ment he nicked the lobe of Billys ear with the knife. A drop of blood welled out. Vandam got out of the car. Wolff said to Elene: “Get into the driving seat.” She climbed over the gear stick. Vandam had left the car door open. Wolff said: “Close the door.” Elene closed the door. Vandam stood beside the car, staring in. “Drive,” Wolff said. The car had stalled. Elene put the gearshift into neutral and turned the key. The engine coughed and died. She hoped it would not go. She turned the key again; again the starter failed. Wolff said: “Touch the accelerator pedal as you turn the key.” She did what he said. The engine caught and roared. “Drive,” Wolff said. She pulled away. “Faster.” She changed up. Looking in the mirror she saw Wolff put the knife away and release Billy. Behind the car, already fifty yards away, Vandam stood on the desert road, his silhouette black against the sunset. He was quite still. Elene said: “He’s got no waterl” “No,” WolfF replied. Then Billy went berserk. Elene heard him scream: “You can’t leave him behind!” She turned around, forgetting about the road. Billy had leaped on Wolff like an enraged wildcat, punching and scratching and, somehow, kicking-, yelling incoherently, his face a mask of childish rage, his body jerking convulsively like one in a fit. Wolff, who had relaxed, thinking the crisis was over, was momentarily powerless to resist. In the confined space, with Billy so close to him, he was unable to strike a proper blow, so he raised his arms to protect himself, and pushed against the boy. Elene looked back to the road. While she was turning around. the car had gone off course, and now the left-hand front wheel was plowing through the sandy scrub beside the road. She struggled to turn the steering wheel but it seemed 334 Ken Follett
to have a will of its own. She stamped on the brake, and the rear of the car began to slide sideways. Too late, she saw a deep rut running across the road immediately in front. The skidding car hit the rut broadside with an impact that jarred her bones. It seemed to bounce upward. Elene came up off the seat momentarily, and when she came down again she unintentionally trod on the accelerator pedal. The car shot forward and began to skid in the other direction. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Wolff and Billy were being tossed about helplessly, still fighting. The car went off the road into the soft sand. It slowed abruptly, and Elene banged her forehead on the rim of the steering wheel. The whole of the car tilted sideways and seemed to be flying. She saw the desert fall away beside her, and realized the car was in fact rolling. She thought it would go over and over. She fell sideways, grabbing at the wheel and the gear stick. The car did not turn turtle, but perched on its side like a coin dropped edgeways into the sand. The gear shift came off in her hand. She slumped against the door, banging her head again. The car was still. She got to her hands and knees, still holding the broken-off gear stick, and looked into the rear of the car. Wolff and Billy had fallen in a heap with Wolff on top. As she looked, Wolff moved. She had hoped he was dead. She had one knee on the car door and the other an the window. On her right the roof of the car stood up vertically. On her left was the seat. She was looking through the gap between the top of the seat back and the roof. Wolff got to his feet. Billy seemed to be unconscious. Elene felt disoriented and helpless, kneeling on the side window of the car. Wolff, standing on the inside of the left-hand rear door, threw his weight against the floor of the car. The car rocked. He did it again; the car rocked more. On his third try the car tilted over and fell on all four wheels with a crash. Elene was dizzy. She saw Wolff open the door and get out of the car. He stood outside, crouched and drew his knife. She saw Vandam approaching. She knelt on the seat, watching. She could not move untU THE KEY TO REBECCA 335