The tabletop ran away at a slight incline, bare and smooth, to the north-western cliffs; and here and there it was intersected by untidy trenches dug by the archaeologists to probe its mysteries. The end near the queen's grave looked like a miniature version of the Lichtenburg diggings but near where I emerged there was only one excavation, running steeply through the cap of soil to the solid rock beneath. A red and white excavator's staff, marked in feet, projected from the bottom like a wrecked ship's mast.
Nadine started from her reverie as I approached and I noticed that she flushed slightly.
She indicated the staff. 'Our hideout's down there. There are a couple of chambers, all at a lower level. They have a natural rock ceiling, so where we go in is actually the top part of an old door. As you can see, there's been very little work done.'
'Are you sure it's safe? It looks a bit spooky to me. No wild animals holed up? What about baboons?'
'Let's investigate: there weren't any last time.'
'Before we do that I'm going to check on von Praeger.'
The declining afternoon light tended to iron out all the shadows against the distant slopes of K2, making it harder than ever to pick out the command-post. I had a grandstand view as I faced southwards across the wadi and overlooked the complex of hills beyond. I thought I spotted something moving when eventually I located the post but I couldn't be sure.
'Nothing,' I told Nadine when I rejoined her. 'It somehow seems too good to be true.'
Nadine, however, was in high spirits and didn't share my uneasiness.
'Feel better?' I asked.
Our eyes met. There was almost no need for words. 'I'm at home here. I feel. . good, that's all.'
She took me impulsively by the hand. 'There's no time to show you all the wonderful things but there's one of our essentials — the spring, at the back of the rooms.'
'And the baboons?'
'Their rest colony is farther along beyond the spring itself. They don't seem to want to shelter here, for some reason. Come!'
She insisted on leading the way into the dimness below. I didn't share her confidence about the place not being used as a lair. She used the top of the lintel as a handhold and swung down. I followed. The interior was twilight-dim, although a shaft of long light made it possible to see without artificial means. It was chilly by comparison with outside and there was a faint odour of midden gas. Floor and walls were of living rock and there was room to stand comfortably. In a far corner was what appeared to be a patch of moisture, probably seepage from the spring.
Nadine was delighted that I could not locate her hide-away.
'It really takes a lot of looking for,' she said. 'It's right there below the drip. It mightn't be man-made but simply a water fissure which has widened out with time'
I went to examine it more closely, my mind occupied with its possibilities, so was not aware of the mosaic pavement until I trod on it.
But to me it wasn't a mosaic pavement at all — it was an isifuba board.
Isifuba is a game as old as Africa. It can be played anywhere, any time, simply by crudely sketching a squared board as for draughts. Pebbles are used as pieces. Isifuba, it is said, was the game the Roman soldiers played at the foot of the Cross. If there are no wayside shrines in Africa, at least the traveller's road is cheered by innumerable isifuba boards scratched in the rocks and distinguishable immediately by slightly hollowed places for the pieces.
However, I could not imagine the purpose of such an ornate and sophisticated isifuba board hidden out of sight in an underground chamber. It was about three feet square; which to begin with is about twice the size of a regular board. It had three squares each way and every hollow seemed inlaid with a different coloured stone, and one was missing entirely. They could have been semi-precious but I wasn't sure: the dim light and a layer of dust didn't help.
'What do you make of it, Guy?'
'I'm foxed. It isn't a mosaic in the usual sense.'
'I suspect this is what brought Dr Drummond rushing up here after the Land Rover business.'
'Didn't he give you any clue as to what these stones really were?'
'No. He was puzzled, but from the way he spoke I'd say it was a lead to something else.'
'A lead to what?'
'He didn't say. As I told you, this chamber hasn't been examined properly: there wasn't time. All I know is that Dr Drummond found a lot of rather peculiar-looking arrow shafts in here made of ivory, which he took away with him. They were very short and had odd markings. That's why he called this place the armoury, for want of a better name.'
'Let's take a close look at your hideout and get this stuff stowed. I have a feeling that Praeger is breathing down our necks all the time.'
'He's miles away, Guy. Try this gap for size.'
The way into the cubby-hole was a very tight squeeze past a jag of sandstone. Because of the loose debris it was virtually undetectable.
Standing jammed across the entrance, I pitched a tin from the gunny sack into the inkiness. As I did so there was a sharp prick in my shoulder and what seemed to be a clatter at my feet; simultaneously I heard what I thought was a distant shot. From the darkness I caught a gleam of mother-of- pearl.
'Nadine! Stand back! It's a puff-adder! It got me in the shoulder!'
For a split second we stood rooted, but her eyes were better than mine in the poor light.
Her voice shadowed the curiosity inside her. 'Puff-adders aren't made of ivory!'
She picked up the thing and we hurried to the light. It was a curious gauntlet-like object cut off above the knuckles and thumb-hole and with a wicked, backswept hook at the wrist. Its sharp point had jabbed me. The lethal glove had been carved from solid elephant tusk.
Nadine was delighted. 'Guy, what a find! It must be an archer's arm-guard to prevent backlash from the bow-string!'
I slipped it on. 'No,' I replied. 'It's much more dangerous. Look!' I made a dummy sweep with my arm. 'It's meant for in-fighting.'
The echo of a far away shot slapped through the hills. This time I knew I was not mistaken and Nadine heard it too. '
That's von Praeger's signal — he wants Koen back.' 'It's our turn to be grilled, Guy.'
'We haven't any means of bluffing him by giving an answer ing signal. When Koen doesn't reply he'll know there's something wrong. Let's leave this for the moment and take a look outside.'
'I'll hide the arm-guard right here by the door.'
I hurried ahead of Nadine and once outside I heard a repetition of the three signal shots from the direction of K2. They sounded like the Mauser.
'Keep down and well out of sight. Even if Praeger's a very long way away,' I warned Nadine, 'he'll be looking for any sign of movement.'
We crept to the cliff under cover of the wall and I used the glasses. K2 looked the same as before. When my eyes became fogged Nadine took over.