improved him one bit.
Abi checked out his two remaining sisters. Dakini was refusing to meet his eyes, while Nawal was staring at him like a mongoose facing up to a cobra. Nothing new there, then. ‘You still don’t believe me, do you? That I couldn’t get back to save you all from the cenote.’
‘What do you think?’
‘What if I were to tell you exactly how you got out? What then? Would you believe me then?’
Dakini shot a glance at Rudra. ‘That’s impossible. There’s no way you can know that.’
Abi smiled. Dakini was the weakest link. She would be the first to believe him if he managed to call it right. The first to come back to his side of the fence. ‘Yes, there is. Because I arranged it. Because all three of you owe your lives to me. Only you don’t know it yet.’
‘Bullshit.’ Rudra fingered the bruise above his eye. ‘You’re fishing. How we got out had nothing to do with you. You simply abandoned us all to drown.’
‘No, I didn’t. And I’ll prove it.’ Abi mouthed a silent prayer. He felt like a cliff-diver trying out a new plunge-route for the very first time. But without having been able to test the bottom for rocks beforehand. ‘An old man and a boy found you. They arranged to get you out of there. They sent down the hosepipe.’
Nawal and Rudra exchanged loaded glances. Dakini cocked her head to one side so that her hair hung down in sheets, like the Angel Falls.
Abi caught the look that passed between Nawal and Rudra. He felt a flush of triumph. He’d called it right. ‘I know this because I told the old man and the boy where to find you. They were standing at the entrance to the plantation when I drove past. I was being pursued by the cacique’s men. But still I slowed down and shouted “Cenote! Cenote!” at them. I knew that would be your only chance.What Abi had actually done had been to bunch his fingers at the pair and pretend to shoot them, but why split hairs at this stage of the proceedings? He knew he was taking a calculated gamble by assuming that it was the old man and the boy who had discovered the trio floating in the cenote. But nothing came from nothing. He had to clear the emotional logjam. With everybody gunning for him, he wouldn’t stand a chance of getting near his mother for another attempt on her life – or of ensuring that he was her sole legatee – unless he squared things with his siblings. If he needed to massage a few egos on the way to attaining his goal, he would do that too.
‘Yes. It was the old man and the boy.’ Dakini was staring at Abi as if he had transformed on the spot from a demon into an angel. ‘That’s true, Rudra. How else could Abi have known? He saved our lives.’
Strike two for the black sheep.
Abi could see that the whole thing still sat badly with Rudra. But his inspired guess had effectively whipped the carpet out from under everybody’s feet. They would have to believe him now. Would have to take him back into the fold.
The Countess tapped the table with the bottom of her glass. ‘We will put an end to speculation then. Abiger has just proved to everybody’s satisfaction that he behaved well – or at least as well as the situation permitted. Now I intend to move on to other business.’
There were grudging nods from around the table. Abi particularly enjoyed watching Milouins’s face. It was a sight to behold. Just like Richard Nixon’s face when he learned that he had lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy by 0.1 per cent of the vote.
Madame Mastigou’s Mont Blanc fountain pen flew across her Florentine paper at a feverish rate. Abi wondered who would ever get to read the minutes. Maybe they would be sealed in a lead capsule and buried for posterity? Or whatever constituted posterity after the apocalypse the Countess was so intent on calling down on everybody’s head?
The Countess leaned forward. Her face seemed lit by an unholy glow. ‘I know the identity of the Third
Abi checked out his two remaining sisters. Dakini was refusing to meet his eyes, while Nawal was staring at him like a mongoose facing up to a cobra. Nothing new there, then. ‘You still don’t believe me, do you? That I couldn’t get back to save you all from the cenote.’
‘What do you think?’
‘What if I were to tell you exactly how you got out? What then? Would you believe me then?’
Dakini shot a glance at Rudra. ‘That’s impossible. There’s no way you can know that.’
Abi smiled. Dakini was the weakest link. She would be the first to believe him if he managed to call it right. The first to come back to his side of the fence. ‘Yes, there is. Because I arranged it. Because all three of you owe your lives to me. Only you don’t know it yet.’
‘Bullshit.’ Rudra fingered the bruise above his eye. ‘You’re fishing. How we got out had nothing to do with you. You simply abandoned us all to drown.’
‘No, I didn’t. And I’ll prove it.’ Abi mouthed a silent prayer. He felt like a cliff-diver trying out a new plunge-route for the very first time. But without having been able to test the bottom for rocks beforehand. ‘An old man and a boy found you. They arranged to get you out of there. They sent down the hosepipe.’
Nawal and Rudra exchanged loaded glances. Dakini cocked her head to one side so that her hair hung down in sheets, like the Angel Falls.
Abi caught the look that passed between Nawal and Rudra. He felt a flush of triumph. He’d called it right. ‘I know this because I told the old man and the boy where to find you. They were standing at the entrance to the plantation when I drove past. I was being pursued by the cacique’s men. But still I slowed down and shouted “Cenote! Cenote!” at them. I knew that would be your only chance.What Abi had actually done had been to bunch his fingers at the pair and pretend to shoot them, but why split hairs at this stage of the proceedings? He knew he was taking a calculated gamble by assuming that it was the old man and the boy who had discovered the trio floating in the cenote. But nothing came from nothing. He had to clear the emotional logjam. With everybody gunning for him, he wouldn’t stand a chance of getting near his mother for another attempt on her life – or of ensuring that he was her sole legatee – unless he squared things with his siblings. If he needed to massage a few egos on the way to attaining his goal, he would do that too.
‘Yes. It was the old man and the boy.’ Dakini was staring at Abi as if he had transformed on the spot from a demon into an angel. ‘That’s true, Rudra. How else could Abi have known? He saved our lives.’
Strike two for the black sheep.
Abi could see that the whole thing still sat badly with Rudra. But his inspired guess had effectively whipped the carpet out from under everybody’s feet. They would have to believe him now. Would have to take him back into the fold.
The Countess tapped the table with the bottom of her glass. ‘We will put an end to speculation then. Abiger has just proved to everybody’s satisfaction that he behaved well – or at least as well as the situation permitted. Now I intend to move on to other business.’
There were grudging nods from around the table. Abi particularly enjoyed watching Milouins’s face. It was a sight to behold. Just like Richard Nixon’s face when he learned that he had lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy by 0.1 per cent of the vote.
Madame Mastigou’s Mont Blanc fountain pen flew across her Florentine paper at a feverish rate. Abi wondered who would ever get to read the minutes. Maybe they would be sealed in a lead capsule and buried for posterity? Or whatever constituted posterity after the apocalypse the Countess was so intent on calling down on everybody’s head?
The Countess leaned forward. Her face seemed lit by an unholy glow. ‘I know the identity of the Third
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