‘Don’t show off, Kiki,’ said Jack sleepily. ‘And for goodness’ sake keep still. You’ve been dancing about on my shoulder for the last ten minutes.’
Next day plans were made for the river-trip, which was to last at least a week. Bill produced a map which showed the winding course of a river, and pointed to various places.
‘We start here – that’s where our launch will be. We go here first – see? And then down to this town – I don’t know how you pronounce it – Ala-ou-iya – something like that. I leave you there and have a snoop round for my man – though, as I said, I might take you boys with me.’
‘What’s his name?’ asked Jack.
‘He calls himself Raya Uma,’ said Bill. ‘No one knows whether that is his real name or not, or exactly what nationality he is – but we do know he’s a trouble-maker who wants watching. What he’s out here for we simply can’t imagine. It may be something that is perfectly innocent, but, knowing his record, I don’t think so. Anyway, all I have to do is to spot him, find out what he’s doing and report back. Nothing more – so there’s no danger attached, or I wouldn’t have brought you with me.’
‘We wouldn’t have minded if there had been!’ said Philip. A spot of danger makes an adventure, you know, Bill!’
Bill laughed. ‘You and your adventures! Now listen – this fellow Uma doesn’t know me personally, and has never met me – but he may have been warned that his doings are being enquired about, so he may be on the look-out for a snooper. If anyone questions any of you, answer candidly at once. Say you’ve been ill, and this is a trip to give you sunshine, and so on – which is perfectly true as far as you’re concerned.’
‘Right,’ said Jack. ‘What’s this man Uma like?’
‘Here are some photographs of him,’ said Bill, and he spread out five or six prints. The children looked at them, astonished.
‘But – they’re all of different men,’ said Dinah.
‘Looks like it – but they’re all our friend Uma,’ said Bill. ‘He’s a master of disguises, as you see. The only thing he cannot very well disguise is a long white scar on his right forearm, which looks very like a thin curving snake. But it’s easy enough to cover that up, of course, with the sleeve of his shirt or coat, or whatever garment he happens to be wearing.’
He gathered up the prints and put them back into his wallet. ‘You’re not likely to recognize him at all,’ he said. ‘So don’t go suspecting everyone you meet – you’ll spoil your holiday! I know where to find people who know him, and I may get word of him. On the other hand, he may not be anywhere about now – he may have flown to America or Australia. He gads about all over the place – a most extraordinary fellow’
Something long and sinuous suddenly glided by Bill, disappearing into the bushes nearby. He jumped, and then put out a restraining hand as Philip darted by him. ‘No, Philip – that might be a poisonous snake – don’t try any tricks with animals here.’
Dinah gave a small shriek. ‘Was that a snake? Oh, how horrible! Bill, you didn’t tell us there were snakes here. I hate snakes. Philip, don’t you dare to catch one, else I’ll scream the place down.’
‘Fathead,’ said Philip, sitting down again. ‘All right, Bill. I won’t keep a poisonous snake, I promise you. That was rather a pretty one. What was it?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Bill. ‘I’m not over keen on snakes myself. And be careful of some of the insects here too, Philip. They can give you nasty nips. Don’t carry too many about in your pockets!’
Dinah was not so happy now that she knew there were snakes about. She kept her eyes on the ground wherever she walked, and jumped at the least waving of a leaf. The little hotel manager saw her and came to comfort her.
‘Many snakes here, yes – beeg, beeg ones that do not bite – and little, little ones, which are much poison. The little bargua snake is the worst. Do not touch him.’
‘Oh dear – what’s it like?’ asked poor Dinah.
‘He is green with spottings,’ said the manager.
‘Oh! What sort of spottings?’ asked Dinah.
‘Red and yellow,’ said the little man. And he is fast with his head when he strikes – so!’ He struck out with his hand as if it were a snake darting at Dinah, and she gave a small scream and drew back.
‘Ah – I fright you!’ said the plump manager, filled with dismay. ‘No, no, do not be fright. See, I have somethings for you!’
