The Book of the Heathen by Robert Edric

Author:Robert Edric
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

17

I crossed the river in the uncertain hope of being able to see Hammad. Nor was I certain of what I hoped to achieve by the visit, other than to make a plea on Frere’s behalf, or to better understand Hammad’s own involvement in the affair. He would certainly have known of our coming investigators by then, and perhaps – or so I also tried to convince myself – the situation might now be sufficiently altered for him to divulge something or other to me. Such was the flimsy and desperate nature of my hope. I told no-one in the Station of my intentions.

I crossed with the old man, having the previous evening sent the deformed boy to make arrangements.

It was not an easy crossing and we were forced to manoeuvre among unfamiliar channels and currents before making landfall a mile downriver. I was warned that our return would need to be undertaken before the day’s rain came. Neither the man nor the boy said much to me on the crossing. I asked the boy how he found Frere, but he told me nothing I did not already know. He was reluctant to talk in front of the old man and so I did not pursue the matter. They left me where I was landed.

I arrived at the centre of the Belgian Station and stood for a moment watching all that was happening there. There was a lively air of commerce about the place, and their wharves, in stark contrast to our own, were crowded with vessels being loaded and unloaded. I walked among the market stalls and the tables of their own rubber-buyers. I met several officers I knew and they invited me back to their quarters with them. They repeated the tales they had heard about famine and fighting, about the falling-off of the season’s rubber.

Those who knew him, asked about Frere. They said they did not believe the stories they had heard, assuring me that he would soon be exonerated and released. I said nothing in return to either fuel their speculations or to bolster my own long-dead hope. Instead, I remarked on how much trade there was, allowing them to instantly divert their talk and to make the usual traders’ complaints – too much, too little, prices too low to sell, prices too high to buy. It was a capricious whim of the river that had forced this difference in our fortunes, and they understood this as well as I did. The balance of profit and loss was seldom still.

I told them why I was there, hoping that one or other of them might be able to help me, but at the mention of Hammad they became evasive, apologetic, saying there was nothing they could do. It was Cornelius’s opinion that the Belgians had no intention of handing over any powers to a native government, but that it was currently in their best interests to appear to be about to do so, and that the handing over of Frere to a native court for trial was all a part of this greater subterfuge.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.