Danger at Dahlkari (29 page)

“Did you get the rest of them?” Reggie asked.

Captain Chapman nodded. “There were seven. Private Stanton here shot three of them. Palin and I finished off the other four.”

“Good work,” Reggie said.

Reggie came over to where we were standing. The others followed until all of us stood in a small group in front of the hut. Sergeant Norman put his arms around Sally, and Dollie slipped her arm around my waist, hugging me tightly. I fought back my tears. I had grown fond of the grim and rugged young corporal. I hadn't realized how much until this moment.

“Thank God you women are safe,” Reggie said. “That was good shooting, Lauren. I could hardly believe my eyes.”

“I—I did what I had to do,” I replied. My voice trembled.

“They planned to murder us all in our beds. They crept up on Bates and Herlihy while they were on guard, murdered them quickly and silently. I was awake—most of us were. I thought I heard a noise, and then you shot that devil trying to climb through your window. That shot alerted the rest of us. If you hadn't acted when you did—”

Reggie cut himself short, shaking his head. There were dark shadows under his eyes. All of the men looked battered and exhausted, their uniforms dusty. Captain Chapman had a cut on his chin. Captain Palin's jacket was torn. Private Stanton's neck was bruised where the Thug had tightened the rumal around it. Eight of us remained: the two junior officers, Reggie, Norman, Stanton and we three women.

All of us looked up as we heard footsteps approaching. Corporal Burke sauntered into camp, entering by way of the path leading to the rajah's encampment. I felt a wave of relief sweep over me, and I wanted to throw my arms around him. Burke's face was streaked with dirt, and his gray eyes were full of worried concern. Deeply bothered, ill at ease, he came over to us and looked at Reggie, clearly reluctant to speak.

“I—I have something to report, sir,” he began. “I—well, I was wondering why the rajah and his men didn't come to our aid. They couldn't help but hear the gunfire. While the other men were finishing off those Thugs we chased into the jungle, I went to the rajah's camp.…” He hesitated.

“Yes? Yes? What is it, Burke?”

“I'm afraid they're gone, sir.”

“Gone?”

“The clearing was empty. At first I thought they might have been attacked, the bodies buried, the goods carted away, and then I realized there wouldn't have been time—and if they had been attacked we would have heard it. I'm afraid they packed up and left in the middle of the night, deliberately.”

“The horses?”

“They took them all,” Burke said. “I reckon they figured we wouldn't need 'em. It looks like we were set up, sir. The rajah must have known we were going to be attacked. He has to be in league with the Thugs. There's no other explanation.”

“You're saying we're stranded, then?”

“I'm afraid so, sir.”

A silence fell as all of us contemplated the gravity of our situation. Dollie let go of me and stepped over to stand beside her husband. She took his hand and held it very tightly, and Reggie looked down at her with tenderness and pride that was poignant to behold. He patted the hand holding his. That simple gesture spoke volumes. I realized that they must have been in situations like this before, perhaps a number of them, and they had faced them together, their strength and their love for each other sustaining them as it did now.

“It looks bad, doesn't it?” Dollie said, almost chattily.

“Bad indeed,” Reggie replied. “There are bound to be more of them back at their camp somewhere in the jungle. They'll assume we were wiped out, but when the others fail to return—” He shook his head, his expression grim. “When the men they sent to kill us fail to show up, they'll come to investigate. They're going to be a mite upset when they find all their men dead. They're going to have one thing in mind—”

“Vengeance,” Captain Chapman said. “How long do you figure we have before they come to investigate?”

“Depends on a lot of things,” Reggie replied. “If they'd murdered us all like they'd planned to do, they'd have probably looted the camp, would probably have buried us and erased all signs of the attack. That would have taken awhile. Offhand, I'd say we have three or four hours before those back in their camp begin to grow concerned about their colleagues.”

“Well then,” Dollie said, “that gives us a nice head start, doesn't it? We can't just stand around here waiting for them. It's a nice long hike back to the garrison, but I fancy we can do it. I for one could certainly use the exercise.”

