At noon the sharks came. There were half a dozen of them, their fins cutting through the water as they sped towards the raft.
‘Black-fin sharks,’ Banda announced. ‘They’re man-eaters.’
Jamie watched the fins skimming closer to the raft. ‘What do we do?’
Banda swallowed nervously. ‘Truthfully, Jamie, this is my very first experience of this nature.’
The back of a shark nudged the raft, and it almost capsized. The two men grabbed the mast for support. Jamie picked up a paddle and shoved it at a shark, and an instant later the paddle was bitten in two. The sharks surrounded the raft now, swimming in lazy circles, their enormous bodies rubbing up close against the small craft. Each nudge tilted the raft at a precarious angle. It was going to capsize at any moment.
‘We’ve got to get rid of them before they sink us.’
‘Get rid of them with what?’ Banda asked.
‘Hand me a tin of beef.’
‘You must be joking. A tin of beef won’t satisfy them. They want us!’
There was another jolt, and the raft heeled over.
‘The beef!’ Jamie yelled. ‘Get it!’
A second later Banda placed a tin in Jamie’s hand. The raft lurched sickeningly.
‘Open it halfway. Hurry!’
Banda pulled out his pocketknife and pried the top of the can half open. Jamie took it from him. He felt the sharp, broken edges of the metal with his finger.
‘Hold tight!’ Jamie warned.
He knelt down at the edge of the raft and waited. Almost immediately, a shark approached the raft, its hugh mouth wide open, revealing long rows of evil, grinning teeth. Jamie went for the eyes. With all his strength, he reached out with both hands and scraped the edge of the broken metal against the eye of the shark, ripping it open. The shark lifted its great body, and for an instant the raft stood on end. The water around them was suddenly stained red. There was a giant thrashing as the sharks moved in on the wounded member of the school. The raft was forgotten. Jamie and Banda watched the great sharks tearing at their helpless victim as the raft sailed further and further away until finally the sharks were out of sight.
Banda took a deep breath and said softly, ‘One day I’m going to tell my grandchildren about this. Do you think they’ll believe me?’
And they laughed until the tears streamed down their faces.
Late that afternoon, Jamie checked his pocket watch. ‘We should be off the diamond beach around midnight. Sunrise is at six-fifteen. That means we’ll have four hours to pick up the diamonds and two hours to get back to sea and out of sight. Will four hours be enough, Banda?’
‘A hundred men couldn’t live long enough to spend what you can pick up on that beach in four hours.’ I just hope we live long enough to pick them up …
They sailed steadily north for the rest of that day, carried by the wind and the tide. Towards evening a small island loomed ahead of them. It looked to be no more than two hundred yards in circumference. As they approached the island, the acrid smell of ammonia grew strong, bringing tears to their eyes. Jamie could understand why no one lived here. The stench was overpowering. But it would make a perfect place for them to hide until nightfall. Jamie adjusted the sail, and the small raft bumped against the rocky shore of the low-lying island. Banda made the raft fast, and the two men stepped ashore. The entire island was covered with what appeared to be millions of birds; cormorants, pelicans, gannets, penguins and flamingos. The thick air was so noisome that it was impossible to breathe. They took half a dozen steps and were thigh deep in guano.
‘Let’s get back to the raft,’ Jamie gasped.
Without a word, Banda followed him.
As they turned to retreat, a flock of pelicans took to the air, revealing an open space on the ground. Lying there were three men. There was no telling how long they had been dead. Their corpses had been perfectly preserved by the ammonia in the air, and their hair had turned a bright red.
A minute later Jamie and Banda were back on the raft, headed out to sea.
They lay off the coast, sail lowered, waiting.
‘We’ll stay out here until midnight. Then we go in.’
They sat together in silence, each in his own way preparing for whatever lay ahead. The sun was low on the western horizon, painting the dying sky with the wild colours of a mad artist. Then suddenly they were blanketed in darkness.
They waited for two more hours, and Jamie hoisted the sail. The raft began to move east towards the unseen shore. Overhead, clouds parted and a thin wash of moonlight paled down. The raft picked up speed. In the distance the two men could begin to see the faint smudge of the coast. The wind blew stronger, snapping at the sail, pushing the raft towards the shore at an ever-increasing speed. Soon, they could make out the outline of the land, a gigantic parapet of rock. Even from that distance it was possible to see and hear the enormous whitecaps that exploded like thunder over the reefs. It was a terrifying sight from afar, and Jamie wondered what it would be like up close.
He found himself whispering. ‘You’re sure the beach side isn’t guarded?’
Banda did not answer. He pointed to the reefs ahead. Jamie knew what he meant. The reefs were more deadly than any trap man could devise. They were the guardians of the sea, and they never relaxed, never slept. They lay there, patiently waiting for their prey to come to them. Well, Jamie thought, we’re going to outsmart you. We’re going to float over you.
The raft had carried them that far. It would carry them the rest of the way. The shore was racing towards them now, and they began to feel the heavy swell of the giant combers. Banda was holding tightly to the mast.
‘We’re moving pretty fast.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Jamie reassured him. ‘When we get closer, I’ll lower the sail. That will cut our speed. We’ll slide over the reefs nice and easy.’
The momentum of the wind and the waves was picking up, hurtling the raft towards the deadly reefs. Jamie quickly estimated the remaining distance and decided the waves would carry them in to shore without the help of the sail. Hurriedly, he lowered it. Their momentum did not even slow. The raft was completely in the grip of the huge waves now, out of control, hurled forwards from one giant crest to the next. The raft was rocking so violently that the men had to cling to it with both hands. Jamie had expected the entrance to be difficult, but he was totally unprepared for the fury of the seething maelstrom they faced. The reefs loomed in front of them with startling clarity. They could see the waves rushing in against the jagged rocks and exploded into huge, angry geysers. The entire success of the plan depended on bringing the raft over the reefs intact so that they could use it for their escape. Without it, they were dead men.
They were bearing down on the reefs now, propelled by the terrifying power of the waves. The roar of the wind was deafening. The raft was suddenly lifted high in the air by an enormous wave and flung towards the rocks.
‘Hold on, Banda!’ Jamie shouted. ‘We’re going in!’
The giant breaker picked up the raft like a matchstick and started to carry it towards shore, over the reef. Both men were hanging on for their lives, fighting the violent bucking motion that threatened to sweep them into the water. Jamie glanced down and caught a glimpse of the razor-sharp reefs below them. In another moment they would be sailing over them, safe in the haven of the shore.
At that instant there was a sudden, tearing wrench as a reef caught one of the barrels underneath