something ?”
“There is—if we care to beg for it from Daniel Hendrycks,” he said bitterly.
“But he doesn’t own the whole of Trinidad,” I objected reasonably.
“As far as we’re concerned he might just as well,” Cuthbert said morosely. “All the land he has now used to belong to us. It would still be ours if there was any justice. Wilfred and I were brought up to look after the great acres of sugar, but now it isn’t there and we don’t know how to do anything else.”
“ But what happened ? ” I demanded.
“ It was a family fight,” he said with an engaging grin, as if I couldn ’ t really expect it to be anything else. “We had the estate and grew the sugar and that was okay. Father rather cleverly married into the family that ran the nearest refinery and everything in the garden was rosy. My mother had been a Hendrycks—they still have the refinery—but unfortunately for Father they didn’t approve of the marriage and that was that. They wouldn’t take our sugar, and when they wouldn ’ t nobody else would either. We managed for a while but then we began to sell off the land. Daniel, scenting a good thing, bought it up as fast as we could get rid of it. We didn’t even know what was happening until we suddenly found he owned everything and we absolutely nothing!”
“But surely they couldn’t do that to part of their own family!” I said angrily. It sounded monstrous to me.
“The Hendrycks have a very good idea of their own consequence,” Cuthbert reminded me, laughing. “ I ’ m afraid the Ironsides just aren’t good enough for them!”
But your mother was Daniel’s aunt !” I said blankly.
“Sure. When he was a boy she dandled him on her knee like the rest of us, but we were the poor relations, and in Trinidad that still means something. The Ironsides don’t count and the Hendrycks do. It’s as simple as that.” He whistled through his teeth to s ho w that he didn’t care what the Hendrycks did or didn’t do. I admired his spirit.
“There are other things on this island besides sugar. ” I said stoutly, going back to the central problem of his possible employment.
“Oh, sure!” he mocked me. “But what do I know about them?”
I gritted my teeth. “You could learn!” I said fiercely, and I began seriously to consider the various possibilities that might be open to him. “Tourism,” I said at last. “That’s what you can do. You can show people around Trinidad—”
“Here, hold it! I don’t bang the beat in a steel band or anything fancy like that!”
“It doesn’t matter,” I answered doggedly. “ People come here for holidays, so there must be money in it somewhere. I’ll think about it. ”
He gave me a dying look and then his irrepressible grin broke out. “I’m sure you will,” he agreed. “Meanwhile let’s go down to the beach and have a swim. ”
I hesitated just long enough to allow the glorious thought of the navy blue sea and the white tropica l beach to sink in properly. There was nothing that I would like better. I could already imagine myself lying on the fine sand in the shade of a palm tree with the water lapping about my feet. Besides, I had to make a start at getting a proper tan to give me the same healthy look that everybody else had in Trinidad. It would provide also a couple of hours during which I wouldn’t have to think about Daniel, and that was important to me just at that moment. He bothered me, and I didn’t like being bothered. I wasn’t used to it ! Nobody had ever bothered me before in quite the same way. I was even beginning to hate the image of him I conjured up so easily in my mind’s eye. The man was a monster. A perfidious monster. And yet I could hardly wait to see him to cross swords with him again. With my new knowledge about him, I might even win the battle, and that would be a most satisfactory state of affairs. I imagined him sueing for peace and the thought brought a smile of sheer pleasure
“There is—if we care to beg for it from Daniel Hendrycks,” he said bitterly.
“But he doesn’t own the whole of Trinidad,” I objected reasonably.
“As far as we’re concerned he might just as well,” Cuthbert said morosely. “All the land he has now used to belong to us. It would still be ours if there was any justice. Wilfred and I were brought up to look after the great acres of sugar, but now it isn’t there and we don’t know how to do anything else.”
“ But what happened ? ” I demanded.
“ It was a family fight,” he said with an engaging grin, as if I couldn ’ t really expect it to be anything else. “We had the estate and grew the sugar and that was okay. Father rather cleverly married into the family that ran the nearest refinery and everything in the garden was rosy. My mother had been a Hendrycks—they still have the refinery—but unfortunately for Father they didn’t approve of the marriage and that was that. They wouldn’t take our sugar, and when they wouldn ’ t nobody else would either. We managed for a while but then we began to sell off the land. Daniel, scenting a good thing, bought it up as fast as we could get rid of it. We didn’t even know what was happening until we suddenly found he owned everything and we absolutely nothing!”
“But surely they couldn’t do that to part of their own family!” I said angrily. It sounded monstrous to me.
“The Hendrycks have a very good idea of their own consequence,” Cuthbert reminded me, laughing. “ I ’ m afraid the Ironsides just aren’t good enough for them!”
But your mother was Daniel’s aunt !” I said blankly.
“Sure. When he was a boy she dandled him on her knee like the rest of us, but we were the poor relations, and in Trinidad that still means something. The Ironsides don’t count and the Hendrycks do. It’s as simple as that.” He whistled through his teeth to s ho w that he didn’t care what the Hendrycks did or didn’t do. I admired his spirit.
“There are other things on this island besides sugar. ” I said stoutly, going back to the central problem of his possible employment.
“Oh, sure!” he mocked me. “But what do I know about them?”
I gritted my teeth. “You could learn!” I said fiercely, and I began seriously to consider the various possibilities that might be open to him. “Tourism,” I said at last. “That’s what you can do. You can show people around Trinidad—”
“Here, hold it! I don’t bang the beat in a steel band or anything fancy like that!”
“It doesn’t matter,” I answered doggedly. “ People come here for holidays, so there must be money in it somewhere. I’ll think about it. ”
He gave me a dying look and then his irrepressible grin broke out. “I’m sure you will,” he agreed. “Meanwhile let’s go down to the beach and have a swim. ”
I hesitated just long enough to allow the glorious thought of the navy blue sea and the white tropica l beach to sink in properly. There was nothing that I would like better. I could already imagine myself lying on the fine sand in the shade of a palm tree with the water lapping about my feet. Besides, I had to make a start at getting a proper tan to give me the same healthy look that everybody else had in Trinidad. It would provide also a couple of hours during which I wouldn’t have to think about Daniel, and that was important to me just at that moment. He bothered me, and I didn’t like being bothered. I wasn’t used to it ! Nobody had ever bothered me before in quite the same way. I was even beginning to hate the image of him I conjured up so easily in my mind’s eye. The man was a monster. A perfidious monster. And yet I could hardly wait to see him to cross swords with him again. With my new knowledge about him, I might even win the battle, and that would be a most satisfactory state of affairs. I imagined him sueing for peace and the thought brought a smile of sheer pleasure
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