Sheba. Part 25

TWELVE.

THE MOON HAD RISEN over the rim of the gorge and the valley was filled with its eerie radiance, when Muller had them taken down to the encampment. Emerging from the cave, Kane stretched to ease his tired muscles and paused at the sight of the temple, bathed in moonlight. It looked incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring, but the guards apparently felt otherwise. The muzzle of a rifle dug painfully into his back and he was urged on down the slope.

It was quiet in the valley and the shadows and loneliness moved in from the desert as they pa.s.sed between the tents and entered the trees. Somewhere, a camel coughed and an Arab stood knee-deep in the pool and washed himself, pausing to watch curiously as they pa.s.sed.

On the other side of the trees they halted beside a small horseshoe of rock that surrounded a round, black hole, perhaps five feet in diameter. A heavy rope was secured to a nearby palm tree and one of the guards picked up the free end and tossed it down into the darkness.

Cunningham went down first, straddling the rope, holding it tightly between his hands and walking backwards over the rim of the hole. When the Somali had followed him, Muller turned to Kane and spread his hands in a characteristic gesture. 'I am sorry about this, my friend, but Skiros insists. He considers you to be a very resourceful man.'

'Save your breath,' Kane said coldly. He picked up the rope without another word and began the descent.

The shaft had been hewn roughly from solid rock and his feet gripped the sides easily. He paused once and looked up at the stars gleaming in the round opening and then, all at once, they seemed very far away, and beneath him, there was a slight movement.

Hands reached out for his feet, guiding him down as the shaft widened, and he dropped into soft sand. As he picked himself up, the rope disappeared into the darkness above, brus.h.i.+ng against his face. The sensation was so unpleasant that he moved back sharply and b.u.mped into someone.

'Stay where you are,' Cunningham said. 'They usually send down a basket with food in it.' A moment later he grunted in satisfaction. 'Got it!' He took Kane by the elbow. 'Six careful paces and you'll find the wall.'

Kane moved through the darkness, hands outstretched until his fingers brushed on stone. He sat down, back against the wall, aware that Jarnal was beside him, and Cunningham shared out the food. When they had finished eating, they discussed the situation.

'Have you ever tried to get out?' Kane said.

Cunningham got to his feet. 'If it were daylight I could show you. The shaft widens about five feet above our heads. If it were not for that, there might be a chance of scaling the main shaft. It's narrow enough and the walls are of roughly hewn stone.'

Kane fumbled in his s.h.i.+rt pocket and took out a book of matches. As the first one flared, he held it high above his head. Cunningham was right. The bottom of the shaft widened considerably. The match burned his fingers and he dropped it with a m.u.f.fled curse.

He turned to Cunningham 'I suppose you know we're living on borrowed time? We've got one more day at the most. Frankly, we've got two choices. We either get out of this hole or die.'

'I'm with you there,' Cunningham said. 'But how the h.e.l.l do we manage it?'

Kane moved across to Jamal, squatted in front of him, and started to speak slowly and clearly in Arabic. When he had finished, the big Somali squeezed his shoulder to indicate that he had understood, and got to his feet.

Kane turned to Cunningham. 'Jamal is so incredibly strong, he might be able to push me high enough into that shaft to get some kind of grip in the narrow part. I'll climb on to his shoulders and I want you to stand behind to steady me.'

'It's worth a try, I suppose,' Cunningham said.

Jamal stood beneath the shaft and Kane scrambled up on to his shoulders. Very carefully he pushed himself erect and raised his hands above his head. They just reached inside the shaft.

'Now!' he said in Arabic and Jamal's great hands moved under his feet, lifting him bodily into the air.

Kane clawed desperately for a grip. Panic moved inside him as the Somali's arms started to tremble and then his hands fastened into a crack in the rock, and he heaved desperately. A moment later, he was securely wedged in the shaft, his back against one side, his feet against the other.

He worked his way steadily upwards, pausing every so often for a rest. The rough stonework dug painfully into his back, but he hung on grimly, and gradually the opening of the shaft increased in size until he was resting a foot or so beneath the rim.

He quickly pulled himself over the edge and crawled towards the rope. At that precise moment, two Bedouins appeared from amongst the palm trees and stood in a patch of moonlight a few feet away from the shaft, talking idly.

He had flattened himself into the sand at the first sound. Now, he carefully inched forward into the shadows and worked his way into the trees. For the moment, there was nothing he could do for Cunningham and Jamal. The two Bedouins were armed and one carried a rifle crooked in his arm. It would be impossible to tackle both of them.

