The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More Read Online Free Page A

riding high up on the old turtle's back and his feet
isn't even touching the water! He's dry as a bone and sitting there
comfy and easy as could be! So we go after them. Of course we go after them. At
first we try creeping up on them very quietly, like we always do when we're
catching a turtle, but the boy sees us. We aren't very far away at this time,
you understand. No more than from here to the edge of the water. And when the boy
sees us, he sort of leans forward as if he's saying something to that old
turtle, and the turtle's head comes up and he starts swimming like the clappers
of hell! Man, could that turtle go! Tom and me can
paddle pretty quick when we want to, but we've no chance against that monster!
No chance at all! He's going at least twice as fast as we are! Easy twice as
fast, what you say, Tom?"

    "I'd say he's going three times as
fast," Tom said. "And I'll tell you why. In about ten or fifteen
minutes, they're a mile ahead of us."

    "Why on earth didn't you call out to the boy?" the manager asked.
"Why didn't you speak to him earlier on, when you were closer?"

    "We never stop calling out, man!" Willy cried. "As soon as the
boy sees us and we're not trying to creep up on them any longer, then we start
yelling. We yell everything under the sun at that boy to try and get him
aboard. 'Hey, boy!' I yell at him. 'You come on back
with us! We'll give you a lift home! That ain't no
good what you're doing there, boy! Jump off and swim while you got the chance
and we'll pick you up! Go on boy, jump! Your mammy must be waiting for you at
home, boy, so why don't you come on in with us?' And once I shouted at him,
'Listen, boy! We're gonna make you a promise! We
promise not to catch that old turtle if you come with us!'"

    "Did he answer you at all?" the manager asked.

    "He never even looks round!" Willy said. "He sits high up on
that shell and he's sort of rocking backwards and forwards with his body just
like he's urging the old turtle to go faster and faster! You're gonna lose that little boy, Mr Edwards, unless someone gets out there real quick and grabs him away!"

    The manager's normally pink face had turned white as paper. "Which way
were they heading?" he asked sharply.

    "North," Willy answered. "Almost due north."

    "Right!" the manager said. "We'll take the speed-boat. I want
you with us, Willy. And you, Tom."

    The manager, the two policemen and the two fishermen ran down to where the boat
that was used for water-skiing lay beached on the sand. They pushed the boat
out, and even the manager lent a hand, wading up to his knees in his
well-pressed white trousers. Then they all climbed in.

    I watched them go zooming off.

    Two hours later, I watched them coming back. They had seen nothing.

    All through that day, speed-boats and yachts from other hotels along the coast
searched the ocean. In the afternoon, the boy's father hired a helicopter. He
rode in it himself and they were up there three hours. They found no trace of
the turtle or the boy.

    For a week, the search went on, but with no result.

    And now, nearly a year has gone by since it happened. In that time, there has
been only one significant bit of news. A party of Americans,
out from Nassau in the Bahamas, were deep-sea fishing off a large island called Eleuthera . There are literally thousands of
coral reefs and small uninhabited islands in this area, and upon one of these tiny islands, the captain of the yacht saw through his
binoculars the figure of a small person. There was a sandy beach on the island,
and the small person was walking on the beach. The binoculars were passed
around, and everyone who looked through them agreed that it was a child of some
sort. There was, of course, a lot of excitement on board and the fishing lines
were quickly reeled in. The captain steered the yacht straight for the island.
When they were half a mile off, they were able, through the binoculars, to see
clearly that the figure on the beach was a boy, and