At three that afternoon we cleared Tangier harbour and I set course for Gibraltar. We were on our way, but we had left too many mistakes behind us.
FOUR: FRANCESCA
When we were beating through the Straits Coertze suggested that we should head straight for Italy. I said, Look, weve told Metcalfe we were going to Spain, so thats where we are going.
He thumped the cockpit coaming. But we havent time.
Weve got to make time, I said doggedly. I told you there would be snags which would use up our months grace; this is one of the snags. Were going to take a month getting to Italy instead of a fortnight, which cuts us down to two weeks in hand but weve got to do it. Maybe we can make it up in Italy.
He grumbled at that, saying I was unreasonably frightened of Metcalfe. I said, Youve waited fifteen years for this opportunity you can afford to wait another fortnight. Were going to Gibraltar, to Malaga and Barcelona; were going to the Riviera, to Nice and to Monte Carlo; after that, Italy. Were going to watch bullfights and gamble in casinos and do everything that every other tourist does. Were going to be the most innocent people that Metcalfe ever laid eyes on.
But Metcalfes back in Tangier.
I smiled thinly. Hes probably in Spain right now. He could have passed us any time in that Fairmile of his. He could even have flown or taken the ferry to Gibraltar, dammit. I think hell keep an eye on us if he reckons were up to something.
Damn Walker, burst out Coertze.
Agreed, I said. But thats water under the bridge.
I was adding up the mistakes we had made. Number one was Walkers incautious statement to Aristide that he had drawn money on a letter of credit. That was a lie a needless one, too I had the letter of credit and Walker could have said so. Keeping control of the finances of the expedition was the only way I had of making sure that Coertze didnt get the jump on me. I still didnt know the location of the gold.
Now, Aristide would naturally make inquiries among his fellow bankers about the financial status of this rich Mr Walker. He would get the information quite easily all bankers hang together and the hell with ethics and he would find that Mr Walker had not drawn any money from any bank in Tangier. He might not be too perturbed about that, but he might ask Metcalfe about it, and Metcalfe would find it another item to add to his list of suspicions. He would pump Aristide to find that Walker and Halloran had taken an undue interest in the flow of gold in and out of Tangier.
He would go out to the Casa Saeta and sniff around. He would find nothing there to conflict with Walkers cover story, but it would be precisely the cover story that he suspected most Walker having blown hell out of it when he was drunk. The mention of gold would set his ears a-prick a man like Metcalfe would react very quickly to the smell of gold and if I were Metcalfe I would take great interest in the movements of the cruising yacht, Sanford.
All this was predicated on the fact that Walker had not told about the gold when he was drunk. If he had, then the balloon had really gone up.
We put into Gibraltar and spent a day rubber-necking at the Barbary apes and looking at the man-made caves. Then we sailed for Malaga and heard a damn sight more flamenco music than we could stomach.
It was on the second day in Malaga, when Walker and I went out to the gipsy caves like good tourists, that I realized we were being watched. We were bumping into a sallow young man with a moustache everywhere we went. He sat far removed when we ate in a sidewalk café, he appeared in the yacht basin, he applauded the flamenco dancers when we went to see the gipsies.
I said nothing to the others, but it only went to confirm my estimate of Metcalfes abilities. He would have friends in every Mediterranean port, and it wouldnt be difficult to pass the word around. A yachts movements are not easy to disguise, and he was probably sitting in Tangier like a spider in the centre of a web, receiving phone calls from wherever we went. He would know all our movements and our expenditure to the last peseta.
The only thing to do was to act the innocent and hope that we could wear him out, string him on long enough so that he would conclude that his suspicions were unfounded, after all.
In Barcelona we went to a bullfight the three of us. That was after I had had a little fun in trying to spot Metcalfes man. He wasnt difficult to find if you were looking for him and turned out to be a tall, lantern-jawed cut-throat who carried out the same routine as the man in Malaga.
