of inbreeding are avoided... And two final points: The Halidon community is high in the mountains where the winds are strong, of that Piersall was certain. And last, the Halidon has great riches... These are the pieces of the puzzle; there are many missing.'
No one spoke for a while. Then Tucker broke the silence.
'It's a hell of a story,' said Sam 'but I'm not sure where it gets us. Our knowing it won't bring them out. And you said we can't go after them. Goddamn! If this... tribe has been in the mountains for two hundred years and nobody's found them, we're not likely to, boy! Where is "the way" Walter provided?' _,
Charles Whitehall answered. 'If Dr Piersall's conclusions are true, the way is in the knowledge of them, Mr Tucker.'
'Would you explain that?' asked Alex.
In an unexpected show of deference, the erudite scholar turned to the rough-hewn guerrilla. I think... Barak Moore should amplify. I believe the key is in what he said a few minutes ago. That the Halidon must have a strong reason to contact us.'
'You are not mistaken, mon. Dr Piersall was certain that if word got to the Halidon that their existence - and their great wealth - had been confirmed by a small band of responsible men, they would send an emissary. They guard their wealth above all things, Piersall believed. But they have to be convinced beyond doubt... That is the way.'
'Who do you convince?' asked Alex.
'Someone must travel to Maroon Town, on the border of the Cock Pit. This person should ask for an audience with the Colonel of the Maroon people, offer to pay much, much money. It was Dr Piersall's belief that this man, whose title is passed from one generation to the next within the same tribal family, is the only link to the Halidon.'
'The story is told him, then?'
'No, McAuliff, mon! Not even the Colonel of the Maroons is to be so trusted. At any rate, it would be meaningless to him. Dr Piersall's studies hinted that the Halidon kept open one perpetual line to the African brothers. It was called "nagarro" -
'The Akwamu tongue,' broke in Whitehall. 'The language is extinct, but derivations exist in the Ashanti and Mossai-Grusso dialects. "Nagarro" is an abstraction, best translated to mean "a spirit materialized."'
'A spirit...' Alex began to repeat the phrase, then stopped. 'Proof... proof of something real.'
'Yes,' replied Whitehall.
'Where is it?' asked McAuliff.
'The proof is in the meaning of another word,' said Barak Moore. The meaning of the word "Halidon."'
'What is it?'
'I do not know - '
'Goddamn!' Sam Tucker exploded. Barak Moore held up his hand, silencing him.
'Piersall found it. It is to be delivered to the Colonel of the Maroon people. For him to take up into the mountains.'
McAuliff's jaws were tense; he controlled himself as best he could. 'We can't deliver what we don't have.'
'You will have it, mon.' Barak settled his gaze on Alexander. 'A month ago Dr Piersall brought me to his home in Carrick Foyle. He gave me my instructions. Should anything happen to him, I was to go to a place in the forests of his property. I have committed this place to memory, mon. There, deep under the ground, is an oilcloth packet. Inside the packet is a paper; on it is written the meaning of the Halidon.'
The driver on the ride back to Kingston was the Jamaican who was obviously Barak Moore's second-in-command, the black who had done the talking on the trip out to the airfield. His name was Floyd. Charles Whitehall sat in the front seat with him; Alex and Sam Tucker sat in back.
'If you need stories to say where you were,' said Floyd to all of them, 'there was a long equipment meeting at a Ministry warehouse. On Crawford Street, near the docks. It can be verified.'
'Who were we meeting with?' asked Sam.
'A man named Latham. He is in charge - '
'Latham?' broke in Alex, recalling all too vividly his telephone conversation with the ministry man that afternoon. 'He's the one - '
'We know,' interrupted Floyd, grinning in the rearview mirror at McAuliff. 'He's one of us, mon.'
He let himself into the room as quietly as possible. It was nearly 3.30; the Courtleigh Manor was quiet, the nocturnal games concluded.
He closed the door silently and started across the soft carpet. A light was on in Alison's room, the door open perhaps a foot. His own room was dark. Alison had turned off all the lamps; they