Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem (The Sandokan Series Book 1) Page 16
“If I were certain he were alone, I’d take him prisoner.”
“You’re mad, Sandokan.”
“We’d make him tell us where the soldiers are and what our best escape route would be.”
“I’m sure he’d try to trick us.”
“He wouldn’t dare, Yanez. Do you think we should check?”
“Let’s not take any needless risks, Sandokan.”
“We’ve got to try something, my friend.”
“Let me go out and take a look.”
“Shouldn’t we both go?”
“If I need your help, I’ll cry out.”
“Do you hear anything?”
“No.”
“Go ahead, Yanez. I’ll be here, ready to pounce.”
Yanez listened for a few minutes, walked to the opposite end of the hothouse, then went outside and carefully scanned the banana groves. From behind the bushes, he spotted several soldiers lazily searching the flowerbeds. It appeared the others had left the garden, having given up hope of finding the pirates near the villa.
“Let’s hope,” said Yanez, “that if they don’t find us today, they’ll think we’ve escaped. If all goes well, we’ll be in the forest shortly after nightfall.”
He was about to turn back, when he glanced at the villa and spotted a soldier heading up the path to the hothouse.
“Has he seen me?” he wondered anxiously.
He dove in among the banana trees and quickly raced back to Sandokan’s side. One look at Yanez and the pirate knew something terrible had happened.
“Are you being followed?” he asked.
“I’m afraid I may have been spotted,” replied Yanez. “There’s a soldier heading towards our hiding place.”
“Just one?”
“Just one.”
“That’s the man I need.”
“What do you mean?”
“How close are the others?”
“They’re near the wall.”
“Then we’ll capture him.”
“What?” Yanez asked nervously.
“We’ll capture the soldier and take him prisoner.”
“You’re going to get us killed, Sandokan.”
Yanez wanted to protest, but Sandokan had already raced out of the hothouse. For better or worse he had to follow his friend, if for no other reason than to prevent him from doing something rash.
The soldier Yanez had spotted was less than two hundred paces away. He was a thin pale young man with red hair, more than likely a new recruit. He advanced nonchalantly, rifle shouldered, whistling a tune. He must not have seen Yanez, for if he had, he would have undoubtedly carried his weapon differently and would not have advanced toward the hothouse without taking precautions or summoning one of his colleagues to assist him.
“It’ll be easy,” said Sandokan, leaning towards Yanez. “As soon as he passes, we’ll jump him from behind. Pull out your handkerchief and be ready to gag him.”
“Fine,” replied Yanez, “but I still think we’re taking a great risk.”
“He won’t put up much of a fight.”
“What if he yells for help?”
“He won’t have the time. There he is!”
The soldier had walked past the grove without noticing anything suspicious. Moving in perfect unison, with one quick motion Sandokan and Yanez jumped him from behind. While the Tiger grabbed him by the neck, the Portuguese swiftly gagged him. But though the attack had been lightning fast, the young man still had had the time to cry out.
“Hurry, Yanez,” said Sandokan.
The Portuguese picked up the soldier and quickly carried him into the furnace. Sandokan joined them a few minutes later, a slight look of worry on his face. He had been unable to retrieve the soldier’s rifle, having spotted two men heading down the path.
“We’re in trouble, Yanez,” he said, hurrying into the furnace.
“They know we’ve kidnapped the soldier?” asked Yanez, turning pale.
“They must have heard the cry.”
“Then we’re done for.”
“Not yet. But if they spot his rifle on the ground, they’ll undoubtedly come look for us in here.”
“Best not to waste time then, little brother. Let’s get out of here, we’ll run for the wall.”
“They’ll shoot us before we run fifty paces. We’ll hide in the furnace and see what happens. Besides, we’re armed and ready for anything.”
“I think I hear them coming.”
“Stand ready, Yanez.”
The Portuguese had not been mistaken. A few soldiers had reached the vicinity of the hothouse and began to discuss the young man’s mysterious disappearance.
