Anjani the Mighty. John Russell Fearn
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Название: Anjani the Mighty
Автор: John Russell Fearn
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Исторические приключения
isbn: 9781434447562
isbn:
“Where are we going?” she questioned. “Following a trail back to—to where we came from?” Her voice quieted as she remembered the great distance that lay between them and the ships at anchor on the coastline.
“I was trying to follow Tocoto and settle things between us once and for all,” Anjani answered. “The storm has upset things, though, and everything is lost. I can’t follow a trail in this, and by night. We must shelter and try again by daylight.”
“But what about the natives? Won’t they follow us?”
“I don’t think so. They believe that I am the master to be obeyed because the storm broke just in time to make my threats come true. So they won’t follow because they won’t dare. Later, though, Tocoto will talk them round again. He will have to, or completely lose all the authority he has gained. As for us, we may as well find somewhere to rest for the night.”
It did not take him long to discover a comparative dry spot in the undergrowth, to which he helped Rita and bade her lie down. Then above her he constructed a roof of broad and dripping leaves that broke the full force of the still pelting rain. Not that the water mattered. It was a relief from the crushing heat that normally reigned in this wilderness.
Even with the shelter constructed, Anjani was not satisfied. He departed on a brief investigation of his own, to Rita’s horror, then when he returned, he had an armful of coconuts. The milk from them and the solid interior was sufficient to provide a temporary meal.
Almost immediately afterwards, secure again in the thought that Anjani was beside her, Rita fell asleep once more. When she awakened again she was alone, the hot sun glinting through the treetops, and her remnants of clothes dried to her mud-caked body. She stirred stiffly and looked about her in alarm.
“Anjani!” she cried frantically. “Anjani!”
She scrambled to her feet and blundered out of the leaf-shelter, then to her relief she beheld Anjani in the centre of the little clearing, busy cooking some small animal over a fire. He had even prepared plates made of leaves and had poured fruit juice into the hollow coconut shells. In fact, quite an appetising breakfast was at hand,
Smiling with relief, Rita settled down and watched him at work, the sunlight gleaming from his mighty shoulders, his muscles rippling with every move he made. He took a glance at her and then grinned, rubbing his ill-shaven chin. His beard he had removed by singeing.
“White people are not supposed, so you say, to wear as little as the natives,” he commented.
Rita looked down at herself and sighed. She barely had enough clothes left to cover her, but somehow it did not seem to matter. The sun was warm to her still-tired body, and its return after the wet of the night seemed to be bringing new life back to her.
“Only one thing for it,” she decided, as she started upon the meal he had prepared. “Another vegetable dress. When I get back to civilization, if ever, I should think I might start a fashion in wearing leaves instead of cloth.”
Anjani smiled broadly once again. “When we get back to civilization,” he corrected.
Rita looked at him quickly, her grey eyes wide. “You mean you’ve actually decided to come back with me?”
“I have. The more I am with you, the more I know I can never do without you. My life and yours are bound up in each other.”
“But what about Tocoto?”
“Before I go I shall destroy him. It will not be difficult, now he is abroad in the jungle and afraid of those he formerly ruled. I shall find him this very day.”
“Unarmed?” Rita asked quietly,
Anjani glanced down at the blank space upon his loincloth where his knife usually rested. He shrugged his broad shoulders.
“I have fingers and muscles, and I shall be fighting a man and not an animal. I shall win—because I must.”
“Then when that is done, all we have to do is go back to Akada, get the treasure, and then—sail for home?”
“Just that.”
Rita forgot her meal for the moment and leaned forward, bringing her arms about Anjani’s neck. His arm encircled her slim waist, and for a moment they were silent. These were the moments Rita loved best, with his mighty frame so close to her, always there to protect her—
A sound made Anjani glance up. Rita did not trouble because she was quite happy where she was, but as she felt Anjani’s muscles tense, she too looked across the clearing. And paradise seemed to evaporate instantly.
Tocoto was standing only a few yards away, his knife in his hand, frozen hatred in his handsome face.
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