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permission or no permission!'
He gritted his teeth, the hint of humour vanquished by anger.
'Build it,' he told her in thundering tones, 'and cut out the childish
attitude of rebellion!'
Now why, Faun was asking herself as she watched him stride
wrathfully away, had he capitulated? There was a very good reason
for it; she had no doubt of that, since such things as tolerance and
understanding of her position were the last considerations he would
have had in mind.
She left her task for the present; she had earlier cut some tips and
shoots of edible ferns, which she intended to boil as a vegetable.
Bamboo shoots were also on the menu and these, along with a tin of
meat, formed the first course, the second course being a fruit that
looked like an English chestnut but with the flavour of the avocado
pear. Faun had been delighted when, having discovered the fruit
growing on a tree, she had tasted it though with caution at first,
remembering that some fruits are poisonous and found it so
palatable. She was quite naturally pleased with all her finds and the
only difficulty she experienced was making them look appetising on
the plates. She took special care over Malcolm's, whose appetite was
by no means good, although he was much improved in himself, being
able to walk about a little. He had wanted to help with the erecting of
the new shelters, but Clive insisted he take things easy.
'If you want to be helpful,' he said, 'then keep a log of what's
happening. It'll make interesting reading one day, when this is just a
memory.'
'You're very optimistic,' put in Ingrid, who was in one of her most
fretful moods. 'Personally, I can't imagine our ever being found in this
deep jungle. Oh, why did you allow Miss Sheridan to take over
control of the plane!'
As Faun walked away in disgust she missed any reaction the men
might have evidenced.
As she fully expected, Ingrid had some fault to find with the lunch.
Earlier, the girl had scoffed at Faun's efforts only in the men's absence
and Faun realised that Ingrid was play-acting in a way, slyly
concealing her pettish complaints from Clive. Now, however, the girl
did not seem to care whether or not she came down in his estimation.
'What on earth's this!' she exclaimed, picking up the green 'vegetable'
with her fork and then letting it slip back on to her plate again. Faun
coloured with anger and said tautly,
'Boiled fern and consider yourself lucky you've got it!' She and the
others were seated round the bamboo table. Faun had even been able
to produce a cloth for it, using a gaily-coloured cotton headscarf she
had brought with her and which was far larger than was either usual
or necessary.
'It's quite tasty,' interposed Malcolm, trying to ease the situation.
'What gave you the idea?' he asked Faun.
'I know that most ferns are edible, so it seemed a good idea to make
use of them although one wouldn't eat too much at first; it's a new
food and could upset the digestion until one became used to it.'
'It would make me sick,' declared Ingrid, then she looked at Clive.
'Can't I have something else?' she pleaded.
He shook his head. Faun noticed that his eyes were narrowed and
glinting as he replied,
'There's no reason why you should have anything different from what
the rest of us are eating.'
The girl rose haughtily.
'In that case,' she snapped, 'I'll go without!'
Tommy and Malcolm were uncomfortable and Faun herself could
have left the table. Clive seemed calm, and to be enjoying the meal.
'She could have eaten the meat, and the bamboo shoots,' said
Malcolm. 'She must have had the shoots before.' No one said
anything to this and Malcolm added, his eyes following the svelte
figure of Ingrid as she went down to the aircraft, 'She'll starve to death
if she goes on like this.' There was still no comment. Malcolm gave
up and the meal was eaten in silence.
Faun spoke to Clive afterwards. She had wandered off, to search for
suitable bamboo poles for her shelter, but had been sidetracked in her
intention by sounds she heard coming from some trees that rose from
among a dense thicket of tangled shrubs.
'What is it?' The quiet voice of the man she detested caused her to
swing round.
'Tree frogs,' she answered curtly.
He came towards her, his eyes on her legs.
Where are your slacks?' he demanded with a frown.
'Drying on the line I've improvised. I've washed them.' Her eyes
automatically went to one of the water traps which Clive and Tommy
had set up. There were many of these traps, quite simple in
construction just a large leaf suspended above a receptacle. In this
way, rainwater, fresh and clear, was caught in plentiful quantities.
'You'll be stung,' Clive warned. 'And you've already got two leeches
fastened to your calf.'
She frowned, and glanced down.
'What wretched creatures they are! It's said that every living thing has
its use, but I fail to see what good these obnoxious attackers are.'
'Do you want my assistance,' he inquired with a sort ~ of dry
amusement, 'or are you fully prepared for this kind of eventuality?'
'I'm prepared,' she answered, drawing from her pocket a little bag she
had made from one of her handkerchiefs. In the bag were several
cigarette ends thrown away by Ingrid and which Faun picked up. She
went to the water trap, took a quantity of water in her hand and dipped
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