Sheba. Part 18

Omar nodded and accompanied them to the door. As they emerged into the street, several villagers pa.s.sed, dragging a crude cart on which lay the two a.s.sa.s.sins.

Their robes were dabbled with blood and clouds of flies hovered over them. Ruth Cunningham shuddered violently and Omar said, 'I rejoice at your narrow escape, Captain Kane.'

Kane turned quickly, a look that was almost amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes. 'You knew they were waiting for me?'

Omar nodded. 'But of course,' he said gently.

'And knowing, you made no attempt to prevent it?'

Omar looked pained. 'I could not possibly interfere with another man's blood feud.'

Kane started to laugh. An expression of complete bewilderment appeared on Omar's face, and Kane took Ruth Cunningham's arm and led her away, still laughing.

'What was all that about?' she said. 'I find all this Arabic frustrating.'

'You wouldn't understand,' he told her. 'A private joke.'

As they walked towards the airstrip she said, 'That was wonderful coffee we had. Who was the woman - his wife?'

Kane shook his head. 'A household slave.'

'Surely you're joking,' she said.

He smiled gently. 'Didn't you notice the mark of the hot iron on Jamal's forehead? He was a slave in the Yemen. They cut out his tongue the first time he tried to escape. There are thousands of slaves in most parts of Arabia still.'

She shuddered and they continued the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the plane, the only signs of the fight were several patches of blood in the sand of the runway. Kane pushed her into the cabin and clambered up behind. He wasted no time, and a few moments later they were climbing steeply into the blue sky.

They reached Shabwa within ten or fifteen minutes and Ruth Cunningham looked down with an expression of disappointment on her face. 'I can't say I find it particularly thrilling.'

Kane nodded. 'Not very imposing, I agree, but under the sands down there are the sixty temples the Roman historian Pliny wrote about. A treasure trove for some future expedition.'

He checked the compa.s.s and turned the nose of the Rapide out into the desert. 'I've set course for Marib. According to Alexias, the temple should be somewhere out here on a direct line from Shabwa. About ninety miles, he said. Let's hope we come across something.'

He took the plane down to a height of five or six hundred feet above the sand dunes, hoping for tracks or some other sign that human beings had pa.s.sed this way, but there was nothing. The desert stretched as far as the eye could see, sterile, savage and unbelievably lonely.

After some fifteen minutes, Ruth Cunningham gave him a sudden nudge. In front of them an immense sand dune that must have been seven or eight hundred feet in height, lifted into the sky, and Kane pulled back the column slightly. The engines spluttered and missed a couple of times.

He pulled the column back hard and the Rapide lifted over the top of the sand dune with only a few feet to spare, and then the engines coughed and died.

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The utter silence which followed was broken only by the sough of the wind in the struts and then, as the plane dipped sickeningly, Ruth Cunningham screamed.

Kane fought for control. About fifty or sixty feet above the sand, he managed to level out and then another great sand dune was rushing towards them. 'Hang on!' he said tightly, and pulled on the column with all his strength.

The Rapide swerved violently. For a moment it seemed to right itself, and then the left wingtips dipped to the sand. The aircraft spun in a circle and there was a tearing crunch of metal. Kane cried a warning and braced himself to withstand the impact as they ploughed to a halt through the soft sand.

NINE.

KANE GAVE A tONG, shuddering sigh and wiped sweat from his eyes with the back of one hand. He turned and looked into the white, strained face of Ruth Cunningham. 'Are you all right?'

She nodded briefly. 'I held on tight as we went in.'

He opened the door and jumped to the ground. The nose of the Rapide was half-buried in soft sand and the left wing was crumpled and useless.

'I can't understand why we didn't catch fire,' he said with a frown and came back to the door and looked at the instrument panel. 'That's funny, the fuel tanks are empty.'

She moved across the cabin and clambered out through the door. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'I don't really know. When the engines failed it could have been lack of fuel, but I don't see why. I wonder what state the radio's in.'

As he climbed back into the cabin to examine it, Ruth

Cunningham said, 'Is there anyone near enough to pick up the signal?'

He nodded. 'Jordan has a short-wave receiver at his camp.' He examined the set briefly and turned with a grimace. 'I'm afraid we've had it. They weren't built to stand up to this kind of treatment.'

Ruth Cunningham ran a hand over her face wearily. 'I'd give anything for a drink of water.'

'We can soon fix that,' he said, reaching behind the back seats for a large jerrycan and plastic cup. 'This thing's full, so water is the least of our problems.'

He gave her a long drink and had one himself. Afterwards, they sat in the shade of the wing, smoking cigarettes and not talking.

After a while, she turned and looked at him and said in a level voice, 'Gavin, give it to me straight. What are our chances?'

'A lot better than you think. I reckon we're about thirty miles from Shabwa. It's no good trying to make it during the heat of the day. The best thing we can do is rest up here and make a move at dusk. We'll be able to travel a lot faster at night because of the coolness.'

'Do you think they'll come looking for us?'

He nodded confidently. 'Of course they will. As soon as Marie and Jordan return to Bir el Madani and find we're missing, they'll form a search party. Those Ford trucks of his are specially fitted for desert work.' uuuuu(uuuuu(uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuI C T 1 T? 13 A...,.....,.,......,..........,..,..,,..

She looked into his eyes searchingly and then she smiled. 'I'm glad I'm with you, Gavin. With anyone else, I think I would have been scared - really scared.'

He smiled and helped her to her feet. 'But there isn't anything to be scared about. A few hours' discomfort, that's all. It's the sort of thing you'll be able to talk about for years, and the details will grow with the telling.'

'I suppose you're right.' Her shoulders sagged and she looked tired.

He pushed her towards the cabin door. 'Try to sleep for a few hours. You'll find it cooler in there. I'll wake you later on this afternoon.'

He closed the door behind her, lay down in the shade of the right wing and pillowed his head on his hands.

He wished he felt as confident as he had tried to sound. On his own and with plenty of water, he would have stood a fair chance of reaching Shabwa in a forced march during the night, but with a woman... !

One thing was certain. Marie and Jordan would come looking for them, but the trick lay in knowing where to look and the desert was a big place.

He listened to the stillness and felt the heat press down on him with a force that was almost physical, and after a while drifted into a troubled sleep.