A In camp on the Abbay river.
11 day following the spoor of two large bull ele Phants- Unable to come
up with the . Heat ve, intense- MY Men Played out Abandoned the chase
small antelope grazing on the river-bank which I and returned to camp.
On the return march lied a brought down with one shot from the little
Rigby "and- On close examination it proved to be a member of the genus
Madoqa. However, it was of a species that I had never seen before,
larger than the common dik-dik and Possessing a striped body. I believe
that this specimen may be new to science.
He looked up from the diary. "Old great-grandpa Jonathan has given us
the perfect excuse for going down into the Abbay gorge." He closed the
book, and went on, "As you pointed out, to cater for our own expedition
would require months of planning and organization, not to mention the
expense. It would mean having to obtain approval and permission from the
Ethiopian government. In Africa that can take months, if not Years."
"I don't imagine that the Ethiopian government would be too cooperative
if they suspected our real intentions," she agreed.
"On the other hand, there are a number of legitimate hunting safari
companies operating throughout the country. They have all the necessary
permits, governmental contacts, vehicles, camping equipment and logistic
back, up necessary to travel and stay in even the remotest areas.
The authorities are quite accustomed to foreign hunters arriving and
leaving with these companies, whereas a couple of ferengi nosing around
on their own would have the local military and everybody else down on
them like a herd of angry buffalo., ( So we are going to travel as a
pair of dik-dik hunters?"
"I have already made the booking with a safari operator in Addis Ababa,
the capital. MY Plan is to look upon the whole of our project in three
distinct and separate stages.
The first stage will be this reconnaissance. If we find the lead we are
hoping for, then we will go back again with our own men and equipment.
That will be stage two. Stage three, of course, will be getting the
booty out of Ethiopia, and that I assure you from past experience will
not be the easiest part of the operation."
"How will you do that-' she began, but he held up his hands.
"Don't ask, because at this stage I don't have even the vaguest idea how
we will do it. One stage at a time."
"When do we leave?"
"Before I tell you when, let me ask you one more question. Your
interpretation of the Taita riddle - did you explain that in the notes
that were stolen from you at the oasis?"
"Yes, everything was either in those notes or on the microfilm. I am
sorry."
So the uglies will have it all neatly laid out for them, just the way
you laid it out for me."
"I am afraid they will, yes."
"Then to reply to your question as to when, the answer is tout de suite,
and the tooter the sweeter! We must get into the Abbay gorge before the
competition beats us to it.
They have had your conclusions and suppositions for almost a month. For
all we know they are on their way already!
"When?" she repeated eagerly.
"I have booked two seats on the British Airways flight to Nairobi this
Saturday - that is, in two days' time. We will connect there with an Air
Kenya flight to Addis that will get us in on Monday at around midday. We
will drive down to London this evening and stay over at my digs there.
Are your yellow fever and hepatitis shots up to date?"
"Yes, but I have no equipment and hardly any clothing with me., I left
Cairo in rather a hurry."
We will. see to that in London. Trouble with Ethiopia is it's cold
enough to emasculate a brass monkey in the highlands, and like a sauna
bath down in the gorge."
He crossed to the board and began to check off the items on his list.
"We will both start malarial prophylactics immediately. We are going
into an area of chloroquineresistant . falciparum mosquitoes, so I will
put you on Mefloquine "He worked swiftly through the list.
"Of course all your travel documents are in order, or you wouldn't be
here. We will both need visas for Ethiopia, but I have a contact who can
arrange that in twenty-four hours."
As soon as he completed the list he sent her up to her room to pack the
few personal items she had brought with her from Cairo.
By the time they were ready to leave Quenton Hall it was dark outside,
but still he stopped for an hour at the York Minster Hospital to allow
her to say goodbye to her mother. He waited in the Red Lion pub across
the road, and he smelt of Theakston's Old Peculier when she climbed back
into the Range Rover beside him. It was a Pleasant, yeasty aroma, and
she felt so much at ease in his company that she lay back in the seat
and fell asleep.
His London house was in Knightsbridge, but despite the fashionable
address it was much less grand than Quenton Hall, and she felt IF more
at home there, even if it was only for two days.
During that time she saw little of Nicholas, for he was busy with all
the last-minute arrangements, which included a number of visits to
government offices in Whitehall. He returned with wads of letters -of
introduction to high officials and British Embassies and High
Commissions throughout East Africa.
"Ask any Englishman," she smiled to herself "There is no such thing as
upper-class privilege any longer, nor is there an old-boy network that
runs the country."
While he was away, she went off with the shopping list he had given her.
Even walking the streets of the safest Capital city in the world she
found herself looking back over her shoulder, and ducking in and out of
ladies' rooms and tube stations to make certain that she was not being
followed.
"You are acting like a terrified child without its daddy," she scolded
herself.
However, she felt a quite disproportionate sense of relief each evening
when she heard his key in the street door of the empty house where she
waited, and she had to control herself so as not to rush down the stairs
to welcome him.
On Saturday morning, when a taxi cab deposited them at the departures
level of Heathrow MNIJ Terminal Four, Nicholas surveyed their combined
luggage with approval. She had only a single soft canvas bag, no larger
than his, and her sling bag over her shoulder. His hunting rifle was
cased in travel-worn leather, with his initials embossed on the lid. A
hundred rounds of ammunition was packed in a separate brass'bound
magazine and he carried a leather briefcase that looked like a Victorian
antique.
"Travelling light is one of the great virtues. Lord save us from women
with mountains of luggage,5 he told her, refusing the services of a
porter and throwing it all on to a trolley, which he pushed himself.
She had to step out to keep up with him as he strode through the crowded
departures hall. Miraculously the throng opened before him. He tilted
the brim of his panama hat over one eye and grinned at the girl at the
check'in counter, so that she came over all girlish and flustered.
It was the same once they were aboard the aircraft.
The two stewardesses giggled at everything he said, plied him with