From Back Cover…
What the desert claims it keeps
Was the saying true, Marie wondered. On the moonlit sands of a desert oasis, they were utterly alone.
"Why have you brought me here?" Marie's voice was husky with alarm. Did this arrogant stranger want only the ransom her wealthy father would pay… or was there something more?
Her captor gave her a mocking smile. "You wanted to see the wild, free spaces of the desert," he gibed. "So I brought you here to fulfill your dream!"
Excerpt…
"If you touch me I will scream,"
Marie muttered in impotent rage. "And when my disappearance is discovered, someone will inform the police."
He laughed. "Empty threats, Miss Brinton. By then we'll be miles away. Aren't you eager to ride across the desert sands with me, lie beneath the stars, with only the winds for company? I'll teach you to appreciate the beauty of emptiness…"
"Oh, shut up," she cried, seeing that his smile was full of mockery. She longed to burst into tears, but determined to show him no weakness.
He knelt down beside her, his eyes holding hers. She was well aware of his primitive magnetism. What could she possibly do if he did make love to her?
Desert Barbarian
by
Charlotte Lamb
CHAPTER ONE
THE garden of the hotel was dimly lit by coloured lanterns which swung in a faint sea breeze blowing up from the beach below, shedding jewelled circles of red and yellow on the paths, the fringed palm trees and the flower-beds, giving the garden a new fairy-tale prettiness it somehow lacked by day. Now and then, when the wind blew more strongly, the lanterns swung far enough to bring the blue water of the swimming pool alive with shimmering images of colour, as if suddenly filled with exotic little fish. The gay umbrellas beside the pool, their function unnecessary at this hour, fluttered and flapped over their little white tables. The stone terrace running beside the pool was empty. No one sat at a table, no one swam in the bright water.
From the ballroom came the rhythmic beat of a local band, trying hard to imitate Western music but succeeding only in patches, occasionally the genuine echo of their own wailing rhythms sounding like a wraith beneath the regular drum-beats of the modern dance.
Marie had fled from the dance floor to escape the too-insistent attentions of a rather dull young man who seemed unable to recognise polite refusals when they were given. For five days he had haunted her morning, noon and night. She was on the verge of being rude, and had decided it would be wiser to hide from him rather than say the words boiling on her tongue. Discretion, as her father was fond of saying, is the better part of valour.
She leaned on the low stone wall, staring down at the moonlit sea, listening to the low murmur of the waves as they rolled gently along the curve of the little bay, making an ironic background to the insistent beat of the modern dance music. A lighthouse stood on a promontory to the right of the bay, sending out a steady red beam across the water, laying a glimmering red path across the bay which reminded her of the red of a stained glass window. Somewhere beyond the reach of eyesight a ship made a low moaning, warning of fog far out in the distance.
It had been a mistake, after all, to come here. The brochure had promised her a world more ancient, more mysterious than her own, and it had been in search of that that she had flown here, only to find herself imprisoned in her own world of air-conditioning, hot water and fitted carpets, unable to reach the teeming, enthralling secret world she had glimpsed in her visit to the Kasbah. Their visit had been a brief one, closely supervised by a nervous guide who had not permitted them to wander far from the path he chose and who had constantly looked over his shoulder with visible anxiety as if expecting every moment to be attacked. From the main street they had followed, Marie had seen dark huddled alleys leading away into a tortuous maze of tiny dwellings; women in dark veils shuffling away with lowered heads, olive-skinned, striding men moving arrogantly through the crowds, their dark eyes passing over the little huddle of excited Europeans without interest. For a brief moment she had felt her imagination kindle, only to be led away by the guide, whispering to her of unimaginable dangers lurking in the shadows.
Somehow the fortnight in the mysterious desert had become yet another seaside holiday in a luxury hotel, and she was bored with the whole thing. She was tired of carpets and soft beds, expensive food that managed to taste the same every time, the relentless monotony of comfort and idleness. She might just as well have gone to the South of France or even some English seaside resort. It was true that the desert lay there, beyond the town, but the constrictions of the hotel seemed to impose a barrier between it and the holidaymakers. Marie felt as though she were wrapped in transparent plastic, hygienically protected from the dangerous world beyond.
