Jack Higgins - Iron Tiger

by Iron Tiger [lit]

  He raked the soil from the fire and brought wood from a pile in one corner. Hamid rummaged amongst the sheepskins at the back and came up with a couple of stone jars.

  He brought them to the fire with a grin. 'Goafs mHk and cheese. Pretty rancid, but good for the constitution..

  'At the moment, I could face anything except going out there in these wet clothes again,' Drummond said.

  He built the fire into a great, roaring pyramid and Hamid gave the sheepskins a shake. 'God alone knows what we'll get from this lot.

  But it didn't matter, nothing mattered except that it was warm and the fire was hot on the skin. Drummond crouched there watching the steam rise from his clothes.suspended from the ridge pole, a sheepskia around his shoulders, and after a while he slept

  He awakened slowly and stared through the dim grey light at his clothes hanging from the ridge pole of the hut, wondering where he was. After a while he remembered and sat up.

  Hamid squatted on the other side of the fire. He was wearing his uniform again and grinned. 'How do you feel?.

  'Bloody awful!' Drummond stretched his arms and blood started to flow through cramped limbs. 'How long have we been here?.

  .A couple of hours, that's aH. Must be about two o'clock. We'd better get moving. Your clothes are pretty dry by now. Better than they were, anyway.

  Drummond started to dress and Hamid peered outside. 'From the looks of it, this rain is never going to stop. I think it'll turn to snow before it does.'

  'As if we haven't got enough to worry about" 105

  Hamid shrugged. The weather should help if anything. It makes things just as difficult for the Chinese.'

  Drummond moved to the entrance, zipping up the front of Ms flying jacket and looked out The rain was lancing into the earth with steady force and a slight mist rising from the cold ground combined with it to reduce visibility to a few yards.

  'I think you're right about the snow..

  'Which means we've got to move fast We can't be more than seven or eight miles from the road. Anyone else who got across the river is bound to move in the same direction. They've no other choice.'

  'You're thinking of Father Kerrigan and Janet?.

  .Or Sher Dil, but the Chinese will follow the same route once they get across and we must keep ahead of them. If we can only reach the village Sher DH mentioned, Bandong, and get horses, we might stand a chance.'

  He picked up a couple of sheepskins and tossed one to Drummond. 'Better wear that over your shoulders. It'll keep out some of the rain.'

  In the same moment, he drew back from the entrance, a finger to his mouth and dropped to one knee.

  They crouched side by side, soundless and waiting. At first there was only the savage drumming of the rain and then Drummond heard it A slipping, stumbling sound of feet trailing through the wet ground outside.

  As the steps approached the hut and paused, Hamid launched himself through the entrance. There was a sudden splashing through the mud outside, the sound of a blow.

  Drummond went after him, fists ready, but there was no need. Hamid stood over the huddled figure of a man who crouched in the mud. He grabbed a handful of hair and jerked the head back savagely. A great scar ran from the man's right eye to the corner of his mouth. The tattered remnants of a khaki uniform with corporal's stripes on the right sleeve still clung to Ms wiry -body.

  'It's the one who plunged into the river ahead of us,. Drummond said. 'You remember? He's one of Sher Dil's men.'

  The man's face split into a wide, impudent grin..You know me, Major Hamid. Ahmed Hussein, Corporal in Number One Section.' His English was almost perfect, but. with a slight, sing-song accent 'Drummoad Sahib, I have seen many times.'

  Hamid started to laugh. 'I know this one, all right One of the greatest rogues you'll ever meet in your life. An old Indian Army man, Khyber Rifles, wasn't it?"

  "That's right, " sahib.' Ahmed got to his feet and Indicated the row of medal ribbons above his left breast 'D.C.M. from King George himself, sahib.'

  'Probably bought in the bazaar at Peshawar,' Hamid said. 'But he's an Afridi. They're good fighting men.'

  They went outside and Ahmed crouched over the fire, warming his hands. 'What are we going to do with him?' Drummond said. 'We can't afford to wait for him to dry oE'

  'No need, sahib.. Ahmed picked lip another sheepskin. 'This will do fine. The cold is nothing to me. Hardship is nothing.' He grinned hugely. Tm an Afridi.'

  'Which also means liar, cheat and rogue,. Hamid said. There's goat's cheese in one of the jars. If you're hungry, you'll have to carry it with you and eat oa the way.'

  'Where do we go, sahib?.

  To the road, where else? The road out of this accursed country. Colonel Sher Dil told us to meet at Bandong if we managed to cross the river. Do you know it?'

  'About eight miles south, sahib. I take you there.. When they climbed out of the hollow, Drummond paused for a moment and looked down at the small hut, the smoke rising into the air. Somehow it represented security and safety and now he was moving into the unknown again. He shivered and hurried after his two companions.

  For the first quarter of a mile, Ahmed trailed at the rear scooping handfuls of the soft cheese from the jar, devouring it avidly with groans of delight. Finally, he tossed the jar to one side and ran ahead to take the lead.