She sounded almost cheerful, a plump, improbable figure in her vivid red velvet gown, her girlish black ringlets still perfectly curled, bouncing on either side of her face. Dollie wasn't even going to contemplate defeat, and her bright determination immediately affected the rest of us. There was no time to be dispirited and pessimistic. Thanks to Dollie's jovial manner all of us began to feel better.

“Right!” Reggie said sharply. “We'll not be able to carry anything with us besides our weapons and ammunition. Anything else would only slow us down.”

“I
told
you I had a feeling I'd never wear that dress again,” Sally informed me. “Oh well, now that I've trapped Bill I don't guess it really
mat
ters.”

“What's this?” Norman inquired. “What do you mean, ‘trapped Bill'?”

“Never mind,” Sally retorted.

“We can't just go off and leave our dead here for the Thugs to find,” Reggie said. “We'll have to take time to bury them—the graves needn't be deep, we'll bring the poor chaps to the garrison and see they have a proper burial later on. Burke, you and Stanton see to it. Drag the bodies into the jungle, see that the graves are well hidden. You'll find a pick in my hut.”

Burke and Stanton hopped to their grisly task. Dollie had fetched her first-aid kit and was doctoring the cut on Captain Chapman's chin. The captain winced. Dollie scolded him for being such a baby. Captain Palin had begun to gather up the weapons of our men who had been killed. Norman went to help Burke and Stanton, as did Captain Chapman when Dollie had finished bandaging his cut. It seemed to take the men a terribly long time to complete their task, particularly when every minute was precious, but they eventually returned, fetched weapons and ammunition, and we set out through the jungle.

“I deliberately didn't change last night,” Dollie confessed. “I was busy packing, for one thing—naturally I had to pack for Reggie, too, he couldn't pack a bag if his life depended on it—and besides, I figured if my time was going to come, I'd go out in style!”

“I wish
I
'd thought of that,” Sally complained. “I could be wearing my emerald silk now instead of leaving it to rot in the jungle.”

“I must say, though, this velvet is rather warm. Dear me, it
is
going to be a scorcher today.”

“We want to keep a good steady pace,” Reggie said sternly. “There'll be no lagging behind.”

“Don't look at
me
when you say that,” his wife retorted. “I may be a trifle overweight—well, more than a trifle—but I can match any pace you set, McAllister, any day of the week. I used to walk quite a lot when I was a girl,” she confided to the rest of us. “Of course, it wasn't through a steaming jungle, but what are a few vines and trees?”

“It's snakes I'm worried about,” Sally remarked. “I've been in India all this time and I've yet to see a cobra that wasn't kept in a basket by a flute player. I
know
they're all over the place and no one need try to tell me any different. After all, Burke killed one in his hut just two nights ago.”

“A huge, writhing specimen it was, too,” Burke added, teasing her with a perfectly straight face.

Although Reggie frankly admitted it might be unwise, we followed the trail that had already been blazed by the rajah's caravan when we were on our way to the campsites. At this point, speed was much more important than anything else, and we could move much faster without having to hack away at vines and branches. We were in grave danger. All of us realized that. The Thugs might be on their way after us at any moment. Nevertheless, an almost festive spirit prevailed, primarily because of Dollie's encouragement and lighthearted comments. She trudged along in her gown, stumbling occasionally, already beginning to pant just a little, but she displayed a devil-may-care heroism that was an inspiration to all of us.

“I have to confess, it was
much
more fun when we were riding in those lovely sedan chairs,” she told me, “although I'm sure those poor bearers didn't think so. They had an easy enough task with you and Sally, but I'll vow they rued the day I saw my first French pastry.”

“Are—are you all right?” I asked.

“Fit as a fiddle, dear. This must seem a lark after what you and Sally went through. At least we have six strapping men to protect us. Poor Private Stanton still looks a bit wobbly. Being half-strangled this morning hasn't helped him a bit. I'll wager he'll hold up, though.”

“I'm sure all of us will.”

“I saw the way you were shooting this morning, dear. It was nothing less than amazing. I owe you my life, I should think. If you hadn't shot that Thug leaping off the roof.…”

“Let's not talk about it, Dollie.”

