Part 25 (2/2)
”They will kill hioes in there alone,” said Sara in a cory for more blood and they'll kill him ”Oh, I don't know it's as bad as that, ”Gareth demurred
”Oh, yes They'll kill hi to let hio? They are only Italians,” she pointed out For a moment, the tomen stared at each other, and then Vicky leaped to her feet and went after Jake, the blue linen swirling gracefully around her legs and the firelight playing like liquid bronze gold on her hair as she ran
She caught up with Jake at the perimeter of the Galla enca two quick steps to each of his strides
”Go back,” he said softly, but she did not reply and skipped to keep up with hi with you” He stopped and swung to face her, and she lifted her chin defiantly, throwing back her shoulders and drawing herself up to her full height so that she caan, and then stopped as the tortured being cried again in the night, and it was a blubbering incoherent sound, half moan, half sob followed almost immediately by the throaty roar ofpack, deep and savage
”That's what it will be like” His head was turned away fro,” she said stubbornly, and he did not reply, but broke away and hurried forward towards the glowing reflection of the Galla fires which turned the branches of the caht over the encampment
There were no sentries posted, and they passed unnoticed through the horse lines and the hastily thatched tukuLs and leather tents, co suddenly into the centre of the ca and the Gallas were asseht bronzed their eager hawk features, and the whole asseed tension that always holds the spectators at a blood spectacle Jake reain froht in Havana
The blood lust was running high, and they growled like an ani at Jake's sleeve, and he glanced across the open arena of beaten earth
Kullah sat on a pile of carpets and cushi+ons, a silk shawl striped in a dozen brilliant colours was draped across his head and shoulders, ht caught his eyes and litter with a peculiarly feverish fury
One of his fat ivory-coloured hands was clenched in his lap, while his other arm was cast around the waist of the woman who sat beside hi flesh The hand seemed to have life of its own, and itsoftly as it devoured the swollen ripe fruits of the woman's bosom
Beyond the fires, on the far side of the circle of open earth a group of three Italian soldiers were clustered fearfully, their faces shi+ny white with sweat and terror in the firelight, and their hands bound behind their backs They had been stripped to their breeches, and the exposed skin of their backs and arms elted and bruised where they had been beaten and abused Their naked feet were swollen and bloody; clearly they had been forced todistances across the harsh stony earth Their dark eyes, huge with horror, were fastened on the spectacle that was being enacted on the open stage of bare earth in the linized the woman as one of Ras Kullah's favourites whoht at the rest house of Sardi Now she knelt, heavy-breasted and intent on her work The round ious ecstasy, the full lips parted and the dark sloe eyes glowing like those of a priestess at some mystic tire
However, more prosaically the sleeves of her sham ma were drawn up in businesslike fashi+on above the elbows like those of a butcher, and her hands were bloody to the wrists She held the thin curved dagger like a surgeon, and its silver blade was dull and red in the firelight
The thing over which -she worked still wriggled and ainst its bonds, still breathed and sobbed, but it was no longer recognizable as a man The knife had stripped away all reserowled and swayed and sighed, the woedly at the base of the dise, so that the victiain, but feebly and the woman leapt to her feet and held aloft the mutilated handful she had cut free
She did a triu, dancing on shuffling swaying feet, and the blood trickled down her raised forearm and dripped from the crook of her elbow
”Stay close,” Jake said softly, but Vicky had never heard that tone in his voice before She tore her horrified gaze from the spectacle, and saw that his face was stern and drawn, his jaw clenched hard and his eyes terrible
He drew the pistol fro loosely at his side, and he h the press of bodies with such strength that he cleared a path for her to follow hi with all his attention on the dancing woman, and Jake reached Ras Kullah before any of them realized his presence
Jake took the soft thick upper ar deeply into the putty-soft flesh, and he jerked hi him face to face, and he pressed the muzzle of the Beretta into his upper lip, just under the wide nostrils
They stared at each other, Ras Kullah cringing away fro at the pain of the fingers cutting into his flesh and fear of the steelhis upper lip
Jake asseorius
”The Italians,” he said softly ”Fornot to hear then he said one word and the h to intervene
Jake screwed theand sainst his teeth so that the skin tore and blood sprang swiftly
”You die,” said Jake, and the man shrilled a denial to his warriors They drew back reluctantly, fingering their knives and watching with s eyes for their opportunity
The woreat waiting silence gripped the assembly They squatted in complete stillness, all their faces turned towards Jake and Ras Kullah In the silence, the broken bleeding thing beside the fire cried out again, a long-drawn-out breathy sound that tore at jake's nerves and made his expression ferocious
”Tell your er Ras Kullah's voice quavered, high as a young girl, and the warriors who guarded the three half-naked prisoners shuffled uncertainly and exchanged glances
Jake ground the steel fiercely into Ras Kullah's face, and his voice squeaked urgently as he repeated the order
Reluctantly, the guards prodded the prisoners forward in a forlorn terrified group
”Take his dagger,” Jake said quietly to Vicky, without reaze froripped the hilt of the weapon on the e paunch It orked in beaten gold and set with crudely cut ae keen
”Cut theerous moments while she ay from his side, he increased the brutal pressure on the pistol barrel Ras Kullah stood with his head cocked at an ile, the lips drawn back fro in their sockets until the whites showed, and the tears of pain poured freely down his cheeks, glinting in the firelight like dew on the yellow petals of a rose
Vicky cut the rawhide bindings at the Italians” wrists and elbows, and they ether, their pale faces still smeared with dirt and dried blood and their eyes terrified andunco
Quickly, Vicky crossed back to Jake and stood close beside him
Somehow there was safety and security when she was near to him She stayed beside hiround to where thestill onized breath of air with a bubbling sigh
Jake stooped slightly away fro him, and Vicky saw the compassion alter the fierce expression in his eyes for ato do until he dropped the pistol from Ras Kullah's face, and extended his arm at full stretch
The crack of the pistol was sharp and cutting in the stillness, and the bullet hit the mutilated Italian in the centre of his forehead, leavin a dark blue hole in the glea ”9 white skin of the brow His eyelids fluttered like the wings of a dying dove, and the arched straining body sagged and relaxed A long gusty sigh caht e of sleep and then he was still
Without another look at the iven peace, Jake lifted the pistol to Ras Kullah's face again, and with fresh pressure on his arm he forced him to turn and walk slowly back
With a curt inclination of the head, he signalled the three Italians to ether, then Vicky followed the back to touch Jake's shoulder Jake held Ras Kullah twisted off balance, and forced him step by step onwards He knew they must not hurry, must not Shoeakness, for the flimsy bonds which held the Gallas frozen would snap at the least strain, and they would be upon the the press of bodies, and hacking and tearing them to pieces
Pace after slow steady pace, they ain their as blocked by sullen groups of tall dark Gallas, who stood shoulder to shoulder fingering their weapons, then Jake twisted the muzzle of the pistol into Ras Kullah's soft skin The man cried out and reluctantly the way opened, the dark warriorsaside just sufficiently to let the closely, so closely the leaders were alithin arth
Once they were clear of the pack, Jake could increase the pace and he h the ca the terrified Italians ahead of hioing to do with theun point er” Jake did not answer; he did not want the closely following Gallas to hear the uncertainty in his voice, yet he didn't want the girl to show signs of fear
She was right, of course, the Gallas followed the closely in an avenging throng that filled the darkness
the cars-” said Jake, as inspiration came to him ”Get the at a tirowled Jake