The Rat Patrol 2: Desert Danger (12 page)

8

The five gaunt, dark-faced Arabs reined their pawing, fawn-colored stallions in a tight circle about Moffitt and Hitch. Leaning from silver-chased, high-cantled saddles, they silently regarded the two robed soldiers like beady-eyed, cruel-beaked vultures. They were dressed alike in dark robes and burnooses with the exception of one whose headpiece was ornamented with threads of gold. He carried a Schmeisser machine pistol and seemed to be the leader. The others were armed with Mausers.

Hitch's eyes roved the circle and came back to Moffitt. "What do you know, Doc!" he said and popped a bubble. "Their robes and burnooses are exactly like ours."

"I know," Moffitt said with half a smile. "I designed ours to be authentic and now we've run into members of the tribe whose peculiar dress I used. These are the men of Abu-el-bab. They dress different, think different, are different from any other people in the desert. They are savage fighters and feared by the other tribes." To the Arab in the richly embroidered burnoose, he said,
"Sabah-el-Kheir. Ahlan wa sahlan."

Face impassive and emotionless as a chiseled brown-stone mask, the Arab considered Moffitt long before answering. When he spoke, he said harshly in his language, "Who are you who speak our tongue and wear the burnoose of our tribe but wander horseless in the desert, carrying bundles of old rags?"

"I am Hamam Gameel, the good pigeon," Moffitt said, touching his forehead and bowing his head. "I am blood brother to Ben-el-bab whose father, when I was no longer than a rifle, was the great sheik of Abu-el-bab. I speak your tongue because I have lived in your tents and I wear the burnoose of Abu-el-bab by order of the sheik."

The Arab's eyes closed suspiciously to slits. "There was such a one," he said. "A fair-haired child of a scholar who was a friend of Abu-el-bab and led us to the ancient lost city in the rocks that was our birthplace. I remember the ceremony of the mingling of the blood when this scholar from a distant island and his manchild clasped hands with the sheik and his son in a rare celebration not performed again in any of our lifetimes. If you be Hamam Gameel, we are honored and you are welcome, and your brother with you. These are strange times in our land when everyone is suspect. If you bear false testimony and are not Hamam Gameel but instead are of the thieving tribe of swine who now occupy the village of Sidi Abd, we shall bury you to your heads in the sands of the desert and annoint you with honey to draw the ants that will eat your eyeballs from their sockets."

"We have killed your enemy and stripped him of his clothes," Moffitt said, bending to unbutton the great coat and displaying the German uniforms. "Tonight we shall disguise ourselves as one of him and reenter this town from which he drives the rightful inhabitants to rescue our friends whom this enemy holds prisoners."

"Come," the Arab ordered impatiently. "We go to pray the judgment of the Ben-el-bab who is now the sheik of Abu-el-bab. If you speak the truth, you will eat and rest with us and have our aid in every way that we can help. I am Al Ombo Beni."

The leader of the Arabs lifted his reins, jerking the stallion's head to the right and the great animal danced and pawed the air as he wheeled. Rider and horse galloped in great clouds of dust into the desert. Two of the other Arabs raced away after him while the two remaining robed men rode slowly on either side of Moffitt and Hitch, not speaking but only pressing them in the direction they wanted to take.

"Well, how'd we make out, Doc?" Hitch said and adjusted the Mauser on his shoulder. "At least they didn't take our weapons."

"Sporting of them, wasn't it?" Moffitt said and laughed. "If we'd make a move, it would give them a chance to shoot us. They're not entirely convinced that I am who I claim to be. A lot is going to depend on the memory of their new sheik, the Ben-el-bab. He's supposed to be my desert brother."

"I just hope he places a high value on family ties," Hitch said.

Moffitt studied the morning sky that was a forebodingly dull pewter color. The weather worried him as much as geting into Sidi Abd and rescuing Wilson, along with Troy and Tully if that were possible. Desert rains are solid sheets of water that turn the sand to soup and he knew that if the jeeps were mired, the Rat Patrol was lost and the Jerries would not give them another chance to escape. Although the sky was thickly matted with gray clouds, the heat poured through and sweat drenched Moffitt's body. Suddenly he was very tired, thirsty and hungry. Both Hitch and he needed the daylight hours in which to rest and regain their strength for the coming night. He did not expect to enter and leave Sidi Abd without a struggle.

They had trudged without speaking in the slipping sands for perhaps half an hour when they climbed to the top of a rolling dune higher than the others and saw below in a rippled valley half a dozen pavilion-type tents, mauve in color with broad awnings at the entrances. Beyond the camp of Sheik Ben-el-bab's men—a raiding party, Moffitt was certain from their small number—perhaps two dozen magnificent Arabian steeds were hobbled. As Moffitt and Hitch entered the cluster of tents, Al Ombo Beni stepped out under the awning of a pavilion larger than the others and stood aside, indicating with an abrupt motion of his hand that they were to go inside.

A rug, thick and rich in oriental color and design, covered the ground and on it were several low octagonal wooden tables and many pillows. A young man sat cross-legged on a pillow at the middle of the tent. His burnoose was similar to Al Ombo Beni's except that it was even more richly adorned with gold and silver. His nose was thin and hawk-shaped and his mouth above a sharp chin was straight and almost lipless. Moffitt felt Ben-el-bab's keen eyes appraising him before they turned first to one and then the other of two old men with lined parchment faces who stood on either side of him. It was difficult to tell whether there was question or decision in Ben-el-bab's eyes.

Moffitt touched his forehead and bowed his head.

