“Not yet.”
Willy smiled. “Are you that anxious to get rid of us?”
“What?” He glanced at his daughter. “No, no, of course not. It’s just...” He gazed up the road again. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Willy watched him, suddenly sharing his uneasiness. “You think there’s trouble.”
“And we’re not ready for it,” he said grimly.
“What do you mean?” said Guy, turning to look at him. “The village must have some sort of defenses.”
“We have maybe one working pistol, a few old war relics that haven’t been used in decades. Plus Andersen’s rifle. He left it today.”
“How many rounds?”
“Not enough to—” Maitland’s chin suddenly snapped up. He spun around at the sound of an approaching car.
“Hit the deck!” Guy commanded.
Willy was already leaping for the cover of the nearest bush. At the same instant, Guy and Maitland sprang in the other direction, into the foliage across the road from her.
She barely made it to cover in time. Just as she landed in the dirt, a jeep rounded the bend. Through the tangle of underbrush, she saw that it was filled with soldiers. As it roared closer, she tunneled frantically under the branches, mindless of the thorns clawing her face, and curled up among the leaves to wait for the jeep to pass. Something scurried across her hand. Instinctively she flinched and saw a fat black beetle drop off and scuttle into the shadows. Only then, as her gaze followed the insect, did she notice the strange chattering in the branches and she saw that the earth itself seemed to shudder with movement.
Dear God, she was lying in a whole nest of them!
Choking back a scream, she jerked sideways.
And found herself staring at a human hand. It lay not six inches from her nose, the fingers chalk white and frozen into a beckoning claw.
Even if she’d wanted to scream, she couldn’t have uttered a sound; her throat had clamped down beyond all hope of any cry. Slowly her gaze traveled along the arm, followed it to the torso, and then, inexorably, to the face.
Gunnel Andersen’s lifeless eyes stared back at her.
Chapter 13
The soldiers’ jeep roared past.
Willy muffled her cry with her fist, desperately fighting the shriek of horror that threatened to explode inside her. She fought it so hard her teeth drew blood from her knuckles. The instant the jeep had passed, her control shattered. She stumbled to her feet and staggered backward.
“He’s dead!” she cried.
Guy and her father appeared at her side. She felt Guy’s arm slip around her waist, anchoring her against him. “What are you talking about?”
“Andersen!” She pointed wildly at the bushes.
Her father dropped to the ground and shoved aside the branches. “Dear God,” he whispered, staring at the body.
The trees seemed to wobble around her. Willy slid to her knees. The whole jungle spun in a miserable kaleidoscope of green as she retched into the dirt.
She heard her father say, in a strangely flat voice, “His throat’s been cut.”
“Clean job. Very professional,” Guy muttered. “Looks like he’s been here for hours.”
Willy managed to raise her head. “Why? Why did they kill him?”
Her father let the bushes slip back over the body. “To keep him from talking. To cut us off from—” He suddenly sprang to his feet. “The village! I’ve got to get back!”
“Dad! Wait—”
But her father had already dashed into the jungle.
Guy tugged her up by the arm. “We’ve gotta move. Come on.”
She followed him, running and stumbling behind him on the footpath. The sun was already setting; through the branches, the sky glowed a frightening bloodred.
Just ahead, she heard her father shouting, “Lan! Lan!” As they emerged from the jungle, they saw a dozen villagers gathered, watching as Maitland pulled his wife into his arms and held her.
“These people have got to get out of here!” Guy yelled. “Maitland! Tell them, for God’s sake! They’ve got to leave!”
Maitland released his wife and turned to Guy. “Where the hell are we supposed to go? The next village is twenty miles from here! We’ve got old people, babies.” He pointed to a woman with a swollen belly. “Look at her! You think she can walk twenty miles?”
“She has to. We all have to.”
Maitland turned away, but Guy pulled him around, forcing him to listen. “Think about it! They’ve killed Andersen. You’re next. So’s everyone here, everyone who knows you’re alive. There’s got to be somewhere we can hide!”
Maitland turned to one of the village elders and rattled out a question in Vietnamese.
The old man frowned. Then he pointed northeast, toward the mountains.
“What did he say?” asked Willy.
“He says there’s a place about five kilometers from here. An old cave in the hills. They’ve used it before, other times, other wars....” He glanced up at the sky. “Almost sunset. We have to leave now while there’s still enough light to cross the river.”
Already, the villagers had scattered to gather their belongings. Centuries of war had taught them survival meant haste.
Five minutes was all the time Maitland’s family took to pack. Lan presided over the dismantling of her household, the gathering of essentials—blankets, food, the precious family cooking pot. She spared no time for words or tears. Only outside, when she allowed herself a last backward glance at the hut, did her eyes brim. She swiftly, matter-of-factly, wiped away the tears.
The last light of day glimmered through the branches as the ragged gathering headed into the jungle. Twenty-four adults, eleven children and three infants, Willy counted. And all of us scared out of our wits.