He scuttled off to fetch the ‘somethings’ and brought back a dish of extremely rich-looking sweetmeats.
‘I give you my apologizings,’ he said. ‘And my beggings for pardon.’
Dinah couldn’t help laughing. ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t really frightened – you just made me jump. But thanks awfully for these sweets.’
The little man disappeared and the children tried the sweets. They were very rich, very sticky and very sweet. After one each they all felt slightly sick. Kiki, however, helped herself generously, and then began to hiccup loudly, much to the delight of a passing waiter.
‘Shut up, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘That’s enough. Be quiet now.’
But this time Kiki really did have hiccups, and was rather astonished to find that she couldn’t stop. ‘Pardon,’ she kept saying, in a surprised tone that sent the children into gales of laughter.
‘That’ll teach you not to be so greedy!’ said Jack. ‘I say – we’re starting on the river-trip tomorrow! Bags I drive the launch sometimes!’
‘Bags I, bags I!’ repeated Kiki at once, dancing up and down. ‘Three bags full! Bags I! Oh – pardon!’
Tomorrow! Away on an unknown river to mysterious places in a strange land – what could be more exciting?
5
Away down the river
Next day they all drove down to the river. The white road wound here and there, and the people they met ran to the side of the road to keep out of the way of the big car.
‘They look like people out of the Bible,’ said Lucy-Ann.
‘Well, many of the people in the Bible came from these parts!’ said Bill. ‘And in some ways the people and their villages too have not changed a great deal, except for modern amenities that have crept in – the radio, for instance, and wrist-watches, and modern sanitation some-times. And cinemas, of course – you find them everywhere.’
‘Bill – in the picture-Bible I had years ago Abraham looked exactly like that man!’ said Lucy-Ann, nodding towards a dignified, white-robed man walking by the roadside. And look at that woman with a pot on her head – pitcher, I mean. She’s like the picture I had of Rebecca going to the well.’
‘Hey, look – camels!’ shouted Philip, suddenly excited. ‘Oh, there’s a baby one. I’ve never in my life seen a baby one before. Oh, I wish I had it for a pet.’
‘Well, at least you couldn’t keep it in your pocket, like a snake or a mouse,’ said Dinah. ‘Don’t those camels look cross!’
‘Yes,’ said Bill. ‘Camels always look annoyed. That one over there is looking down his nose at us as if he really couldn’t bear the sight of our car.’
‘He probably can’t!’ said Dinah. ‘It must smell horrible to him. Yes, he does look down his nose, doesn’t he? Cheer up, camel!’
They saw patient donkeys too, loaded down with such heavy pannier-baskets that it was a marvel they could walk at all. Philip was interested in the birds too, almost as much as Jack was.
‘I wish I’d brought my big world-bird book,’ mourned Jack. ‘I’d be able to look up all these brilliant birds then. I did put it out to bring, but I left it on my dressing-table.’
You wouldn’t have been allowed in the aeroplane with that monster book,’ said Bill. ‘I see you brought your field-glasses, however. You’ll find plenty to look at with those.’
‘Is that the river?’ said Dinah suddenly, as she caught sight of a flash of blue through the trees. Yes, it is! I say – it’s very wide here, isn’t it!’
So it was. The farther shore seemed quite a distance a
way. Their launch was waiting for them, a trim little vessel with a boatman on board looking very spry and neat. He saluted them when they came over from the car.
The launch was beside a little jetty, and Bill looked at it with approval. He nodded to the man.
‘I Tala,’ said the man, and bowed. ‘Tala look after ship, and look after you, Sir.’
Tala showed them over the launch. It was small but quite big enough for them all. The cabin was stuffy and hot, but nobody planned to be there very much! The bunks down below looked stuffy and hot too, but, as Bill said, they could sleep on deck, providing they rigged up a mosquito net over them. A little breeze blew every now and again, which was very pleasant.
‘You start now, this minute, at once?’ enquired Tala, his black eyes taking them all in. He had remarkably white teeth and a twinkle in his eyes that the children liked immediately. Bill nodded.
