Wealth of the Islands (18 page)

Helen swallowed, longing to make some light retort but finding nothing to say. Instead, she hurried out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her. At least, she thought, she was glad he was looking better.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE first group of American tourists was expected to arrive on the same day as Miss Corrigan
’
s party. Peter Harmon had a theory that the local colour that the party could
be
expected to provide would do much to balance the unfortunate impression that he felt the swaying bamboo jetty and the other lack of facilities were bound to create.

“
They would send them before we
’
re ready!
”
Peter moaned.
“
I
’
m surprised they even allowed the plaster to dry out! What on earth do they expect me to do with
the
m?
”

“
I don
’
t suppose you
’
ll have to do much,
”
Helen tried to comfort him.
“
I expect most of th
em
will want to lie on the gorgeous beaches and that will
b
e about it!
”

Peter grunted.
“
I shall have to move you out of your rooms, I
’
m afraid. Do you think Anita will mind
?”

“
Why should she?
”
Helen wondered.

Peter shrugged.
“
She
’
s a might fussy that way, he remarked.
“
Haven
’
t you discovered that?
”

Helen was surprised.
“
You
’
re imagining things,
”
she told
him.
“
Anita has never had anything much. Her
mother saw to that!
”

“
Then she
’
s making up for lost time,
”
he said dryly. Helen laughed.
“
I don
’
t blame her for that!
”

Helen
s
ai
d
quickly.
“
You should meet my revered mother-in-law
!
The only person who ever managed to catch her attention was my husband. I think she was fond of him in her own way, but poor Anita never had a scrap of affection from
the
old dragon.
”

Peter grinned
“
That
’
s funny,
”
he said.
“
She
’
s made quite an impression here!
”

Helen bit her lip.
“
With Gregory, you mean
?”

“
With us all,
”
Peter answered her.
“
She
’
s been about most of the time you
’
ve been out diving and she
’
s done quite a bit of the nursing that Gregory needed.
”
He smiled.
“
She
’
s got quite an air about her, hasn
’
t she?
”

“
Has she?
”
Helen said, astonished.
“
I can
’
t say I
’
ve ever really noticed.
”

“
She
’
s put me in my place more than once,
”
Peter reminisced with a thoughtful expression.
“
I
’
d say she was enjoying herself oh the Melonga Islands. How about you?
”

“
I shall enjoy it better when Gregory gets back on his feet!
”
Helen sighed.
“
That reminds me, did Anita give you my shopping list for next week?
”

“
She
’
s got it in hand,
”
he answered indifferently.
“
As a matter of fact she put through my order as well while she was about it. One never knows what tourists are going to think they want.
”
He cracked his knuckles thoughtfully.
“
I wonder if they even know that there
’
s nothing here as yet
!”

“
There
’
s me diving!
”
Helen protested.

A glint of appreciation came into his eyes.
“
I
’
ll remember to tell the male members of the party,
”
he promised.

“
You do that!
”
said Helen. She was getting low in cylinders of compressed air and she wished that Peter had sent the order to Auckland so that she could be sure that it would arrive before Gregory was up and about and demanding to know where it was. It wasn
’
t that
she
didn
’
t trust Anita, but if she had known her sister-in-law was going to put in
the
order she would have checked it beforehand. Anita knew very little about such things and
s
he
showed remarkably few signs of wanting to increase her knowledge. It was yet another thing that was worrying Helen. Anita was being paid by Gregory, not by Peter, and as far as she could see Gregory was getting mighty little in return for his generosity.

“
When do you want me to move my room?
”
she asked Peter.

He got up to go, checking his thoughts against the list he held in his hand.
“
As soon as you can,
”
he said.
“
They
’
ll be here the day after tomorrow!
”

Gregory was the only one who didn
’
t have to shift his room. It was just as well, for although he had only been in it a matter of days, it was completely chaotic. Well-wishers from a
ll
over the Islands had brought him gifts of shells, sharks
’
teeth, and special fruits and foods.
His
treasures stood in every
corner
of the room, the most valuable being a collection of black pearls that he kept on the table beside
his
bed so that he could finger them whenever he wanted to and admire their iridescent beauty.