They moved noiselessly, even the children; it was unearthly how silent they were, like ghosts flitting among the trees. At the edge of a fast-flowing river, they halted. A waterwheel spun in the current, an elegant sculpture of bamboo tubes shuttling water into irrigation sluices. The river was too deep for the little ones to ford, so the children were carried to the other bank. Soaked and muddy, they all slogged up the opposite bank and moved on toward the mountains.
Night fell. By the light of a full moon, they journeyed through a spectral land of wind and shadow where the very darkness seemed to tremble with companion spirits. By now the children were exhausted and stumbling. Still, no one had to coax them forward; the fear of pursuit was enough to keep them moving.
At last, at the base of the cliff, they halted. A giant wall of rock glowed silvery in the moonlight. The village elders conferred softly, debating which way to proceed next. It was the old woman who finally led the way. Moving unerringly through the darkness, she guided them to a set of stone steps carved into the mountain and led them up, along the cliff face to what appeared to be nothing more than a thicket of bushes.
There was a general murmur of dismay. Then one of the village men shoved aside the branches and held up a lit candle. Emptiness lay beyond. He thrust his arm into the void, into a darkness so vast, it seemed to swallow up the feeble light of the flame. They were at the mouth of a giant cavern.
The man crawled inside, only to scramble out as a flurry of wings whooshed past him. Nervous laughter rippled through the gathering.
Bats, Willy thought with a shudder.
The man took a deep breath and entered the cave. A moment later, he called for the others to follow.
Guy gave Willy a nudge. “Go on. Inside.”
She swallowed, balking. “Do I have a choice?”
His answer was immediate. “None whatsoever.”
* * *
The village was deserted.
Siang searched the huts one by one. He overturned pallets and flung aside mats, searching for the undergroun
d tunnels that were common to every village. In times of peace, those tunnels were used for storage; in times of war, they served as hiding places or escape routes. They were all empty.
In frustration, he grabbed an earthenware pot and smashed it on the ground. Then he stalked out to the courtyard where the men stood waiting in the moonlight, their faces blackened with camouflage paint.
There were fifteen of them, all crack professionals, rough-hewn Americans who towered above him. They had been flown in straight from Thailand at only an hour’s notice. As expected, Laotian air defense had been a large-meshed sieve, unable to detect, much less shoot down, a lone plane flying in low through their airspace. It had taken a mere four hours to march here from their drop point just inside the Vietnamese border. The entire operation had been flawless.
Until now.
“It seems we’ve arrived too late,” a voice said.
Siang turned to see his client emerge from the shadows, one more among this gathering of giants.
“They have had only a few hours’ head start,” said Siang. “Their evening meals were left uneaten.”
“Then they haven’t gone far. Not with women and children.” The man turned to one of the soldiers. “What about the prisoner? Has he talked?”
“Not a word.” The soldiers shoved a village man to the ground. They had captured the man ten miles up the road, running toward Ban Dan. Or, rather, the dogs had caught him. Useful animals those hounds, and absolutely essential in an operation where a single surviving eyewitness could prove disastrous. Against such animals, the villager hadn’t stood a chance of escape. Now he knelt on the ground, his black hair silvered with moonlight.
“Make him talk.”
“A waste of time,” grunted Siang. “These northerners are stubborn. He will tell you nothing.”
One of the soldiers gave the villager a kick. Even as the man lay writhing on the ground, he managed to gasp out a string of epithets.
“What? What did he say?” demanded the soldier.
Siang shifted uneasily. “He says that we are cursed. That we are dead men.”
The soldier laughed. “Superstitious crap!”
Siang looked around at the darkness. “I’m sure they sent other messengers for help. By morning—”
“By morning we’ll have the job done. We’ll be out of here,” said his client.
“If we can find them,” Siang said.
“Find a whole village? No problem.” The man turned and snapped out an order to one of the soldiers. “That’s what the dogs are for.”
* * *
A dozen candles flickered in the cavern. Outside, the wind was blowing hard; puffs of it shuddered the blanket hanging over the cave mouth. Through the dancing shadows floated murmuring voices, the frantic whispers of a village under siege. Children gathered stones or twisted vines into rope. Women whittled stalks of bamboo, sharpening them into punji stakes. Only the babies slept. In the darkness outside, men dug the same lethal traps that had defended their homeland through the centuries. It was an axiom of jungle warfare that battles were won not by strength or weaponry but by speed and cunning and desperation.
Most of all, desperation.
“The cylinder’s frozen,” muttered Guy, sighting down the barrel of an ancient pistol. “You could squeeze off a single shot, that’s all.”
“Only two bullets left anyway,” said Maitland.
“Which makes it next to worthless.” Guy handed the gun back to Maitland. “Except for suicide.”
For a moment Maitland weighed the pistol in his hand, thinking. He turned to his wife and spoke to her gently in Vietnamese.
Lan stared at the gun, as though afraid to touch it. Then, reluctantly, she took it and slipped away into the shadows of the cave.
Guy reached for Andersen’s assault rifle and gave it a quick inspection. “At least this baby’s in working order.”
