Journey to the River Sea

‘No. It was found many years ago. It went to a museum in Rio – too important for my little place – but no one had time to assemble it, so they sent it down to me. But Taverner knew the place it came from. Not only that—’ He broke off. ‘His wife came from up there,’ he went on. ‘It’s practically unexplored country.’

‘Did you know his wife?’

‘Yes. She was beautiful and gentle. She died in childbirth because the English doctor wouldn’t come out to an Indian girl at night. As you can imagine, it didn’t make Taverner any more anxious to return to England.’

They walked on for a while without speaking. Then the professor, blushing a little for he was very shy, asked Miss Minton if she would care to join him for lunch. ‘It’s only a little local café but the food is good.’

But as he had expected, she refused. ‘Thank you, I have some sandwiches.’

But at the door of the café, Miss Minton was overcome suddenly by the glorious smell of real, strong Brazilian coffee.

‘Perhaps a cup of coffee,’ she said.

It was a nice café; friendly and cheap and it cost Miss Minton some effort not to allow the professor to buy her a dish of chicken and rice. ‘I lunch here most days,’ he said. ‘Since my wife died.’

‘Was that a long time ago?’

‘Yes. Ten years now. I blame myself, the climate didn’t suit her. I should have taken her back to England.’

Miss Minton frowned. She did not approve of people blaming themselves for what was done.

‘Are the caves difficult to reach? The ones where your sloth came from?’ she asked.

‘Yes. Difficult but not impossible.’

‘Did Taverner think there were more remains there? More bones?’

‘He thought there might be. But that’s neither here nor there. I shall be fifty-eight next year: an old man.’

‘That is the kind of remark I don’t enjoy,’ said Miss Minton cuttingly, and picked up her coffee cup.

When she came back from the museum, Maia found the twins in an even worse mood than usual.

‘What are those supposed to be?’ sneered Beatrice, turning over Maia’s drawings. ‘I can’t make head or tail of them.’

‘I know . . .’ Maia sighed. ‘But birds are really difficult to draw.’

‘Well, why do you have to go and show off in the museum then? I suppose you want everyone to say how clever you are.’

‘And you’ve got a mosquito bite on your forehead,’ said Gwendolyn. ‘It looks like the kind that goes septic.’

‘You’ve probably caught lice too on that Indian boat. You’d better not come near.’

Maia said nothing and went to her room. She had stopped wondering what she had done to annoy them. But to tell the truth, the poor twins had just learnt something which upset them very much, and they had learnt it from their mother.

‘We don’t like Maia, Mummy,’ the twins had said. ‘She’s a prig.’

‘The way she goes on practising the piano when she doesn’t have to.’

‘And she flirts with the boys at the dancing class and shows off the whole time.’

‘And she’s conceited about her hair. The way she brushes it and brushes it.’

‘And she sneaks off to talk to the servants.’

Mrs Carter sighed. ‘I know you don’t like her,’ she said.

‘We hate her,’ said Beatrice.

‘When is she going away again?’ wailed Gwendolyn.

‘Oh, don’t!’ cried Mrs Carter, caught off her guard. ‘Don’t ever mention her going away. If Maia goes we are undone!’

The twins stared at her. Their small, round mouths hung open.

Mrs Carter tried to pull herself together. ‘No, no; it’s not as bad as that. But your father . . . there have been difficulties with the price of rubber . . . and so on . . . Maia’s allowance from her guardian is absolutely necessary to pay the bills.’

‘You mean she’s staying for ever and ever?’ said Beatrice. ‘Just because she’s rich and we’re poor?’

‘It isn’t fair!’

‘Now, please, girls. I’m sure your father will find a way round, and when he does we can send her away. But just for now please try to be nicer to Maia.’

The twins shot her a furious look from under their pale eyelashes.

‘We’ll have to think of something,’ said Beatrice when they were alone again.

‘We certainly will,’ said Gwendolyn.

‘But if we get rid of her we won’t be able to have any new clothes.’

‘Unless we can get hold of the reward for the Taverner boy.’

‘If we get that we won’t need to see Maia ever again,’ said Beatrice gloatingly.

‘I still think she knows something. I’m going to watch her night and day.’

‘I’m going to watch her too.’

When she had first seen Finn’s hut and the lagoon, Maia thought it must be the nicest place in the whole world.

Clovis did not think that at all. He liked being inside the hut, especially at meal-times, but he found the surrounding jungle most alarming. The anteater lumbering down to drink like a grey tank sent Clovis rushing back indoors, and the chattering of the monkeys in the trees kept him awake at night.