“Someone must have taken him by surprise, why else would he leave his rifle here?” asked a soldier.
“It’s hard to believe the pirates are still here and were brave enough to attempt such a thing,” said another. “Do you think Barry is playing a joke, sir?”
“This is no time for jokes.”
“Then what could have happened to him?”
“He must have been captured by the two pirates,” said a voice with a thick Scottish accent. “No one actually saw those two men jump over the wall.”
“Where could they be hiding? We’ve searched the entire garden without finding a trace of them. They couldn’t have just vanished! They’re not spirits!”
“Hey, Barry!” thundered a voice. “Knock off the jokes you idiot, or I’ll give you a taste of the lash.”
Naturally, no one replied. The young man wanted to, but being gagged and threatened by a pair of krises, he quite wisely decided against it. For the soldiers, the silence immediately confirmed their suspicions: something bad had happened to their friend.
“What should we do?” asked the Scotsman.
“Look for him,” replied another.
“We’ve already searched the groves.”
“Let’s search the hothouse,” said a third.
At the sound of those words, the two pirates grew uneasy.
“What are we going to do?” asked Yanez.
“First we’ll kill the prisoner,” said Sandokan resolutely.
“The blood would give us away. Besides, this young man is too scared to pose any kind of threat.”
“Fine, we’ll spare him. Now stand beside the hatch; smash in the skull of the first soldier that pokes in his head.”
“And you?”
“I’m preparing a surprise for those Red Coats.”
Yanez took his carbine, loaded it and crouched down amongst the ashes. Sandokan leaned towards the prisoner and said, “If you make even the slightest sound, I’ll stick my knife in your throat. If you want to live, don’t move.”
He turned away from the frightened young man and started to tap lightly on the furnace’s walls.
“It’s going to be a splendid surprise,” he said. “Wait for my signal.”
In the meantime, the soldiers had entered the hothouse and began to move the vases about, angrily cursing their colleague and the Tiger of Malaysia. Not finding anything, they fixed their eyes on the furnace.
“By the saints!” exclaimed the Scotsman. “Could Barry have been killed and hidden in there?”
“Only one way to find out,” said another.
“Take care, my friends,” said a third. “That furnace is large enough to hide more than one man.”
Sandokan leaned against a wall.
“Yanez,” he whispered, “On my mark.”
“I’m ready.”
Sandokan heard the hatch open, stepped back and hurled himself at the wall. A deafening screech filled the air as the side gave way beneath that powerful blow.
“The Tiger!” cried the soldiers, scattering in all directions.
Sandokan had suddenly appeared amongst the debris, rifle drawn, kris between his teeth. He fired upon the first soldier before him, attacked the others, brought down another two then ran out of the hothouse with Yanez following closely behind him.
Chapter
20
Crossing the Jungle
THE SIGHT OF the infamous Tiger of Malaysia had struck such fear in the soldiers that not one of them had even thought of firing his weapon. By the time they recovered from the shock, it was too late. The two pirates, ignoring the bugle cries sounding from the villa and the rifle blasts thundering from the garden, were already racing through the bushes and flowerbeds.
Running furiously, within minutes, Sandokan and Yanez had reached the trees. They stopped to catch their breath and look about. The soldiers that had tried to trap them in the furnace had rushed out of the hothouse, shouting at the top of their voices, firing into the groves. Men stormed out of the villa clutching their rifles and raced across the garden, hoping to beat the fugitives to the wall.
“Too late, my friends,” cried Yanez. “We’ll get there first.”
“Give it all you have,” added Sandokan. “We can’t let them catch us.”
“Ready when you are.”
They ran off at full speed, keeping to the trees to remain hidden. Minutes later they reached the wall, scaled it in a flash and jumped down to the other side.
“No one?” asked Sandokan.
“Not a soul.”
“Into the jungle! We’ll lose them!”
