Make it harder to see, he reasoned.
And then he was at the water. It felt warm to the touch and smelt but it was water and he was too far gone to be fussy. So he crept out into it until he was kneeling in water that lapped his chest. A glance in both directions showed a sheet of rippling black water extending away to his left and dry sand and mud off to his right.
Trembling with emotion Willy began to drink. The water was like muddy soup and he realized he had stirred it up.
Be full of cow poo too, he thought. But he didn’t care. I need it. If I get an upset stomach tomorrow too bad. It means I have lived until then, he thought.
It took him several minutes to drink his fill and to rinse the salt and sweat from his face and eyes. He became aware that his shirt was now soaked. Holding it up in the starlight he saw that it was now coated in mud. For a moment, he considered discarding it but then he shook his head.
I will need it to protect me from the sun tomorrow, he told himself.
Carefully he pulled it on, the wet cloth immediately soothing his sunburnt back and shoulders. Most of the buttons were gone but he did up the couple that remained. As he crouched in the water doing this he kept looking around but the only small alarm was caused by some night bird taking sudden flight off to his left.
Satisfied he could drink no more Willy edged back out of the water, now regretting that he had not taken off his boots as they and his socks were soaked.
Too bad! I’ll just have to put up with a few blisters, he decided. His whole aim now was to get away from here and start walking to Muldarga.
As he retreated across the small beach Willy carefully smoothed out the sand as best he could until he reached the grassy bank. Along this section of river bank, it was very gentle and led up to the back of the house. Willy presumed that the inhabitants often walked down for picnics and pleasure.
Once he was back up on the bank Willy turned left and began creeping back the way he had come. But he had only gone a few paces when the sound of human voices sent him into a heart-hammering crouch behind the nearest tree.
Anxiously he stared up towards the building, straining his eyes to try to detect the people. It quickly became obvious that the people had not noticed him.
They are arguing, he thought.
Then he distinctly heard one of the people and he stiffened. It was a woman’s voice and she cried out, “I won’t do it again!”
Is that the girl who tried to escape? Willy wondered.
He stood up and looked around the side of the trunk to get a better view. As he did he remembered his resolve back at the limestone ridge to try to rescue her.
I had better take a look, just in case, he thought.
The notion that a good reconnaissance would aid the police in rescuing her came to him but then he felt ashamed, sensing that was just an excuse for not taking action himself.
So he went down to his belly and began crawling up the lawn. As he did he saw movement against the lighted doors and windows. There were two people moving around but they seemed all fuzzy and hard to see. It wasn’t until Willy had crawled twenty-five metres up the slope that he understood why. Between him and them was a high chain-link fence.
There was a large paperbark tree a few metres to his left so Willy went down on his belly and began crawling across to it. As he did lights suddenly came on under the patio roof. Willy froze in fear and trembled as a spasm of terror lanced through him. He pressed himself flat with his face hard into the grass and prayed he had not been seen.
But there were no shouts of alarm. Instead Willy heard the clink of plates and cutlery being placed on a table. Cautiously he lifted his head and looked. Now that the back patio was well lit he was able to see that there was a large table there and the two people, both dressed as waiters with white shirts and black bow ties, were busy setting it.
The size and splendour of the table quite surprised Willy. It was covered by a white table cloth and by the sparkle on the decanters he thought they might be crystal.
A formal dinner? Willy thought. The idea was so bizarre ithat he experienced an Alice-in-Wonderland feeling of unreality.
And it is the same girl! he noted.
She was an attractive brunette, her beauty marred by a livid bruise across her face where Zoltan’s rifle had struck her. She looked very sulky and unhappy but worked quickly and efficiently.
The man with her positioned three silver candelabra and began lighting candles. Willy stared in disbelief and shook his head.
I don’t believe this. This is surreal, he thought.
But he was also aware of just how exposed he was so he began to inch sideways across the lawn in an attempt to get into the shadow of the tree trunk. He had almost made it when he heard more voices. After a panicky glance, which took in that the two waiters were looking into the building, he slithered the last few metres and hunched in the shadows of the big tree.
But from there he could not see up over the curve of the ground, the table mostly being obscured from view. Curiosity drove Willy to a crouch and then he stood up and peeked around the shady side of the trunk. What he saw made him gape in surprise.
Through the back doors had come five men and three women. All of them were formally dressed, despite the tropical heat. Three of the men were in white dinner jackets and wore long black trousers, white shirts and black bow ties. The other two, both black men, wore splendid full dress military uniforms—scarlet jackets with medals and gold badges.
Willy stared in amazement. His eyes flicked from one person to another as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Then he felt a chill of fear. One of the men in a white dinner jacket was Mr Dragovisic! Ghastly memories of the man callously shooting Mr Drew swirled in Willy’s mind and he felt both nauseated and terrified.
Another of the men was familiar and Willy named him as Mr Carter, the manager. The third he had never seen before. He then shifted his focus to the two black men.
Africans, he thought.
The biggest, a hugely fat man with a bald bullet head wore dark blue uniform trousers adorned by a red stripe on each side. The man wore a multi-coloured belt around his waist. Gold braid encrusted the shoulders and cuffs of his scarlet uniform jacket and he wore a row or medals that shone and reflected the light.
Who is he? Willy wondered. He felt sure he had seen the man before. Where have I seen that man? he puzzled.
Then the man let out a great booming laugh and lifted a glass from the tray held by the female waitress. He drained it in one gulp and placed it back down, then leered at the girl and said something that Willy did not catch. Whatever it was it amused the other people as they all laughed. Then, as the girl turned to offer drinks to the other guests, the huge African groped her buttocks and chuckled. To Willy’s surprise the girl made no protest but her body language suggested she was not happy.
This was confirmed when Mr Dragovisic moved aside and took the girl firmly by the elbow. He led her away from the others and down the lawn towards Willy. Once he was away from the main group Mr Dragovisic hissed at her, “Don’t you cause any more trouble woman, or I vill send you to der man up at der next villa.”
That idea seemed to terrify the girl as she let out a gasp and sobbed, her voice cracking with fear. “No, please! No! I will behave. I will do what you say.”
The note of terror in her voice chilled Willy but also enraged him. You bastard! he thought as Mr Dragovisic strolled back to the table.
The girl also returned to her duties and Willy was able to study the other guests. The other black man was much younger. He wore a similar uniform but from the right shoulder