Monsoon Mists (22 page)

No, I can’t leave her.
He must find a way out for both of them.

In the end, the decision was taken out of his hands. Some time after midnight, Jamie heard footsteps approaching and implemented the first part of his plan. He shook Zar’s shoulder and put a hand over her mouth.

‘Someone’s coming. Keep quiet,’ he breathed and felt her nod. ‘And take the diamond, quickly, in case they intend to question me.’

He passed it to her with a light kiss, then got up and positioned himself behind the door. When the first man entered, he knocked him senseless with a punch that landed just above the left ear. A second man, having seen what happened, fought back, but there was someone else behind him carrying a lantern. Mansukh himself.

‘Stop or I shoot!’ he ordered.

Jamie gave his second adversary a thump in the gut which had him doubling over, then stood tall, facing the
bania.
The man was indeed pointing a pistol at him and although Jamie couldn’t be sure it was loaded, he didn’t want to take any chances. A dagger he could have handled, but not this.

‘Good. I see you are a man of sense.’ Mansukh stepped into the room and glanced at Zar. ‘Unlike the relative of the lady.’

Zar gasped. ‘What have you done to William?’ she whispered. Jamie saw her blanch as the light from the lantern illuminated her features.

Mansukh’s mouth tightened. ‘It’s not what I have done,
sahiba
, but what he has done to
me
. He is a fool, thinking he can outwit me.’ He scowled at them. ‘After some … persuasion, he told me he would fetch the item he was supposed to pass to me. I sent him on his way with several of my men and he went to your house. He said he knew exactly where you kept it.’ He nodded at Jamie. ‘But after spending an age in there, he tried to escape by jumping out of a window at the back. Naturally, I had taken precautions and he was caught. He will soon be on his way down river to my ship.’

‘He didn’t give you the, er … item?’ Jamie knew this couldn’t be the case, but had to make sure.

‘No, of course not. How could he, when you have it? I did not think he was telling the truth, but I had to make sure.’

Jamie nodded. No point pretending any longer.

‘I am tired of playing games,’ the merchant barked. ‘You will go and fetch it quickly or the lady dies. And if you try to get help from your fellow English, I will make sure there is proof that you killed her, which means the authorities here will execute you instantly. Do you understand?’

‘Yes. You swear to me she will be unharmed?’

‘You are not in a position to make demands of me, but this I will promise anyway because Mrs Miller has always stayed out of my business and dealt fairly with everyone else. She is a woman of sense.’

The words rang true so Jamie nodded. ‘Thank you. After you then.’ He indicated that they should leave and threw Zar a reassuring glance. ‘I’ll be back soon,’ he promised her.

The two men Mansukh had brought were on their feet by now and jostled him out the door, one giving Jamie a surreptitious kick, but he ignored them and strode off after the merchant once he was satisfied that Zar had been locked in again. At least they didn’t stay with her. He hoped Mansukh would keep his word.

He would be as quick as he could.

‘Jamie, Jamie! You good?’

Roshani came hurtling towards him as soon as Jamie entered his house. Kutaro, as usual, followed on her heels, barking with excitement. Luckily Mansukh’s men had stayed outside in the street, after telling him to hurry. Jamie bent to pick the little girl up and she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him hard.

‘I’m fine. Are you? Those men didn’t hurt you, did they?’

‘No. Priya take me back. She here. But …
Sahiba
Miller?’

‘Zar is all right, but I need to give the bad men something before they will let her go. Come, I need to talk to you first. Quickly.’

He led the way up to his bedroom, bringing a lantern which had been left by the stairs. It was probably best if the men outside thought he was up here fetching the talisman. ‘Now sit down, I need you to listen to me.’

He put Roshani on a chair and knelt in front of her. ‘The bad men have Zarmina because I have something they want, a jewel. I’m going to give it to them and I hope that will make them release Zarmina. I want you to promise me you will stay with her if I don’t come back. I might have to, er … go on a journey with the bad men. And if Zarmina doesn’t come back either, you stay with Priya, understood?’

Roshani nodded, but her lower lip jutted out. ‘Want to stay with you.’

