‘What about that water-bottle and the empty food cans?’ Ruth said, handing him a plate of beans.
‘I think your husband must have left them there. We know for certain that he left Shabwa by camel. Whatever else may have happened to him, I think it’s reasonable to assume he’d have got this far.’
‘But those three outlaws?’ she said. ‘Perhaps there are others like them.’
He nodded. ‘That’s true. With every man’s hand against them they go where no one else dares, but as a rule they don’t come this far out. They usually hug the edge of the desert and keep within striking distance of water. In any case, only a European would use a water-bottle of that type. The Bedouins use goatskins.’
‘So it was all true,’ Marie said after a short silence. ‘Sheba and her temple, Alexias and his Roman cavalrymen.’
‘Yes, they must have passed this way,’ Kane said.
In the eerie silence that followed his words, no one seemed to breathe and for one timeless moment he almost expected to hear the chink of harness in the distance and see the Roman cavalrymen appear over the dunes, Alexias in the lead, moonlight glinting on his breastplate as he reined in his horse and gazed out over the desert.
And then out of the silence there came a low, vibrant hum, which grew until it filled the ears, and Ruth Cunningham turned in alarm. Marie placed a hand on her arm and said quickly, ‘It’s nothing to be alarmed about. Something to do with the change in temperature. One layer of sand sliding over the other.’
‘The singing sands,’ Kane said softly. ‘I wonder if Alexias heard them also.’
‘One thing is certain,’ Ruth Cunningham said. ‘He wouldn’t have had anyone who could have given him the scientific explanation.’
‘All the same, I don’t think he’d have been afraid,’ Kane said gently. There was a short silence and he took out a crumpled packet of cigarettes. ‘The thing we’ve got to decide now is, what do we do next.’
Marie took one of his cigarettes and leaned down to light it from the spirit-stove. When she sat up, her face was thoughtful. ‘How far did Alexias say the temple was from Shabwa?’
‘About ninety miles,’ Kane said.
‘And we’re about forty miles from Shabwa?’ He nodded and she leaned back, her face half in shadow. After a while she said slowly, ‘I think we should turn round and chart a course for Marib. Even if we don’t find other pillars still standing, we should find this outcrop of rock which Alexias described.’
Ruth Cunningham turned eagerly to Kane. ‘Do you think we could?’
He nodded. ‘I don’t see why not. We’ve got plenty of fuel and water. If we start now, we should be there by dawn. There’s enough moonlight, and it would be a damned sight more pleasant than travelling during the day.’
Marie got to her feet. ‘That settles it, then. We pack up and move on right away.’ As Kane turned away, she caught his sleeve. ‘You need some sleep, Gavin. I’ll drive for a couple of hours – you can take over later.’
For a moment, he was going to refuse, and then tiredness dropped about his shoulders like a heavy blanket. When they drove off half an hour later, he was sprawled amongst the baggage in the rear and already asleep.
He awakened with a bad taste in his mouth. It was bitterly cold and he sat up and leaned forward. Jamal dozed beside him and Ruth Cunningham was asleep, her head lolling backwards.
He scrambled over into the front seat. When Marie turned to smile at him, he saw the lines of fatigue on her face and a strange and immediate rush of tenderness moved inside him.
‘What time is it?’ he said.
‘About three-thirty.’
He reached across and took the wheel in his hands. ‘Slide out of the way and I’ll take over. You should have wakened me an hour ago.’
She lit a cigarette and placed it in his mouth and then she folded her arms and leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. ‘All at once I feel tired.’