The jungle was only two paces away. They raced in at full speed but soon found their path blocked at every turn. Durian trees, banana trees, sugar palms and orange trees towered before them, wreathed in dense tangles of calamus, rattan and gambir vines; black pepper and betel plants grew so thickly they almost could not pass.
Drawing their krises, they hacked their way forward, slicing through bushes, roots and vines, but it was not long before their advance came to halt, they would have needed a cannon to smash through that wall of vegetation.
“What now, Sandokan? I don’t see a path anywhere.”
“We’ll climb our way through,” said the Tiger of Malaysia. “We’ve done it before.”
“Thank God we’ve had the practice.”
“No better way to throw the British off our tracks.”
“Yes, but we’ll still need to get our bearings.”
“Trust me, Yanez. My jungle instincts are infallible.”
“Do you think the British are following?”
“I doubt it,” replied Sandokan. “If we’re having trouble, and we’re used to living among the trees, they couldn’t have advanced more than ten paces. Regardless, best we get away from here as fast as possible. They may have put a few dogs on our trail.”
“Our knives will scare them off, Sandokan.”
“They’re more dangerous than men. Come, Yanez, time to start climbing.”
Grabbing onto rattan, calamus and black pepper vines, the two pirates began to scale the wall of vegetation with amazing agility. They climbed up, then down, then up once again, making their way across that net of vines and branches, cutting through groves of banana trees and advancing past the giants of the forest.
Their sudden arrival did not go unnoticed. Splendid Nicobar pigeons and crowned pigeons hurriedly flew off, toucans escaped in a blur of red and blue, argus pheasants with long spotted tails scurried for shelter, as did beautiful turquoise verditer flycatchers, whistling sharply as they disappeared from sight. Even the proboscis monkeys, surprised by that unexpected intrusion, quickly headed for cover, howling in fear as they sought refuge in the hollow of a tree.
Sandokan and Yanez advanced fearlessly, manoeuvring from plant to plant, without ever once losing their footing. They leaped to the calamus, hung for an instant, swung to a rattan vine, grabbed branches and made their way forward from tree to tree.
Having gone five or six hundred metres, repeatedly risking a fall from those incredible heights, they stopped to catch their breath amongst the branches of a mango tree.
“We can rest here for a couple of hours,” said Sandokan. “No one will disturb us in the middle of the jungle.”
“We were lucky to escape from those rascals, little brother. Sitting in a furnace, surrounded by ten men and managing to save our hides is a true miracle. They must fear you immensely.”
“So it would seem,” smiled Sandokan.
“Do you think Marianna knows we managed to escape?”
“I think so,” sighed the pirate.
“I’m afraid our little outing will spur his lordship to seek refuge in Victoria. He won’t feel safe now that he knows we’ve landed.”
“You’re right, Yanez,” said Sandokan, his face darkening. “We should go look for our men.”
“Let’s hope they’ve arrived by now.”
“I’m positive we’ll find them at the mouth of the brook.”
“Unless some tragedy has befallen them.”
“Don’t give me new things to worry about. Anyway, we’ll know soon enough.”
“Are we going to attack the villa right away?”
“It depends on our options.”
“Would you like a suggestion, Sandokan?”
“By all means, Yanez.”
“Let’s wait for his lordship to set off for Victoria. I doubt he’ll remain in the villa for much longer. We’ll set up an ambush along the path. Once we’ve taken care of his soldiers, we’ll kidnap the young woman and set sail for Mompracem.”
“An excellent idea. But what of his lordship? What do we do with him?”
“We’ll let him go wherever he pleases. What does it matter? If he goes to Sarawak or England, it’ll make little difference to us.”
“He won’t do either, Yanez.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’ll never accept defeat; he’ll lead all of Labuan’s forces against us.”
“You don’t fear that, do you?”
“Me? Do you think the Tiger of Malaysia is afraid of him? They’ll come in great numbers; heavily armed, bent on conquering my island, but we’ll be ready. There are legions of men throughout Borneo, waiting for me to summon them. As soon as I send word to the Romades and the larger islands, dozens of prahus will flock to my banner.”
