Part 24 (1/2)
He hurried along the battery, repeating the order to each layer, eet Massed horsee two thousand five hundred gy beasts, bred for sure-footed ascent of es across open plains they had, rass of the desert, and in consequence their strength was by this time almost expended
The first shrapnel burst fifty feet above the heads of the leading riders It popped open like a gigantic pod of the cotton plant, bloo with sudden fearsome splendour the h the sky had shattered, and instantly the air was filled with the hu shrapnel
A dozen of the ponies went down under the first burst, pitching forward abruptly over their own heads and flinging their riders free
Then the sky was filled with the deadly cotton balls, and the continuous crack of the bursts sent the ponies wheeling and the riders crouching low on their withers or swinging out of the saddle to hang low under the bellies of their mounts Here and there a braver soul would kick his feet free of the stirrups and pick up a disallant little ponies labouring under their triple burdens Within seconds, the entire Ethiopian ar armoured vehicle and all its cavalry were in a retreat every bit as headlong as that of the motorized Italian column which was still on its way back to the Wells of Chaldi The field was left entirely to Castelani's artillery and the stranded crew of the Hump
From the shelter of the shattered hull, Gareth Swales watched his hopes of quick rescue fading rapidly in the shape of the dwindling cavalry
”Don't blame them, not really,” he told the Ras, and then he looked across at the speeding ar the cavalry
”He saw us, - I know he did” There had ”Him I do,” hehad passed within a quarter of a mile of them, had in fact turned directly towards the, Rassey old fellow, I do believe we are being set up for a couple of Patsys” He glanced at the Ras, who lay beside hi that has been worked too hard; his chest laboured like a blacks whistled shrilly in his throat
”Better take those choppers out of your hting's over for the day Take it nice and easy now We've got a long walk hoht” And Gareth Swales transferred all his attention back to the disappearing car
”Big-hearted Jake Barton is leaving us here and going home to spoon up the honey Who was the chap that David pulled the same trick on? Come on, Rassey, you are the Old Testament expert wasn't it Uriah the Hittite?” He shook his head sadly Gareth was already ready to believe the worst ”I take it very much amiss, Rassey, I can tell you
Probably have done exactly the sa froht citizen like Jake Barton” The Ras had not listened to a word of it He was the only man in the two armies for who a short rest, as behave a warrior of his advanced years Noith a single bound, he was on his feet again, snatching up his sword and heading directly for the centre of the Italian batteries Gareth was taken completely off balance, and the Ras had covered fifty yards of the necessary two thousand to the enemy positions before Gareth could overtake hiun-layers had his binoculars focused on the derelict hull of the Huunners was in inverse proportion to the nuiddy with elation at the total and unexpected victory that had dropped into their laps
The first shell dropped close beside the broken hull of the Huht up with the Ras Gareth stooped and picked up a rounded stone, about the size of a cricket ball
”Frightfully sorry, old chap,” he panted, as he cupped the stone in his right hand ”But we really can't go on like this” He made allowance for the brittle old bone of the Ras's skull, and with the stone he tapped him carefully, almost tenderly, above the ear, on the polished black bald curve of the Ras's pate
As the Ras dropped, Gareth caught him, one arh he was a sleeping child The shells were falling heavily about hi the Ras's unconscious for explosion of the shells, and shouted up at Gregorius, ”What are they shooting at now?” Gregorius cliher out of the turret and peered back The crushed hull of the Hue, just another speck like a clump of camel-thorn or an amorphous pile of black rock
Indeed, both men had looked at it fifty ti it, but the shell bursts, which began to leap about it in fleeting graceful ostrich feathers of dust and srandfather!” he criedanxiously ”They have been hit, Jake” Jake swung the car and halted it, cla dust fro them The picture of the destroyed car leaped into close-up and he recognized instantly the two distant figures, one in tailored tweeds, the other in flowing robes and swirling skirts; the two of thea Strauss waltz in the e Then he saw Gareth lift the Ras off the ground and stagger with him to the shelter of the overturned car
”We orius exclaimed passionately
”They will be killed out there, if we do not” Perhaps it was the telepathic transfer of Gareth Swales's suspicions, but Jake experienced the sudden guilty prick of temptation At that moment he knew he loved Vicky Camberwell, and there was an easy way to clear the field
”Jake!” Gregorius called again, and suddenly Jake felt hihts that there was a hollow nauseous feeling in the centre of his gut, and he felt the swift flow of saliva froo,” he said, and dropped down into the driver's hatch He swung Priscilla the Pig in a tight skidding turn and ran straight for the forest of shell-bursts
They drew no fire, the Italians were concentrating on the stationary target and they seee It was a matter of seconds before the Hump took a direct hit, and Jake pressed the throttle flat to the floorboards, but Priscilla the Pig chose this moment to show her true nature He felt her baulk, and the note of her engine changedoff then suddenly she picked up again and roared onwards at full power
”Good little darling ”Jake peered ahead through the visor, and swung slightly out to the left, to come in under cover of the Italians”
own shell-bursts and the capsized hull of the Hump
A shell burst directly ahead, and Jake weaved the big car expertly around the gaping s halt, facing back the way he had come, ready for a quick pull-away He was hard up under cover of the destroyed hull, partially screened from the Italians, and ten paces fro the Ras's frail body on his lap
”Gary!” yelled Jake, sticking his head out of the hatch, and Gareth looked up at hi expression He had been so deafened by shell-bursts that he had not realized that Jake had coain
”Come on, damn you to hell,” and this time Gareth moved with alacrity He picked up the Ras like a bundle of dirty laundry and ran with him to the car A shell burst so close that it almost knocked hiainst the armoured steel
However, Gareth kept his feet and handed up the Ras to the willing hands and loving care of his grandson
”Is he all right?” Greg deht,” Gareth grunted, and leaned for an instant against the side of the car, his breathing sobbing painfully in his throat, his hair anddeep wet runners down his filth-caked cheeks
He looked up at Jake ”I thought you weren't co back,” he croaked
”It crossed my mind” Jake reached down and took his hand He boosted him up the side of the car, and Gareth held his hand for a second longer than was necessary, squeezing slightly
owe you one, old son”
”I'll call on you, ”Jake grinned
”Any ti roared heroically, then abruptly backfired in opposition to the Italian shell-bursts
Her engine spluttered, surged, farted despairingly, and then fell silent ”Oh, you son of a bitch!” said Jake with great and passionate feeling”
”Not now!”
”Reirl I knew in Australia,-”
Later, ”Jake told him ”Get on the crank handle”
”My pleasure, old boy,” and a near miss burst beside them and knocked him off his precarious perch on the sponson
Gareth picked himself up and dusted his lapels fastidiously as he limped to the crank handle
After a full rinder with no effect at all, Gareth fell back panting again
”I say, old chap, I'ed places quickly
Jake stooped over the crank handle, ignoring the te dust clouds, and the thick muscles in his arm writhed as he spun the crank
”She's dead, Gareth shouted after anotherdarkly red and the veins in his throat swelling into thick blue cords but at last even he released the handle with disgust and stepped back gasping
”The tool kit is under the seat, ”he said
”You aren't going to do your handyman act here and now?”
Incredulously Gareth esture that took in the bloody battlefield, the Italian guns and the bursting shells