Хэммонд Иннес - Nothing to Lose [= Campbell’s Kingdom]

Garry didn’t say anything. He just stood there, looking at me, waiting to see what I was going to say.

“You’re just throwing away good hits and wearing out your rig for nothing,” Cliff said excitedly.

“What do you say, Bruce?” Garry asked.

“It’s the same formation that stopped Campbell’s cable-tool rig. If you get through this—”

“At two feet an hour,” Cliff said, with a laugh that trembled slightly. “We could be a month drilling through this.” He turned to Garry. “The boys won’t stand for it, not any more. Nor will I, Garry. We want to haul out.”

Garry didn’t say anything for a moment. He stood there rasping his lingers along the line of his jaw. “I wonder how thick through this Bill is,” he murmured. “Most of them around here are not more than a hundred, two hundred feet — those that are exposed on the mountain slopes, that is.”

“That’s about four days’ drilling,” Cliff said. “And what’s below the sill, when we get through it? I ain’t a geologist, but I’m not such a foot as to expect oil-bearing country directly below a volcanic intrusion.”

Garry nodded slowly. “I guess you’re right, Cliff.” He turned toward the door. “I’ll come down and have a look at what’s going on... Coming, Bruce?”

I shook my head. I stood there, watching them disappear through the doorway, a mood of anger and bitterness struggling with the wretchedness of failure.

“I’m sorry, Bruce.” A hand touched my arm and I turned to find Jean beside me.

“You heard?”

“No; Boy told me. I came—” She hesitated and then finished on a note of tenderness, “To break it to you.”

Somehow her tone took the edge off my anger. “Thanks, Jean.”

She opened her mouth to speak, and then slowly closed it. “I’ll get you some coffee,” she said quietly, and went through into the kitchen.

I dong myself into the one armchair. Probably Stuart Campbell had flung himself into the selfsame chair when he got the news that drilling was no longer possible on Campbell No. 1. It wasn’t Boy’s fault any more than it was Garry’s. They’d both of them taken a chance on the property. They couldn’t be expected to go on when they’d lost all hope of bringing in a well.

Jean put the tray down and came and stood near me. Her hand reached out and touched my hair. Without thinking, I grasped it tightly. The next moment she was in my arms, holding my head down against her breast. The feel of her body comforted me. The promise of happiness whatever happened to the Kingdom filled me with a sudden feeling that life was good. I kissed her lips and her hair, holding her close, not caring any longer about anything but the fact that she was there in my arms. And then suddenly I remembered what Maclean-Hervey had said, and very gently I pulled myself clear of her and got to my feet.

“I must go down to the rig,” I said.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No. I’d rather go alone. I want to talk to them.”

But when I got there I knew by the expression on their faces that this wasn’t the moment. They were sitting around and the rig was silent. They were as angry and bitter as I had been.

I think Garry had already decided to pack up and write off his two months in the Kingdom. But something happened the next morning that roused the Irish in him, and suddenly altered the whole atmosphere of our camp. We were all at breakfast when there was a knock at the door and Trevedian came in. We all sat and stared at him, wondering what he wanted. I saw Garry’s big hand clench into a fist, and Cliff half rose to his feet. I think Trevedian sensed the violence of the hostility, for he kept the door open behind him and he didn’t come more than a step into the room. His black eyes took in our bitterness and anger. “I’ve brought a telegram for you, Wetheral. Thought it might be urgent.”

I got to my feet, wondering why he had bothered to come all the way up with it. But as soon as I’d read it I knew why. It was from my lawyers.

HENRY FERGUS INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS AGAINST YOU IN CIVIL COURTS FOR FRAUDULENTLY GAINING POSSESSION MINERAL RIGHTS CAMPBELL’S KINGDOM MORTGAGED TO ROGER FERGUS. ESSENTIAL YOU RETURN CALGARY SOONEST. WILLING TO ACT FOR YOU PROVIDED ASSURED YOUR FINANCIAL POSITION. PLEASE ADVISE US IMMEDIATELY. GRANGE AND LETOUR, SOLICITORS.

I looked up at Trevedian. “You know the contents, of course?”

He hesitated, but there was no point in his denying it. “Yes,” he said. “If you care to let me have your reply. I’ll see that it’s sent off.” There was a note of satisfaction in his voice, though he tried to conceal it.

“What is it?” Jean asked.

I handed her the wire. It was passed from hand to hand. And as I watched them reading it I knew that this was the end of any hope I might have of getting them to drill deeper. And yet — I was thinking of Sarah Garret and what she had said there in my room that night.

“So they’re starting to work on you,” Garry said.

“I’ve ample proof of what happened,” I said.

“Sure, you have — that is, till you see what the witnesses themselves are willing to say in the box. I’m sorry, Bruce,” he added, “but looks like they’re going to put you through the mincer now.”

“Fergus told me to give you a message,” Trevedian said. “Settle the whole business out of court, sell the Kingdom and he’ll give you the fifty thousand he originally offered.”

I didn’t say anything. I was still thinking about Sarah Garret. Had she meant it? But I knew she had. She’d not only meant it but she wanted to help. I went over to the desk and scribbled a reply.

As I finished it, Garry’s voice suddenly broke the tense silence of the room. “Two thousand dollars a vehicle! You must be crazy!”

I turned and saw that he’d taken Trevedian to one side. Trevedian was smiling. “If you want to get your trucks down, that’s what it’s going to cost you.”

The muscles of Garry’s arms tightened. “You know I couldn’t, pay it. I’m broke. We’re all of us broke.” He took a step toward Trevedian. “Now, then, suppose you quote me a proper price for the use of the hoist.”

Trevedian was back at the open door now. Through the window I saw he hadn’t come alone. Three of his men were waiting for him out there, Garry had seen them, too, and his voice was under control as he said, “For heaven’s sake be reasonable, Trevedian.”

“Reasonable! I’m only getting back what it cost us to repair the road after you’d been through!”

“I didn’t have anything to do with that,” Garry said.

“No?” Trevedian laughed. “It was just coincidence that your trucks were in the Kingdom by the time we’d cleared the rubble of that fall. Okay. You didn’t use the hoist. You had nothing to do with blocking the road.” He leaned slightly forward, his round head sunk between his shoulders, his voice hard. “I suppose you’ll tell me you packed the whole outfit up the pony trail. Well, pack ’em down the same way if you don’t like my terms. See which costs you most in the end.” He turned to me, “What will I tell Fergus?” he asked.

I hesitated, glancing round the room. They were all watching me, all except Jean, who had turned her face away, and Garry, who was so angry that I was afraid for the moment that he would rush Trevedian.

“Well?”

I turned to Trevedian. “Tell him,” I said, “that I’m going to seek an injunction to restrain him from flooding the Kingdom. And let him know that if he doesn’t want to lose any more money, he’d better stop work on the dam and the power station until he knows what the courts decide. And you might have this wire sent off for me.” I handed him the slip of paper.