by Jack Higgins
Lomax peeled off his jacket and reached for the sweater. As he pulled it over his head, there was a movement in the shadows and Katina moved forward.
Her face was very white, the eyes dark pools. They stood there in a private world of their own saying nothing and Stavrou cleared his throat. "Five minutes, that's all."
The door closed, the key turned in the lock and they were alone. She raised a hand and gently touched his face. "Are you all right? They haven't hurt you?"
"A few bruises. Nothing to speak of."
And then he noticed that she had been weeping and drew her down on to the bed. "What is it, Katina?"
"I went to The Little Snip to ask my uncle to help, but he refused to see me," she said. "Nikoli and the rest of his crowd are drinking themselves into a frenzy. It was terrible."
"You think they mean trouble?"
She nodded slowly. "I believe they intend to handle things in then: own way if they can."
"Have you told Kytros?"
She shook her head. "Apparently he went out just before I arrived."
Lomax got to his feet slowly, an unpleasant, crawling sensation in the pit of his stomach. "Things don't look so good, do they?"
"There are forty or fifty men waiting in the street outside," she said. "And more arriving every minute."
He slumped down on to the bed again, his mouth suddenly dry, and she took an automatic out of the pocket of her sheepskin jacket and handed it to him.
"I'm afraid it's rather old, but it's the best I could do."
His hand tightened over the worn butt and he frowned. "Are you suggesting I use this?"
"Is Dimitri Paros worth dying for?"
It was in that moment, knowing that she too believed he had killed Paros, that he realised just how hopeless the position was if he stayed.
"What have you got in mind?" he said. "Even if I overpower Stavrou, I can't just walk out of the front door. Is there a rear entrance?"
"Only a walled yard and others beyond that until finally you reach a narrow alley that brings you out further along the waterfront. I'll be waiting with the jeep by the town hall."
"It's dark, remember," he said. "I could easily lose my way."
She shook her head. "Not with Yanni to guide you. He's out there now."
"Then what happens?"
"Oliver and I have arranged things between us," she told him calmly. "All I have to do is get you to the villa. He'll have the launch ready for sea. You can be in Turkey in twelve hours. It's all quite simple, really."
For a moment he was going to tell her that nothing was ever that easy in life, that there was no place on top of earth where a murderer could run for cover, but there was no time. A step sounded in the corridor and the key turned in the lock.
Lomax started to get to his feet and Katina caught hold of his sleeve. "Don't hurt him," she whispered. "He's a good man."
He nodded briefly and waited, the automatic held against his thigh. The door swung back against the wall and Stavrou came in.
"I'm sorry, Katina," he said. "You'll have to go now. If Kytros finds you here there'll be hell to pay."
In the same moment he turned to Lomax and looked into the barrel of the gun. His face turned pale and then his shoulders sagged. Quite suddenly, he seemed to have aged ten years.
He turned again to Katina and said bitterly, "You bitch. I'll lose my job over this."
"Do as I say and you won't get hurt," Lomax said.
"Take off your tie and belt and lie face down on the bed."
Stavrou complied reluctantly and Lomax handed the gun to Katina and tied the man's wrists and ankles. For a gag, he used her headscarf.
They moved outside and he locked the cell and followed her through into the office. At the door, she paused and looked up at him without speaking. He held her hand tightly for a moment and then she went out and he locked the door behind her.
When he glanced through the slats of the shutters he could see the crowd scattered along the street in groups. He heard the voices and recognised the menace. Here were the beginnings of a mob. All they needed was a leader, someone with the courage to take them inside. He had an idea it wouldn't be long before one turned up. He watched Katina drive away and then went along the corridor to the rear door. It was secured by two rusty bolts and he pulled them back with some difficulty and tried to open it. It still refused to budge and he slipped the automatic into his hip-pocket and worked his way through the half-dozen keys on the ring. The fourth one did the trick and he opened the door and moved cautiously outside.
It was very still and he stood there for a moment waiting for his eyes to become accustomed to the dark before going forward.
The wall was perhaps twelve feet high. As he paused and looked up at it, a stone rattled under a shoe and Yanni appeared at his side.
"Over here, Mr. Lomax," he said. "There's an old olive tree growing in the corner."
"Good man." Lonjax laid a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Let's get moving. We haven't got much time."
The boy went first and Lomax followed. The mortar between the stones had started to crumble, giving good footholds, and wedged between the olive tree and the wall he made quick progress. Within a few moments he was on top.
The boy led the way along several walls, finally dropping down into a timber yard. He crossed to a large double gate, opened a judas and peered outside. After a moment he nodded and went through the narrow opening.
They were standing in a stone-flagged alley which ran between high walls. It was a place of shadows, the only light a street lamp bracketed to the wall half-way along.
Yanni turned to speak. From somewhere in the darkness at the other end of the alley there was a movement and a voice cried in Greek. "He's escaping! The Englishman is escaping!"
At the same moment, two shots were fired so close that to any but the trained ear they might have sounded as one. Yanni started to run and Lomax jerked the automatic from his hip-pocket to return the fire. He pulled the trigger and the gun jammed.
