Dennis Wheatley - The Rape Of Venice

For four days they trekked through jungles and across wide stretches of open ground covered with coarse scrub. The going was hard, for the jungle paths were tortuous, and at times obstructed by fallen trees, steep gullies and small rivers. Their progress was difficult to estimate but Roger judged it to be from twelve to fifteen miles a day, and he could tell from the sun that they were moving roughly in a north-​westerly direction.

From time to time Immu sent one of his warriors as a runner to inform the Chief of the next village of their approach; so that when they arrived in it they were provided with a meal and huts in which to sleep either for the night or during the hottest hours of the day. At every village they entered, the entire population turned out to crowd about them, eyes goggling with curiosity, and, as they always arrived semi-​exhausted from a long trudge in the damp heat, this proved particularly trying; but Immu generally managed to drive the people off after a while, presumably by telling them that Roger was a powerful Witch Doctor, and they were then able to relax in the grateful shade of one of the huts.

On the morning of the fifth day, they came out of a belt of forest on high ground to see a magnificent panorama spread before them. A gentle slope some six miles long led down to the sea. The slope, which formed a deep belt right along the coast, was almost entirely covered by plantations from which came more strongly than ever the spicy smell of cloves. Beyond them the sun sparkled on an azure sea dotted with small coral atolls, and in the hazy distance another coastline could be seen. As they were facing west, Roger had no doubt that the far shore was the coast of Africa, and that Bill Bodkin had been right in his belief that it was upon the fabulous Isle of Cloves that they had been cast ashore.

But it was not upon the coast that their eyes were riveted. In the very centre of it there stood a town. It had battlemented walls above which rose several large buildings with domes and turrets, and beyond them a big ship with all sail set was tacking out across the bay.

Immu made it clear that he and his party would go no farther; so Roger carried out his part of the bargain. First he showed him how the pistol worked, then gave it to him with half the powder, two flints, and six of the dozen bullets, which were all that he had with him. The farewells could be only by smiles and gestures. Five minutes later the negro warriors and carrier women had disappeared along the jungle track. Then, although the hottest hours of the day were approaching, Roger, Clarissa and Bodkin were so eager to reach the town that they at once set off down hill towards it.

The sun's rays were so intense that they were forced to rest every half-​mile or so in the shade of palms and, even then, the six-​mile walk proved most fatiguing. But they derived one benefit from making the journey in the midday hours; no one was working in the plantations, so it was not until they were covering the last mile that they attracted the attention of the natives.

Once that happened, a crowd quickly gathered, but it was of a very different type from those which had surrounded them in the villages. These people were considerably lighter in colour, most of them had straight hair, good noses and better-​formed features and, except for the children, they all wore some form of loose garment. Yet they showed nearly as much excitement and curiosity as had the negroes, as they pranced along beside the three strangers, calling to one another and pointing at Clarissa's pale gold hair.

Dusty, perspiring and footsore, they at last reached a great gate set between two towers in the wall of the town. The sight of the approaching crowd had brought out from it a guard with spears. Their officer wore a round brass helmet which rose to a sharp spike on top and had pieces of chain-​mail dangling from its rim on either side to protect his ears and cheeks.

He spoke to them in what they took to be Arabic, and Roger tried out his Persian on him, but neither understood the other. Roger then tried Latin, and the smatterings he had of Greek and Spanish, but all proved equally useless. With a shrug the officer ordered his men to put them in the gate-​house and, as soon as they were inside it, the door was slammed upon them,

It was a stone apartment in the base of one of the towers that flanked the gate; its floor was a little below ground-​level and it was unfurnished except for a rough wooden table. After the heat and glare of the sun they were glad of the cool semi-​darkness, and sank wearily down on a stone bench that ran along one wall; but this was not the sort of reception they had hoped for and, as soon as they had recovered a little from their fatigue, they began to speculate on how long it would be until they were taken before the Portuguese Governor.

Over two hours elapsed and they started up from a fitful doze when the door opened and the officer came in. He was followed by a short, very fat, man, but fat in quite a different way from Kobo, for the negro Chief's bulk had been largely due to huge muscles, whereas this man gave the impression, even though he was wearing flowering robes, of being soft, and when he spoke it was in a high falsetto. Although Roger had never met a eunuch, he felt sure the fat man was one; but all that concerned him was that he had spoken in Persian. Thanking God for the hours he had spent learning that language while in the Minerva, he introduced himself and the others. In response, the eunuch said he was called Khunsa Bajazct…

Roger then gave a brief account of their misadventures and asked to be taken to the European quarter of the town.

Baiazet replied that there was no such quarter; upon which Roger said, 'Am I not right in supposing this to be the Isle of Cloves, and that on the island there is a Portuguese trading station.?'

At that the eunuch began to laugh, and his several chins quivered like a jelly. When he had done laughing, he piped: 'Indeed it is the Isle of Cloves, and this is the city of Zanzibar; but there are no Portuguese here. We drove them out over sixty years ago.'

Endeavouring to conceal his sudden alarm at this news, Roger asked, 'Then who rules here now?'

'His Highness the Vali Abdul ben Mazuri,' carne the response. 'He is Viceroy for the Sultan of Muscat, who by Allah's grace is the Sovereign Lord of all this part of the world.' As the eunuch pronounced the name of Allah, he bowed; then he added, 'Come to the light, all of you, so that I can see you better.'

A gesture with which he accompanied his words conveyed their meaning to Clarissa and Bodkin: so all three of them accompanied him to the door. There he turned and, with little pig's eyes encased in rolls of fat, surveyed each of them critically in turn. Pointing to Roger's sword, and the gold embroidered belt from which it hung, he said:

'It seems that in spite of your rags you are a rich man; so you may be of some value to us.' Then stretching out a fat hand he took Clarissa by the arm, half turned her and. taking the ends of her fair hair between his fingers, gently fluffed it out.

As she drew swiftly away, Roger said in a carefully controlled, voice, 'Doubtless, Sir, you mean no harm; but in our country to touch a lady so is considered an act of rudeness.'

Bajazet shrugged his sloping shoulders and replied with a sneer, 'But this, Infidel, is not your country. It is the Isle of Cloves; and cloves are not the only thing we export from it. The greater part of our wealth comes from the sale of slaves. But I'll have no need to export you. For you three Roumis I'll get a fine price here.'

Turning to the officer he put into his hand a small canvas bag from which there came the clink of coin, then he waddled out into the street. The officer signed to the others to follow and shouted an order to his men. As Roger and Bodkin emerged into the daylight, the guards fell upon them. Taken by surprise they had no chance to resist, even if there had been anything to gain by doing so. Their weapons were taken from them and their wrists were bound.