“Yeah. Nothing like a good old AK-47,” said Maitland. “I’ve seen one fished out of the mud and still go right on firing.”
Guy laughed. “The other side really knew how to make ’em, didn’t they?” He glanced around as Willy approached. “How’re you holding up?”
She sank down wearily beside him in the dirt. “We’ve carved enough stakes to skewer a whole army.”
“We’ll need more,” said her father. He glanced toward the cave entrance. “My turn to do some digging....”
“I was just out there,” said Guy. “Pits are all dug.”
“Then they’ll need help with the other traps—”
“They know what they’re doing. We just get in the way.”
“It’s hard to belive,” said Willy.
“What is?”
“That we can hold off an army with vines and bamboo.”
“It’s been done before,” said Maitland. “Against bigger armies. And we’re not out to win a war. We just have to hold out until our runners get through.”
“How long will that take?”
“It’s twenty miles to the next village. If they have a radio, we might get help by midmorning.”
Willy gazed around at the sleeping children who, one by one, had collapsed in exhaustion. Guy touched her arm. “You need some rest, too.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Then just lie down. Go on.”
“What about you two?”
Guy snapped an ammunition clip into place. “We’ll keep watch.”
She frowned at him. “You don’t really think they’d find us tonight?”
“We left an easy trail all the way.”
“But they’ll need daylight—”
“Not if they have a local informant,” said her father. “Someone who knows these caves. We found our way in the dark. So could they.” He grabbed the rifle and slung it over his shoulder. “Minh and I’ll take the first watch, Guy. Get some sleep.”
Guy nodded. “I’ll relieve you in a few hours.”
After her father left, Willy’s gaze shifted back to the sleeping children, to her little half brothers, now curled up in a tangle of blankets. What will happen to them? she wondered. To all of us? In a far corner, two old women whittled bamboo stalks; the scrape of their blades against the wood made Willy shiver.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
Guy nodded. The candlelight threw harsh shadows on his face. “We’re all scared. Every last one of us.”
“It’s my fault. I can’t stop thinking that if I’d just left well enough alone...”
He touched her face. “I’m the one who should feel responsible.”
“Why?”
“Because I used you. For all my denials, I planned to use you. And if something were to happen to you now...”
“Or to you,” she said, her hand closing over his. “Don’t you ever make me weep over your body, Guy Barnard. Because I couldn’t stand it. So promise me.”
He pressed her hand to his mouth. “I promise. And I want you to know that, after we get out of here, I...” He smiled. “I plan to see a lot more of you. If you’ll let me.”
She returned the smile. “I’ll insist on it.”
What stupid lies we’re telling each other, she thought. Our way of pretending we have a future. In the face of death, promises mean everything.
“What if they find us?” she whispered.
“We do what we can to stay alive.”
“Sticks and stones against automatics? It should be a very quick fight.”
“We have a defensible position. Traps waiting in the path. And we have some of the smartest fighters in the world on our side. Men who’ve held off armies with not much more than their wits.” He gazed up at the darkness hovering above the feeble glow of candlelight. “This cave is said to be blessed. It’s an ancient sanctuary, older than anyone can remember. Follow that tunnel back there, an
d you’ll come out at the east base of the cliff. They’re clever, these people. They never back themselves into a corner. They always leave an escape route.” He looked at the families dozing in the shadows. “They’ve been fighting wars since the Stone Age. And they can do it in their bare feet, with only a handful of rice. When it comes to survival, we’re the novices.”
Outside, the wind howled; they could hear the trees groan, the bushes scrabbling against the cliff. One of the children cried out in his sleep, a sob of fear that was instantly stilled by his mother’s embrace.
The little ones didn’t understand, thought Willy. But they knew enough to be afraid.
Guy took her in his arms. Together, they sank to the ground, clinging to each other. There was no need for words; it was enough just to have him there, to feel their hearts beating together.
And in the shadows, the two old women went on whittling their stalks of bamboo.
Willy was asleep when Guy rose to stand his watch. It wasn’t easy leaving her. In the few short hours they’d clung together on the hard ground, their bodies had somehow melted together in a way that could never be reversed. Even if he never saw her again, even if she was suddenly swept out of his life, she would always be part of him.
He covered her with a blanket and slipped out into the night.
The sky was a dazzling sea of stars. He found Maitland huddled on a ledge a short way up the cliff face. Guy settled down beside him on the rock shelf.
“Dead quiet,” said Maitland. “So far.”
They sat together beneath the stars, listening to the wind, to the bushes thrashing against the cliff. A rock clattered down the mountain. Guy glanced up and saw, on a higher ledge, one of the village men silhouetted against the night sky.
“Did you get some sleep?” asked Maitland.
Guy shook his head. “You know, I used to be able to sleep through anything. Chopper landings. Sniper fire. But not now. Not here. I tell you, this isn’t my kind of fight.”
Maitland handed the rifle to Guy. “Yeah. It’s a whole different war when people you love are at stake, isn’t it?” He rose to his feet and walked off into the darkness.
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