Chapter Two
So that Friday, Las and Dalby set off for the woods of
Lobban’s Ridge. Lobban’s Ridge was about five miles away from Keswick. Las and Dalby had to walk all the way to the Woods.
They had walked a mile when suddenly some huge
stones rained down on them.
“What the hell, it’s Bender’s boys attacking us,”Las
shouted.
“Let’s get behind those trees, Las!” Dalby in turn
shouted as they sprinted for a nearby grove of trees.
They made the trees, but the stones were getting
nearer now.
“What do we do now, Las?”
“If we don’t attack them, they’ll keep us penned in here
until tonight,” Las opined.
“Let’s get some stones to throw at those boys. They’re two of them as far as I can see,” Dalby stated.
They began to gather up stones as there were stones
behind the grove of trees. Both Dalby and Las would then throw stones at the boys before darting back to their hideout.
They had thrown several stones before they heard one
of the boys burst out, crying. Then another also started crying before they heard running footsteps.
Both Las and Dalby rushed out of hiding intent on
capturing the boys and beating them.
They ran to where the boys had been but saw only a
heap of stones. They saw the boys jumping down some gullies.
“Let’s go after them and give them a beating for stoning
us. It’s Lippy and Fred,”Las stated.
Suddenly they saw two bigger boys running towards them. Both boys were armed with clubs. These boys looked like grown men, Las thought as he and Dalby turned to face the new threat. Nevertheless, they knew the boys' names. The bigger boy was named Boysie and the smaller boy, Delly.
“Las, you dirty fucker, you and Dalby threw stones
hitting down Lippy and Fred. We’re going to beat you up for that,”Boysie shouted and attacked Las. Delly attacked Dalby with his stick.
Las and Dalby were fighting the two boys who were
holding their own against them. Las knew that they could not afford to let these boys beat them up. If Boysie and Delly beat them, they would almost kill them. They would leave them for Bender to finish them off.
Las began to fight more aggressively and Dalby also
began to push back the boys. Suddenly Boysie turned and ran. Delly followed his brother by jumping down a gully. They heard both boys breaking twigs as they raced through the thick bushes.
“We’ve got to go after them, Las. They deserve a
beating for all the trouble they’ve caused us,” Dalby opined.
“Those boys are a distraction. I wonder if Bender is using them to throw us off his trail. We’ve lost about four hours already. Let’s go about what we came here for,” Las advised.
“I didn’t know that Bender had so many children. No wonder he has to steal so much to feed them,” Dalby opined.
Las couldn’t understand these women having so many children for Bender. He and Dalby went and got their packs and set off on their journey once again.
They reached the Woods without further incident.
Those boys would have realized that they were no match for them. Las had gotten some hard blows in their latest fight and so too had Dalby. Those boys too, had gotten some hard blows. Las knew that they had injured both sets of boys, forcing them to flee.
They reached the Woods at around two o’clock that
afternoon. The Woods ran for several miles. There were several rivers and springs all around. There were fruit trees, several such as mangoes and apples were in full bearing.
Dalby climbed an apple and then a mango tree and
picked some fruits. He and Las sat in a shade and ate some of the fruits before moving on.
They trudged on, deciding not to cut down any trees or
bushes to give their whereabouts away. Las knew that they had to get to the Dawson river and lay in waiting to capture Bender.
They stopped by a river to have lunch of roasted
breadfruit, fried pork and ackee. Dalby climbed the respective trees to pick the ackees and the breadfruits.
After they had eaten and filled their canteens, they set off
again. As they moved through the bushes, Las was wondering if Bender had been alerted. They found no signs of the man. He was wondering if they would return empty handed.
Las was also worried about his family. Suppose Bender
slipped through and went to attack them at the shop. He knew they couldn’t turn back. He was glad that Vita’s sister and her children were staying with them, although he knew they would be no match for Bender and his boys. Juby was useful, but he too would be no match for them.
They bedded down in a grove of trees that night. Dalby took first watch. The next morning after breakfast they set off again.
They had gone about a mile when they came upon a larger
grove of trees and voices floated over to them. Las signalled for Dalby to remain quiet. They crawled nearer to a clearing. Some men were sitting on some big rocks having breakfast. They were Clinch Salmon and his sons, Welly and Macky! There were two other men there, Fuller and Luddy. So this was where the Salmon gang had its base, Las thought.
Clinch had a huge axe at his feet plus a long gun! Las
didn’t know what kind of gun it was. Welly and Macky had long machetes, Las wasn’t sure if they were carrying any firearms. Fuller and Luddy both carried steel clubs and short machetes.
Las knew that it would be certain death if he and Dalby
were caught.
Las believed Clinch Salmon to be in his early fifties and
his sons were in their early twenties. Fuller and Luddy were men in their mid thirties. Clinch was a legendary robber and cut throat. He had robbed in all the villages and had even done time for robbery. His boys had grown up in reform schools. Fuller and Luddy were bare faced criminals who had done more than one term for robbery.
“We’ll raid Juville’s and Toby’s places tomorrow and
clean them out. That should net us about fifty thousand dollars,” Clinch told them.
“When are we going after Noddy’s place?” Welly
asked.
“You’ve seen the kind of stuff, Noddy has on his farm. Lots of goats, pigs, cows plus a lot of produce and tree crops, but he guards them like a hawk. He has about three guns on that farm. We couldn’t go up against him with only one gun.”
“So we’re leaving that one alone?” Luddy asked.
