The Master of Barracuda Isle Read online

  "Tell you what," Iris jumped to her feet. "Let's try the Brown Owl. Lots of the students go there." "That's a good idea. Jarvis has taken me there for coffee." "I thought Jarvis was your sister's boy-friend?" Iris teased, standing before the mirror, combing her short blonde hair. "He was ... I mean, is. They were sorry for me about George, and Jarvis and Felicity took me to a ball at the University once, with a blind date, of course. I didn't like him, but then...." "You don't like men," Iris finished for her. "At the moment," she added. Jan smiled. "Well, after Felicity went north, Jarvis went on seeing me. I think he was sorry for me. We had coffee out and dinner once, but lately I haven't seen him. He was just kind and that was all," she finished. They went down the two flights of stairs to the front door of the terraced house, then out into the humid heat of the Australian evening. They walked along the brightly lit streets of Kings Gross, rubbing shoulders with people of every nationality, hearing every language that could be spoken, pausing, as Jan always did, to admire the gorgeous brilliance of the fountain, and then following their favourite pastime, shop-gazing. Finally they reached the coffee house. The room was packed, but Jan and Iris managed to squeeze their way through between chairs and tables and finally found Nick Peters, a friend of Jarvis.^Hi, Jan, good to see you." Nick, a tall thin student, stood up. "You want Jarvis? He's in custody." Jan looked up sharply, then saw the laughter in Nick's eyes. "He's dining with his uncle," Nick went on with a grin. "That's custody all right!" "Nick, if you see him, would you ask him to phone me at once?" She saw the amused question in his eyes and didn't smile back. "I mean it. Nickit's some16 thing to do with his uncle. He came to see me and..." "Whew!" Nick whistled. "Poor you! Proper monster, isn't he? And stuffy. I wonder if he was ever young.... Okay, I'll tell Jarvis, but I'm not sure I'll see him until the lectures tomorrow." "Please try. Nick. I'll be in until ten tomorrow morning and after that...." Some girls in gaily coloured clothes came crowding round the table. "Nick," a pretty young blonde girl with long hair hanging down her back said reproachfully, "you promised. ..." Jan stared at the group of girls, all in their midteens, and suddenly she felt absurdly old. "Thanks, Nick," she said, and escaped. Iris was waiting for her. "No luck?" "No. Jarvis is dining with his uncle. I only wish I knew what Jarvis was at." Back in the flat, while Iris was cutting out the new dress she was making, Jan wrote to Jarvis. "I hadn't understood at first, but now I realise you want me to stand in for Felicity, so I played along, though I do feel rather bad about it, but you were so kind to me. Well, I'll be only too glad to help. But please don't pile it on or it might get awkward, as already they seem to think we're planning an immediate wedding. Anyhow, I'll get to know your mother and it might help things for you when Felicity gets back. I'm sure they'll feel she's too young for marriage, but we'll hope for the best. By the way, in case you haven't heard from Felicity, her tour has been extended for another month. I know you'll be disappointed, but she says it means a rise in salary and perhaps a chance to be on T.V., and she's thrilled." Jan's next letter was to her mother. This was tricky, for Jan had been careful to say nothing about their trouble in finding a flat they could afford, or her unhappiness. She had never mentioned George, as she thought her mother would say she'd been caught on i7 the rebound, that grieving for Frank had made her fall in love with George, and Jan had felt in no mood for a lecture no matter how loving it was. So each letter, now, was difficult to write as she must'nt let her mother have any idea about the void in her life. Jan wrote that she had been thinking of changing her job in order to see more of Australia and that she had been invited by Jarvis's mother to stay with her. "Felicity is up in Cairns, dancing, and Jarvis studying hard, so It seems a good idea. It'll be fun to have a holiday." Jan also wrote to Felicity. "I know it all sounds crazy, because as I thought at once, why did Jarvis's mother want to see me. It's you she should see, as he loves you I"Felicity, Jan was thinking as she wrote, could be easily and very jealous! "I think it's some plan of Jarvis's to keep his uncle from knowing that it's you he loves, because Ludovic Fairlie would immediately say you were much too young. He's quite impossible, one of those arrogant, stuffy, pompous creatures who think they know everything. Anyhow I'll keep in touch and let you know what Jarvis's mother is like." Afterwards Jan and Iris went through Jan's wardrobe. She had bought quite a few drip-dry dresses since coming out to Australia and she'd need those, she knew. The choice of her swimming gear was dicey. Finally she took two bikinis, one a sombre black, the other a vivid yellow, and she added a more demure one-piece costume in case Jarvis's mother was a square. "I don't want to offend her," Jan told Iris, who nodded understandingiy. That night Jan slept well. It was a pleasant change from the long nights of tossing and turning, trying not to cry, going overword for wordthe conversations she had had with George, to find out what had really gone wrong.Iris woke her up to say goodbye. 