Rubies are Red. Part 37
Paul
I stopped where the trail began to widened and crept forward. For a while I had been able to hear the sounds of machinery or vehicles. First as a low rumble in the distance then getting gradually louder. I stepped off the trail and moved forward pushing aside the last few branches of undergrowth and the noise hit me like a physical object.
From my grandfathers descriptions I had thought the mine was a low-key, low-tech affair.
This wasn't. There were heavy earth moving machines and a large conveyor belt bringing rocks from inside a large cave.
Their business plan, conceived in the early fifties when they had been given the mine, had involved working the mine over as long a period as possible to maintain a steady income for themselves and for the workers who made up the majority of the small village by the river.
That small village had grown into a town.
And the small mining operation had changed into total exploitation.
The price per carat of Rubies had dropped but the number on the market had increased. I was doing the sums in my head as my grandfather must have done. He had seen his income decrease at a time when the number of Rubies on sale was increasing. The increase in Rubies hadn't been coming from Burma where most were found. I could imagine him trying to contact Roddrego or the mine manager to find out what was happening. Now we knew.
I looked past the mine entrance. There was a collection of buildings. Timber-framed with corrugated iron walls and roof. That would be the offices and stores.
If the others were here that was where they would be.
They were so many people moving about. I daren't try to cross in front of the mine entrance. Should I wait until dark? That was over seven hours away and I was hungry and thirsty. I needed to do something soon.
I could hear movement on the trail behind me. I crouched low and held my breath.
A group of men walked out into the clearing and one of them waved to a man standing on a wooden platform above the mine entrance. I hadn't noticed him before. I wouldn't have gotten very far if I'd tried to sneak across.
Sneaking across was out of the question. Then I would have to move out in the open.
At the end of the conveyor-belt under a sunshade of broad leaves built on a wooden frame there was a small group of men sorting and splitting the rocks that came to them. My grandfather had told me about them. They could spot ninety-nine percent of the Ruby bearing rocks. Three of them were sorting the stones and two others opening the stones that were passed back to them with small hammers. There was another man with them he carried a rifle.
One of the men splitting the rocks gave a shout and held up a rock. The guard said something to him and he placed the rock in a bucket to one side and went back to splitting stones.
As I watched the conveyor belt stopped. I could see some women approaching carrying baskets. It must be break-time. Men wearing hard-topped hats came out of the cave entrance and the men I had been watching went to join them. Except for one who was walking in my direction. He stopped at the edge of the jungle and took out his prick.
"Hey. Senore." I said, in Spanish.
He froze for a second as if trying to work out what I had said then commenced pissing.
"Yes." He replied.
"Do you know where Senore Wagstaffe is? I am his grandson."
"Your name is?"
"Paul."
"What do you want?"
"To take my grandfather and the others away from here."
"I think that would be very wise."
"How can I get to him?"
"They are in the office block. The large building. Wait here. Some of the women will come into the jungle to collect roots and herbs. They will help you."
"Will they have some food?"
He shook the drips off his prick and put it away inside his trousers. Turning away from me he made his way back to the group of men and women. I could see him talking to two of the women while he ate. My stomach growled as I watched him chew. My mouth went dry as he lifted a skin of liquid to his lips.
I was hungry and thirsty.
Another five minutes and the group split up. The guards, who had ate apart from the workers and their women started ordering the men back to work. I saw four women making their way towards the track. None of the guards seemed to be paying them any attention. Except one. He had his eyes on one woman, hardly more than a girl really, all the way to the undergrowth.
I saw him joking with another guard and then start to follow the women. The other guard followed the workers into the cave. I could hear the sound of some machinery starting up inside the cave and watched as the conveyor belt started turning.
The women entered the trail and I followed them, calling softly. I heard a rustle in the undergrowth and a large woman in her forties pushed her way through the thick undergrowth beside the trail. She stopped when she saw me.
"My husband says I am to help you. What do you want?"