A Cleft Of Stars

We waited.

'He's coming!'

'Where,' for God's sake!'

'He's just leaving the post — starting to move across the bad bit above the precipice.

She pushed the binoculars into my hands. Praeger was crossing very slowly on the handlines, guiding his pet by its mane. Rankin's Mauser was slung over his shoulder and I reckoned he'd be armed with his pistol too.

'If that damn brute would only slip and break its neck a lot of our problems would be over,' I remarked.

Nadine took a look. 'He's being very careful, Guy. That animal gives me the horrors.'

'It's a nasty piece of work, but don't overrate it. Hyenas are natural cowards and no amount of training will beat that.' '

He'll use it to track us down.'

'It's not a dog, Nadine: it only found us last time by following a trail of blood. And it can't climb — that's another point in our favour. Above all, like all wild animals, it's afraid of fire. A chunk of burning wood should be enough to scare it off. My Molotov cocktail would probably send it skidding over the nearest horizon.'

'He's across now, Guy! He's heading our way!'

I checked the height of the sun and the time and calculated how long von Praeger would take to cross the wadi.

'Good! This is a break we didn't expect. Now we don't have to winkle him out of the command-post.'

Nadine was very taut. 'Are you just going to stay here and wait?'

'Not on your nellie, as Koen would say. We're getting across there and bringing Rankin out. 'This is our golden opportunity.'

'He'll see us! He can't help it. It's still hours before dark!'

'Right. He'll reach The Hill before nightfall. But we're moving out — now. He can't possibly see us descending the stairway. Once we're down we'll work our way between the boulders and fallen rubbish westwards, as I did when I escaped from Rankin. Look down there at the long shadows. We'll use 'em. We'll have to choose our moment very carefully, though, so as to stay out of sight while negotiating the terrace wall.'

'If he spots us from a distance he'll send Dika to cut us off.' '

Dika will never manage the drop off the terrace. I half wish it would try. I'd like to get close to that brute with a firebomb.'

Nadine continued to be apprehensive, 'Are you sure it will work, Guy? What if he sights us when we cross the wadi?'

'We wait for darkness before we do cross. Until then we hide amongst the rocks.'

What's the time?'

'Nearly four.'

'Three hours until dark! He'll be here at The Hill long before that!'

'We'll buy extra time by making him search for Koen,' I replied. 'I'll gag Koen and hide him in my holkrans sandsteen shelter. Praeger must find him eventually, of course, but it will take time.'

'I've got butterflies in my stomach already.'

'Let's go,' I said. 'Once we have Rankin, we're on our way.' '

Where to, Guy? In the river, or back here? What about food?'

'There's a little left which we can stretch for the river trip. We'll pick that up now. As I see it, The Hill falls out of our plan. We strike for the river during the night as fast as we can manage with Rankin to carry. There's nothing to bring us back here.'

She didn't respond and I looked at her sharply.

'I'm just being silly I suppose, darling, but I feel rather let down that The Hill isn't part of it.'

'It's the cut of the cards, I'm afraid. Now fetch the gunnysack and we'll be on our way.'

While she went for it I kept tab on Praeger moving with antlike deliberation down the K2 path. He was taking his time and I noticed that he carried the Mauser at the ready. I checked again on the sun. The light wasn't sharp but sickly and hazed and it appeared as if the high cloud cover had thickened during the day. The heat remained overpowering in spite of it, but there was also a new, added feeling of oppressiveness. It was as if everything was cringing away, waiting for something to happen.

During the descent we both had to hold ourselves back from rushing it and courting unnecessary risks. Praeger seemed to our over-anxious eyes to be making fast progress, whereas, in fact, he was not. He too wasted time by checking frequently in the bush about him. I was careful to keep my lenses out of the sun for fear of a giveaway flash.

By the time we reached the root cage we were completely exhausted. Koen was still unconscious, though he groaned when I moved him to tie his hands more securely. Then I bundled him unceremoniously into the holkrans sandsteen shelter, removed his shirt and tore off a wide strip to gag him with. As a further precaution I used some of the material as a running noose round his neck and secured it to a stone. The idea was that if he moved his head or upper body the noose would choke him; if he kept still he would come to no harm. While I was busy with Koen Nadine crawled on hands and knees to the camping-spot and collected the remaining pro-visions. We met again in the root cage, both tense.

'How's von Praeger progressing?' she asked.

'Slower than-expected. He's not reached the edge of the wadi yet. He's like a cat on hot bricks about being ambushed.'

'He couldn't have watched us crossing in the first place or he'd have known that Koen was all right up to the point where he himself is now.'

We exchanged a glance of unspoken fear for Rankin. Nadine said with a shudder, 'I think he tortures for kicks, Guy.'

'More than ever I wish I had some ammunition for this gun of Koen's. But since I haven't, I'm in two minds about taking it. An empty gun may bluff a human but it won't frighten Dika. It's fire we need for her.'

As I reluctantly shouldered the M-25. and the tyre lever, I saw a possible answer in the form of a dried branch of the fig tree. This soft wood would flare up if we needed it in a hurry. We'd each carry a piece of it and if Dika attacked we'd light it and keep her at bay. I hacked off two lengths but retained the machine-pistol.

Then we set off, moving cautiously from rock to rock. Von Praeger began the wadi crossing, obviously following our tracks in the sand, for he headed towards the first blocked-off gully which we had been unable to get through. I was pleased at the thought that this would mean a further delay for him. We moved as quickly as we dared, certain that we had not been spotted. When we arrived at The Hill's westernmost limit we had the benefit of the deep shadow cast by the tabletop while Praeger was open to view in full sun plodding across the wadi, Dika at his side.

By the time we reached a point where we considered it safe to descend from the terrace, von Praeger was lost to view. We didn't attempt to force one of the wire-blocked gullies but plumped for an unguarded spot which offered likely-looking rock holds for the 30-foot drop. We pitched our gear and the M-25 on to the sand below and were about to start our climb down when von Praeger's signal shots echoed again through the hills.

'He's very worried about Koen,' I remarked. 'I'll see what he's up to now.'

I crawled back a short distance with my binoculars until I could see him. He had stopped, and was staring at The Hill. His pockets bulged.

'I might as well ditch the machine-pistol,' I told Nadine when I returned to her side. 'Praeger seems to have all the spare ammunition.'

'They seem to have all the cards, Guy. I daren't even think what might happen if von Praeger catches us.'

'He won't. In a couple of hours it'll be completely dark. We'll hole up until then.'

She glanced up at the soaring tabletop.

'I felt safe up there. It's like abandoning a friend.'

I looked into her eyes. 'We'll come back when this is over, I promise you.'

She did not reply, so I said gently, 'This is the only way, you know.'

It was a difficult rather than a dangerous descent, the main hazard being the crumbly sandstone which several times nearly let us down but eventually we reached the bottom safely. A temporary hiding place was provided by a huge rock close to the edge of the wadi. We lay face down in the sand behind it until the sun went down. Although we had lost sight of Praeger, we knew that by now he must hold the advantage of height on the terrace: his present position and ours were reversed.