
She squeezed his hand. ‘Dear little
Seafox
. She has looked after us very well.’
They bought the sandals from a shop festooned with holiday-wear, postcards, and Ramsgate rock, and when she had slipped them on to her dainty feet, they made their way to a secluded ’phone box.
He squeezed in beside her, her closeness making him feel excited once more, but he forced himself to think calmly, as he sorted out the correct money for the call.
‘Don’t forget, Karen, tell him everything that’s happened, but speak in Danish. We want to be sure that this is for his ears alone.’