Still clutching the useless weapon, he turned and ran, eyes fixed on the lamp half-way along the alley. Steps pounded over the flags behind him, the sound echoing from the walls. Again there was a shot and something whispered past his ear.
At that moment Yanni was passing under the lamp.
He turned to look back and Lomax hurled the automatic at the lamp, plunging the alley into darkness, and pushed him forward.
A moment later they reached the end of the alley and Yanni called breathlessly over his shoulder, "Careful, Mr. Lomax. We're back on the waterfront." He slowed to a trot and turned the corner straight into the arms of a burly fisherman.
He cursed angrily and grabbed the boy by the shirt. Lomax moved in fast, caught the man's right wrist and flung him against the wall, using his hip for leverage.
"Run for it, Yanni!" he said urgently and the boy darted across the road and disappeared into the shadows.
The fisherman lurched forward, great hands reaching out, and Lomax took a quick step back and kicked him in the stomach. As the man went down he became aware of confused shouting and turned to see that he was standing no more than fifty yards away from The Little Ship.
A truck was parked outside, the rear already packed with men, and others stood around it. Quite clearly in the light from the windows he saw Nikoli Aleko looking towards him. There was a sudden roar from the crowd as he was recognized and Lomax ran for his life.
He turned into the steeply shelving street that led to the square, his feet slipping on the cobbles, and behind him was aware of the deeper note of the truck's engine as it surged forward to meet the hill.
Voices rose on the night air, urging the driver on, and several men jumped to the ground and ran after him, able to make better time on the steep slope than the heavily laden truck.
Once he slipped and fell and a sound like hounds in full cry lifted into the night and then he was on his feet and running into the square.
Someone fired a
shotgun. He ducked as pellets whistled through the air above his head and the jeep arrived on the scene, skidding broadside over the damp cobbles as Katina braked sharply.
She stood up, a rifle to her shoulder, and loosed off four shots that ricocheted from the ground in front of the truck, bringing it to a halt and sending those on foot diving for cover.
She waited for him, the collar of her sheepskin coat turned up, her face carved from stone, holding the Winchester sporting rifle with the telescopic sight. The gun he had given her that night at the farm so long ago.
He almost fell into the passenger seat and she handed him the Winchester and said calmly, "What about Yanni?"
"We ran into a little trouble," Lomax gasped, "but he's all right. For God's sake let's get out of here."
She gunned the motor and drove away very rapidly across the square. As they entered the narrow road that led out of town and across the bridge, another truck started to emerge. Lomax caught a brief glimpse of the driver's startled, frightened face before the man swung the wheel, crashing his vehicle into the wall and blocking the road.
Katina reversed quickly and started back across the square. The other truck had already breasted the hill and was moving rapidly to block the only remaining exit. The road to the other side of the island.
At the last moment, the driver braked to avoid a crash and Katina took the jeep through the dark, twisting street between the houses and out along the dirt road that led to the farm.
Whatever happened now, there was only one way they could reach the villa. Across the mountain and on foot.
16
The Run for Cover
They reached the farm a good five minutes in front of the truck and Katina braked to a halt in the yard beside the barn. Lomax got out and leaned over the trough to splash water on his face. When he raised his head, he saw that she was looking at him, a slight frown on her face.
"What is it?" he said.
"We stood together here once before," she replied slowly.
He nodded. "I remember."
She shivered slightly. "Is it then or now, Hugh?"
"I don't know, Katina," he said soberly. "Perhaps in some strange way each is a part of the other."
She reached out and took one of his hands and in that moment he knew with complete certainty that she was all he would ever want. He kissed her on the mouth and behind them the truck came over the run of the hollow and started down towards the farm.
They crossed the yard, ducked under the fence and went up the slope through the olive trees. Katina led the way, moving expertly over the familiar ground in spite of the darkness.
Thunder rumbled ominously like gunfire in the distance, but otherwise a strange unnatural stillness hung over everything like a cloak. The truck came to a halt in the yard below, the engine was turned off and a door slammed.
Katina moved out of the shelter of the olive grove and started across the bare hillside and Lomax followed her. At that moment, a bank of cloud rolled away from the moon, bathing everything in a hard white light.
A sudden cry sounded from below as they were seen and he turned and glanced down. He could see the truck quite clearly in the middle of the yard and the white faces of the men who looked up. Behind them, another truck was moving down the track to the farm.
Katina was already half-way across the barren hillside and he loosened the loop on the Winchester, slung it over his back and went after her.
It was a strange sensation to be hunted again and he was conscious of the old, familiar nervous excitement that crawled across his flesh and sharpened all the senses. He paused on the rim of a small plateau and looked down for a moment and saw the hunters already strung out in a ragged line as they moved up the hillside. Some of them carried lanterns and when the second truck came to a halt, he heard the excited barking of dogs.
A shot whined into the night, spending itself in space, hopelessly off target, and he stepped back so that he could no longer be seen.
Katina moved beside him, her face troubled. "Kytros can't be with them. He would never allow that."