  Drummond kept a pace or two behind Hamid. The world was a few cubic feet covered on all sides by walls and a ceiling of mist and rain and they were the only inhabitants.

  They had been marching for about half an hour when he stumbled into Hamid who grabbed bis arm. 'Listen for a moment'

  Ahmed joined them and they stood in a small group, strange figures in their sheepskins, streaming with ram and somehow symbolic like a piece of modern sculpture.

  'I thought I heard firing,' Hamid said and at that moment it sounded again, a faint echo to the west

  'Sounded like a machine gun,' Drummond said.

  Again, there was a faint, deadly echo of small arms fire and then there was silence.

  'Probably back across the river,' Hamid said. 'We're still moving parallel with it, remember, but I think one of us should scout ahead from now on.'

  1 will go, sahib,. Ahmed said with a grin and ran into the mist

  They commenced to march again. Drummond's senses were on the alert for danger at first, but gradually he succumbed to his surroundings. There was a safety, an anonymity about the rain and the mist that was vaguely comforting.

  He withdrew into himself, an old trick, forgot about fatigue, discomfort, the danger of his present situation. He didn't even feel fear when Ahmed suddenly emerged from the mist and ran towards them.

  Hamid grabbed hold of the Afridi and steadied him. "What is it?'

  .There is a village up ahead, sahib.'

  'Good, lead the way.'

  He walked into the mist and they followed him. Drummond found that he was sweating a little, the ground sloped and then dipped suddenly as they descended into a large hollow.

  The houses loomed out of the mist There were no more than six of them, poor, mean places of mud and wattle like the herdsman's hut scattered alongside the banks of a small stream.

  They went forward quickly and Drommond was aware of the acrid smell of woodsmoke on the damp air. Ahmed opened the first door and went in. He reappeared a moment later.

  'Empty, sahib, everything gone.'

  He ran along the line of huts, opening the crude, wooden doors and finally came back to meet them despondently. 'Picked clean, sahib. Picked clean.'

  Hamid looked in through the door of the nearest house at the embers of the fire which still glowed on the hearth. 'I said bad news travels fast, didn't I? They've gone, every last one of them. Horses, livestock, the lot

  Taken to the hills I suppose, to wait things out and see what happens.'

  Ahmed looked at them enquiringly..We move on now? Nothing for us here.'

  That's right, Ahmed,' Drummond said. 'Nothing for us here.'
r />   They moved up out of the hollow and started to march again. The rain-soaked earth made the going very heavy and the ground itself was boulder-strewn and very difficult so that they had to pick their way with care.

  Gradually a change became noticeable. The air seemed colder and drifted steadily into their faces and the ground began to slope steeply. They paused to take stock of the situation.

  'We must be coming to the edge of the rift valley,' Hamid said. 'And that means the road can't be far away. We should cut across it in another mile or so.'

  They started to make their way down the hillside. The ground began to fall away until at times, they were compelled to climb very carefully, feeling for handholds.

  Finally, they found themselves on the lower slopes and the going was easier over rough, moss-covered ground. Ahmed moved ahead again and was soon lost to sight, for as they descended through the rain, the mist became thicker until visibility was almost nil.

  It was Drummond who heard the motor. He stopped quickly and called to Hamid. They both stood there on the hillside listening and heard the sound of truck engines.

  Ahmed came running out of the mist. 'Bandong just below in the valley, sahib,' he said to Hamid. 'Four trucks stopping there. Big ones, sahib, I think they are ours.'

  'What do you mean, ours?' Drummond said.

  'Army trucks, sahib. Convoy from India making its way to Sadar.'

  'He's right,' Drummond said. Td forgotten about that. Don't they make the run once a month?'

  'Only one difficulty,' Hamid said. 'If it is the usual convoy to Sadar, then it's going in the wrong direction.'

  .Not if they'd heard what's happened.'

  They covered the rest of the distance quickly, running and sliding down the slippery slopes until they came to a boulder-filled stream bed. On the other side they scrambled up on to a dirt road, and Ahmed motioned them to silence as a flat-roofed house loomed out of the mist

  'Bandong,' he whispered.

  The truck engines had stopped and the whole world seemed to have died with them. A vague unease stirred in Drummond and then he heard the voice, the rough, familiar Irish, voice, and ran forward between the houses scattered on either side of the road.

  Four trucks were drawn up in a line, old Bedford three-tenners, pointing south towards India. Father Kerrigan stood bareheaded in the rain talking to a tribesman in sheepskin coat and fur hat who held an old.303 Enfield rifle in one hand and the bridle of a rough hill pony in the other.

  A stone rattled under Drummond's foot and they swung round. The hiHman was Colonel Sher DiL

  "Well, praise be,. Father Kerrigan said softly.

  The door of one of the trucks opened and Janet Tate dropped to the ground. She was wearing the same clothes she had worn on the flight in, fur lined boots, cord pants and the sheepskin jacket Drummond had provided for her, but he didn't really notice these things. Only her eyes and the deep incredulous joy in them as she ran towards him.

