‘It doesn’t have to,’ she said viciously. ‘He’s on top.’
‘On top of what, for God’s sake? Both Fallon and Paul are here doing a job of work, and why Paul doesn’t get on with it and await the outcome is beyond me.’
‘Because Fallon will…’ She stopped. ‘Oh, what’s the use of talking? You wouldn’t understand.’
‘That’s right,’ I said sarcastically. ‘I’m so dumb and stupid I can’t put two and two together. Don’t be so bloody patronizing.’
It’s said that some women appear more beautiful when angry, but for my money it’s a myth probably bruited about by constitutionally angry women. Katherine was in a rage and she looked ugly. With one quick movement she brought up her hand and slapped me—hard. She must have played a lot of tennis in her time because that forehand swing of hers really jolted me.
I just looked at her. ‘Of course that solves a lot of problems.’ I said quietly, ‘Katherine, I admire loyalty in a wife, but you’re not just loyal—you’ve been brainwashed.’
There was a sudden throb in the air and then a roar as the helicopter appeared over the trees and passed overhead. I looked up and saw Paul Halstead’s head twist around to watch us.
Every three days a big helicopter came in from Camp One bringing drums of fuel for the diesel generators and cylinders of gas for the camp kitchen as and when necessary. It also brought in the mail which had been flown from Mexico City by Fallon’s jet, so I could keep in touch with England. Mount wrote to me telling me that probate was going through without much difficulty, and Jack Edgecombe had taken fire at last and was enthusiastic about the new plan for the farm. He was going ahead in spite of acid comments from the locals and was sure we were on to a good thing.
Reading those letters from Devon while in that stinking hot clearing in the middle of Quintana Roo made me homesick and I debated once again whether or not to quit. This business had got nothing to do with me and I was feeling more on the outside than ever because there was a distinct coolness now between Katherine and myself.
On the day of the quarrel there had been raised voices from the Halsteads’ hut quite late into the night and, when Katherine appeared next morning, she wore a shirt with a high collar. It wasn’t quite high enough to hide the bruise on the side of her throat and I felt an odd tension in the pit of my stomach. But how a man and his wife conducted their marriage had nothing to do with me, so I left it at that.
Katherine, for her part, pointedly ignored me, but Halstead didn’t change at all—he just went on his usual bastardly way.
I was just on the point of quitting when Fallon showed me a letter from Pat Harris who had news of Gatt.
‘Jack is making the rounds of Yucatan’
he wrote.
He has been to Merida, Valladolid and Vigio Chico, and is now in Felipe Carillo Puerto. He seems to be looking for something or someone—my guess is someone, because he’s talking to some of the weirdest characters. Since Jack prefers to spend his vacations in Miami and Las Vegas I think this is a business trip—but it sure is funny business. It’s not like him to sweat when there is no need, so whatever he is doing must be important.’
‘Felipe Carillo Puerto used to be called Chan Santa Cruz,’ said Fallon. ‘It was the heart of the Mayan revolt, the capital of the indios sublevados. The Mexicans changed the name of the town when they got on top of the rebels in 1935. It’s not very far from here—less than fifty miles.’
‘It’s obvious that Gatt’s up to something,’ I said.
‘Yes,’ agreed Fallon pensively. ‘But what? I can’t understand the man’s motives.’
‘I can,’ I said, and laid it all out for Fallon’s inspection—gold, gold, and again gold. ‘Whether or not there is any gold doesn’t matter as long as Gatt thinks there is.’ I had another thought. ‘You once showed me a plate of Mayan manufacture. How much would the gold in that be worth?’
‘Not much,’ he said derisively. ‘Maybe fifty or sixty dollars.’
‘How much would the plate be worth at auction?’
‘That’s hard to say. Most of those things are in museums and don’t come on the open market. Besides, the Mexican Government is very strict on the export of Mayan antiquities.’
‘Make a guess?’ I urged.
He looked irritated, and said, ‘These things are priceless—no one has ever tried to put a price on them. Any unique work of art is worth what someone is willing to pay.’
‘How much did you pay for that plate?’
‘Nothing—I found it.’
‘How much would you sell it for?’
‘I wouldn’t,’ he said definitely.
It was my turn to get exasperated. ‘For God’s sake! How much would you be willing to pay for that plate if you didn’t have it already? You’re a rich man and a collector.’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe I’d go up to $20,000—maybe more, if pushed.’
‘That’s good enough for Gatt, even if he is clued up on the gold fallacy—which I don’t think he is. Would you expect to find any similar objects in Uaxuanoc?’
‘It’s likely,’ said Fallon. He frowned. ‘I think I’d better have a word with Joe Rudetsky about this.’
‘How are things coming along?’ I asked.
