'What's wrong with that?'
'Don't you realize that every drop of water on this island is for drinking and drinking alone? That it all comes by ship from Cape Town or from the sun condensers on the roof?'
'Pulling rank again!' she blazed back 'For every petty thing you have a "do this, do that"
'My dear girl.
'I'm not your bloody "dear girl"! Nobody said anything about not bathing! It's a good thing I'm leaving: I couldn't stomach much morel'
I thought of the next day's journey. A small boat isn't the place for two people to be at one another's throats, I smothered my retort.
Koch also tried to be placatory during the meal, which was probably the most sumptuous Possession had ever seen; but it didn't come off: for most of the time she was irritable and silent.
It was Kaptein Denny who put the party into neutral gear. '
What's your route to Luderitz, Captain Weddell?' he asked.
'A broad sweep out to sea to the north-west first. Then I head back to the land and make port.'
'Keep away from the deep sea. Use the in-shore route.'
His opinion was worth respecting. After all, he'd used Sperrgebiet waters all his life.
'In-shore? Never heard of it.'
'Between the reefs and the shore.'
'It sounds crazy.'
'Maybe. But it's July and the signs are there. The fog's thicker. The sea's sulky. There's heavy weather coining: a big blow.'
It flashed through my mind that a soft sell about the weather could be an easy way to liquidate me. Lost at sea. No trace. No comeback
'It isn't what the radio weather forecast says.'
He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to me. It was like a square bit of chamois leather. It had claws.
'Dried albatross foot. Feel it When it's soft like now it means something special is blowing up. Nominally it's hard.'
I showed it to Koch. He by-passed Jutta, who sat silent. Kaptein Denny went on, speaking with authority, 'You'll be caught, for sure. You're using a boat you don't know. 78
I don't expect Van Rensburg kept her up to scratch.'
I began to believe him.
Jutta interjected, It won't help either of us if we're drowned.'
'Go my way and you won't be.'
He smiled and I found myself warming to him. He'd been the skipper Captain Murray said he'd like around if his ship was in trouble.
'Make a good offing to the north-west once you get clear of Possession,' he went on. 'It's going to be squally from the north-west and west, to start with. You don't want to be close to the land then. Later head back shorewards and keep inside the shoal plateau all the way up the coast.'
`You talk as if I meant to sail. I'll use the engine, of course.'
'In your place I'd sail. After the squalls you'll find the wind will hang in the west and then back strongly to the south-west. If you stick inshore you'll make most of the passage with a free wind. But if it gets too bad-and I think it will -you you can hole up in Alabama Cove. Perfect shelter. But you won't make the cove if you head out to sea'
Maybe the brandy had stoked Koch up more than he showed because at the mention of the name Alabama he suddenly burst into the song which is as traditional to South Africans as 'Waltzing Matilda' is to Australians: Here comes the Alabama, the Alabama comes o'er the sea, Here comes the Alabama, the Alabama comes o'er the sea.
Breekbout grabbed a tin dish and started to thump out the catchy rythmical beat. All of us except Jutta joined in the rest of the song.
Girl, girl, the reed-bed girl-the reed-bed is made up for me,
On which I can sleep.
Girl, girl, the reed-bed girl, the reed-bed is made up for me,
On which I can sleep.
The Alabama was a famous Confederate raider which harassed Yankee shipping off the Cape during the American Civil War. She was joined by a consort, the Tuscaloosa. The Alabama's exploits won the hearts of South Africans and were commemorated by the strolling Malay singers for whom Cape Town is famous.
Our nonsense seemed to snap Jutta out of her fit of the blues-especially when the four of us stomped out a kind of war dance. Perhaps that is how the ditty was born in the first place.
I said to Kaptein Denny when I'd sat down and got my breath back-'I knew the Alabama had a base somewhere on the Sperrgebiet but I didn't know where.'
'You'll see Alabama Cove and Tuscaloosa Rock for yourselves if it turns out to be the breed of buster I think's coming-' he replied. 'You'll bless them before you're through, too. When do you leave tomorrow?'
'As soon as the fog starts to lift.'
'It'll be a hairy trip, very hairy,'
'Where's this cove place?'
'About half-way to Luderitz.'
Breekbout broke in unexpectedly on our conversation. '
Give me another shot of brandy, skipper-the ghosts are coming in with the fog tonight.'
Kaptein Denny added, 'She's coming!'
I explained to Jutta. 'Possession's favourite apparition: a lady without legs. A couple of dogs, too, beside which the Hounds of the Baskervilles looks like a pup.' tried to keep it light but she shivered and shed the cheerfulness she'd had during the song.
I tried to jolly her further. 'You have the distinction of being the most tangible female ever to have set foot on Possession.' But she didn't respond.
Breekbout threw back his brandy at a gulp. 'Sy stinger soon piss-pikkewyn.'
She staggers like a sozzled penguin-' I translated for her benefit, but even Breekbout's unique gift of articulate speech failed to cheer her. Perhaps it was untranslatable anyhow. I tried to shut him up but he went on, with a kind of lugu, brious, serio-comic deadpan humour, 'I'm now going to put another light in the window so that the ghost can see her way properly.'
'He talks of her as if she were real!' exclaimed Jutta, 80.
Kaptein Denny said, 'On Possession ghosts are as Beal as I don't know what made me say it or why. I didn't intend to kill the party stone dead but I did. There was too much going on below the surface-and the lost city was just below the surface.
'As Swakop or the City of Baroda or U-160:
'Who did you say?' The legless ghost might have confronted Kaptein Denny, the way he looked.
`Swakop.'
He appeared to need both the ghost lights and the brandy. I intended to string him along because of my suspicions, but Jutta spilt it about the tape recording before I could stop her. The fact that he didn't know about it was a point in her favour. The tape wasn't the sort of thing partners would have kept from one another.
Her explanation gave him time to hang on to the ropes and get his breath back. I watched him all the way. So did Koch.
'Is that all?' he asked.
'Isn't it enough?' I countered.
`Nothing about…?' He let the question hang.
Jutta's voice was stony with resentment. 'I'd gladly play it over to you but the strong arm of the law has taken it away from me'
I'd locked away her tape-recorder and documents in a steel cupboard. This was in the headman's cottage, which I' d allocated to her, while the men shared the bunkhouse. I'd begun to feel better disposed towards her after finding out that Kaptein Denny didn't know about the tape; moreover, Yd been so struck by the evidence of the feeling which Julia's mention of it had aroused in him that I reckoned a full playback might bring out other interesting things as well.
'Why not?' I asked; and Jutta looted surprised. 'We're becoming involved with one bit of Possession's spooky past, so why not some of it that% for real? That tape's history wired for sound. I'll go and get it'
Outside, the fog was so thick it was like custard, and my torch didn't penetrate, just threw back a yellow blob of light. If it hadn't been for the concrete path I would have strayed. The smell of the sea was everywhere. It was quite 81 still, and I had my doubts about Kaptein Denny's gale forecast.