Conquering Kilmarni by Hugh Cave Read Free Book Online Page A

he said, trying to make it sound casual, "didn't I hear Miss Lorrie telling you not to go home last night?"
    Zackie looked at him. "You did hear that?"
    "I couldn't help it. I was in the kitchen."
    "Yes, that is what she say."
    "And she said you shouldn't go to her house because your father might look for you there. One of you said that, anyway."
    "Me." Zackie nodded. "Miss Lorrie take me in sometimes when things looking bad. But now me daddy know she do it."
    "So where did you sleep last night?"
    The Jamaican boy hesitated so long that Peter thought he was not going to answer the question. But in the end he said, "All right. Prob'ly it better me tell you, because somebody bound to find out and tell you daddy, anyway. Me did sleep in the mule pen."
    "You slept where?"
    "In the small mule pen back of the garage, where Mr. Campbell keep him riding mule. Me feel sure me daddy not going to look for me there."
    "Weren't you cold?"
    "Me did borrow one of Nasty's blankets from the garage." Mr. Campbell called the mule that because of its bad temper, and said if the animal hadn't been so strong and surefooted, he would have sold it and bought a new one long ago.
    "Did you have anything to eat?" Peter asked.
    Zackie shrugged. "Me most always have things like sardines and bammies hid away in case of trouble." All the country shops sold those things, Peter knew. Bammies were a chewy kind of bun made from cassava, and a couple of them would fill you up pretty quickly.
    "Tell me something," Peter said. "Did Miss Lorrie sell the pig for you?"
    Zackie reached into a back pocket of his pants and brought out a small wad of Jamaica's colorful bills, and Peter saw that the wad was quite thick. "She did hand me this when she come to work this morning," Zackie said. "When we quit for lunch, me will be putting it in a secret hiding place me have." He frowned at Peter in silence for a few seconds, as though not sure he ought to say any more. Then he added, "You want to come with me?"
    "Why would you want to show me where you keep your money?"
    Zackie's dog came racing up at that moment and sat down between his feet, gazing up at his face. Staring into space as if he were thinking about other things, Zackie reached out to pat Mongoose's head. Then he said, "Me have quite a bit of money put away, Peter. If anything was to happen to me and nobody else did know where it is, it would just rot in the ground. Sometimes me think about that."
    "Nothing's going to happen to you, Zackie."
    "You nuh know me daddy." Zackie looked down at his dog again, gave Mongoose a light poke on the nose, and stood up. "You ready for some more work?"
    They worked on the ferrel again until Zackie, looking up at the sky, announced it was time for lunch. Peter was tired again and glad for another chance to rest. He looked at the watch on his left wrist as he, too, straightened up. The time was six minutes past twelve.
    "How did you do that?" Peter demanded.
    "Do what?"
    "How'd you know what time it was?"
    Zackie laughed. "Country kids can't afford fancy watches like that one you have. We must have to tell time by the feel of things."
    "The sun, you mean?"
    "What sun?"
    There was none at the moment, Peter saw. In fact, it had gone behind clouds quite awhile back. "Can you always feel what time it is, Zackie?" It was hard to believe, even though he had just been given a demonstration.
    "Almost always. Look. You don't have any lunch with you, and you did give me some of yours yesterday. How about sharing mine today?"
    "You don't have any lunch."
    "Me do at the garden. Come on."
    At the garden, Zackie went straight toward the bamboo hut where he kept his tools. "Come on," he urged when Peter stopped a few yards short of it.
    Peter went forward again, in time to see Zackie drop to his knees inside the hut and begin to scoop up some dirt from a small section of the floor. That part didn't look any different from the rest, but Zackie hadn't even hesitated before kneeling there. He dug