I was reasonably sure that if anyone was going to burgle Sanford it would be one of Metcalfes friends. The word would have been passed round that we were his meat and so the lesser fry would leave us alone. I hired a watchman who looked as though he would sell his grandmother for ten pesetas and we all went to the bullfight.
Before I left I was careful to set the stage. I had made a lot of phoney notes concerning the costs of setting up a boatyard in Spain, together with a lot of technical stuff I had picked up. I also left a rough itinerary of our future movements as far as Greece and a list of addresses of people to be visited. I then measured to a millimetre the position in which each paper was lying.
When we got back the watchman said that all had been quiet, so I paid him off and he went away. But the papers had been moved, so the locked cabin had been successfully burgled in spite of or probably because of the watchman. I wondered how much he had been paid and I wondered if my plant had satisfied Metcalfe that we were wandering innocents.
From Barcelona we struck out across the Gulf of Lions to Nice, giving Majorca a miss because time was getting short. Again I went about my business of visiting boatyards and again I spotted the watcher, but this time I made a mistake.
I told Coertze.
He boiled over. Why didnt you tell me before? he demanded.
What was the point? I said. We cant do anything about it.
Cant we? he said darkly, and fell into silence.
Nothing much happened in Nice. Its a pleasant place if you havent urgent business elsewhere, but we stayed just long enough to make our cover real and then we sailed the few miles to Monte Carlo, which again is a nice town for the visiting tourist.
In Monte Carlo I stayed aboard Sanford in the evening while Coertze and Walker went ashore. There was not much to do in the way of maintenance beyond the usual housekeeping jobs, so I relaxed in the cockpit enjoying the quietness of the night. The others stayed out late and when they came back Walker was unusually silent.
Coertze had gone below when I said to Walker, Whats the matter? The cat got your tongue? How did you like Monte?
He jerked his head at the companionway. He clobbered someone.
I went cold. Who?
A chap was following us all afternoon. Coertze spotted him and said that hed deal with it. We let this bloke follow us until it got dark and then Coertze led him into an alley and beat him up.
I got up and went below. Coertze was in the galley bathing swollen knuckles. I said, So youve done it at last. You must use your goddamn fists and not your brains. Youre worse than Walker; at least you can say hes a sick man.
Coertze looked at me in surprise. Whats the matter?
I hear you hit someone.
Coertze looked at his fist and grinned at me. Hell never bother us again hell be in hospital for a month. He said this with pride, for Gods sake.
Youve blown it, I said tightly. Id just about got Metcalfe to the point where he must have been convinced that we were O.K. Now youve beaten up one of his men, so he knows we are on to him, and he knows we must be hiding something. You might just as well have phoned him up and said, Weve got some gold coming up; come and take it from us. Youre a damn fool.
His face darkened. No one can talk to me like that. He raised his fist.
I am talking to you like that, I said. And if you lay one finger on me you can kiss the gold goodbye. You cant sail this or any other boat worth a damn, and Walker wont help you he hates your guts. You hit me and youre out for good. I know you could probably break me in two and youre welcome to try, but itll cost you a cool half-million for the pleasure.
This showdown had been coming for a long time.
He hesitated uncertainly. You damned Englishman, he said.
Go ahead hit me, I said, and got ready to take his rush.
He relaxed and pointed his finger at me threateningly. You wait until this is over, he said. Just you wait well sort it out then.
All right, well sort it out then, I said. But until then Im the boss. Understand?
His face darkened again. No one bosses me, he blustered.
Right, I said. Then we start going back the way we came Nice, Barcelona, Malaga, Gibraltar. Walker will help me sail the boat, but we wont do a damn thing for you. I turned away.
Wait a minute, said Coertze and I turned back. All right, he said hoarsely. But wait till this is over; by God, youll have to watch yourself then.
But until then Im the boss?
Yes, he said sullenly.
And you take my orders?
His fists tightened but he held himself in. Yes.
Then heres your first one. You dont do a damn thing without consulting me first. I turned to go up the companionway, got half-way up, then had a sudden thought and went below again.