Helen had found it increasingly difficult to visit him. She could think of nothing to say once the subject of
t
heir work had been exhausted, and
s
he had the feeling that site was unwelcome anyway. So she was surprised when, in the middle of moving her things to another bedroom on a different floor of the hotel, one of the Polynesian waiters came and found her.

“
Mr. de Vaux want to speak with you,
”
he told her.
“
If you have time now.
”

Helen knew that she would make time no matter how busy
s
he was. She nodded briefly to the waiter and bundled her possessions into her new room in a hurry, racing down the stairs again because she couldn
’
t be bothered to wait for the lift.

She was surprised, when Gregory bade her come in, to find him up and dressed.

“
Do you think you ought to be up
?”
she asked him.

He smiled.
“
Why not? It
’
s been a few days now, you know.
”

It was a relief to her, though quite how much of a relief she didn
’
t want him to know.
“
Wh—what do you want?
”
she said instead.

He gave a slightly quizzical look.
“
Do I have to want anything?
”
he teased her.

“
N—no,
”
she agreed.
“
But Miss Corrigan and Anita seem to have done a very good job nursing you.
”

He made a face at her.
“
They were eager enough,
”
he agreed with a touch of resentment.
“
It
’
s not exactly an experience I want to repeat!
”

Helen felt again the horror she had known when he had lain on the coral beach, looking grey and remarkably close to death.
“
I should hope not!
”
she said.

He smiled faintly.
“
The truth is that I
’
m bored stiff
!”
he told her.
“
I was hoping that you
’
d tell me all that you
’
ve been doing on
the
frigate?
”

“
I
’
ve made quite a hole in her!
”
she
grinned.

“
No trouble?
”

“
None so far. But
s
he
’
s rocking again.
”
Some of the anxiety she had been feeling surfaced again into her mind.
“
There
’
s no chance of any storms or anything until we
’
ve finished, is there?
”

“I
shouldn
’
t think so,
”
he answered soberly.
“
You did listen when I told you not to go inside on your own, didn
’
t you?
”

“
I wouldn
’
t dare!
”
she said frankly.

“
Good. Now tell me exactly what you
’
ve done.
”

Helen sat down in the spare chair in his room and began. She found, to her surprise, that she was enjoying herself. She told him how her navigation was improving and how she had fitted up a radio contact between herself as diver and
Sweet Promise
.

“
Does it w
o
rk
?
”
he asked her.

“
More or less. It will be a great help when you can come out with us again. I think Na-Tinn is rather scared of my disembodied voice
!
”

She told him too of the turtle she had befriended.
“
I think it
’
s a green turtle,
”
she explained.
“
I
’
ve never seen such a monster. It gave me the fright of my life when it first came round the wreck, but I
’
ve got used to it now. I don
’
t know if it
’
s male or female,
”
she confessed with a laugh.

“
You soon will,
”
he told her.
“
The females make their nests ashore to lay their eggs. Turtles have reversed the process of evolution. They started on land and went into the sea. They have to be hatched out on land to be able to breathe. I
’
m afraid not many survive their first walk to the sea.
”

“
Why not?
”
she asked, fascinated.

“
The birds take them. There may be as many as a hundred eggs hatching out at a time and sometimes there isn
’
t even one solitary survivor. I thought of trying to farm them at one time. It would be easy enough—and think of all the food they would provide. Anyway, I
’
ve never had the time. I did once save a few eggs and hatched them out right away from the birds, but even most of those were taken out of the sea when I released them. Somehow the birds seem to know by instinct where they are. But if one rigged up some netting and covered in one or two bays in that way, one would soon have more turtles than one would know what to do with!
”

Helen
’
s eyes shone with excitement
“
I
’
d love to try it,
”
she said.

“
Okay, it
’
s a date. As soon as we
’
ve finished the work in hand!
”