18 ( "Have fun!" j Jan laughed. She felt suddenly light-hearted, lookingI forward to the holiday ahead. "I'm wondering where they live. I forgot to ask." "I should think anywhere is the only answer," Iris said, as she gulped down the coffee that was her breakfast. "They've houses all over the place. Maybe it'll be on his yacht.... Gee, Jan, I envy you." "Can you manage on your own here?" Jan asked, ,' suddenly worried. "I'm thinking of the rent. I shouldn't be away long, though. A few days, perhaps, at the most ; a week. Iris laughed. "I can manage easily, thanks. I've just had a rise, I forgot to tell you." She had a good job where she was indispensable as :_ a receptionist, being able to talk several languages, and ^ she was appreciated by her employers. After Iris had gone, Jan rummaged around, found stamps and slipped out to post the letters, then hurried back, afraid the phone might ring while she was out. : She sat by it, hopefully waiting for Jarvis to ring, for she needed briefing as to what he had said about his 'girl-friend'. But the phone didn't ring and at ten o'clock to the second the front door bell rang. It must be Ludovic Fairlie, she thought, as she grabbed her red raincoat and her suitcase, before answering the door. A chauffeur in neat olive green uniform was on the landing. "Miss Shaw?" he asked, his voice impersonal but polite. She nodded and his blank sun-tanned face creased momentarily into a smile. "May I take your case?" he asked, and took it from her, leading the way to the steep narrow staircase and down to the ground floor. An enormous white Rolls-Royce was waiting for them. The chauffeur opened the door, and sitting ,back, she looked on either side of her, feeling like a j 19

  V.I.P. and wanting to giggle, wishing she had Iris with her to share the joke. The driver drove swiftly but well, manoeuvring neatly the hazards of busy Sydney's crazy traffic. Finally the big white Rolls reached the airport. Surprise number one, Jan thought, as she looked with amazement round her, for somehow she hadn't expected to fly, although she knew that Australians were used to their enormous country, and thought nothing of flying anywhere, even if only for a few days. "The master asked me to apologise for not being able to travel with you. Miss Shaw," the chauffeur said stiffly, holding out an envelope. "Your ticket is here and you'll be met. I will take your luggage for you. This way, please ..." Jan followed him through the glaring sunshine that seemed to penetrate her dark glasses. Already her thin, amber-coloured silk suit felt uncomfortably wet and the perspiration was bursting out in tiny bubbles on her face. At least, she comforted herself, there would be air-conditioning on the plane. Glancing at the ticket, she didn't recognise the name of her destination. Australian names could be so strange, yet fascinatingly so, like Wahronga . . . which, if sung rather sadly, sounded very beautiful. At the crowded airport the chauffeur moved with accustomed precision, obviously used to it, and soon Jan found herself seated in me plane. Once airborne she looked around. The elderly man sitting next to her was reading a book upside down as his head nodded, so she was not tempted to talk to him, although she longed to find out where they were fiying to. It sounded too crazy to ask the pretty blonde air hostess: "Where am I going?" They'd think she was mador being funny. Suddenly she wondered if she was doing a stupid thing. She felt unsure for could this be a tra
p? Yet where was the sense in that? She had no wealthy parents to have a ransom demanded 20 |of them. Yet how could she be sure Ludovic ... or Irather the man who said he was Ludovic Fairlie . . . iyet how could she be sure he really was? Should she fhave asked to see his credentials? she wondered, and Ithen had to smile at the thought of Ludovic's face had i-she done so. I After all, she reminded herself, Jarvis had been fdining with his uncle the night before, so surely that (linked up? Wouldn't it be a strange coincidence if he |was with his uncle the same day that a stranger ^pretended to be Ludovic Fairlie? i For a moment she felt horribly alone. She thought jof Lewes, with her mother baking their favourite Sscones for tea, and Frank racing round the garden, ^always close to Jan, there when she needed him, life as it had been in the past when she had felt so secure. But now . . . ? | Yet there was nothing she could do, so she closed her eyes and finally fell asleeep. Jan awoke with a start as the impersonal voice came over the tannoy, asking them to tighten their seat belts, saying there might be a few bounces in the air as there was a lot of cloud about but that there was no cause for worry. The elderly man by Jan's side collected his things, smiled at her as they tightened their belts. "Not scared?" She smiled back. "No. I'm used to flying." She had had a good job in England as a shorthand-typist and had often flown to the Continent for holidays. There was noise and bustle, the hostess hurrying up and down the aisle, making sure everything was all right, people laughing and talking, and Jan wondered how she could have been so foolish as to let herself worry about this trip. She was even amused at her own melodrama. Ludovic Fairlie had invited her to visit his sister-inlaw ... or rather, the sister-in-law, Jarvis's mother, 31