“Hold on, let me get to my point. What I want to say is this: I was dead set against your going out riding with Robert Gordon—I made a regular nuisance of myself over it, I'll admit—but I was wrong. He taught you to shoot like that, so, indirectly, I owe my life to him, too. I've complained about him since the day he arrived on post, but if I were to see him right now, I'd throw my arms around him and give him the biggest hug he ever had. I misjudged him. I think we all did. He may be
different
, but I'm convinced now he knows what he's doing.”

“I think he does, Dollie. I—I have great confidence in him.”

“Oh dear, I
do
wish those parrots weren't so loud! I wonder when we're going to take another rest stop. I'm not com
plain
ing, mind you, but my wretched feet are beginning to rebel.”

Corporal Burke had had the foresight to fasten three canteens onto his belt. After we had been traveling for two or three hours, he left the group to go scouting for water. He was gone for almost an hour, and I was beginning to worry about him when he finally joined us with all three canteens filled to the brim. He announced that he had found a crystal-clear stream, that the water was delicious. Reggie said that we should stop for lunch. I lifted an eyebrow at that, and grinning, he began to pull chocolate bars out of his pocket.

“Thought they might come in handy,” he told us. “I always carry a few with me. They're five here. We'll divide 'em up. If I'm not mistaken, that's a mango tree over there, and it's loaded with fruit. If one of you gentlemen'll climb up and shake the limbs a bit—”

Sergeant Norman leaped to the task, swinging up into the branches with great agility, swaggering a bit for Sally's benefit. The mangoes refused to fall when he shook the branches, so he had to pluck them loose one by one and toss them down to us. It was almost like a merry game, the sergeant yelling “Catch!” and taunting us when one of us missed. A small gray monkey suddenly leaped onto the limb beside him, and Norman let out a yell, so startled that he almost lost his perch. All of us laughed, Sally the loudest of all. Norman scowled and shooed the monkey away, but not before the audacious creature had grabbed a mango right out of his hand.

“I thought you were supposed to be
brave
,” Sally said when he dropped down from the tree. “You looked like you were scared out of your wits, and by a perfectly adorable little monkey like that. I don't
know
about you, Norman.”

Norman made no reply, sulking in a manner I found particularly endearing. He was robust and manly, yet that boyish charm was very much in evidence. Sally told him to act his age and reached up to smooth back locks of bronze hair plastered to his damp forehead. Norman grinned, plopped down under the shade of a tree and tugged her arm roughly. Sally came tumbling down beside him, voicing her outrage at such treatment but actually adoring it. Dollie perched on a rock beside Private Stanton, chatting amiably in an attempt to draw him out. I sat between Burke and Reggie, and Captains Palin and Chapman sprawled out on the ground. We were all dusty and exhausted and perspiring freely, but none of us complained.

We ate the chocolate bars and the juicy, yellow-orange mangoes, and Burke passed the canteens around. The jungle was steamy hot, noisy, an ominous rustling green-brown world festooned with flowered vines. Dollie fell silent, and, the food eaten, we rested, and even though none of us mentioned it, each of us knew that the Thugs had probably gone to investigate by this time, had probably discovered the bodies littering the campsite. Fleet, furious, they were probably rushing down the trail after us. How long would it take them to catch us? Two hours? Three?

Reggie stood up, brushing a twig from his trousers. “I think we'd best be moving along now,” he remarked casually. “We don't want to tarry.”

“I should think not,” Dollie replied, struggling to her feet as Private Stanton assisted her. “I don't know about the
rest
of you, but I feel utterly refreshed. Amazing what a good meal in pleasant company can do for one, isn't it? Are we ready?”

“Ready,” Reggie said. “Let's—uh—try to move a mite faster, see if we can make a little better time.”

“You lead, McAllister, we'll follow,” Dollie told him. “After that lovely meal I feel I could run a relay race.”

We moved down the trail, quickly, not really running, not sauntering. Dollie puffed and panted, and her springy black ringlets were beginning to wilt, but she still managed to make her lighthearted comments and call encouragement to the rest of us. I was bone weary, and it seemed my lungs were about to burst, that I would stumble and fall in an exhausted heap at any moment, so I knew how hard it must be on Dollie, older, heavier, yet forging ahead with considerable brio. We paused to rest every half hour or so, stopping for no more than five minutes at a time, and then we moved on, striving to keep up the pace Reggie set.