I said, And theres another thing I want to tell you. Dont get any ideas about double-crossing me or Walker, because if you do, youll not only have me to contend with but Metcalfe as well. Id be glad to give Metcalfe a share if you did that. And there wouldnt be a place in the world you could hide if Metcalfe got after you.
He stared at me sullenly and turned away. I went on deck.
Walker was sitting in the cockpit. Did you hear that? I said.
He nodded. Im glad you included me on your side.
I was exasperated and shaking with strain. It was no fun tangling with a bear like Coertze he was all reflex and no brain and he could have broken me as anyone else would break a matchstick. He was a man who had to be governed like a fractious horse.
I said, Dammit, I dont know why I came on this crazy trip with a dronkie like you and a maniac like Coertze. First you put Metcalfe on our tracks and then he clinches it.
Walker said softly, I didnt mean to do it. I dont think I told Metcalfe anything.
I dont think so either, but you gave the game away somehow. I stretched, easing my muscles. It doesnt matter; we either get the gold or we dont. Thats all there is to it.
Walker said, You can rely on me to help you against Coertze, if it comes to that.
I smiled. Relying on Walker was like relying on a fractured mast in a hurricane the hurricane being Coertze. He affected people like that; he had a blind, elemental force about him. An overpowering man, altogether.
I patted Walker on the knee. O.K. Youre my man from now on. I let the hardness come into my voice because Walker had to be kept to heel, too. But keep off the booze. I meant what I said in Tangier.
II
The next stop was Rapallo, which was first choice as our Italian base, provided we could get fixed up with a suitable place to do our work. We motored into the yacht basin and damned if I didnt see a Falcon drawn up on the hard. I knew the firm had sold a few kits in Europe but I didnt expect to see any of them.
As we had come from a foreign port there were the usual Customs and medical queries a mere formality. Yachtsmen are very well treated in the Mediterranean. I chatted with the Customs men, discussing yachts and yachting and said that I was a boat designer and builder myself. I gave the standard talk and said that I was thinking of opening a yard in the Mediterranean, pointing to the Falcon as a sample of my work.
They were impressed at that. Anyone whose product was used six thousand miles from where it was made must obviously be someone to be reckoned with. They didnt know much about local conditions but they gave me some useful addresses.
I was well satisfied. If I had to impress people with my integrity I might as well start with the Customs. That stray Falcon came in very handy.
I went ashore, leaving Walker and Coertze aboard by instruction. There was no real need for such an order but I wanted to test my new-found ascendancy over them. Coertze had returned to his old self, more or less. His mood was equable and he cracked as few jokes as usual the point being that he cracked jokes at all. But I had no illusions that he had forgotten anything. The Afrikaner is notorious for his long memory for wrongs.
I went up to the Yacht Club and presented my credentials. One of the most pleasant things about yachting is that you are sure of a welcome in any part of the world. There is a camaraderie among yachtsmen which is very heartening in a world which is on the point of blowing itself to hell. This international brotherhood, together with the fact that the law of the sea doesnt demand a licence to operate a small boat, makes deep-sea cruising one of the most enjoyable experiences in the world.
I chatted with the secretary of the club, who spoke very good English, and talked largely of my plans. He took me into the bar and bought me a drink and introduced me to several of the members and visiting yachtsmen. After we had chatted at some length about the voyage from South Africa I got down to finding out about the local boatyards.
On the way round the Mediterranean I had come to the conclusion that my cover story need not be a cover at all it could be the real thing. I had become phlegmatic about the gold, especially after the antics of Walker and Coertze, and my interest in the commercial possibilities of the Mediterranean was deepening. I was nervous and uncertain as to whether the three of us could carry the main job through the three-way pull of character was causing tensions which threatened to tear the entire fabric of the plan apart. So I was hedging my bet and looking into the business possibilities seriously.
The lust for gold, which I had felt briefly in Aristides vault, was still there but lying dormant. Still, it was enough to drive me on, enough to make me out-face Coertze and Walker and to try to circumvent Metcalfe.