‘I know, but that may not be possible. We’ll see. I just want you to be safe and I will give Priya some money so she can look after you.’ He went to get his cane, which he’d left at home earlier, and unscrewed the top, tilting it to make a small pile of gemstones fall into his hand. In his pocket he had a handkerchief and he quickly tied the stones into it with a secure knot. ‘See? These are for you and I trust Priya to keep them safe for you.’

The little girl’s eyes were huge at the sight of so much wealth, but she didn’t contradict him. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

He smiled at her. ‘All will be well, but it might take a while.’ He wasn’t convinced of this himself, but he needed her to believe it for now. ‘Now, I need to tell you what to do when a man called Sanjiv comes looking for me. I’m relying on you, understand? Good, then listen …’

Soon after, he found Priya weeping in the courtyard and reassured her as best he could, before retrieving the talisman from the fountain. ‘I must go now. I’ll help your mistress, don’t fret. Just look after Roshani, please. And tell Kamal what has happened.’

‘I promise.’ Priya dried her tears.

Jamie walked back into the street and waited for Mansukh’s men to surround him. As they walked off into the night, he glanced back at the house and a shiver hissed down his spine.

It might be the last time he saw it.

Zar sat alone in the darkness, trying in vain to suppress the tremors that coursed through her body at regular intervals. I’m just exhausted and the shock of being abducted is causing me to shiver, she tried to tell herself. But she knew it was terror, pure and simple, that had her in its grip.

She didn’t trust Mansukh, no matter what he said. It was reassuring that he thought highly of her and had noticed her policy of not becoming involved in anything he did. But once he had the talisman, how could he possibly stop any of them from telling everyone that he dealt in stolen goods? The answer was that he couldn’t and therefore he had to kill them.

After what felt like ages, but was probably no longer than an hour, she heard footsteps and the bar to the door being lifted. She took a deep breath, hoping she could at least show courage as she went to meet her fate, but she couldn’t stop her heart from beating so hard she was sure it must be visible through the material of her gown.

One of Mansukh’s servants came in and crossed the room. He hunkered down next to her and unlocked the horrible iron cuffs. Although Zar’s arms were still behind her, it felt marginally better to be free of at least one of type of bond.

‘Is the foreigner back?’ she asked the man in Gujarati.

The man only grunted in reply and said, ‘Come.’ He pulled her to her feet and tugged her along towards the door. Zar knew it was pointless to struggle, so she went with him without demur.

Up in the courtyard, in the pearly light of pre-dawn, she found Mansukh waiting with a group of his men. William stood to one side looking scared and nervous, his face covered in bruises. There was blood trickling out from his nose, and he kept sniffling as if to get rid of it. Like hers, his hands were still bound behind him. Zar sent him an enquiring glance, but he just scowled at her.

She felt anger surge through her. It wasn’t as if it was her fault. He’d got himself embroiled in this all by himself. But at the same time she did feel sorry for him. He’d never been very bright and his father should have helped him to learn how to go on, instead of pushing him away in favour of his new wife.

To her relief, Jamie came down the steps from the entrance, escorted by more of the merchant’s men. He appeared unruffled and assured, which helped to calm Zar’s heartbeat somewhat. His eyes found hers and she thought she saw relief in them at finding her unhurt.
Does he really care?
She told herself it didn’t matter. The only person here who should have been concerned for her welfare was William, but it was obvious he was merely looking out for himself.

‘You have it?’ Mansukh asked as Jamie came to a halt in front of him.

‘Yes. Now will you let Mrs Miller go, please?’

Zar noticed he didn’t plead, just asked as if he expected a positive reply. For a moment, the merchant seemed to waver, then he shook his head almost regretfully.

‘Not yet, I’m sorry. I cannot risk it. You are all coming on a journey with us.’

Jamie’s mouth tightened and Zar saw his eyes flash, but he made no comment. Instead he extracted a pouch from inside his waistcoat which he handed over. ‘It’s a bit wet, but I don’t believe it has come to any lasting harm.’

Mansukh opened it, turning away from his men as he did so. Zar caught a glimpse of something that blazed with red fire, then blue. Everyone waited while the
bania
examined the item more closely. The atmosphere was tense and several of the men shuffled nervously. Zar guessed they feared their master’s temper and were hoping he’d have no cause to display it.

