the rock of the cliff, two hundred feet to the very water's edge. There
was a narrow rocky ledge against which the Nile waters dashed, and the
spray from the high waterfalls drifted over them like a perpetual
drizzle of rain. After the heat and the bright sunlight above, it was
cold and gloomy and dank down here in the depths of the gorge. The black
cliffs ran with water, and the ledge on which they stood was wet and
slippery underfoot.
Royan shivered as she watched the river racing by, forming a great
spinning vortex as it swirled around the deep rock bowl and then raced
out through the narrow throat of the gorge on its long hectic journey
towards Egypt and the north.
"If only I had known that this was the road you were planning on taking
home-' she eyed the river dubiously.
"If you would prefer to walk, it's okay by me,'Nicholas told her. "With
luck we will be carrying some extra baggage.
The river is the logical escape route."
"I suppose it makes sense, but still it's not terribly inviting." She
broke off a piece of driftwood from a stranded tangle that lay trapped
upon the ledge and tossed it into the river. It was whipped away, and
raced over the standing wave where some submerged obstacle forced the
surface to bulge up.
What speed is that current? she asked in a subdued voice as the splinter
of driftwood was sucked below the surface.
"Oh, not much more than eight or nine knots," he told her off handedly,
'but that's nothing. The river is still very low. just wait until it
starts raining up in the Mountains, then you will really see some water
passing through here.
it will be great fun. Lots of people would pay good money for the chance
to run a river like this. You are going to love it."
Thanks," she said drily. "I can't wait."
Fifty feet above the ledge, out of reach of the Nile's highest water
level, was a small cavern - the Epiphany shrine. Long ago the monks had
cut this passage deeply into the rock face, and it ended in a spacious,
candle-lit chamber that housed a life'sized statue of the Virgin,
dressed in faded velvet robes, with the infant in her arms.
Mai Metemma gave them his sanction to store the rafts in the shrine, and
they stacked them against a side wall.
When the porters had left, Nicholas showed Royan how to operate the
quick-release handles on the packs, and the CO, cylinders which would
inflate the rafts within minutes.
He wrapped the radio case and his small emergency pack in a sheet of
plastic and stowed them in one of the boat packs, where he could lay his
hands on them again in a hurry.
"You do intend coming along on this joy ride?" she asked anxiously. "You
aren't planning on sending me down on my ownsome?"
"It is best that you know how it all works," he told her.
if things start to get a little hairy when the time comes to leave here,
I may need your help in launching the rafts." When they climbed back up
the staircase into the warmth and the sunlight, Royan's uncertain mood
had changed. "It's not yet noon, and we have the rest of the day to
ourselves. Let's go back to Taita pool again," she suggested, and he
shrugged indulgently.
the Elephants accompanied them as The Buffaloes and far as the branch in
the trail. Here the teams headed back towards the dam, and shouted and
hallooed their farewells after Nicholas and Royan.
their last visit, the path Even in the short time since through the
undergrowth had become overgrown. Nicholas was forced to use his machete
to hack a way through, and they ducked uqder the trailing thorn
branches. It was midafternoon when they eventually crossed the high
ridge and stood once again on the cliff directly above Taita's pool.
"It looks as though we were the last ones here., Nicholas's tone was
relieved. "No signs of any other visitors since us."
"Were you expecting any?"
"You never know. Von Schiller is a formidable character, and he has some
charming lads working for him. Helm is one that worries me, and I had a
nasty feeling that he might have been snooping around here. I am going
to take a closer look."
He worked quickly around the entire area, casting widely for any sign of
intruders. Then came back to where she sat on the lip of the abyss and
dropped down beside her.
"Nothing," he admitted. "We have still got the running to ourselves."
"Once Sapper stops the river upstream, this is going to be our main area
of operations, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, but even before Sapper closes the dam I want to open a fly camp
here, and move all the gear and equipment we will need from the quarry
to have it handy when we start the exploration of the pool."
"How are we going to get down into the pool? Down the river bed, once it
is dry?"
"I suppose we could use the dry river bed as a road, and come down it
from below the dam or up from the monastery end, through the pink
cliffs."
"But that is not the way you are planning to get in, is it?" she
guessed.
"Even with no water in it, the river bed will be a long way round. It's
a three- or four-mile haul from either end of the abyss, added to which
it will be a pretty rough road to travel." He grinned ruefully. "You are
speaking to an expert on the subject. I went down it the hard way, and I
wouldn't want to do it again. There are at least five chutes and rock
jams that I can remember being thrown over."
"What is your better idea, then?" she asked.
"It's not my idea," he contradicted her. "It's Taita's idea really."
She peered over the edge. "You mean to build a scaffold down the cliff,
just the way he did it?
"What's good enough for Taita is good enough for me," he acknowledged.
"The old boy probably had a good look at the alternative of using the
river bed as an access road, and abandoned the idea."
"When will you start work on the scaffold, then?"
"One of our teams is already cutting bamboo poles higher up the gorge.
Tomorrow we will begin carrying them up here, and stacking them. We
can't waste a day.
Once the darn is closed we have to get into the dry pool as soon as
possible."
As if to add weight to his words there came a far-off mutter of thunder,
and they both craned their heads to peer up with trepidation at the
escarpment. Probably a hundred miles to the north, faintly washed as a
sepia print superimposed upon the razor-edged blue silhouette of the
loescarpment wall rose high tumbled towers of cumu nimbus clouds.
Neither of them spoke about it, but both "were aware of how ominously
the torm clouds were settling on the distant mountains.
Nicholas glanced at his wrist-watch and stood up.
"Time to start back if we are to get into camp before dark."
He gave her his hand and lifted her to her feet. She dusted off her
clothes and then stepped right to the very lip of the canyon.
ks," she called I "Wake up, Taita. We are hot on your trac down into the
shadows.
"Don't challenge him." Nicholas took her arm and drew VI, her back. "The
old ruffian has given us enough trouble already."
The axemen had left the stumps of several great trees standing on the