  Ill

  Council of War

  A CORPORAL and three privates walked forward slowly, curiosity written on their faces, and behind them, kgging slightly, Ms left arm heavily bandaged, came Tony Brackenhurst.

  4We didn't expect to see any of you again,' Father Kerrigan said. The Chinese arrived so quickly that we only got out of the mission by the skin of our teeth. I drove up-river to Quala and found that the headman had already had the vehicle ferry destroyed to prevent the Chinese crossing the river with transport. Everyone in the village was being ferried over by small boats in relays.'

  'Mr. Brackenhurst arrived while we were waiting our turn,' Janet continued. 'He was pretty badly burned. He told us what happened at Sadar. He thought he was the only one to get away..

  'So he was for a while,' Hamid replied calmly.

  Brackenhurst looked very pale and swayed slightly, groping for the side of the truck to steady himself. Two of the soldiers moved to catch him and Father Kerrigan said, 'I think you ought to lie down again, my boy, you don't look too good. Will you see to him, Janet?.

  Brackenhurst stumbled away between the two privates, Janet walking beside them, and the priest turned back to the others.

  'I don't think I've ever had a greater surprise in my life than I did ten minutes ago when this tribesman here emerged from the mist and turned out to be Sher Dii.'

  'I arrived on foot about four hours ago,' Sher D3 said, 'When I told the villagers what was happening, they decided to move into the mountains while they still could. They wanted me to go with them, but I'd told Drummond and Major Hamid to meet here if they managed to get across the river.' He grinned. 'I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it.'

  'We very nearly didn't,' Hamid said. 'They insisted on our staying for a while. You'll be interested to know, by the way, that friend Cheung is an Intelligence Colonel.

  'God bless my soul,' Father Kerrigan said. 'Are you sure about this?.

  'We've the best of reasons for knowing, Father,' Drummond said. 'How's Kerim?'

  Taking it all surprisingly well. Of course, he's not had. things too bad as yet After crossing the river we were in an ox cart for nine or ten miles, but then we met the convoy. As soon as Corporal Nadin heard our Story, he turned round at once. He didn't have much choice. He couldn't have gone any further..

  'Does he know about his father's death?'

  .So it's certain? Brackenhurst seemed to think so, but I kept hoping he might have been mistaken.' Father Kerrigan sighed. 'No, I've told the boy nothing. Later, perhaps, when we're safe across the border.'

  'If we can get there, Father. A debatable point at the moment'

  Ahmed splashed towards them through the rain, two tin mugs in each hand. Tea, Colonel?'

  'So, you survived, you rogue?' Sher Dfl said in mock anger. 'Am I never to be rid of you?.

  .As Allah wills, Colonel.'

  Ahmed grinned impudently. He wore brand new leather combat boots and a quilted khaki parka of the kind specially issued for winter warfare, the fur-lined hood pulled up over his head,

  'Where did you get the clothes?' Drummond asked.

  'One of the tracks was carrying general equipment for the army, sahib. There is still some left although we unloaded most of it back there on the road to make room for the women and children.'

  'Women and children?'

  'Refugees we found on the road. We could not leave them for the Chinese.'

  Tell Corporal Nadin to bring me a map,' Sher Dil said.

  They squatted on the verandah of the nearest house to drink their tea and Nadin, a thin, sinewy Indian with a brown face and long black moustache, brought the map.

  Sher Dil unfolded if Three hundred mfles to the Indian border and one road out-this one. The usual way to cross the river with transport was by the ferry at Quala, but according to Father Kerrigan, the villagers have burned it'

  'It might be possible to cross in the shallows at Kama,' Drummond said. 'Especially with half-tracks, and they've got those.'

  'Do you think they'll try?' Father Kerrigan said.

  Hamid nodded. Tm afraid so. They want the young Khan, Cheung made that quite plain. A puppet to sit on the throne of Balpur, a mouthpiece for the People's Republic. As Sher Dil says, there's only one road out. They're certain to follow.'

  Then we must keep moving. We have a good lead.'

  'Only for a time.. Sher Dil ran his finger along the course of the river. 'Here, seventy miles south of Sadar is a village called Huma. IT the Chinese get their hands on the boats there, they can put men across..

  'But not vehicles.'

  That is true, but see how the river swings to follow the valley. They would be no more than ten to fifteen miles from the road, no distance for active, well-trained troops.'

  'So you think they may try to cut the road ahead of us?' Drummond said.

  Hamid shrugged. 'I don't know who their commanding officer is, but thaf s what I'd do if I was in his place.'

  Then the sooner we're on the move, the better.'


  Sher DH looked up at the leaden sky. 'About two hours of daylight left We can go a long way in that time.'

  .You don't think ws should push oa through the night?'

  'On this road?. Hamid laughed harshly. 'It would be suicide in vehicles like these. Much better to camp at a suitable spot and move on at first light The Chinese won't have anyone across the river yet, there hasn't been enough time. We'll have a good start on them.'

  Sher Dil got to his feet and turned to Corporal Nadin. "What about petrol?'

  There is plenty, Colonel, enough for all the trucks.'