She sighed. Suddenly a voice made her jump, and turning in surprise, she found Mrs Brown beside her, her freckled, healthy face alight with pleasure.
'Isn't this marvellous? Look at that view! Romantic, isn't it? Oh, I'm having such a lovely time here.' The enthusiastic, breathy voice made Marie envious. Mrs Brown and her quiet husband, Don, had never been out of England before and were ecstatic over their trip. They had won two weeks at the hotel in a competition, and could not get over their good luck. After forty-five years of sedate English holidays, life had taken on a more dazzling lustre for them both.
'I'm glad you're enjoying yourself,' Marie said, smiling at her. She liked Mrs Brown. They had shared a seat on the coach trip to local Roman ruins and become friendly over the sand-buried stone columns and broken walls of the old legion city.
'You're enjoying it, aren't you?' Mrs Brown gazed at her curiously.
'Of course,' said Marie, trying to sound sincere.
Mrs Brown's hazel eyes skimmed over the heavy white silk evening dress the other girl wore, enviously guessing at the price of such magnificence. The other visitors to the hotel could not but be aware that Marie was the daughter of James Brinton, the head of a vast electronics firm based in Southern England. Everything the girl possessed was of the same quality: expensive, stylish and worn with unconscious grace. Mrs Brown, on first seeing her, had been nervous of her, but on closer acquaintance had found that Marie was more approachable than her outward manner indicated. Mrs Brown's own blue chiffon seemed to lose its original charm when she stood beside Marie, and the older woman sighed.
'You're so lucky to have travelled all over the world, I do envy you. Don and I have never been able to afford to go beyond England—there were the children to consider. Our Joanne was never a good traveller, even a trip in the car made her sick, and she could never fly anywhere. Mind you, kids prefer the seaside anyway. They never missed anything. But I used to get travel brochures and read them from cover to cover, longing for faraway places. Now that we're on our own we could get away, but somehow we never got around to saving up enough. There's always something we need, a new carpet, a new car… something more important than a holiday.'
'You must have been thrilled to win that competition, then,' said Marie, nodding understandingly.
'Oh, I was over the moon! My dreams come true.'
'And it's all lived up to your expectations?'
'Oh, yes,' said Mrs Brown eagerly.
'I'm glad.' Marie smiled back at her, trying to imagine the life Mrs Brown had led, the quiet, busy days in her home with her children, the dreams and excitements of travel always at the back of her mind to comfort her. It was a totally different world from her own. In its way it was as interesting to her as the exotic desert world she had come here to see. What we do not know is always as exciting as a dream. The human mind is never content, always looking out beyond the confines of its surroundings to grasp new con
cepts, new horizons.
'What about you?' Mrs Brown asked. 'You enjoyed that trip to the Kasbah, didn't you? I noticed how excited you looked as we got on the coach. Mind you, I was a bit nervous, I don't mind telling you. Some of those Arab stallholders looked a bit sinister. I mean, they say there are still slaves in some parts of the Arab world. You couldn't be too careful out here. If you went too far away from civilisation who knows what might happen?'
Marie laughed. 'I think I would rather enjoy getting away from civilisation. I'm sick of drifting in the swimming pool, drinking a glass of mint tea over the tables, driving around in an air-conditioned coach looking out at this world through plate-glass windows… I've half a mind to go off and explore on my own, find out what it's really like here…
Mrs Brown looked horrified. 'I shouldn't do anything like that, dear. I mean, you're a very pretty girl. That fair hair of yours makes you obviously European. I noticed some of those men in the Kasbah staring at you in a very furtive way. If I were you, I'd stay where I was safe…'
'Oh, safe!' Marie whirled round and stared down at the moonlit sea, her mind restless. 'I came here to see the desert, the wild, empty spaces of the world, not to eat French cooking and dance to pop music. I suppose I had a romantic dream, just as you did, Mrs Brown, but my dream was less accessible.'