He got to his feet and walked quietly away through the palm trees towards the encampment. As he approached, he could hear singing. The Bedouins were squatting round a great, flaring fire and several of them danced together, weaving an intricate pattern in and out of the firelight. One man played on a herd boy's pipe, another beat monotonously on a small skin drum. The rest sat cross-legged in a circle, clapping their hands in time to the music and swaying their bodies rhythmically.

He skirted the fire, keeping to the shadows, and moved in among the tents. The first two he examined were empty and he by-pa.s.sed the largest one.

Two guards stood before a tent on the far side of the encampment. He circled round behind and crawled into the shadows at the base of the tent. He could hear movement inside, and then Ruth Cunningham murmured something he couldn't quite catch and Marie replied.

He gently slackened one of the guy ropes and lifted the bottom edge of the tent a couple of inches. By lying flat on the ground, he could just see inside.

Marie was sitting on a sleeping bag, her back only six inches from him, and Ruth Cunningham was nearer the entrance.

Kane said softly, 'Marie, don't look round. Tell Ruth to keep on talking.'

Marie's shoulders stiffened under the thin material of her s.h.i.+rt and then she leaned forward and spoke softly to the other girl. Ruth Cunningham gave a startled gasp and then she seemed to get control of herself. She started to talk loudly, discussing what had happened and speculating on the future.

Marie stretched full-length on her sleeping bag and half-turned her head so that she looked directly at Kane. Their mouths were only three or four inches apart.

'I can't do anything at the moment, I'm not armed,' he said. 'How are they treating you?'

'So far, all right, but I'm not happy about the way Selim stares at Ruth. He looks as if he has the worst of all possible intentions.'

Kane tried to sound rea.s.suring. 'We'll have to do something about that. I've got to rejoin the others now. Whatever happens, don't worry. With any luck we should be back here in an hour to get you out.' He started to move away and paused. 'Tell Ruth her husband is fit and well.'

Marie's hand slid under the edge of the tent and caressed his face gently. Her eyes were like dark water, full of dangerous currents that seemed to draw him in. He raised the edge of the tent a little more and she pushed her face towards him until their lips met. It was no kiss of pa.s.sion - it was the kiss of a woman who loves deeply and tenderly, with every fibre of her being. For a moment, his hand tightened over hers and then he moved away quickly.

As he advanced cautiously through the trees towards the well-shaft, he heard someone coming towards him. He dropped flat on his face behind a tree and waited. One of the men he had seen earlier walked past him, so close that Kane could have touched the hem of his robe.

When he reached the edge of the trees, he could see the remaining Bedouin standing by the mouth of the shaft. The man had no rifle, and Kane waited until he turned to look along the valley, and moved soundlessly across the sand.

The Bedouin stood no chance. One arm encircled his throat, effectively choking back his cry of fear as Kane relentlessly applied pressure. For a moment or two, the man struggled and then his body went limp. Kane dragged him across to the trees and left him lying in the shadows.

The rope was still lying coiled by the tree to which it was attached. Kane tossed it down the shaft and called softly, 'Get up here as fast as you can.'

He waited, eyes anxiously probing the trees towards the camp. "Within a few moments, Cunningham was by his side and then Jamal.

They moved into the trees and Kane quickly explained the situation.

'The two women are under guard in one of the tents. The way I see it, there isn't much point in trying to take over the camp without weapons. I suggest we make for the cave where Skiros stores his arms. There's also a radio there. If we can't raise Mukalla or Aden, we can probably reachjordan.'

'Sounds like the most sensible course to me,' Cunningham said.

Kane explained rapidly to Jamal in Arabic, and moved off through the trees towards the encampment. They skirted the fire, round which most of the Bedouins were still singing and dancing, and crawled through the camp, keeping close to the ground.

As they pa.s.sed the rear of the largest tent, Kane paused as Muller's voice sounded clearly on the night air. He touched Cunningham lightly on one shoulder and moved closer to the tent.

Skiros was speaking now and he sounded pleased with himself. 'I'm glad I got in touch with headquarters on the radio," he said. 'It was fortunate also that I was able to contact Romero. They'll arrive tonight.'

'But I can't see the point,' Muller said.

Skiros sighed. 'You are really incredibly stupid, Muller. Our work here is finished. As I told Kane earlier, I'm sure we're safe for a month at least, but life has a perverse habit of playing strange tricks on a man. That's why we're going to take this unique opportunity of flying out in the Catalina with Romero. We'll all go to Egypt together, Muller. Cheer up. You'll be part of history.'