‘Yes. Off we go. You can show me any gadgets there are, and I’ll take the wheel if I want to. Cast off
The launch went off smoothly, her engine making very little noise. At once it seemed cooler, for the breeze was now in their faces. The children sat on the deck and watched the banks slide by on either side.
Mrs Cunningham went down into the lower part of the launch to see what kind of food was stored away there. She called to Bill.
‘Just look here!’ she said. ‘They’ve done you proud again, Bill – there’s enough for an army here – and such nice food too! And there’s a fridge packed with butter and milk. You must be quite an important person, Bill, to have all this done for you!’
Bill laughed. ‘You come along up on deck and get some colour into your cheeks!’ he said. ‘Hallo, what are the children excited about?’
The launch was passing a small village and the village children had come out to watch it go by. They shouted and waved, and Jack and the others waved back.
‘What’s this river called, Tala?’ asked Philip.
‘It is called River of Abencha,’ answered Tala, his eyes on the water ahead.
‘I say, you others!’ called Philip. ‘He says this river’s called the River of Adventure – sounds exciting, doesn’t it?’
Abencha, Abencha,’ repeated Tala, but Philip thought he was trying to say Adventure’ and not pronouncing it correctly. Tala found many English words difficult to say!
All right, Tala – we heard you,’ said Philip. ‘It’s a lovely name for a river, I think – the River of Adventure. Well, this is certainly an adventure for us!’
It was a quiet, peaceful trip that day, gliding along hour after hour. Bill took the wheel when Tala went down below to prepare a meal. The children wondered what kind of a meal it would be. They were all extremely hungry.
Tala came up with a marvellous repast. As Dinah said, it was much too grand to be called just a ‘meal’ – it was nothing less than a ‘repast’, or perhaps even a ‘feast’!
Tala had apparently opened a good many tins, and concocted some dishes of his own, garnished with pickles and sauces of many kinds. There were fresh rolls to go with the meal, and to follow there was fresh or tinned fruit. Lucy-Ann pounced on a big peach and put it to her lips.
‘No, don’t eat the skin of that peach, Lucy-Ann,’ said Bill. All fruit eaten out here must be peeled before being eaten. Don’t forget that, please.’
Mrs Cunningham really enjoyed that peaceful day, hearing the lap-lap of the water against the bows of the boat, seeing the villages slip by on the banks, and sometimes meeting other boats on the blue-green water.
The sun and wind tired them all out, and each of them fell asleep at once when they had bedded down on deck. Tala tied up the boat safely, and went to his own shake-down in the stern.
Jack just had time to think that the stars seemed amazingly large and bright before he fell fast asleep. Nobody heard a sound that night, not even the cry of a night-bird, whose voice seemed half a hoot and half a shriek. Kiki opened one eye and considered whether to answer back in her own language of squawk-and-scream – but decided that Bill might not like it!
The river was beautiful in the early morning. It was a pale milky blue, and Jack was thrilled to watch a whole covey of tiny water-birds swimming round the yacht. ‘What are they?’ he asked Tala, pointing to the little blue and yellow things. Tala shrugged his shoulders.
‘Tala not know,’ he said. Jack soon found that Tala knew absolutely nothing about birds, insects or flowers. He could not put a name to a single one. His whole interest was in the launch’s engine and in the care of it.
‘We come to big, big place soon,’ said Tala, early that evening. He looked rather excited. ‘Place name Sinny-Town.’
‘Sinny-Town?’ said Bill, puzzled. ‘I don’t think so, Tala. There is no big town along this river-side – only small ones. I’ve never heard of Sinny-Town. It isn’t on my map.’
Tala nodded his head vigorously up and down. ‘Yes, Sinny-Town. Tala know. Tala been. Half an hour and we see Sinny-Town.’
Bill took out his map, and looked down the river as it was shown there. He shook his head again, and showed the map to Tala.
‘You’re wrong,’ he said. ‘There is no Sinny-Town marked here. See.’
Tala put his finger on a place where the river shown on the map curved a little.
