Alex Gray - Sleep like the dead

For a moment she hesitated, not sure whether she should be seeking out this stranger, Billy's old friend. What if he were to pester her? Come on to her with lascivious intent? Then, remembering his voice and his name, she quickened her pace. Max. It was a good name, a safe name and suddenly the shadow that had crossed her mind had disappeared in the brightness of this September day.

She knew it was him right away, standing, hands in his pockets, looking up and down the street. He was a man of average height and build, nothing outstanding but, as Marianne drew closer and their eyes met, she could see from his smile and outstretched hand that there was a kindness and strength about Max Whittaker, traits she needed in a friend right now.

'Marianne,' Max said, stepping forward and taking her hand lightly in his own.

'At last.' He smiled and she noticed the tiny flecks of gold in his light grey eyes. 'I've been looking forward to meeting you so much.'

Billy Brogan sent up a prayer of thanks to whatever god might be listening. All night he had begged the powers that con trolled the wind and waves for mercy, his head bent over a foul-smelling bucket. Now that line on the horizon gave him the first sign of hope. Hands clutching the post beside his wooden bench, Billy glanced up to see Carlos coming towards him, the Spaniard's grin splitting his weather-beaten face.

'You see? Land ahead. Not long now and we will have reached the shore,' Carlos told him, slapping his back in a friendly manner.

'One night we stay with family of Juan,' he jerked his thumb in the direction of the wheelhouse where the other sailor sat, navigating the boat through the choppy waters. 'Then back home again.' The old man gazed back across seas that seemed just endless lines of crested surf to Brogan. The man from Glasgow couldn't get his head around it: why would someone actually want to make a living from being constantly tossed up and down on this rotten boat? But he kept such thoughts to himself.

'How long..

Carlos shrugged. 'An hour, maybe a little more, depending on the tide. We have to anchor in a small cove that I know, then we take the little boat ashore.'

Billy twisted round, looking for another boat.

Carlos laughed. 'Maybe you help me find it, Meester?' He pulled out a box from under the rows of wooden seats and opened it, turning to Billy with a grin.

'See? My leetle boat!' he exclaimed proudly, showing off the folds of grey rubber concealed inside the box.

Billy gave a sickly grin. An inflatable. That was all he needed, he thought, imagining it bouncing high across the open sea.

'I have a pump,' Carlos was saying. 'You help me, yes?'

So it was that Brogan was too occupied with the foot pump to notice that the dark smudge against the horizon had taken shape and become a curve of ochre hills against a pale sky that looked bleached of colour in the midday sun. But it had also kept his mind off the constant nausea and by the time the inflatable was ready, he felt restored to his normal optimism.

'That Marrakesh over there?' he asked, leaning on the rail behind Juan.

The sailor gave him a grin that showed several missing teeth, shook his head and giggled.

'Ay amigo mio, estos tan atontado. Te estamos tomando el pelo y no te enteras,'* Juan told him, giggling again as he saw Brogan's face. *Ah my friend, you are such a moron. You have no idea we are totally taking the piss out of you.

'Oh, aye?' Brogan said, his face creasing in a smile as he turned to look at the approaching land.

Mirate sonriendo, pensando que somos tus amigos. No te das cuenta que te vamos a engaliar,'* Juan said, tipping a wink at the Scotsman. *Look at you grinning away, thinking we are friends. You don't realise that we are going to fool you.

'Amigo, aye sure, amigo,' Brogan replied, putting an arm on Juan's shoulder. `But what's the name of that place we're coming to?' he asked.

Juan merely shrugged and spread his hands as though he didn't understand.

Maybe it was just a wee village not on the big maps, Brogan told himself consolingly. He shrugged. Wouldn't be long now anyway, he thought, watching as the flecks of white on shore became visible as houses and the darker green shapes turned into palm trees lining a muddy looking shoreline. As the boat entered quieter waters, Brogan heard the change in engine note and knew that Carlos was looking for a good anchorage. Soon they were rocking gently in a dark lagoon, small darting fish appearing in the clear waters, and Juan beckoned to Brogan to help him carry the inflatable to the stern of the boat.

The small craft entered the bay with a single splash, its rope still fastened to the larger boat.

'How do I…?' Billy looked down into the water, trying to estimate its depth, wondering how they would make that leap from one boat to another.

Juan giggled at his expression then pointed to what looked like a bundle of rope. With a flourish, the Spaniard tossed it over the side and Brogan saw that it was in fact a length of ladder made from thick strands of rope.

'Baggage?' Juan asked, miming the backpack that Brogan had taken on board.

'Oh, aye, be with you in a mo,' he said, then headed back to the spot where he had spent all these hours of misery. He heaved the pack onto his back and returned to where Juan stood above the inflatable.

'No carry,' the man said, pulling at the pack. 'Baggage go first.'

Then, before Brogan had time to protest, the Spaniard had taken the pack and flung it into the stern of the dinghy, climbing as nimbly as a monkey after it.

'Now, come,' Juan told him, beckoning with his sun-darkened hand.

Brogan hesitated for a moment then, with a deep breath, swung his leg over the side, clinging to the rope ladder with two white knuckled fists. He breathed hard as he made the descent, feeling his feet slip against the rounded rungs, fearful of letting go. At last he reached the dinghy and the sailor's outstretched hand then with one leap he was in the boat, making it rock violently.

'Sit!' Juan commanded and Brogan sat where he was told, next to his luggage, shifting to make room for Carlos who was suddenly there as if by magic. Brogan clung on to the rubber handles on each side as the outboard motor roared into life, bucketing them across the final strip of water towards the shore. For once the motion did not make his stomach heave and he felt a mixture of relief and exhilaration as salt spray was flung across his face.

Brogan looked at the strange houses that were built just above the shoreline, their flat roofs showing cables and masonry as though each of them was in the process of being constructed. Had he known it, this was a traditional method of building: each new storey ready and prepared for an expanding family that included the older generation, something that typified the culture of North Africa.

But Billy Brogan knew nothing of this, and even less about the village beside which they were now landing. Near Marrakesh, he had supposed, not knowing that Carlos had actually sailed his boat many hundreds of miles away from Brogan's desired destination.

Billy had never known such hospitality, even in Glasgow, a city famed for its kindness to the strangers within its gates. They were seated on cushions around a low square table in the main room of the house that belonged to some distant relation of Juan's. Brogan couldn't make out what was being said but he reckoned from all the back-slapping, smiles and hugs that Juan had received from the men and women of the house that he was a long lost cousin of some sort. And any friend of Juan's… he grinned, sipping the strange tasting tea that he had been offered. It was like drinking peppermints and treacle, he thought, eyeing the dark green liquid floating in the tiny gilt-edged cup. They had been sitting here for what seemed like hours now and were at that stage when after dinner sweetmeats were being offered and the hookahs brought out to smoke. Food had been conjured up from a kitchen somewhere and the younger women had carried enormous, brightly painted bowls of spicy meats and fragrant rice to each of the men sitting cross-legged around the central table.