They walked slowly round the towering stacks of containers. Neither spoke – they were too over-awed by the sheer enormity of the port operations and the task they had set themselves.
‘It seemed so simple when we were talking about it in Brisbane,’ said Sarah. ‘I had no idea this place would be so big.’
‘I know. It just makes me more thankful the guy at the freighter company told you it was this terminal on the manifest.’ Dan looked around them, at the stacks of containers disappearing from view whichever way he looked. ‘We could’ve been here forever otherwise.’
‘Let’s have a look at that manifest again. I’m sure there was a note of an identifying stamp or something on it. Maybe that will help.’
Dan felt in his shirt pocket and pulled out the well-thumbed document. He unfolded it and stared helplessly at it. A noise behind him made him look around.
Two dock workers chattered away in Malay, laughing.
‘Stay here,’ Dan said to Sarah and turned to the two men.
‘Hey!’ he said, raising his hand and smiling. The two men glanced up at him a little sheepishly, their smoking break forgotten.
‘Sorry guys,’ said Dan. ‘Could you tell me which of these stacks might have got delivered since the New Year?’
The men eyed him suspiciously.
‘Why do you want to know?’ asked the shorter of the two, shading his eyes from the glare of the setting sun behind Dan.
Dan shrugged. Stayed relaxed. He nodded back at Sarah.
‘Me and the missus just moved here from the UK.’ He lowered his voice conspiratorially. ‘I’m going to be in big trouble if our furniture hasn’t got here in one piece.’ He winked.
The two men laughed, nodding. The taller man of the two took a long drag on his cigarette and looked down the long line of containers.
‘Have you got the container number?’
Dan showed him the number on the manifest. The man nodded. He put his hand on Dan’s shoulder and turned him back towards the harbour.
‘The ones that didn’t get put on trucks when they arrived – the last three columns down there.’
Dan thanked the two men and walked back to Sarah, grinning.
‘Bingo,’ he said. ‘Follow me.’
Chapter 27
Dan began to walk towards the columns of containers the dock workers had pointed out.
‘Hope you enjoy your stay here!’ the shorter man called out.
Sarah turned to Dan. ‘What did he say?’
‘Doesn’t matter. Keep walking,’ he said and turned and waved back at the dock workers.
They reached the last few columns of stacked containers.
‘Okay,’ said Dan. ‘According to our friends back there, these containers are the most recent arrivals. So let’s start looking. Got a pen?’
Sarah reached into her bag and dug around. She handed him a pen and watched as he wrote the manifest reference number on the palm of his hand before handing the document back to her. He glanced up, noticing her watching him.
‘No, I don’t have a photographic memory,’ he explained. ‘I’m just an ordinary bloke.’ He grinned and handed back the pen.
They split up. Dan indicated to Sarah to take the right-hand stack while he searched the left.
He began to walk around the coloured containers. There seemed to be six colours available – red, green, blue, white, rust and more rust. He craned his neck upwards, reading the serial numbers on the side. Every now and again, he looked down, just to counteract the ache developing in his neck. A sudden shout made him spin round.
‘Dan! Look at this!’
He turned, searching out the sound of Sarah’s voice. ‘Where are you?’ he shouted.
‘Go back to the main corridor between the containers – I’ll look out for you.’
He jogged back the way he came. As he turned a corner, he almost ran into Sarah. He grabbed hold of her shoulders. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ she nodded. ‘Come and see this.’
She took hold of his hand and led him through the container stacks on the other side until she came to a rusting light blue one. The door was wide open. Sarah handed Dan the manifest.
‘This is the one.’ He stared at the manifest, then at the number stamped on the door of the container. ‘Shit. We’re too late.’ Dan punched the side of the container in frustration. They’d been so close.
Sarah looked at Dan. ‘Now what do we do?’
He shrugged, handed the manifest to Sarah, put his hands in his pockets then stepped into the open container. He stood in the middle of it, just outside of the shadows and turned around. He looked down. Frowned. Then crouched, looking at the floor. A wide grin spread across his face.
‘Look at this,’ he called, turning back to the open door.
Sarah frowned. She stepped into the container and looked at where Dan was pointing.
‘Looks like… like engine oil,’ she said, confused.
Dan was still smiling. ‘So he’s got a car, right?’
Sarah looked at him. ‘So where is it?’
Dan brushed past her and jogged back down between the containers looking left and right until he saw a telltale puff of smoke. He ran up to it.
‘Hi!’ he said.
The two dock workers jumped. Kicked a deck of cards under a nearby container and turned to Dan in unison.
‘Yes?’ asked the shorter one.
Dan held up his hands. ‘It’s okay – no problem.’
The two men relaxed and smiled.
Dan looked behind him at the row of containers, then back at the two men. ‘Have you seen a car being driven around here over the past few weeks – out of one of the containers?’ he asked.
The taller of the two men grinned. ‘Ah! Nice car!’ he exclaimed.
Dan smiled and nodded, trying to keep his excitement in check. ‘Listen,’ he said, lowering his voice, ‘the missus says it’s meant to be a surprise for my birthday next week, but,’ he added, turning as if to make sure Sarah wasn’t within ear shot, ‘any idea what sort of car it is?’
The man giggled, pleased to share the secret. ‘Yes, yes! Black sedan – four doors. German make. Latest model.’ He grinned. ‘You are a very lucky man!’