The Serpent's Lair by Wilbur Smith Steve Cole Keith Chapman

Author:Wilbur Smith, Steve Cole, Keith Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Published: 2023-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

17

At Gokomere Lodge, Grant, too, had no idea where he was being taken. The girl with the catapult led him around the back of the gymnasium to where the pool stretched out towards a flight of stone steps. The steps led down to a smaller infinity pool surrounded by bamboo sun loungers on a raised deck where guests could rest gazing out towards herds of animals drinking from the river far below, away from the carnage here. The girl led Grant not onto the raised deck but beneath it. Then she thumped her shoulder against the timber panelling beside the pool wall, and a section swung inwards on concealed hinges.

‘Secret hiding place?’ Grant whispered.

‘Storage. Pool chemicals,’ the girl informed him. She ducked into the narrow, shadowed space beyond and Grant squeezed in behind her. The sharp reek of disinfectant was almost overpowering, but for the first time in forever he felt safe. Water gurgled above and around them as the pumps kept the water circulating from the overflow. The noise would help hide them too.

‘Thank you,’ Grant panted as the girl quickly pushed the wooden panel closed again. ‘Who are you?’

‘Moth,’ the girl said. ‘My name is Moth.’

‘What are you doing here? Where did you –’

‘Be quiet, please.’ There were tiny gaps between the wooden planks, and she knelt on the dusty ground to put her eye to them.

Grant copied her. His view was severely restricted, but he glimpsed figures running and heard gunfire. Someone shouted, ‘This way!’

‘I need to find my friends,’ Grant muttered. He placed a hand on the hinged panel.

Moth noticed the movement and snatched his arm. ‘No.’

‘You don’t get it. I need to at least try.’ Grant swallowed hard. ‘A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t go after this boy, Luke, and … he died. Alone.’ Images of the lanky boy, screaming as he ran across the rocks, terrified, burned through Grant’s brain and he got back to his feet. ‘I can’t let that happen to anyone else –’

‘You’ve got no weapons.’

Grant nodded to the handmade catapult she clutched. ‘What about your catty? You brought down that soldier with a single rock.’

‘That was a lucky shot. You’ve got rocks in your head if you think we can bring down everyone. I know the land here – I was trying to get you guys away.’ She looked at him, watching carefully while he got his emotions under control again. ‘I can help you guys. It was me who took the nails out of the window, Grant.’

‘You know my name?’

‘Heard you, didn’t I? Standing at the window. Not noticing me.’ She smiled slyly. ‘Nobody ever notices Moth.’

‘You were hiding here too …’ Grant considered the tribal markings on the girl’s cheeks: she looked like she belonged to an indigenous tribe. ‘Moth. Are you from one of the local San communities? Is Moth short for Motholeli?’

‘Yes!’ She smiled, dark eyes glittering in the lantern light. ‘How would you know?’

‘My dad leads the Green Freedom Party. He’s been trying to get land back for the San.

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