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Malaya. And presently it occurred to her that his reticence and disinterest in her as a person were premeditated and things to be thankful for. He was in a hurry to get to Penghu and so was she. There would be no complications except those caused by their passage through the green archways of the jungle river. She pushed her left hand into the side pocket of her skirt, dropped the ring from her finger and withdrew the bare hand. That was better.
    They had been moving for two hours when Pete first spoke. “ Does your back ache? ”
    “ It ’ s not unbearable. If you ’ d let me use a paddle it wouldn ’ t ache at all. ”
    “ But you ’ d get blistered hands, and they ’ re the devil to heal out here. As soon as I see a likely spot I ’ ll pull in for a bite and a drink, and we ’ ll see if we can fix you up with a back-rest. ”
    “ Don ’ t worry about me. I ’ m all right. ”
    “ You ’ ve a lot of sitting to do during the next few days, and you must be comfortable for it. If you see a clearing—a small one will do—just give a shout. ”
    Three-quarters of an hour passed before a likely spot presented itself, and even then it was only a small expanse of low ferns between the clawing roots of mangroves. However, Pete thought it would do, and he drew in and flung a rope round one of the roots. He stepped from the canoe, beat down the ferns with a paddle, dexterously shot a snake into the river and then gave Terry a hand. Somehow, with him she couldn ’ t be scared of a mere snake. He accepted everything as it appeared, dealt with it and got on with what he had been doing. If, back in Shalak, she had known what was ahead and had to prepare for it, it would have been just such a man as Pete Sternham she would have selected, if she could, as her escort from Vinan to Penghu. Calm and impersonal, resourceful, impervious, he made her feel safe and as normal as it was possible to feel in such circumstances. As a friend he would be annoyingly unimpressionable, but for this trip he was just r ight.
    He spread one of tire blankets over the ferns. “ We ’ ll eat first, and then weave a back-rest for you. You lie flat for an hour. It ’ ll ease your back. ”
    “ It ’ s not that bad. I want to help. What do we eat? ”
    “ Nothing very appetizing, I ’ m afraid. We ’ ll save the eggs till tonight—they won ’ t keep longer than that. There ’ s some stewed chicken in the tin, and corn-bread in the packet. We ’ ll keep off rice as long as we can. ”
    “ I ’ m surprised we even have chicken! ”
    “ It ’ ll be tough. They don ’ t kill them in Malaya till they ’ re a hundred years old. I had t his one cooked early this morning. ”
    Both chicken and dry, grey bread were wrapped in leaves; the meat was tasteless, the bread smelled of mildew, but Terry was hungry enough to eat almost as well as he did. The usual birds screeched in the branches, a monkey brought his friends and they all sat on high, exchanging comments upon the strange happenings below. The water slapped lazily against the massive tree-tops, the wall of green across the narrow river had a delicate and impenetrable green beauty, while bamboos as thick as a man ’ s arm rustled their grassy tops nearby in the gentle breeze.
    They drank coconut milk and cold boiled water. Kim Mali had given Pete a packet of coffee, but he thought they must decide to make a fire only in the evening, when they would have plenty of time. During daylight hours he wanted to keep on the move.
    “ Then let us leave the back-rest till this evening, ” she said. “ I can change my position fairly often. And if you ’ d allow me to paddle I could bind handkerchiefs round my hands to stop the blisters. ”
    “ You ’ d still get them, through the heat. Lie down and I ’ ll fix something temporary for your back. We ’ ll reinforce it with atap this evening. ”
    “ I don ’ t want to lie down. ”
    “ Well, sit up, then, ” he said coolly, and