BIGGLES IN THE SOUTH SEAS

by Captain W. E. Johns

X. WHAT HAPPENED TO GINGER (Pages 151 – 169)

“Had Ginger told the others of the existence of the fairy grotto they would have guessed at once where he was, in which case their attempts to get into touch with him might well have ended in tragedy. So, although it was hard to believe at the time, it was really just as well that Ginger had withheld the information”. Ginger, Full Moon and Shell-Breaker had set off to get some fish and naturally went to the same cove where they had done so well on previous occasions. They then went for a swim and a visit to the grotto was almost automatic. They sat talking in the grotto and then Ginger said it was time to get back, “in fact, we’ve stayed too long already”. Just as Ginger goes to dive in, Full Moon screams “Mako!” A huge shark has come in. “The creature was so huge that it seemed almost to fill the pool inside the cave”. Shell-Breaker thinks it may have come in due to a big storm at sea. They discuss the possibility of killing it but that is not possible in such a confined space. Ginger knows the others will be worried and will search for them and not be able to find them. He sees the water darken as the sun sets. The water in the cave surges to and fro. Shell-Breaker says the shark will go when the storm passes, but that may not be for two or three days. Full Moon pelts the shark with lumps of coral, but it “did not seem to mind in the least”. It grows dark and without illumination, they have no means of knowing if the shark has departed or not. “The night seemed like eternity”. Eventually, the light of day comes into the cave, but not blue, instead it is grey, dull and depressing. In due course, it is possible to see all the water inside the grotto and it appears that the shark has gone. Shell-Breaker and Full Moon confirm it has gone and Ginger then jumps in and experiences the strength of the unseen currents of the water. They are all able to swim out and to the surface, where “waves were dashing in impotent fury”. Climbing out, exhausted, Shell-Breaker points at a dark fin, the shark must have been there all the time and Ginger had been within twenty yards of it. “Looking about him Ginger perceived for the first time the full force of the storm. The wind, which had now reached gale force, clutched at his body, and beat the palms so far over that their fronds swept the ground”. Ginger runs to their camp, knowing that the ‘Scud’ could not survive such a gale and finds no sign of Biggles, Algy or Sandy and that the flying-boat has gone. Ginger has to duck and dodge as coconuts and palm-fronds whirl past him. When he reaches the ridge of the island, he realises the full fury of the hurricane. All their carefully stacked shell has been swept away as the whole side of the island is submerged. The sea also pours into caves under the coral with such pressure that it then bursts through flaws in the coral, like explosions. By now, Ginger is on his hands and knees. A mighty wave breaks and foam surges across the ridge of the island; Ginger realises that he is in peril. He remembers Sandy saying that big seas can swept right across these islands. Shell-Breaker takes Ginger to Full Moon and Full Moon ties herself and Ginger to a tree. They also climb up the truck so as to get off the surface of the island. Nearing the top palm, Full Moon hacks at the wood, until a tremendous gust tears away the crown of the tree bodily. (A tremendous gust tore away the crown bodily - is the illustration on page 165). “The palm, relieved of its dragging weight, at once leapt to a vertical position, and without offering any appreciable resistance to the wind remained more or less stationary”. Shell-Breaker does the same to another tree. “His face twisted into a smile when he saw Ginger looking at him, and Ginger smiled back, although his mood was anything but gay”. The whole island is buried under a raging sea of water. Two hours pass and then the winds dies away altogether. They are now in the centre of the hurricane. This does not last long. The wind returns with as much violence as before. Hour after hour it rages, until a time Ginger judges to be about four o’clock, when the gale drops to no more than a steady breeze. In the evening, the clouds break and the sun appears far down in the west. Ginger, Full Moon and Shell-Breaker come down from their trees to find a scene of utter ruin. The whole shape of the island has altered. At the site of the camp, Ginger finds some bully beef and a few tins of condensed milk and biscuits. Full Moon slashes the top off a coconut and gives it to Ginger to drink. Ginger gazes across the sea and wonders what has become of Biggles and then, like his companions, he settles down to sleep.