“Yes, undoubtedly, Sandokan.”
“As you know, Yanez, if I wanted, I could start a war on the shores of Borneo and unleash hordes of men on this wretched island.”
“You won’t do that though, Sandokan.”
“Why not?”
“Once you’ve kidnapped Marianna Guillonk, you’ll lose your taste for battle. The Tigers of Mompracem will never take to the sea again.”
Sandokan sighed.
“That woman is full of energy, you wouldn’t have to beg her to fight by your side, but Lady Marianna will never become Queen of Mompracem, will she, Sandokan?”
The pirate remained silent. He took his head in his hands and his eyes, lit by a sullen fire, stared off into space, attempting perhaps to glimpse the future.
“Sad days ahead for Mompracem,” continued Yanez. “In a few months, perhaps even within a few weeks, we’ll abandon our formidable island and set off for who knows where. It had to be this way, I guess. We’ve gathered more than enough wealth, time to enjoy a quiet life in some opulent city in the Far East.”
“Enough!” murmured Sandokan, his voice barely a whisper. “Enough, Yanez. You do not know what Fate holds in store for the Tigers of Mompracem.”
“It’s easy to guess.”
“You may be wrong.”
“Oh? What are your intentions?”
“I do not know yet. Let’s see how events unfold. Shall we resume our march?”
“It’s still a little early.”
“I’m impatient to see my prahus.”
“The British could be waiting for us on the outskirts of the jungle.”
“I do not fear them.”
“Careful, Sandokan. You’re about to start one hell of a fight. A well-aimed bullet can kill even the bravest man.”
“I’ll be careful. Look, the trees appear to thin down there. Let’s go, Yanez. I’m eager to know what happened to our men.”
“As you wish.”
/> Despite fearing a sudden attack by the British, who were likely to be scouring every bush and tree, the Portuguese was just as impatient to see if the prahus had escaped the terrible storm that had swept the island’s shores.
Having quenched their thirst with a few mangoes, they grabbed hold of the rattan and calamus vines straddling the tree and lowered themselves to the ground. It was not going to be easy to make their way out of the jungle. The trees grew thickly beyond the little clearing. Even Sandokan had become disoriented and no longer knew how to find the brook.
“We’re in a fine mess, Sandokan,” said Yanez, his attempts to spot the sun and get his bearings ending in vain. “Which way shall we go?”
“I’m not quite sure,” replied Sandokan. “I think I see a game trail down there. It’s a little overgrown, but I think it may lead towards the brook—”
“Did you hear that?”
“A bark,” replied the pirate, his face darkening.
“The dogs have picked up our scent.”
“Probably just a coincidence. Listen.”
A second bark sounded from the middle of that dark jungle. A dog was advancing through the thick vegetation, trying to follow the fugitives’ trail.
“Let’s hope it’s alone,” said Yanez.
“Perhaps one of Lord James’ Dyak servants. A soldier couldn’t have ventured into such chaos.”
“What shall we do?”
“Wait here for the beast and kill it.”
“With a rifle shot?”
“No, the sound would give us away, Yanez. Draw your kris; we’ll wait. If it gets dangerous, we’ll climb up this pomelo tree.”
The two pirates hid behind an enormous tree anchored by thick wall-like buttresses cloaked in rattan vines and waited for their four-legged adversary to appear. Branches and leaves rustled as the barking grew louder and louder. There could be no mistake, the dog had picked up the pirates’ scent and was racing towards them, possibly leading a band of Dyaks to where they stood.
“There it is,” said Yanez.
A black dog, its mouth bristling with sharp teeth, had emerged from the bushes. It was a bloodhound, an expert tracker of the type used by slave catchers in the southern United States. Spotting the two pirates, it stopped for a moment, studied them, then jumped onto the roots with the speed of a leopard. It attacked rabidly, snarling menacingly.