Part 5 (1/2)

'We have to do something!' said Li, her face tight with misery as she watched the boys walk away from their home.

Alex s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably. The truth was, none of them had thought this through properly before racing off into the desert after Khalid. 'I'm not sure what we can can do,' he admitted. 'There's no way we can take on three men with Kalashnikovs. Even if we wait until dark and try to creep up on them, that dog is going to raise the alarm.' do,' he admitted. 'There's no way we can take on three men with Kalashnikovs. Even if we wait until dark and try to creep up on them, that dog is going to raise the alarm.'

'Couldn't we put the mutt out of action?' asked Amber.

'Then what?' asked Alex. 'We can't just grab Khalid and leave the rest of the kids behind. But we can't take them, either. We don't have the room. And what if one of those kids gets hurt even killed because of us. No, I think we must...' Alex hesitated, reluctant to admit defeat.

'What?' asked Li.

'I think we must hand this over to the authorities. Hex can send a message on his palmtop, giving them all the details-'

'No,' said Li flatly.

'No?' asked Alex. 'What do you mean, no?'

'I'm not leaving Khalid,' said Li. 'He stayed for me, back at the minefield. He risked being arrested by those Moroccan soldiers. So I'm not leaving him now.'

'Oh, yeah?' mocked Amber. 'So what are you gonna do?'

Li stared defiantly at Alex and Amber. All the shame and fear and frustration of the last few days was beginning to eat away at her and she knew she just had to do something to help Khalid. She had to take action. But what?

'I suppose you could just walk right up to them and ask nicely,' continued Amber sarcastically. 'The nice men might give Khalid back to you...' She tailed off as a slow smile spread across Li's face.

'Good idea,' said Li, scrambling down to the quads.

'What's a good idea?' demanded Alex, sliding down after her.

'Walking right up to them,' said Li, rummaging in the box that was strapped to the back of her quad.

'Li, you can't-'

'Maybe I I couldn't,' said Li, finding the first aid kit and yanking out a length of wide, crepe bandage. 'But Liang could. Look away, Alex.' couldn't,' said Li, finding the first aid kit and yanking out a length of wide, crepe bandage. 'But Liang could. Look away, Alex.'

Alex frowned. 'Why?'

For answer, Li lifted her s.h.i.+rt up over her head. Alex gaped, then spun round so fast, he nearly tripped over his own feet.

'Listen to me,' he said over his shoulder. 'Whatever you're planning, it's not a good idea. I think we should just head back to the others-'

'OK. You can turn round now.'

Alex stared at Li. She looked like a boy. Her slight figure had been flattened by the thick crepe bandage that was wrapped tightly around her chest under the s.h.i.+rt, and she had twisted her long, silky black hair into a tight knot under her headcloth so that not a single wisp was showing.

'Li-'

'I'm not Li. I'm Liang. I came here from China with my father. He was a foreign oil worker, a labourer. He died in an accident at work and I've been left on my own. I need to find work an apprentices.h.i.+p maybe. I speak Chinese and French. I'm strong and I'm a hard worker-'

'OK, I get the picture,' snapped Alex. 'You're planning to walk out there and let yourself be taken by a bunch of armed slave traders. That's very bright. Don't you realize yet how dangerous these men are? It was you who was telling us how they sell the girls into the s.e.x industry!'

'That's why I'm going in as a boy. I'm less at risk that way.'

Alex made a disgusted noise and turned away from her.

'Listen to me, Alex,' said Li, hooking the tracker locket out from under her s.h.i.+rt, 'and you'll see it's not such a bad idea. I'm wearing my tracker. You've got the tracker unit. Once I'm in that truck, I can lead you straight to their base! Then you can call in the authorities and they can mop up the Scorpion and his whole organization in one operation.' She dropped the locket back into her s.h.i.+rt, tucking it under the bandage to keep it hidden.

'You know,' said Amber softly, 'it really isn't such a bad idea.'

Li grinned at Amber and handed over her watch and the little opal ring she always wore. 'Keep these safe until I can be a girl again,' she said.

Amber took the jewellery, then gave Li a hug. 'Be careful.'

Li nodded. 'I'm going to work my way over to the oasis first. Then it'll look as though I've just walked out of the village.'

'Good idea,' said Amber. 'We'll stay to make sure they take you on board, then we'll head back to the Unimog. We'll be right behind you with that tracker.'

'Wait! Wait a minute,' said Alex. He was floundering. Events were moving rapidly out of his control and he could not seem to get a grip on the situation. 'You haven't even got a weapon-'

'I can look after myself,' smiled Li, adopting a fighting stance. 'Paulo can vouch for that.'

Alex grinned despite himself, remembering how Paulo had once tried to make a move on Li. He had only tried once. Li had thrown him clear over her shoulder.

'OK,' he said, raising his hands in defeat. 'I give in.'

Li's smile widened and her uptilted eyes sparkled at the thought of getting into some action at last. She turned and headed off towards the oasis, keeping low and moving at a steady trot. Amber and Alex watched her go until she slipped out of sight, then they crawled to the top of the rise again and waited for her to walk out of the oasis.

'She'll be fine,' said Amber, noticing Alex's worried face.

'I hope so,' muttered Alex, watching as the Scorpion and his men roughly bundled the two young brothers into the back of the Unimog. 'Because if she isn't, I'll never forgive myself for letting her go.'

ELEVEN.

Li hurried out from the oasis, calling and waving to the traffickers in broken French, her face a picture of anxiety in case they left without her.

'She's good,' breathed Amber admiringly, peering over the top of the rise. 'She even runs like a boy.'

Alex tensed as the man with the Kalashnikov slung across his back spotted Li and reached for his weapon, but the Scorpion put out a hand to stop him. As Alex and Amber watched, Li stood in front of the Scorpion and pleaded with him to take her along too and find her a good apprentices.h.i.+p. The Scorpion listened, arms folded across his chest, then turned to his men with an amused look on his face. They grinned back. It was not often a boy walked right into their clutches without a struggle.

Turning back to Li, the Scorpion made a show of reluctance. He reached out to test the muscles in her wiry arms, then pulled down her chin to check her teeth. Finally he shrugged and pulled open the canvas flap at the back of the Unimog. Li boosted herself up on the tailgate and disappeared inside the vehicle. The dog jumped in after her, the three men climbed into the cab and the Unimog trundled away, heading north.

'Right,' said Alex. 'Let's move it. We need to get back to the Monster and hit the road double quick. That tracker unit only has a five-kilometre range so we need to catch up and then keep on their tail. It took us twenty minutes to get here on the quads, but we should do the return trip in half that time because we can move straight and fast-'

'What's that?' interrupted Amber, pointing south. Alex turned to look. The whole of the southern horizon was lost behind a thick, red wall of dust. Within the wall, the dust was constantly moving, swirling in the hot, strengthening wind and rising into the sky in tall spiralling columns.

It was a sandstorm and it was heading their way.