Clinch burst out laughing. He took a huge bite out of an
ackee and saltfish sandwich, chewed on it before washing it down with some coffee.
“I never said that. All of you know that I never give up
on anything. Either those farmers pay me protection money or else I raid them. As far as Noddy is concerned, once we get some more guns we’ll attack and clean him out.”
Even from where they were hiding, Las and Dalby had to cover their noses. They had to hold their bellies for fear of throwing up their latest meal. The five men simply stank. Their clothes were ragged and dirty. Their hair was knotty and dirty too. With so many rivers around, it was hard to imagine men walking around smelling that way, Las thought. Soap bush was also available. Las hadn’t brought any soaps with him, preferring to use soap bush instead. He knew that Dalby had done the same thing too.
In another ten minutes the meal was over. During this
time Clinch and his gangsters revealed a lot of information. They revealed that the gun, Clinch had, was the one stolen from Hep Johnson. Clinch also told them the names of everybody in the village who had a gun. He also revealed that he wanted some of those guns to be in the hands of his gangsters.
Las was waiting for his name to be called as a future victim. That Clinch hadn’t said anything about him, gave him no assurances. Maybe Bender had given him some of the things he had stolen from him.
As soon as the meal was over both Las and Dalby crept
away. They were about a mile away when Las spoke.
“I don’t think we can get Bender out of these bushes. I
don’t see how we’re going to get past Clinch and his boys.”
“We have got to try. Once we grab Bender, we can
move him out at night,” Dalby said.
They continued the trek. About a mile further they
came upon the remains of a fire. Las examined the ashes. They were cold and the fire was a small one, certainly nothing compared to that lit by the Salmon gang.
Las had to assume that Bender had stopped to have a
meal and it was either late last night or early this morning. They saw some tree limbs cut down and knew that the man was travelling fast and maybe didn’t know that he was being pursued.
They had a late dinner and decided to sleep in a valley.
They were so tired that they dropped asleep almost immediately. When they woke up Sunday morning it was in bright sunshine.
Immediately, Dalby set about looking after breakfast. After they finished eating they loaded up with their gear and set off.
An hour later they reached a clearing. There was a man
on a hill some distance away. It was Bender!
“Las, it’s Bender!” Dalby shouted.
“We have to leave our gear if we hope to catch him,”
Las advised.
“They’ll steal them.”
But Las said that they had to hide their stuff. They hid
them in some bushes before setting off after Bender. They had only gone a short distance when they realized that he had seen them and he started sprinting. Both Las and Dalby started after him. Las knew that they couldn’t allow Bender to reach the Dawson river and get to his rope ladder.
Both Las and Dalby were poor swimmers. Las knew that they couldn’t handle that river. Bender was increasing the distance between him and his pursuers. Las was sprinting, leaving Dalby behind. Dalby soon caught up with him. They were a few yards behind Bender when the man flew around a tree, Dalby went with him, but went over an edge and fell into a spring. Las went around the tree after Bender, but the man sped away.
Las knew that it was he alone against Bender. They were about a mile from the river. Bender was now leading him by about a quarter of a mile. Las doubted if he would be able to catch him.
Bender was moving away, but he was tiring and Las was gaining on him.
Dalby had come out of the spring now, but he was too
far behind. Las knew that he couldn’t allow Bender to reach the low banks of the river from where he could chuck off into the water.
Bender was now a few yards from the low banks of the
river. Las knew that he had to make his move. He made a huge dive at the man’s legs, but Bender spun away. But just as he was about to chuck off into the river, Dalby dived at his legs. The two men rolled to the edge of the bank and then went over. Las had jumped over the river bank and he and Dalby were holding Bender.
Bender fought the two men, but they finally got the
ropes on him.
“You won’t get away with this, Las. And you, Dalby,
wait and see what I’m going to do to you when I get free. I’m going to murder both of you.”
Then he started laughing.
“You boys are really stupid. Clinch Salmon controls this forest. He’s my friend. You won’t get me past him and his boys. The best advice I can give both of you is to take these ropes off me and try and get out of here before Clinch and his boys know that you’re around.”
“We’re taking you in, Bender. We intend to get past Clinch and your boys,” Las told him.
He and Dalby took Bender to where their packs were. They loaded up their packs and moved out, pushing their prisoner in front of them.
Las saw the worried look on Dalby’s face. He knew that
the man was worried about meeting Clinch and his boys. Bender would be sure to alert Clinch about their presence in the Woods.
They had supper that evening and bedded down by a grove of bamboo trees. Both Las and Dalby decided to take turns watching. In the morning they had breakfast before moving on again.
Las and Dalby, along with the reluctant Bender, moved through the bushes, when they came upon some thick woods. Las went and peered through the trees. There was a building there, it looked like a shack, Las thought.
“You’ve found Clinch’s house,”Bender shouted.
Las motioned for him to shut up, but the man continued shouting.
“Only Clinch, his boys and I know this place. He’ll kill you if he finds you here.”
Las threw the rope binding Bender at Dalby and went to have a look inside the house.
The front door of the house wasn’t locked. Las pushed it
open and went inside. He opened the board windows to get
some more light. There were four lofts with ladders made for
climbing up to them for sleeping, Las thought. There was a
table with some roughly made chairs. There were two bancras
with clothes sticking out of them. The room was sparsely
furnished. Las made his way outside. He signalled to Dalby.
“It’s a hideout all right. If it’s Clinch’s, then we’ve got to get
out of here as fast as possible.”