‘We can’t get anything more out of the air survey,’ he said. ‘Now we’ve got to get down on the ground.’ He pointed to the photo-mosaic. ‘We’ve cut down the probables to four.’ He looked up. ‘Ah, here’s Paul.’
Halstead came into the hut, the usual glower on his face. He dumped two belts on the table, complete with scabbarded machetes. ‘These are what we’ll need now,’ he said. His tone implied—
I told you so!
‘I was just talking about that,’ said Fallon. ‘Will you ask Rider to come in?’
‘Am I a messenger boy now?’ asked Halstead sourly.
Fallon’s eyes narrowed. I said quickly, ‘I’ll get him.’ It wasn’t to anyone’s advantage to bring things to a boil, and
I
was quite willing to be a messenger boy—there are less dignified professions.
I found Rider doing a polishing job on his beloved chopper. ‘Fallon’s calling a conference,’ I said. ‘You’re wanted.’
He gave a final swipe with a polishing rag. ‘Right away.’ As he walked with me to the hut, he asked, ‘What’s with that guy, Halstead?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He’s been trying to order me around; so I told him I work for Mr Fallon. He got quite sassy about it.’
‘He’s just like that,’ I said. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it.’
‘I’m not worried about it,’ said Rider with elaborate unconcern. ‘But he’d better worry. He’s liable to get a busted jaw.’
I put my hand on Rider’s arm. ‘Not so fast—you wait your turn.’
He grinned. ‘So it’s like that? Okay, Mr Wheale; I’ll fall in line right behind you. But don’t wait too long.’
When Rider and I walked into the hut there seemed to be some tension between Fallon and Halstead. I thought that maybe Fallon had been tearing into Halstead for his uncooperative attitude—he wasn’t the man to mince his words—and Halstead looked even more bloody-minded than ever. But he kept his mouth shut as Fallon said shortly, ‘Let’s get to the next step.’
I leaned against the table. ‘Which do you tackle first?’
‘That’s obvious,’ said Fallon. ‘We have four possibles, but there’s only one at which we can put down the helicopter. That’s the one we explore first.’
‘How do you get to the others?’
‘We winch a man down,’ said Fallon. ‘I’ve done it before.’
So he might have, but he wasn’t getting any younger. ‘I’ll give that a go,’ I offered.
Halstead snorted. ‘With what object in mind?’ he demanded. ‘What do
you
think you could do when you got on the ground? This needs a man with eyes in his head.’
Regardless of the unpleasant way in which he phrased it, Halstead was probably right. I had already seen how difficult it was to spot a Mayan ruin which Fallon had seen casually, and I could certainly miss something which might prove of the utmost importance.
Fallon made a quick gesture with his hand. ‘I’ll go down—or Paul will. Probably both of us.’
Rider said hesitantly, ‘What about Number Two—that one’s real tricky?’
‘We’ll consider that if and when it’s necessary,’ said Fallon. ‘We’ll save it until the last. When will you be ready to leave?’
‘I’m ready now, Mr Fallon.’
‘Let’s go, then. Come on, Paul.’
Fallon and Rider walked out and I was about to follow when Halstead said. ‘Just a minute, Wheale; I want to talk to you.’
I turned. There was something in his voice that made my short hairs prickly. He was buckling a belt around his middle and adjusting the machete at his side. ‘What is it?’
‘Just this,’ he said in a strained voice. ‘Stay away from my wife.’
‘What the hell do you mean by that?’
‘Exactly what I said. You’ve been hanging around her like a dog around a bitch in heat. Don’t think I haven’t seen you.’ His deeply sunken eyes looked manic and his hands were trembling slightly.
I said, ‘The choice of phrase was yours—you called her a bitch, not me.’ His hand clutched convulsively at the hilt of the machete, and I said sharply, ‘Now just listen to me. I haven’t touched Katherine, nor do I intend to—nor would she let me if I tried. All that’s gone on between us is all that goes on between reasonable people in our position, and that’s conversation of varying degrees of friendliness. And I must say we’re not too friendly right at this minute.’
‘Don’t try to pull that on me,’ he said savagely. ‘What were you doing with her down at the pool three days ago?’
‘If you want to know, we were having a flaming row,’ I said. ‘But why don’t you ask her?’ He was silent at that, and looked at me hard. ‘But, of course, you did ask her, didn’t you? You asked her with your fist. Why don’t you try asking me that way, Halstead? With your fists or with that
oversized carving knife you have there? But watch it—you can get hurt.’
For a moment I thought he was going to pull the machete and cleave my skull, and my fingers closed around one of the stones that Fallon used to weigh the maps on the table. At last he expelled his breath in a whistling sound and he thrust home the machete into its sheath the half inch he had withdrawn it. ‘Just stay away from her,’ he said hoarsely. ‘That’s all.’
