مهمانی مونتگمری

Chapter thirteen

Montgomery’s Party

Montgomery turned and went out into the moonlight. ‘M’ling! M’ling, old friend!’ he shouted.

He found three animal-men on the beach and gave them all a drink. M’ling soon joined them. ‘Drink and sing!’ Montgomery was shouting. ‘Let’s have a party!’

The noise of this strange party was loud at first. It got slowly quieter as it moved along the beach. Finally, there was silence. I stood in the moonlight for a few minutes at the door to my room. Then I started to prepare for my escape the next day.

I made a pile in the garden of everything that I needed for the boat: food, clothes, some sheets for sails, containers for water, and much more.

A few hours before morning, Montgomery’s group returned. They were singing noisily on the beach, and breaking wood for some reason. But I was busy, working by the light of my oil lamp. I soon stopped noticing their noise.

When it was getting light, Montgomery’s group finally stopped singing. There was a shout of ‘More! More!’ Some angry words followed, then a loud scream. The scream worried me. I stood and listened. There were more shouts. Then, suddenly, a gun shot sounded.

I picked up my own gun and hurried towards the noise. As I ran, I kicked some of the things in my pile. There was a crash of broken glass, but I did not stop. Who had the gun, and why were they shooting?

I opened the door and saw a small fire on the beach. Around it was a pile of bodies, fighting. Montgomery was calling my name. I ran towards the fire. I shouted as loudly as possible and shot into the air with my gun.

Someone cried, ‘The Master! The Master! ‘The group stopped fighting. A number of animal-people ran away in fear and disappeared into the trees. I then turned to the bodies still by the fire.

Montgomery lay on his back with the hairy grey Sayer of the Law on top of him. The hairy monster was dead, but still held Montgomery’s neck in its sharp teeth. M’ling lay next to them, with a big bite in his neck and a broken whisky bottle in his hand. Two other bodies lay near the fire.

One did not move. The other was crying in pain. It sometimes lifted its head slowly, then dropped it again.

I pulled the Sayer of the Law off Montgomery - not an easy job, with my broken arm. Montgomery looked terrible, but still alive. I put a few drops of sea-water on his face, took off his jacket and rested his head on it. M’ling and the person next to him were dead. The last one’s body was badly burnt in the fire, and after a few minutes he was dead too.

I knew very little about medicine. What could I do to help Montgomery? Before I could do anything, I heard a strange noise behind me. I looked around. Fire and clouds of black smoke were coming from the house!

I thought back. The crash. the broken glass. I knew immediately the reason for the fire. The broken glass was my oil lamp!

The fire was already burning strongly. It was impossible to save any of the things inside. My mind turned to my plan of escape, and I looked for the two boats on the beach.

They were not there! Slowly, I understood. Montgomery’s fire used wood. The wood of the two boats. The two boats that were my only hope of escape from this island.

I was so angry that I almost killed Montgomery with my gun. Then his hand moved, and he looked so weak. I could not hurt him. He shook with pain and opened his eyes for a minute. I lifted his head up a little. His eyes met mine.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘The boats. I’ve been so stupid

His eyes closed and his head fell to one side. ‘Montgomery?’ I said. ‘Montgomery!’

I felt his heart. He was dead.

I sat alone on the beach for about an hour, doing nothing. Ideas raced through my head, but no sensible plan came to me.

Then three animal-men came out of the trees. Slowly they walked towards me. The smell of the dead bodies pulled them closer and closer.

Alone I faced them, with the gun in my one good hand. ‘Get down on your knees!’ I said loudly.

They stopped and looked at me. I repeated my words and moved towards them. One went down on his knees, then the other two.

I walked past the dead bodies, keeping my eyes on the three on their knees. ‘They broke the Law,’ I said, putting my foot on the Sayer of the Law. ‘And now they are dead. Even the Sayer of the Law. Even the Other-with-the-gun. The Law is great.’

‘No one escapes,’ said one of the men on the ground.

‘No one escapes,’ I repeated. ‘You must follow my orders. Now, stand up.’

They stood. I took Montgomery’s gun from him, then said, ‘Take him. Carry him out to the sea.’

They were afraid to touch Montgomery. But they were more afraid of my gun. Finally, they lifted up his body and walked into the sea with it. They did the same with the other bodies, then I sent them away.

I needed some time to think. How could I live on the island now? How could I escape? The house was destroyed, so I could not even sleep without fear of attack.

The animal-people’s fear of my gun was my only hope. I needed to become their master, a new Dr Moreau. After a short rest, I started walking towards their huts.

When I got there, I was hungry, thirsty and very tired. As bravely as I could, I walked towards a small group of the animal-people. They did not get down on their knees. I was too weak to order it. I just asked politely for food and drink, and they pointed towards one of the huts.

I was stupid. In that minute I lost my position as their master. They were never afraid of me as they were of Moreau.

In an empty hut, I ate some fruit. Then, with my. gun in my hand, I fell into a troubled sleep.

When I woke up it was dark outside. My arm was hurting. At first I could not remember where I was. Then the terrible memories of the last two days came back to me.

I heard something in the hut. I saw a dark shadow near my legs. It was slowly moving. Who or what was it? I waited. Suddenly, something soft, warm and wet passed over my hand.