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 passed 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.’
‘What about the prisoners?’ Selim interrupted.
Kane could almost see the indifferent smile on Skiros’s fat face. Til leave you to take care of the men. The women will go with us in the Catalina.’
‘But you promised the Cunningham woman to me,’ Selim said angrily.
‘I’ve changed my mind since then,’ Skiros said and his voice was cold. ‘Don’t let us forget who is running things here. You can find yourself another woman.’
‘What will happen to them?’ Muller said.
‘I really couldn’t say,’ Skiros told him. ‘I look upon the Ferret woman as a personal challenge. Making her see reason will be a pleasure.’
Somewhere in the distance a faint humming sounded on the night air and Skiros got to his feet. ‘There is the plane, gentlemen. Right on time. Take the women down to the truck, Selim. Muller and I will join you there.’
Cunningham moved suddenly, but Kane grabbed him by the shoulder, pulled him back to the ground. ‘Don’t be a damned fool,’ he whispered into his ear.
They crawled out through the encampment and melted into the shadows. As Kane led the way up the steep slope to the base of the cliff, Cunninham said, ‘What the hell are we going to do now?’
‘There’s only one thing we can do,’ Kane told him. ‘Stop that plane, but we’ve got to move fast.’
They walked quietly along the stone ramp and cautiously approached the mouth of the cave which contained the arms. A lone Arab lounged against the rock, rifle carelessly slung over his back. He was singing a sad, monotonous herding song, his eyes staring up at the stars.