It was now late in the evening, but St Pierre was not asleep. The
sound of guns was getting
closer, and the people
sat inside their houses behind locked doors. The street lighting had
gone out, and Wyatt's car
was stopped by the
police or by soldiers on every street corner. He and Causton became
tired of explaining who
they were. At last they
reached the hotel and hurried inside.
They found Julie in the bar with some other people. She ran at once
into Wyatt's arms.
'Oh, Dave, are you all right? How did you get on?'
Wyatt told her everything that had happened. At the end, Julie said
softly, 'Poor Dave. Nobody
believes you about
Mabel, do they?'
'Well, I do,' said Causton suddenly. Julie smiled at him warmly.
Causton went on, 'I think
Wyatt can smell bad
weather coming. I'm a newsman, and I can smell trouble, but I often
can't explain why.' He
looked towards the other
people at the bar. 'Who are they?' he asked.
'I know one of them,' said Wyatt. 'The old man, Mr Rawsthorne, is
English. He's lived on the
island for years.'
'The other two are American,' said Julie. 'Mrs Warmington is on
holiday, and the man is Big
Jim Dawson, the writer.
You must know him. His books are very popular.' She turned to Wyatt.
'They all want to go to
the US Base at Cap
Sarrat. They think they'll be safe from the fighting there.'
'They won't be safe from Mabel,' said Wyatt. 'We must all get up into
the mountains. Let's go
and talk to them.'
They joined the three people at the bar, and began to discuss plans.
The American woman was
sure that the US
Base was the safest place on the island. Patiently, Wyatt explained
again about the hurricane.
The Englishman,
Rawsthorne, looked worried, and said,
'But it won't be easy to get out of St Pierre, you know. The rebels
are coming down the
Negrito valley, and I
understand that there's fighting all round the town now.'
Suddenly, Jim Dawson looked out of the window into the street. 'Hey!
Is that your car out
there?' he said to Wyatt.
'Because there are six policemen trying to take it away, and we're
going to need it!'
Wyatt jumped up and ran out through the hotel door. Dawson followed
him. Julie began to
follow, too, but Causton
caught her arm. 'Take it easy,' he said. 'It's not a good idea to
argue with
the police tonight. They're frightened, and frightened men are
dangerous.'
They stood in the shadows behind the door and watched through the
window. They could see
Dawson arguing
loudly, and Wyatt trying to stop him. Then one of the policemen
shouted, 'Spies! Spies!
American spies!', and Wyatt
and Dawson were marched away down the street, with guns at their
backs.
Julie looked at Causton. Her face was white. 'They've arrested them!
What will happen to them
now?'
'I don't know,' said Causton, worried. 'I think I'll go after them.
Perhaps I can help.' He turned
to Julie. 'You stay here
with the other two. Find a place to hide in the hotel. Don't go out!
There'll be fighting in the
streets soon. I'll be back
as quickly as I can.'
Then he, too, disappeared into the dark street.
It was a long night. The sound of the guns grew louder and louder.
After a few hours, the big
guns stopped, and then
there were new noises. The sounds of bombs exploding, of soldiers
running through the
streets, the screams and
cries of dying men.
Julie, Rawsthorne, and Mrs Warmington hid in a small room upstairs,
and listened to the
battle. Julie stared into the
darkness and thought about Wyatt. Where was he? What had happened to
him? Once, they
heard soldiers in the
hotel bar, drinking and shouting and breaking furniture.
When morning came, Causton had still not returned. And neither had
Wyatt or Dawson. By
early afternoon Julie and
Rawsthorne realized that they must leave the hotel and try to get up
into the mountains. The
frightened Mrs
Warmington decided to go with them. They took food and blankets, and
hurried out to
Rawsthorne's car which was
parked in a back street. They were not alone. Hundreds of other
people were also trying to
escape from the fighting
in St Pierre.