Lomax wiped sweat from his brow with the back of one hand. "There's nothing to worry about. We've got a good start."
She shook her head. "Don't be too sure. Many of them are farmers and shepherds. They know the mountain. They can move across it at twice our speed."
Instead of working her way diagonally across the steep hillside, she went straight up, and Lomax followed her. The slope lifted steeply until it was almost perpendicular with rough tussocks of grass sticking out of the bare rock.
They came to the foot of an apron of loose stones and shale and she paused and glanced back over her shoulder.
"How are you making out?" she said anxiously as he joined her.
He managed a grin. "Let's say I'm not as young as I was."
"You must be careful from now on," she said. "The going is treacherous."
She started to climb, slowly and easily, testing every grass, every shrub, every rock, and Lomax followed her. After a while he forgot about the men who followed them, forgot about the danger as a strange exhilaration coursed through him.
Once, he heaved strongly on a boulder and it tore itself free and he swung quickly to one side. It bounced and crashed its way down the mountainside and the sound of it echoed away into the night.
There was a moment's breathless hush before Katina's voice drifted quietly down the slope. "Are you all right?"
"Only just," he called back softly, and started to climb again.
A moment later the ground sloped away and he found himself standing on the edge of a broad plateau. He turned and gazed down into the shadows of the valley, but could see no sign of their pursuers.
Katina moved beside him. "They have taken the easy way over," she said. "Remember the track we used on that first night when I guided you to the villa?"
"And where do we go from here?" Lomax said.
She turned and pointed across the plateau to the great rock wall that faced them. It was splashed with moonlight, fissures and cracks branching across it like dark fingers, and Lomax whistled softly. "Are you sure it can be done?"
She nodded. "Oh, yes, I climbed it several times as a girl. It isn't anything like as formidable as it looks."
She looked up at him anxiously and he grinned. "We don't have much choice, do we?"
She turned and led the way across the plateau, picking her way between great boulders. When they reached the base of the rock Lomax saw that it wasn't actually perpendicular, but tilted back slightly in great slabs, most of which were split and fissured into a thousand cracks.
Katina started to climb at once and Lomax followed her. He didn't look down until he had climbed forty or fifty feet. For a moment he appeared to be floating in space and a giant hand seemed to be trying to pull him away from the face of the rock. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, everything was all right.
He didn't look down after that, but climbed steadily and strongly. Five minutes later, he came over the edge of a wide ledge which was partly sheltered by an uptilted slab and found Katina waiting for him. "Are you all right?" she said.
Now that he had stopped climbing, he was conscious that his limbs were trembling slightly, but he nodded confidently. "Are we stopping here?"
She shook her head. "We can't afford the time. Even this way, we'll be lucky to reach the temple before the best of the mountain men using the track."
She started to climb again quickly. Lomax followed her, trying to forget his aching limbs, concentrating on the rock, and a wind moved in from the sea, cutting through the woollen sweater, and thunder rumbled again, but much nearer this time.
He moved over the edge of the last great tilted slab of rock and found Katina waiting for him. Above them a perpendicular wall of rock lifted a hundred feet into the night and Lomax craned his neck, gazing up at it, the sweat on his face beginning to dry in the cold wind.
She turned and indicated a dark ch
imney that cut its way straight through the solid rock to the top of the cliff. "It looks bad, but it's the easiest part of the climb."
He found it an effort to smile. "I'll take your word for it."
He waited until she had disappeared into the darkness above him before following. He hung the Winchester around his neck and used the common mountaineering technique, bracing his back against one wall and feet against the other, resting every fifteen or twenty feet, his body firmly wedged.
After a while, he found that it was possible to climb properly and the handholds were good and plentiful. Ten minutes later he scrambled over the edge and joined Katina.
They stood on the rim of the main plateau at the top of the mountain and the temple and tomb of Achilles were three hundred yards to the rear. Below them the whole of the south side of the island swept down through moonlight into the sea.
It was an incredible sight, but Lomax was still conscious of that unnatural stillness and a blanket of dark moved in fast from the horizon, blotting out the stars as it came.
Thunder sounded overhead and Katina said, "The storm should break soon. It will give us good cover on the way down."
They started forward and there was a faint cry, carried on the wind from somewhere on their right. Lomax turned as three men emerged over the far rim of the plateau accompanied by two hounds. They were no more than two hundred yards away and clearly visible in the bright moonlight.
He raised the Winchester and fired once and one of the hounds jumped into the air and disappeared over the edge.
"That should hold them for a while." He pushed Katina forward. "Let's get out of here."
They ran towards the temple, Katina leading the way. When Lomax turned and glanced towards the right, he saw that the three men and the other dog were moving very fast on a parallel course with the obvious intention of intercepting them. One of them was a good fifty yards in front of his companions and gaining steadily. A moment later they all disappeared behind a slight rise.
Lomax followed Katina between great boulders, slipping and sliding over the rough ground, and mounted the steps to the terrace. As they started across the mosaic floor between the pillars, Nikoli Aleko emerged from the shadows on their right and ran towards them.