The Men Behind by Michael Pearce

Author:Michael Pearce
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, Inc.
Published: 2017-01-09T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

They were waiting for me,” said Ali Osman. “I saw them.”

“Where was this?”

“At Nag Balyana. It is across the river,” Ali Osman explained.

“In the sugar cane?”

“No, no. Beyond the cane fields. In the hills. I rode around some rocks and there they were.”

“How many were there?”

“Two.” Ali Osman looked at him soberly. “As usual.”

“You have been followed before?”

“In Cairo,” said Ali Osman. “Not here. Until now.”

“But were they following? Pardon me, but you said you came upon them.”

“The following time was past,” said Ali Osman. “Now they were waiting.”

“They were armed, I take it?”

“I saw their rifles.”

“And they were waiting?”

“Yes,” said Ali Osman. “They were waiting for me.”

Owen hesitated.

“Forgive me, Pasha,” he said, “but I need to ask these things. How do you know they were waiting for you? Might they not have been a group of ordinary villagers—?”

“Fellahin,” said Ali Osman, “do not carry rifles. Nor would they have been in the desert.”

“Camelherders?”

“Camelherders do not wear city clothes. Nor, before you ask me, do brigands. Not in Hamada they don’t.”

“City clothes,” said Owen. “That makes a difference.”

“It made a difference to me,” said Ali Osman. “I turned my horse and bolted.”

“You were on a horse?” Owen could not keep the surprise out of his voice.

“How else would I get to Nag Balyana?” asked Ali Osman rather tartly.

“Forgive me, Pasha. I had not thought of you as a desert man.”

“One has one’s roots,” said Ali Osman with dignity.

“Of course. It was just that, well, I wasn’t sure that you had recovered so completely from the bruising you received.”

“Battering,” said Ali Osman, “battering. At the hands of the mob.”

“I am glad to see you so recovered. May I ask what was taking you out to Nag Balyana?”

“Sport. Yes, sport. I was hunting hare.” Sensing that this sounded unlikely, Ali Osman modified his claim. “And duty. I was combining pleasure with duty. It is a part of the estate I seldom visit. Justifiably. There is nothing there, mon cher, absolutely nothing there. All the same, they should have an opportunity of seeing their Pasha. Occasionally, that is. Very occasionally,” said Ali Osman with emphasis.

“It was a kind of regal progress?”

“Exactly.” Ali Osman was pleased by the thought. “I am, after all, their king,” he said modestly.

“And while you were—showing yourself, so to speak, you came upon these men?”

“Afterwards. I couldn’t take too much of it, you know. The heat!” Ali Osman fanned himself at the mere thought. “In the fields it was terrific. After a while I had had enough. So I went hunting here.”

“Not unaccompanied, I trust?”

“Naturally I had a few servants with me. My retinue,” said Ali Osman, still enjoying the regal image.

“And they were with you when you came upon the men?”

“Of course. Though not for long. They departed from the spot even more quickly than I did.”

“Could you show me the spot?”

“They could. I see no reason to return personally to that detested place.” He clapped his hands and spoke to a servant. “They will be waiting for you outside.

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