Battleaxe (The Second World War Series Book 2) by Minor Stuart

Author:Minor, Stuart [Minor, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine.

Jack walked slowly, his rifle resting against his shoulder as the moon hung above the open desert, the sky a myriad of burning stars that filled the heavens above, the shadows that hugged the dunes pierced in the distance where several lamps shone out from a small village, the flickering flames shining against the drab, mud brick houses that lay scattered beneath a small copse of palm trees.

The lights were the only sign of life on the vast plain and Jack felt himself longing for the company of his friends as he patrolled the perimeter of the supply dump, the piles of stores and munitions towering above the wire fence that surrounded the site.

There was something about the desert that filled Jack with unease and he felt himself walking closer to the fence, as if seeking comfort from the bare steel, his hand brushing the wire mesh as he searched the shadows that blanketed the open plain. Earlier that day Donald had told him of Egypt's history, of how the Romans, Greeks, Persians and Turks had all conquered the country. So many armies, so many men, had walked the same path that he was now on, he thought, feeling an icy chill run along his spine as he imagined a Roman soldier shivering in the night as he slumped forward beneath the weight of his armour, his eyes drooping with fatigue as he searched the same sands Jack himself now gazed upon. It was a strange thought and it made him feel uneasy, as if, in the desert, the passage of time had no real meaning, that he too, was just a tiny part of a saga that had been played out over and over since the dawn of time.

He shook his head, it was, he told himself, just the desert playing tricks with his mind, yet somehow, he knew that it was true, that here, where nothing changed, where the rocks had lain undisturbed for millennia, life was fleeting and time marked by nothing more than the footsteps of men. He too was a part of that story, a small insignificant footnote in a tale that had been told throughout the centuries. Just how a farmer's son from the Midlands had come to be here, so far from home, was, Jack thought, impossible to understand, but, just like those before him, he too would leave his footprints on the desert floor, before the world and man moved on once more, leaving the rocks and sands behind them to wait for the next intruders to pass briefly through this ancient land.

He reached a road and stopped, his eyes staring to the far side where he could see Reg plodding slowly along the fence, his face half hidden behind the upturned collar of his greatcoat.

'Seen owt?' Jack asked, as Reg drew near, the young soldier coming to a stop on the far side of the track.

'Plenty of sand,' Reg replied, rubbing his hands together. 'That bloody wind is making my knees knock,' he grumbled, looking down at his bare legs.

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.