Bolitho 10 Enemy In Sight by Alexander Kent

Author:Alexander Kent
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-06-19T13:01:09+00:00

Without looking at his watch Bolitho knew it was close on noon. The sun which had been in his face since early dawn now blazed down from directly overhead with the fierce heat of an open furnace.

He touched Allday's arm. "We will rest here." His lips felt cracked and dry, so that even few words were an effort.

"Easy all! Boat your oars!"

The seamen hauled the long oars inboard, while from forward came a splash as the bowman hurled a grapnel into the nearest clump of reeds.

Bolitho watched his men lolling across the thwarts and gunwales like corpses, their eyes closed and faces turned away from the sun which pinned them down in its relentless glare.

Dawn had found the four boats pulling strongly and well in spite of the salt-stained rushes and occasional sandbars. Zigzagging between the various obstacles had not been too difficult at first, and at most times the boats were all in sight of each other. Then as the blue sky faded in the mounting glare the stroke became slower, and time after time one boat and then another would lose valuable effort in backing from some hidden wedge of sand, or be thrown into confusion as its oarsmen caught their blades in the encroaching clumps of reeds.

But now, as the next boat pushed slowly through the motionless fronds to drop a grapnel nearby, Bolitho had forcibly to control his despair. It was like wandering in some insane maze, with only the sun and his small compass to show - him the key.to the pn771e. The reeds, which had broken and parted so easily near the river mouth, now stood all around the boats, thick and dark green, and in most places higher than the tallest man. If wind there was, the sweating and gasping men gained no relief from it, for the tall reeds and interlaced creepers acted as a cruelly effective barrier, so that the sun blazed down on the boats without pause, making movement unbearable.

Lieutenant Lang leaned across the gunwale of his cutter and rested one hand on the smooth wood for just a few seconds before jerking it away with a curse.

"My God, it's as hot as a musket barrel!" He tugged his shirt open across his chest and added, "How far have we come, sir?"

Bolitho said, "About five miles. We must push forward if we are to make up the time. We will rest all night, otherwise the boats could get scattered and lost."

He looked down over the side. There was a current of sorts, twisting and turning amidst the reeds in countless tiny rivers. It was a dark, secret world, and the choked water seemed alive with tiny bubbles, released gases from drowned vegetation and rotten roots, but giving the impression of unseen life, or creatures waiting for the intruders to pass.

"After this the men will have to work shorter watches. Six men to a side, half an hour at the most." He wiped his face with the back of his hand and stared at a bright winged insect on his skin.

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