Free HF - 04 - Black Dawn by Christopher Nicole Page A

about it. And it was his birthplace, on top of everything else. He ran into the main cabin, and up the ladder, for the moment forgetting his circumstances, clung to the rail, and stared at the low curve of beach which half enclosed the magnificent natural harbour; this was lined with bending coconut trees, but the mainland which formed the northern arm of the bay rose very rapidly from a house-fringed shore into splendid mountains, higher than any he had seen, save for the glimpse of the peaks of the Negro-held island of Haiti they had passed a few days before.
    But the scenery, at once green and lush and brown and dramatic, suggestive of a wet heat—which already had his shirt sticking to his chest, for all that the sun was drooping towards the western horizon—was not half so exciting as the myriad ships which rode to their anchors in the translucent green water, or as the bumboats, manned by black men, which were already swarming around the Green Knight, or indeed as their clothing, which was scanty in the extreme, scarcely more than drawers for the blacks, while the whites who came on board, if they added a shirt and occasionally a handkerchief knotted around the neck to absorb the sweat, wore the same calico, and were in the main unarmed, although several carried heavy whips dangling from their equally formidable leather belts. And above all there rose into the still afternoon air a babble of what was mainly English, but spoken with such a variety of accents, such a failure of punctuation, and such a delightful brogue, it was impossible to catch more than a word or two.
    'Ah, it's a place, Jamaica,' remarked Captain Morrison, at his elbow. 'You'll want to be ashore, Mr Hilton.'
    Dick turned in surprise. 'The other passengers . . .'
    'Can wait. I'm to apologize. Until your brother spoke up yesterday none of us had any idea who you really were. Robert Hilton's nephews. God, sir, there's a compliment to my ship. I'm right sorry about that set-to the other day, Mr Hilton. But between you, you and your brother emerged with credit. Oh, indeed.'
    'You mean Tony emerged with credit,' Dick said.
    Morrison flushed. 'Ah, well, Mr Hilton, 'tis a fact that not any of us knows how he'll react to a given situation. Your brother tells me you'd no knowledge of weapons. You'd have been a fool not to be scared. And he acted the right part in stepping in, even if he had to practise a subterfuge. Now sir, here's your gear, and the boat is waiting.'
    Dick hesitated, glanced at Tony, who had returned to the deck, carrying their bags. Then he thrust out his hand. 'You're a friend, Captain. If I can ever assist you . . .'
     
    Morrison winked. 'I'll call, Mr Hilton. Indeed I will.'
     
    Dick went down the ladder into the waist, gazed at the assembled passengers, who flushed, and averted their eyes. Except for Joan Lanken, who stuck out her tongue at him, and moved it round and round, in a most suggestive fashion, before hastily tucking it away again as her husband noticed her.
    'He should beat her more often,' Tony said, and joined him in the boat, where the sailors waited to thread their way through the bumboats towards the wooden dock. 'Quite a place, eh? Christ, what heat. I'd forgotten the heat.'
    'And 'tis cooling now, Mr Hilton,' said the coxswain. 'Come noon, why, a man can't hardly breathe.'
    The boat nosed into the dock, and Tony jumped ashore, turned to assist his brother. They stood on the somewhat shaky timber, waved to the boat as it returned to the ship, and then gazed up a dusty street, lined on either side by what appeared to be shops of various descriptions, all fronted by wide verandahs beyond which doors and windows stood open. The noise and the bustle was intensified here, as they were surrounded by a crowd of men, white and black, offering them assistance.
     
    'Park Hotel, massa, best in town.'
     
    'You come with me, sir: I have girls. Good clean blacks, fresh from Africa. Make your hair curl.'
    'You going up country,