Easy Go by John Lange

Author:John Lange [Lange, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-07-23T04:00:00+00:00

“How long is he going to be here?” Nikos growled.

“As long as he wants,” Pierce said. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“If he snoops around any more, I will break his nose.”

“Why his nose?”

“As a service. In this country, a man who cannot smell is blessed.” He laughed, but the tension behind the threat remained.

Pierce found Lisa in her tent, reading. He sat down next to her cot and said, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“You don’t seem pleased.”

“Should I be?”

“I think so. We’re on the point of a marvelous discovery.”

She shook her head. “You’re on the point of beginning a life where you must look constantly over your shoulder, afraid and worried.”

“Not me,” Pierce said, laughing.

“How long do you think Hamid will stay?” She seemed almost hopeful; it irritated him.

“Not long. He says Grover is coming back.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said, putting her book aside, “He’ll be getting curious about us soon.” She looked at him steadily for some moments, then said, “Do you really want to go through with this? Rob the tomb?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She picked up her book again and read, as if to dismiss him.

“Listen,” he said, “this thing is foolproof. There isn’t the slightest chance we can be caught or that—”

“Robert, please.”

“All right,” he said, getting up. “All right.”

He walked out of the tent and felt the sun burning his face. He put on his sunglasses and looked around the camp—at the Land Rover beneath its awning, the supply tent, the other tents ranged around the base of the reddish cliffs. Off to the right Barnaby and Hamid were walking down from the tombs in the hills; Barnaby was talking animatedly, hands moving, and Iskander nodded his head.

Pierce turned away and began walking. He left the camp and struck out for a small cluster of native houses a quarter of a mile away. It was miserably hot, and he moved slowly; the outlines of the mud huts shimmered before his eyes. He saw nobody around—it might have been deserted. He climbed to a rise where he could look down on the houses, which were built roughly square, each with a small courtyard or enclosure behind. Here the animals were kept—the chickens, the donkeys, an occasional dog with a taut-ribbed belly. The camels were kept outside. They were too large for the enclosure.

Near one hut was a baby camel sitting on the sand next to its mother. The baby imitated the parent, raising its head in a slow, dignified way to look over at Pierce and then away. Soon after, the baby got up on spindly, unsteady legs and wobbled over to a pile of dried straw, then sat down again.

It was very quiet where Pierce stood, overlooking the village. Once a young boy walked out into one enclosure, then returned to the house, pushing aside the dirty striped rag that served as a door. Once a dog barked, and the chickens clucked in reply. Otherwise, it was silent.

On the far hill, Pierce saw a figure approaching.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.