  had invited Jan. It was kind of them. There had been no pressure. She could have said No, if she had wanted to. It seemed strange somehow that a busy man like Ludovic Fairlie should have bothered to call and invite her himself. He could have posted the letter or sent his secretary, Jan was thinking, as the plane made a perfect landing. It looked as if Ludovic and Jarvis's mother were really worried about Jarvis and concerned for him, yet Jarvis rarely spoke of his mother and when he spoke of his uncle it was with impatience and annoyance. Certainly Jan knew her gratitude to Jarvis for his kindness and understanding might have influenced her, but this was balanced by her urgent need to get away from Sydney, so that the invitation had been welcome, almost the answer to her prayer.Feeling much happier, she went down the steps into the glaring heat, and walked through the blazing sun across the tarmac to the huge group of modem buildings with the glass they seemed to be composed of, glittering in the sun. She walked alone, the arnlber colour of her suit emphasising the ebony black beauty of her hair which was loosely tied fcack with a yellow bow. She looked round her curiously, wondering where they were. It had not been a very long flight, but distances in Australia still amazed her. As she collected her luggage a man came to her side. He was tall, with a leathery tanned face, very blue eyes and bleached hair. He was wearing khaki shorts and shirt, the collar open. "Miss Shaw?" he asked politely. When she nodded, he added s "The master asked me to apologise, but he's been detained m Sydney. He'll be joining you as soon as possible. Please come this way." Puzzled, for in the beginning there had been no mention of Ludovic Fairlie accompanying her on the trip or spending the 'holiday' with her, Jan followed him. The invitation had been from Mrs. Fairlie, 22 Jarvis's mother, and had nothing to do with Ludovic, she thought. Was he so alarmed about Jarvis's future that he planned to help Jarvis's mother 'talk' to Jarvis's girl-friend? Jan wondered. The sun-tanned man led the way to a carnot awhite Rolls-Royce this time, Jan noticed with amusement, but an equally fabulous sort of car; a green Bentley. As he put the suitcase in the boot and opened the car door for her, the unknown man gave her a brief smile.. "I'm Barry Ryder, Miss Shaw, known as the master's right hand. Up here, that is. I hope you'll ;enjoy your stay on the Barrier Reef." | Barrier Reef! Jan thought. Why, the very words ";spelled a sort of magic, for she had often heard how Ibeautiful it was and had hoped to see it one day. "I'm sure I will, Mr. Ryder," she said with a quick Ismile as he slid behind the steering wheel of the car, and she sat back, looking round her curiously. ? He grinned. "Barry is the name. Miss Shaw." As the car carried them along, Jan glanced everywhere, delighting in it all, the clearness of the air, the ?pale blue sky that was incredibly cloudless, the flowers tin the gardens which were all such exotic wonderful 'colours of red, yellow, white, even blue and purple, land then above all the beauty of the palm trees. It all Jfascinated her, and soon they had left most of the Itraffic behind, driving quickly through a town and |th.en along a straight long road that seemed to stretch |for ever ahead.I: Jan closed her eyes drowsily and woke up. when the |car stopped. g Surprise number two, she thought, as she yawned |and blinked her sleep-ridden eyes and gazed at theIhuge expanse of blue water, with the long jetty and ! yachts and cruisers moored alongside. Barry opened the door."Here we are. First part of your journey over. You tdred?" I-23