'I expect you've seen so many interesting places that you're more difficult to please,' said Mrs Brown flatly.
Marie turned back and gave her a little grin. 'I expect you're right. I'm sorry, I didn't want to spoil your fun by moaning.'
'Oh, you haven't,' said Mrs Brown, smiling again. 'Come back into the ballroom and have a dance with that nice boy who seems so interested in you…'
'Not just yet,' Marie said quickly, suppressing a shudder of dismay. 'I have a slight headache, actually. The peace and quiet out here is doing me good.'
'I've got some aspirin in my bag,' said Mrs Brown. 'Would you like some? I'll run and get it.'
'No,' Marie said quickly, stopping her with a hand on her arm. 'No, really. A few moments out here in this cool air will do me more good than any pills.'
'Yes, I agree,' Mrs Brown nodded. 'I hate to take pills, myself. Wiser not to. You get dependent on them sometimes. I had to take sleeping pills after my last baby and it was months before I got a natural night's sleep. I never take them now.'
Marie saw her glance towards the brightly lit doors which led into the ballroom, and smiled at her.
'Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You get back and have a good time. You're missing all the dancing.'
'Well, if you're sure…' Mrs Brown gave her a last smile and hurried back eagerly, leaving Marie leaning on the wall, inhaling the night fragrance of the garden flowers and the faint, salty tang of the sea.
Silence seemed to wash back like the waves of the sea. She felt herself slowly relax, her eyes feasting on the plum-dark sky arched overhead, lit by a thousand points of silvery light from the stars, with the lemon sickle of the moon pinned upon it like a diamond brooch.
There was a faint rustle in the bushes below the wall which lined the path leading to the sea. Marie glanced down, but saw nothing. It was probably one of the lean-ribbed, starving cats who haunted the kitchens of the hotel, she thought. She had seen them often and pitied them, scavenging around the waste bins for scraps of food, kicked and berated by the kitchen staff.
She reluctantly turned away. If she stayed out here much longer she suspected that Mrs Brown would send the dull young man out to find her.
As she walked between the gently moving fronds of the palm trees someone leapt out at her. She jumped, giving a stifled cry, but before she could see anything something dark was flung over her head, muffling her scream and blinding her. Hard arms then lifted her like a doll and carried her away. She struggled helplessly, panic flaring inside her. Faintly she thought she heard someone laugh.
Realising the folly of struggling in vain, she lay still straining all her senses to guess where she was being taken. She heard the grate of sand beneath feet, smelt the salt of the sea closer and closer, heard the increasing murmur of the waves. They were going down to the sea.
After a moment or two she realised that her captor was actually walking in the sea—she could hear the wet slap of water against cloth, the splash of feet moving through the waves. What on earth was the lunatic doing? she wondered dazedly.
Suddenly the arms holding her lifted, then lowered her body, and she found herself being placed on something firm. At once, as the hands released her, she began to free herself from the stifling folds of the material. She heard him moving beside her, felt a rocking motion, heard the slap of the waves against wood. Then her wrists were seized and bound together with something smooth and silky.
'Be still,' a deep voice murmured close beside her, 'If you try to escape you will make me angry.'
'Where are you taking me? Who are you?' Her angry words were lost in the heavy material.
'Like all women you chatter foolishly,' the deep voice said with an undertone of grim amusement. 'Be silent now.'
Her mouth was full of dry fluff from the material. Swallowing, she lapsed into silence, listening intently as the boat began to move, the oars rhythmically grated on the iron rowlocks. Inside the cloth she found it difficult to breathe. She grew hot and angry, twisting her hands in a vain attempt to untie them.
