The Song of Mawu. Jeff Edwards

arrangement at that time.’

      ‘Yes. It seems my Provisional Governor was most lax in that regard. I shall have some strong words with him.’

      ‘Thank you Mr President,’ said Brian, trying not to show his disgust at the man’s utter greed show in his voice, ‘Perhaps we can now come to some agreement to pay the arrears.’

      President Lattua smiled across the desk at his brother, who was leaning back in his chair with his highly polished boots propped up before him. Joseph pretended to shuffle through some papers while he envisioned himself climbing aboard his new private jet. ‘Ah, here we are Mr Reynolds. It seems that the total of your taxes to date comes to just over three million dollars, United States dollars that is.’

      Eliza shot out of her seat and Nori had to grab her before she could scream an insult at the President.

      Brian made sure that Eliza had settled down before calmly replying to Lattua. ‘I don’t like to question your figures Mr President but they do seem to be somewhat excessive.’

      ‘Excessive Mr Reynolds? Not at all. They are quite in line with our current rates, and of course there will also be the matter of interest.’

      ‘Interest?’

      ‘Naturally. All unpaid debts accrue interest at a rate of one percent per day. A very minor rate you’ll agree.’

      Brian did not agree at all. It was pure usury and he had no intention of agreeing to these piratical demands.

      ‘Mr President, I must object. We are a charity. We are in your country to assist the refugees from Sonateria. In helping them, we ensure that they do not become a burden to you and your countrymen. Surely these taxes and the interest accrued can be waived in our case?’

      ‘I’m sorry, but if we were to exempt you then everyone would simply declare themselves to be a charity as well and no one would pay their taxes. Where would our country be if no one paid their taxes Mr Reynolds?’ asked President Lattua with feigned innocence. His brother was enjoying the President’s performance and encouraged him with hand gestures and a wide grin.

      Brian looked around at his fellow directors, their eyes narrowed in disgust. Toby Brown mouthed the word ‘bastard’, while Eliza sat weeping silently in frustration.

      ‘If we were to pay your taxes, when would the military withdraw?’

      ‘Well now Mr Reynolds I’m sure that General Lattua would be delighted to withdraw if all the taxes were paid, and the interest of course, plus a prepayment on future taxes. As an act of good faith on your behalf of course.’

      Brian spoke slowly, trying to contain his disgust, ‘And how much would this come to?’

      President Lattua was enjoying himself immensely. He shrugged his shoulders at his brother, who grinned broadly and held up both hands with fingers fully extended.

      ‘Oh I should think ten million dollars US should do nicely,’ said President Lattua in an offhand manner.

      Brian looked around at his stunned board members, ‘Thank you Mr President. I’ll take your offer to my board of directors.’

      ‘Off course you will Mr Reynolds. I look forward to hearing from you soon. But remember, the interest is accumulating daily so your early attention to the payment will be to your advantage.’

      Brian was so disgusted with the man that he had barely pushed the button breaking the connection before swearing loudly.

      In Namola, President Lattua was slower in placing the receiver into its cradle because he was laughing so loudly.

      His brother had also been enjoying the discomfort in Brian Reynolds’ voice and was himself laughing with delight. ‘Will they pay?’ he grinned.

      ‘Who cares? I’ve been speaking to the lately deposed President Bollan from Sonateria. He’s stripped the Sonaterian treasury of every last dollar and has it hidden in a French bank. Bollan is now looking for a place to use as a base of operations where he can organise his return to power. I’m sure he’d be delighted with the camp in Ashloko, especially as it comes with its own air-strip.’

      ‘I’d rather keep it for my own use,’ said his brother, ‘That way I can keep one regiment in our camp in Lobacra and install the other in Ashloko. It will help me keep the country under a tight rein.’

      ‘No reason you can’t share it with him.’

      ‘I suppose not,’ General Lattua shrugged, ‘So we don’t really want the English to come up with the money?’

      ‘I’d be delighted if they could come up with the money. But that doesn’t mean that they’ll get their camp back. As head of the Namolan Treasury I can foresee a sudden increase in the country’s interest rate and its exchange rate,’ he laughed, ‘We can’t lose!’

      ***

      Following Brian’s outburst there was a corresponding outpouring of righteous indignation from his fellow board members, especially Eliza.

      Finally, Justine had enough and brought them all back to earth with a bang of her fist on the heavy table. ‘Alright people. We know we’re being screwed over by this thief so let’s settle down and work out a measured response. If we start flying off at the handle, we’ll only stuff things up and that will play right into his hands.’

      The board of The Fund sat grim-faced around their board table as they considered their next actions.

      ‘How soon can we have the money ready?’ asked Eliza, ‘I have to get back there and make sure that our friends are all right.’

      Brain looked at her, ‘We can have the money for you in hours but I’m afraid that even if we did pay the ransom it would only be the start. How many more times will he do the same thing? If he wins now we’ll be paying him over and over again until we are forced to abandon the project.’

      Toby spoke up from his end of the table. ‘I’d rather we paid the money he’s demanding to one of the other charities working in the refugee camp. At least then we’d know that our money was doing some good.’

      Eliza was distraught, ‘But I must do something for my people out there. We’ve worked so hard to give them a start. We can’t allow them to be forced back into the squalor and disease of the refugee camp.’

      Nori reached out and took Eliza’s trembling hand, ‘None of us want that Eliza but we can’t give in to this tyrant. There’s no way of telling if he would allow us back into the country even if we did pay the amount he says we owe. From what little we know and what we just heard from him I doubt if he would ever allow us back to the town we created. What we made out there is valuable and will become even more valuable when the crops we planted begin to ripen.’

      ‘And if they don’t allow their goats to strip the saplings, the trees we planted will make it an even more habitable and valuable a property,’ added Ali.

      ‘Well what do we do?’ wailed Eliza.

      Toby Brown, ever practical, spoke up, ‘I think Justine put her finger on it a minute ago. We don’t know enough about the situation out there. We saw a drama unfolding on the television news, knew that people were suffering and realised that something had to be done to help them. Eliza made plans to help, and with Nori and Ali’s help she was able to perform a miracle, but in our enthusiasm and because this was one of our first projects, we made the mistake of not doing enough research. We should have studied the political and economic situation of the country were working in. It’s an error that we can’t afford to repeat in the future.’

      His wife Suzie nodded, ‘We didn’t have Rod Taylor and his people working for us then.’

      ‘As soon as our meeting is over we’ll have Rod get to work collecting whatever information he can on Namola,’ said Justine.

      ‘It’ll be all too late, and it’s all my fault,’ sobbed Eliza.

      ‘It’s