  "Yes. I don't know why, as I slept most of the flight." "It affects some folk that way." He was locking the car, taking out the luggage. "It does on me. The master, now, he says he wakes up. He reckons he does his best work on the plane. I guess it's 'cos he's not being interrupted. This way, Miss Shaw." She followed him, vaguely conscious of the deliberate barrier he had raised between them. Although he was friendly he was also impersonal as if determined to be polite but refusing to chatter or suggest that he was being familiar. She wondered why. Could it be the way all the master's employees behaved? Then she frowned, for now she was getting the habit too, and thinking of Ludovic Fairlie as 'the master'. They walked down the jetty and went on board the cruiser, which was fairly big and luxuriously comfortable. Jan sat in the stern, near Barry, and watched him, but he was intent on his work and seemed to hardly notice her. She stared round as the cruiser went out of the harbour. She had heard the Reef could be rough, but this time it was beautifully smooth and the water so incredibly blue. There were many boats out, some yachts with lovely gay sails of the most amazing colours, yellow, purple, black, blue, red, even stripes, and it all added to the colourful scene with the background of long stretches of sand and the green lush hills. "A lot of boats . . ." she said to Barry, feeling uncomfortable in the silence. "Yes . . . well, this is a famous holiday centre, you know. Most of the islands have hotels or camping sites. Very popular." "We're going to an island?" she asked, conscious that it must sound rather odd, admitting that she didn't know just where they were ffoins;. "Barracuda Isle." "Why's it called that?" "Because . . . because, I suppose." He gave an odd 24 smile. "The master is a fisherman. He caught several huge barracuda here, so I suppose that was why he called the island that. Before he bought it, it was just an island without a name." "It's the . . . it's Mr. Fairlie's island?" Jan asked. "Of course." Barry Ryder turned away as if closing the conversation and Jan looked around her. They were leaving a foam-spray line behind them as they went through the ultramarine-blue water, passing the islands, some covered with trees, a few with small hills. On many of the islands she could see white hotels. And then they seemed to, leave most of the islands behind and moved out into water that was slashed with bursts of white foam as the rollers came in. They were going past one island where trees grew down to the water's edge, their long palm fronds bent, the slender trunks bending away from the wind. "That's Timton Island," Barry Ryder told her, "our nearest neighbour. We have to go right round our island to get to the reef and into the lagoon. Just look ahead and you'll see it. On the far side we have a mountain." He grinned. "Leastways we call it that, though some disagree and say it's only a hill. It's unusual to find waterfalls that go into the sea, but you can here. It's beaut, all right." Jan turned to stare ahead. At first she could _only see the ocean stretching away into the distance with a heat haze hovering and then, slowly, almost deliberately, the island appeared. Palm trees! She had never seen so many palm trees before, she thoughttall, slender, so graceful, and romantic. The word romantic jerked her to awareness. Why, she had n
ot thought of George once, all day long! She wondered whether this meant that she would soon lose the sense of desolation, the feeling of being unloved, the loneliness? Would she really pick up the pieces and start again? And then she forgot George as she stared and the island came closer. The waves were racing up against 25

  the coral reef, tossing the surf high in the air, to fall heavily on the small crevasses and ravines of the coral. The cruiser went through the narrow channel into the calmness of the blue lagoon and she gazed up at the 'mountain' that dominated the end of the island. "Look," Barry told Jan. "You don't often see that." There was a proud note in his voice as he pointed to me jagged rocks and the crystal clear cascades of water falling down into the receding sea below. As the powerful rollers came racing in, they hid the cascades of water completely until the sea receded again. This was, of course, just outside the coral reef for, once inside it, the water was calm. "You never been here before?" he asked as he made for the small jetty. "No. I've only been in Australia six months." He looked at her. "Like it?" "Love it," she told him, and it was true. She had loved ituntil George. There! Thoughts of George were back again and briefly depression descended on her as she got out of the cruiser and followed Barry Ryder down the short jetty. Vaguely she noticed the earthy road and the mass of trees beyond it. A carriage, with two black horses, was waiting, with an aboriginal .sitting above, a wide grin splitting his dark face as he saw them. Barry shouted something unintelligible and the man jumped down, came to meet them, took the cases and opened the door of the carriage. Jan wanted to giggle. "I've never been in one of these before," she admitted. Barry glanced at her. "The master won't allow cars on the island. He prefers to keep it this way." ^.".^s ratner f""/' Jan confessed, some of her depression lifting as the horses trotted gracefully along the earth road, on one side a mass of trees, on the other the beautiful emerald green lagoon. Then, just before the road made a sharp right turn and she thought they must be on the other side of the island, Barry pointed. "That's Timton Island... see?" 26