He shouldered past me and left the hut to disappear into the blinding sunlight outside. Then came the sudden rhythmical roar from the chopper and it took off, and the sound faded quickly as it went over the trees, just as it always did.
I leaned against the table and felt the sweat break out on my forehead and at the back of my neck. I looked at my hands. They were trembling uncontrollably, and when I turned them over I saw the palms were wet. What the flaming hell was I doing in a set-up like this? And what had possessed me to push at Halstead so hard? The man was obviously a little loose in the brainbox and he could very well have cut me down with that damned machete. I had a sudden feeling that this whole operation was sending me as crazy as he obviously was.
I pushed myself away from the table and walked outside. There was no one to be seen. I strode over to the Halsteads’ hut and knocked on the door. There was no reply, so I knocked again, and Katherine called, ‘Who is it?’
‘Who were you expecting? It’s Jemmy, damn it!’
‘I don’t want to talk to you.’
‘You don’t have to,’ I said. ‘All you have to do is listen. Open the door.’
There was a long pause and then a click as the door opened not too widely. She didn’t look very well and there were dark smudges below her eyes. I leaned on the door and swung it open wider. ‘You said you could control your
husband,’ I said. ‘You’d better start hauling on the reins because he seems to think that you and I are having a passionate affair.’
‘I know,’ she said tonelessly.
I nodded. ‘You know, of course. I wonder how he could have got that impression? You couldn’t have led him on a bit—some women do.’
She flared. ‘That’s a despicable thing to say.’
‘Very likely it is; I’m not feeling too spicable right now. That nutty husband of yours and I nearly had a fight not five minutes ago.’
She looked alarmed. ‘Where is he?’
‘Where do you think he is? He’s gone with Fallon in the chopper. Look, Katherine; I’m not too sure that Paul shouldn’t pull out of this expedition.’
‘Oh, no,’ she said quickly. ‘You couldn’t do that.’
‘I could—and I will—if he doesn’t bloody well behave himself. Even Rider is threatening to hammer him. You know that he is only here because of my say-so; that I forced him down Fallon’s throat. One word from me and Fallon will be only too glad to get rid of him.’
She grabbed my hand. ‘Oh, please, Jemmy; please don’t do that.’
‘Get up off your knees,’ I said. ‘Why the hell should you have to plead for him? I told you a long time ago, back in England, that you can’t apologize for another person—not even your husband.’ She was looking very blue, so I said, ‘All right, I won’t push him out—but see that he stays off my neck.’
‘I’ll try,’ she said. ‘I really will try. Thanks, Jemmy.’
I blew out my cheeks. ‘If I’m accused of it, and if I’m going to get into a fight because of it, this passionate affair might not be such a bad idea. At least I’ll get myself halfkilled because of something I did.’
She stiffened. ‘I don’t think that’s funny.’
‘Neither do I,’ I said wearily. ‘With me the girl has to be willing—and you’re not exactly panting hotly down the back of my neck. Forget it. Consider I made a pass and got slapped down. But Katherine, how you stand that character, I don’t know.’
‘Maybe it’s something you wouldn’t understand.’
‘Love?’ I shrugged. ‘Or is it misplaced loyalty? But if I were a woman—and thank God I’m not—and a man hit me, I’d walk right out on him.’
Pink spots showed in her cheeks. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
I lifted a finger and smoothed down her collar. ‘I suppose you got that bruise walking into a door.’
She said hotly, ‘How I get my bruises is none of your damned business.’
The door slammed in my face.
I contemplated the sun-seared woodwork for quite a while, then sighed and turned away. I went back to the big hut and opened the refrigerator and looked at the serried rows of beer cans, all nicely frosted. Then I slammed it shut and went into Fallon’s hut where I confiscated a bottle of his best Glenlivet whisky. I needed something stronger than beer right then.
An hour later I heard the chopper coming back. It landed and taxied into the hangar and out of the sun and, from where I was sitting, I could see Rider refuelling and I heard the rhythmic clank of the hand pump. I suppose I should have gone to help him but I didn’t feel like helping anyone, and after three stiff whiskies the idea of going into the sun struck me as being definitely unwise.
Presently Rider came into the hut. ‘Hot!’ he said, stating the obvious.
I looked up at him. ‘Where are the brains?’
‘I dropped them at the site. I’ll go back in four hours to pick them up.’ He sat down and I pushed the whisky bottle
at him. He shook his head. ‘Uh-uh—that’s too strong for this time of day. I’ll get me a cold beer.’
He stood up, got his beer, and came back to the table. ‘Where’s Mrs Halstead?’
‘Sulking in her tent.’
He frowned at that, but his brow cleared as he drank his beer. ‘Ah, that’s good!’ he sat down. ‘Say, what happened between you and Halstead? When he climbed into the chopper he looked as though someone had rammed a pineapple up his ass.’