simple? asked Mother.
Well, we just sit here and when a boat passes we signal it, and it will then go down the coast and bring us some petrol. I don't know what you're all getting so fussed about.
Master Larry's rights, Mrs Durrells, said Spiro dismally. We can'ts do anythings else.
Anyway, it's a delightful spot, said Larry; I mean, if we had to break down we couldn't have chosen a better place.
So we all got off the boat and sat about on the beach, leaving Taki sitting cross-legged in the bows of our immobilised craft, keeping a careful eye on the mouth of the bay for any fishing boat that could come to our rescue.
The day passed pleasantly enough but no fishing boat passed. and by nightfall Mother was getting increasingly agitated.
I do wish you'd stop fussing, Mother, said Larry, there's sure to be one to-morrow, and we've got plenty of supplies.
That's just the point, said Mother, we haven't got plenty of supplies. I didn't bring enough to allow for a break-down, and in any case the ice is melting so fast that if we don't get a boat to-morrow half the food will go bad.
This was an aspect of our predicament which had not until then struck us. The little bay, with its towering cliffs, provided none of the amenities that Robinson Crusoe had found on his island. There was nothing but a tiny spring of fresh water that trickled down the face of the cliff and formed a stagnant pool in which Theodore had discovered so many forms of life that none of us felt it would be suitable for drinking should our supply of liquid run out.
Muzzer is not to worry, said Max, throwing his arms around her protectively. If necessary ye vill all get behind de boat and push her back to Corfu.
Danmed silly suggestion, said Donald. Just the sort of suggestion a Continental would make. God knows how many tons she weighs. Couldn't possibly push her.
I'm afraid Donald's quite right, said Mactavish. Fit though I am for my age, I feel that even united as we are, we couldn't get her very far.
I do wish you'd all stop carrying on like this, said Larry irritably; after all, this whole coast is littered with fishing boats. There's bound to be one along sometime to-morrow.
Well, I hope you're right, said Mother, otherwise I'm going to have to ration the food.
Also, I know it's only a minor point, but some of these specimens I've got are quite rare, said Theodore, and unless I can get them back to Corfu fairly soon, I'm afraid…, you know…, because they are so fragile, they are…, you know…, going to disintegrate.
We all went to bed in an uneasy frame of mind and Taki and Spiro took it in turns to sit in the bows of the benzina watching in case one of the night fishermen passed who they could spot by his carbon light. But dawn came and still there was no sign of rescue. To add to our plight, the ice having decided to melt was melting at an alarming rate and we had to dig a hole in the sand and bury quite a lot of the more delicate and perishable foodstuffs that Mother had brought. We had a very meagre lunch.
Oh dear, said Mother, I do wish we hadn't come.
Do not worry, Muzzer, said Max, help is on de way. I feel it in my bones.
I think Larry's right, said Donald. Lots of fishing boats along this stretch of coast. One's bound to come along sooner or later.
Well, it had better be sooner than later, said Mother, otherwise we're all going to starve to death.
It's all Larry's fault, said Leslie belligerently, for he was feeling hungry. He suggested the trip.
Now, don't turn on me, said Larry angrily. You were just as much in favour of it as I was. If the damned thing had been organised properly we wouldn't be in this predicament.
I agree with Leslie, said Margo. It was Larry's suggestion.
I didn't suggest we ran out of petrol in a remote bay surrounded by unclimbable cliffs ten kilometres