Read Online The Tattooed Tribes by Bev Allen - Free Book Online Page B

between towering trees, a wide highway paved in
water.
    Lucien paused
for a moment to listen to the silence broken only by the call of
birds and the faint rumble of the falls far behind. His smile was
full of wonder and joy and for the first time Jon saw some of the
tension drain from his face, leaving it calm, youthful and full of
hope.
    They walked on
into the day, following the river on its age-old course, the
silence only broken by the sounds of nature and the occasional
comment as Jon pointed out some new wonder.
    This idyll was
broken in the mid afternoon.
    Ahead of them
a canoe was pulled up onto the bank, while in the river, standing
waist deep in water, two men tried to stop another from sinking.
Even Lucien’s inexperienced eye could see it had been badly
overloaded.
    Two women
watched the operation and offered what sounded like advice, much of
which involved demands for the men to be careful with various
specific items.
    “ Who are they?” Lucien asked, annoyed at
this reminder of the world left behind.
    “ Work,” Jon replied. “Our work, so keep
quiet, let me do the talking and learn.”
    As they drew
nearer the two men gave a cry of alarm and the canoe sank with just
the odd bubble to show the way it had gone. Both women became
shrill with indignation and admonishments. They were so busy
reproaching the men they failed to notice Jon and Lucien, but the
men exchanged wary glances.
    “ Good day,” Jon said, coming to a halt.
“What is going on here?”
    “ I would have thought it was perfectly
obvious,” one of the women said. “What business is it of
yours?”
    “ I think you’ll find it is very much my
business, madam,” Jon replied and pulled a shield out from his
pocket, holding it up for them to see. “Tribal Liaison Guild,” he
announced. “May I see your permit to be above The First
Cataract?”
    The men in the
water showed marked signs of wanting to be elsewhere, but Jon had
casually swung his rifle from his shoulder and, while he was not
exactly pointing it at them, the possibility he might obviously
occupied much of their thinking.
    The two women
either did not know the significance of the shield or pretended
they did not.
    “ If you are some sort of official,” the
second one said, “you can assist our guides in retrieving our
belongings from the river.”
    Jon glanced
across at the two men, both of whom were covertly sidling
downstream, hoping not to be noticed.
    “ Stay where you are!” he ordered. “I’ve
recognised both of you, so there’s no point in trying to
hide.”
    Both were
chagrined, but resigned and made no further attempt to escape.
    Turning back
to the pair of ladies, Jon again said, “I want to see your permits
to be above First Cataract.”
    The smaller of
the two glared at him. “You’ve no right to question us.”
    “ I think you’ll find I have every right,”
Jon replied. “Show me your permit.”
    “ I refuse.”
    “ Then under General Order 17 of the Tribal
Lands Access Bill, I am charging both of you with violation of the
provisions therein. I will be issuing you both with a summons to
appear before the magistrates at The First Cataract where you may
be sentenced to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a
period not less than six months.”
    Both women
stared at him in horror.
    “ You can’t! We have permission to be here.
Our guides assured us ...”
    “ They were lying,” Jon replied. “Weren’t
you, boys?”
    There was no
response from the men in the river, who now began to shake with the
cold.
    Jon saw it and
smiled. “Getting chilly? Tell these ladies the truth and I might
let you out. You did lie to them, didn’t you?”
    A couple of
shrugs followed, and a brief acknowledgement of the undeniable.
    “ But they said ...” the other woman
began.
    “ Did you check?” Jon asked, interrupting a
stream of protest.
    “ No, but ...”
    “ Ignorance of the law is no excuse,
especially when there are notices all over the town