‘Sinny-Town there,’ he said. You will see, Sir. Tala right. Tala been there. Big, big town. Many peoples. Big, big towers, tall as the sky.’
This was most astonishing. Bill couldn’t understand it. Why wasn’t this ‘big, big place’ shown on the map? Even small places were shown there. In fact, the little place he had planned to go to was marked as being very near the curve of the river where Tala said Sinny-Town was.
He shrugged his shoulders. Tala must be mistaken. Towers as tall as the sky – what nonsense!
The darkness came suddenly, as it always does in southern countries. Stars shone out, large and mysterious, and very, very bright. The river turned black and silver, and held as many stars as were in the sky.
‘Bend of river, Sir – then Sinny-Town,’ said Tala, in an excited voice. ‘You will see!’
The launch glided smoothly round the bend – and then Bill and the others saw a most astonishing sight!
A great city lay there, on the west bank of the river. A city of lights and noise. A city with towers that went up to the sky, just as Tala had said!
Bill stared in the utmost astonishment. He simply could not understand it! Here was a big place not even marked on the map – and the map was a modern one, not a year old! A city could not be built in a year. Bill was more puzzled than he had ever been in his life. He stood and stared as if he could not believe his eyes.
‘Tala go Sinny-Town tonight?’ said Tala beseechingly. Tala like Sinny-Town. Tala go, Sir? Boat be all right with you, Sir.’
‘Yes, yes – you go,’ said Bill, finding his voice. ‘Bless my soul, this is a most extraordinary thing. A large, lively town, with great buildings – and it’s not marked on the map, and no one in London told me a word about it. What can it mean?’
‘Let’s visit it, Bill,’ said Jack.
‘Not tonight,’ said Bill. ‘We’ll see what it looks like in the daylight. But what a brilliantly lighted place – and what enormous buildings! I simply don’t understand it. It’s very – very – strange!’
6
Sinny-Town
Everyone slept very well that night. They had stayed up fairly late looking at the lights of the surprising Sinny-Town. Tala had gone off in glee, leaping from the launch to the shore with one lithe spring. He had not come back by the time the others had bedded down on the cool deck, and Bill was rather uneasy, wondering if he would return.
But in the morning the sound of someone tinkering with the engine of the launch awoke Jack – and there was Tala, looking rather the worse for wear after his late night, at work on the plugs. He grinned at Jack when the boy stood up and stretched.
‘Tala go to Sinny-Town,’ he said, and nodded towards the bank. Jac
k remembered their surprise of the night before and ran to the other side of the launch to gaze at the mysterious Sinny-Town.
It was so extraordinary that he called to Bill. ‘Bill! I say, Bill – do come and look.’
Bill awoke and joined Jack. The two of them looked at the sprawling town. Bill was astonished.
‘There’s something odd about it,’ he said. ‘Look at those towers – somehow they don’t look real – and what’s that over there – a palace or something? There’s something peculiar about that too. Isn’t one side missing? Where are your field-glasses, Jack? Lend them to me.’
Jack handed them to him and Bill gazed through them. ‘No – I don’t understand this,’ he said, lowering them. ‘The town is a most peculiar mixture of buildings – there are shacks and sheds, ancient houses, towers, that palace, and something that looks remarkably like an old temple – and here and there are crowds of people milling round, and droves of camels, and . . . no, I don’t understand it.’
‘Do let’s go and look at it after breakfast,’ said Jack.
‘Yes, we certainly will,’ said Bill. ‘Sinny-Town is no village – it’s quite a big place – but WHY isn’t it marked on my map? I had a look at another map last night, but it’s not shown there either. Wake the others, Jack.’
Soon they were all having breakfast. Mrs Cunningham was as surprised as the rest of them to see such a strange mixture of a town on the bank of the river.
That palace looks quite new,’ said Lucy-Ann, staring at it. ‘And yet it must be thousands of years old and ought to be in ruins.’
After breakfast they all went ashore, leaving Tala in charge of the launch. Kiki was on Jack’s shoulder as usual, and very talkative, much to the amusement of the people they met.