Revenge

 

Chapter 9

REVENGE

 

In the ‘Blue Frog Hotel’ someone had planted stink bombs in the waste pipes. That night the manager of the hotel where Gus and company were staying had the satisfaction of seeing the dining room fuller than ever for dinner. He had to add extra tables. When Mavis and Don arrived Sonila informed them, “You’re lucky. The head waiter wanted to put other people here at our table.”

“Why are there so many people here tonight?” Don asked.

“They’re from the hotel opposite. There’s a stench coming out of the waste pipes,” Gus said, “and they have been commenting that this afternoon smoke was coming out of the waste pipes here in this hotel too.”

“Don, I want to go home,” moaned Mavis.

Don and Gus were thinking about how to get rid of their wives so that they could go to a club called ‘The Pink Paradise’, a cabaret club illuminated in pale pink light, and girls who were able to contort their bodies that to foreigners’ eyes looked nigh on impossible, but would form a starting point for a conversation about their holiday.

 

The hotel receptionist handed Irving a letter as he handed in the key to his room. He saw from the postage stamp that it was from his friend to whom he had sent the splinters of wood. There was still a quarter of an hour before meeting up with Camette.

He read, ‘I have carried out all the possible tests and there’s no doubt that they are burnt. What I can’t tell you is how and why. Indeed, it really is most unusual. Thanks for the T-shirts and the chess set, we’ll have a game on your return.’

Irving put the letter back into the envelope. He was thinking that his friend was not such an expert as he made out, or that he knew something he didn’t want to put down in writing. The second hypothesis seemed the more plausible.

“Hello, today’s a nice day, isn’t it? What shall we do?” Camette asked. Looking more carefully she added quietly, “You’re looking very deep in thought.”

“I’ve just received some interesting information. Before you arrived here for your holiday, I went diving in the same spot where I took you. I picked up some splinters of wood from the shipwreck and sent them to a friend of mine. In his reply he says there are definite signs of burning.”

“Burnt remains on the sea bed! The legend says that the men and boats perished in a fire at sea.” Camette added.

“Do you believe in the legends?” Irving asked.

“They must be based on something that happened and then, as a warning, they keep the story alive.”

“To keep the people under control.”

“Irving, nowadays, who is going to use a legend to keep themselves in power? And much less in a place like this.”

“What I want to say is that these stories are used to hide the truth.”

“What truth?” Camette asked.

“There’s something unclear here and I’m going to find out what it is.”

“So, that’s what you’re up to?”

“Let’s go to the temple, now is a good time to go as there won’t be any tourists with their cameras.”

Irving chose the motorbike as the means of getting to the temple as it was easier to hide, should it be necessary. Camette was bewildered by all the events that had happened since she had set foot on the island. She had come in search of something old, antique, or even ancient, for her house or to be set up in her shop. And what had happened? Everything except the very thing she most wanted �" the antique. Irving never asked her what she wanted to do and she was annoyed by his lack of consideration. When all was said and done they weren’t really going out together.

Just as Irving had said, the temple was deserted. The buzzing of insects and the singing of birds came from the trees. Camette wanted to sit down and enjoy the exquisite atmosphere, but Irving didn’t dally. “Let’s study the floor and the engraved stones that tell the story, especially the central stone that carries the image of the fish against the background of flames.”

“I prefer the large stele even though it doesn’t have the fire. Do you understand hieroglyphs?”

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t,” admitted  Irving.

“What a blow!”

Irving, a bit put out, said, “What do you expect? No one can know everything.”

“Because it would be very useful for you to understand the meaning of the hieroglyphs. They probably hold the key to the enigma.”

“Yes, but you have forgotten one thing. We don’t know if an enigma exists.”

“What are we going to do here?”

“Walk around the floor,” said Irving.

The two walked over the almost smooth stones which they had trod a few days before. Irving looked at them closely hoping to see something that shouldn’t be there. He was out of luck. He didn’t really know what he was looking for. Irving                              knelt down beside the central stone. It was dry. “There’s no water. Give us a hand to shift it.”

Camette picked up two pieces of wood, one for Irving the other for her. Between the two of them they tried to pry it open. It was impossible. The stone was firmly in place.

“I saw it and so did you. It wasn’t a mirage.” Irving thought for bit, then added, “This stone was leaking water, yet the stone is firmly fixed, and probably has been since it was placed in the floor.”

“Come on, Irving. I want to have a good time in spite of this turning out to be intriguing for you. I must say I’m getting more than a bit fed up with all of this.” Camette declared.

“You’re right. I’m rather selfish, aren’t I?”

“A bit.”

“What do you think about diving from a different point on the island?”

“Excellent idea. Unless you have an ulterior motive for going diving,” Camette hinted.

“My only motive is to spend some pleasant hours in your company, doing one of the things I like most.”

“And what is that?”

“Dive.”

“Ooooh!” Camette said.

On seeing the expression of disillusionment on Camette’s face, he laughed and said, “Don’t take it so personally.”