The merchant nodded his satisfaction and stowed the talisman in his girdle before giving a command to go. Zar guessed that greed or impatience must have made him overcome his superstitions at last or else he would have made someone else carry the jewel. ‘To the boats, and be quick about it.’ He pointed at Jamie. ‘Someone bind him again, now.’

Jamie submitted to this without showing any emotion, then came to walk by her side as they were prodded into motion. ‘Are you well?’ he whispered.

‘Yes, thank you. He kept his word.’

‘I had hoped he would leave you out of this now, but I can see his point – it would be too dangerous. We must look for a way to escape later. Perhaps they’ll let down their guard when we are out at sea.’

Zar felt her insides tighten at the thought of a sea journey with this band of ruffians, but with Jamie at her side, at least she wasn’t entirely alone. Her thoughts were interrupted as William reached them and barged a shoulder into Jamie so that he stumbled slightly and bumped into Zar. ‘Stupid bastard,’ William snarled. ‘If only you’d given it to me as you were supposed to have done, we wouldn’t be in this pickle now.’

Jamie rammed him back, sending him into one of the guards, who grabbed William’s arm and shook him, while swearing loudly.

‘And you shouldn’t have tried to play your own little games when you don’t have the brains for it,’ Jamie retorted.

‘Enough!’ Mansukh had stopped and turned around. ‘We don’t have time for this. Men, separate them.’

William was dragged away to walk at the back of the group, while Jamie resisted attempts to part him from Zar. She was grateful for his tenacity, as the guards eventually left him to walk next to her.

Dear Lord, please don’t let them take him away when we reach the ship. I don’t think I can bear it
 …

The tide was flowing out towards the sea with its usual noisy, strong current, and the barges they boarded were soon far from a city that was barely awake. Yet another call to prayer could be heard in the distance, the sound echoing across the water, but other than that, all was peaceful.

Zar sat impassive as they floated past densely wooded areas interspersed with cultivated fields and the occasional village. Jamie had made sure he was seated next to her and as there wasn’t much space, he’d been squashed up against her by the men flanking them. From time to time he felt her shiver and wished he could do something to make her less afraid, but since he had no idea what fate awaited them, there was nothing he could say.

At the mouth of the river, they followed the coast round to deeper waters and eventually boarded a larger ship. A native craft, it was smaller than the English and Swedish vessels he’d sailed on previously, but it looked fast. Jamie guessed time was indeed of the essence since the monsoons were due to arrive soon and no one wanted to be out at sea once the hurricanes of the season began. Perhaps that was partly why Mansukh had become impatient. In fact, all the European ships had already left – the one Jamie had arrived on being the last to go.

Jamie and Zar were taken to a small cabin below deck, while William was led in the opposite direction. Jamie was glad they didn’t have to share with him. The way he felt at the moment, he’d be likely to beat the man senseless the first chance he got.

‘You can have your hands free if you give me your word you won’t attack any more of my men,’ Mansukh said just before they were escorted below. ‘If you so much as hurt a hair on their heads, I will take it out on the lady,’ he added.

Jamie nodded. ‘You have my word.’

It was a relief to be rid of the bonds and Zar sighed with pleasure as she stretched her arms and shoulders. ‘Thank the Lord for that,’ she murmured. ‘I never realised how horrible it is to have your limbs stuck in the same position for any length of time.’

‘Here, let me massage them for you,’ Jamie offered and put his hands on her shoulders.

She jumped. ‘No, I don’t think—’

‘Zarmina, relax! I swear, I’m only trying to help you.’

She threw him a doubtful look over her shoulder, but subsided, and soon she was leaning into his fingers as he worked the tension out of her cramped muscles. ‘Ah, that does feel good.’

‘Told you.’ He couldn’t resist placing a light kiss on one of her cheeks, but refrained from doing more than that. He didn’t want to give Mansukh’s men any ideas in case they came into the cabin unexpectedly or they’d think Zar was anyone’s for the taking. The thought made his stomach tighten.
They’re not laying a finger on her, if I can help it
.

After a while they sat down on the bare floor planks, which at least didn’t feel as cold and damp as the cellar they’d come from. The cabin was clean though and smelled only vaguely of oriental spices. Zar again leaned her head against Jamie’s shoulder and he made her more comfortable by putting an arm round her back.