Suddenly the boat came to a stop, rasping across sand, bucking to and fro, throwing her helplessly back against the wooden seat, Straining her ears again, Marie heard the oars shipped, then movements, the scrape of feet against the bottom of the boat, then a loud splash. The boat rocked wildly. He had got out, she deduced. The next moment she was lifted and carried again through water which splashed and lapped, on to a beach which appeared to shelve steeply, judging from the way her captor walked.
Gradually she grew conscious of a new sound, the rustle of wind among leaves. The sound of the sea faded gently. The arms which held her seemed tireless. Her captor walked evenly, his long legs striding forward, carrying her without apparent effort.
He halted, and she was shifted slightly in his arm. She heard a metallic click, then the slow creak of a door opening. She was carried through it and heard it slam behind her. Then she was flung down unceremoniously upon something soft. Before she had time to think her hands were untied and the dark cloth whipped away.
She lay, blinking, her eyes dazzled by the sudden flaming of a yellow candle, staring up at a dark figure which loomed above her.
He was so tall that she felt she looked a long, long way to see his face. In his white robes, his head covered by a white headdress bound with a gold cord, he was like a towering column, only the face, half hidden by his headdress, to betray his humanity. Narrowed dark eyes surveyed her insolently. He had a lean, olive-skinned face instilled with arrogance, cruelty and pride.
'Who are you?' she asked, her voice husky with alarm. 'Why have you brought me here?'
His hard mouth parted in a mocking smile. 'Who I am does not matter. I was on the beach while you were talking to your friend earlier. I heard you say you would like to see more of Arab life; what did you say—the wild, free spaces of the desert?' His dark eyes taunted her. 'So I brought you here to fulfil your dream.'
Marie sat up, shivering with fear, her dark blue eyes very large in the oval of her white face. 'You must be mad! How dare you kidnap me like this! As soon as it's realised that I've vanished the police will comb the city for me. My father is a very important man, he'll be very angry…'
'Ah,' he said softly. 'Your father. How much do you think you would be worth to him? How much would James Brinton pay to get you safely back?'
She stared at him in shock. 'So that's it! You brought me here so that you could demand a ransom from my father? But…' Her voice broke off as she frowned, thinking hard. 'How did you know who I was? This must have been planned in advance…'
'How did I know who you were? My dear Miss Brinton, your photograph has appeared
often enough in the English glossy magazines. Marie Brinton, heiress to the Brinton fortune, dining out with some handsome and eligible young man… or dancing, or riding to hounds, or skiing in the Alps… you are a much photographed, much talked about young woman.'
Vainly she wished she had not gone out into the garden alone, giving this man the opportunity he had no doubt been waiting for… Her small chin lifted defiantly. 'So you're just a cheap crook looking for a way to make easy money?'
'Not cheap, Miss Brinton,' he said mockingly. The dark eyes flicked over her white silk dress, the naked gleaming shoulders and the proud swell of her breasts beneath the material, half revealed as they were by the low curve of the neckline. 'Neither are you, are you, Miss Brinton? A very expensive young lady, I would guess. For a man who likes soft, useless white-fleshed women you would be a tempting prize. Perhaps I would, after all, get more for you from an oil sheik than from your father?'
She was frightened by the way his dark eyes moved over her body. Trembling, angry, on the verge of panic, she tried to think of a way of distracting him. 'How much are you going to demand from my father, anyway?' she asked huskily.
He gave her an amused, comprehending glance which told her that he had read her motives in asking the question. 'What would you suggest?'
She shrugged. 'I have no idea.'
He grinned lazily. 'Half a million pounds, perhaps?'
'You're mad! Half a million pounds…'
'I'm sure your father would pay more than that to get you back unharmed.' He reached out a long-fingered brown hand and lifted her chin to stare down into her blue eyes. 'After all, he must be aware that any man who had you in his power would be very tempted to enjoy the pleasures your revealing dress suggests are available…'
'Don't touch me, you… you scavenger of the streets!' She spat the words out furiously, having heard them used by one of the hotel staff to a beggar who had sat by the hotel entrance one day imploring alms of the visitors as they went in and out.
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