"Greetings, brother of my blood which runs stronger in my veins since the day it was united with that of your brave body," Moffitt said. "I am Hamam Gameel, come once again to the tribe of Abu-el-bab to pray the favor of the invincible Sheik Ben-el-bab, to ask food and drink and a place to rest for my friend in battle and myself that we may regain our strength and carry the fight again tonight against the enemy who has invaded these wide lands of yours."

Ben-el-bab's mouth grew hard and cruel and his eyes were stony. He turned from Moffitt to Al Ombo Beni.

"I do not know this man," he said. "He is an imposter. Hamam Gameel is dead. The word was passed from tribe to tribe how Hamam Gameel with his father was captured by a band of infidels who sought to rob our ancient crypts of gold."

"That was true, brother of my blood," Moffitt cried, "but were you not told how my father was tortured and would not betray your hiding place? And how we escaped and the thieves who sought to pilfer you of your treasures were consumed in the explosion where my father trapped them in the crevices of the rock?"

"The patriarchs of the tribe have told me Hamam Gameel is dead," Ben-el-bab said to Al Ombo Beni without glancing at Moffitt. "I honor and respect the old ones and have no reason to doubt they speak the truth." His voice rose angrily. "Shall I now listen to the outrageous lies of an alien beggar who profanes the memory of my brother in blood? Take these treacherous dogs who would deliver us to the infidel enemy at Sidi Abd and bury them to their necks in the sands of the desert."

"I speak the truth, great Sheik," Moffitt said bravely, but chill fear touched his heart. Only Ben-el-bab could help and the Arab was wary of the enemy in his land.

Al Ombo Beni shouted an order and two of the five Arabs who had intercepted Moffitt and Hitch in the desert strode into the tent and seized the Englishman and the American, ripping the robes from their bodies and sweeping the burnooses from their heads. Rough hands stripped away their belts with canteens and pistols and tore the khaki shirts from their backs.

"What do we do now, Doc?" Hitch asked, grinding away at his gum but not popping any bubbles.

"If we remain calm, I still may think of some way to convince Ben-el-bab," Moffitt said. "There was something that impressed the Arabs at the time of the blood ceremony. I am trying to recall it but I was very young and it was many years ago."

"Think, Doc," Hitch said urgently. "We're in a worse spot than if the Jerries had us."

Moffitt and Hitch stood, bare to the waist, on the thick bright carpet in the middle of the tent and the Arab guard lashed their wrists with rawhide so tightly the leather bit into the flesh. The sheik, Ben-el-bab, had risen from his pillow and was staring curiously at Moffitt's left shoulder.

"The sign, great Sheik," Moffitt said excitedly, suddenly remembering.. He nodded his head at a crescent-shaped birthmark high on his arm near his shoulder joint. "It is the sign of good fortune your father remarked at the ceremony of the mingling of the blood. 'By this sign we shall always know you,' your father said to me before he cut our palms and we clasped our hands in brotherhood. Now, Ben-el-bab, you know I speak the truth and indeed am Hamam Gameel."

"Remove the thongs that bind my brother and his friend," Ben-el-bab said harshly. "Only the true Hamam Gameel would know the meaning of this sign to us."

When the guard had freed Moffitt and Hitch, Ben-el-bab stepped forward and grasped Moffitt's right palm in both of his hands.

"I pray you will forgive me, brother of my blood," he said warmly, sharp eyes fixed on Moffitt's face. Moffitt could feel them, almost as if they penetrated his mind and read his thoughts. "When the enemy is in our midst, we distrust the very shadow of our favorite stallion. Welcome to the tribe of Abu-el-bab to which you belong by ancient ceremony and respected order of my wise father. Command and it shall be as you order. Tell us what it is that we can do to aid you in your fight."

"I say truly," Moffitt said heartily with the relief that surged through him, "I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life. We crave food and drink and a place to rest."

Ben-el-bab swung to Al Ombo Beni and said quickly, "See that a tent is prepared for my brother, Hamam Gameel, and his friend, that they are served with such of our poor fare as they will take, and that all comforts are provided for their rest."

"I don't exactly follow all that's going on, Doc," Hitch said with a smile, "but things seem to have taken a turn for the better. It never hurts to have friends in high places."

"Especially when they remember that they're friends," Moffitt agreed.

As Al Ombo Beni and the two guards left the tent, Ben-el-bab sat on his pillow, indicating that Moffitt and Hitch were to be seated.

"We shall talk while things are made in readiness," he said. "Tell me what your plans are."

"When it is dark, we shall dress in the uniform of the enemy which we have captured," Moffitt said, motioning at the bundle of clothing. "We shall enter the village of Sidi Abd and free three of our companions whom the enemy has captured."

"I have a small force of two dozen men here," Ben-el-bab said with a thin smile. "We are fighting men. Shall we accompany you?"

"You speak in true brotherhood," Moffitt said with an amused glint in his eye. "But I think not into the town. The enemy would overwhelm you with his number and his weapons. We have machines concealed within the fence the enemy has erected in the desert. If your men could guard these machines for us and destroy any of the enemy who approaches them, it would be the greatest help that you could give us."

"It shall be done at once," Ben-el-bab said. "Are there not other ways we may more actively be of assistance?"

"Perhaps," Moffitt said considering the difficulties that would beset Hitch and him once they had entered Sidi Abd that night. "If two of your men could slip into the town during the day to observe and listen for word of what has happened, it would be helpful to us to know what is going on."

"That, too, shall be as you ask," Ben-el-bab said.

"They may be submitted to indignities," Moffitt warned. "Our two companions entered the village disguised as Arabs and it is probably the enemy is searching everyone in burnoose and robe for them, if they already have not been captured."

"Any indignity will only harden our hatred and determination to rid our land of these invaders," Ben-el-bab said grimly. "There is a public house near the mansion the enemy has seized for his headquarters. It is now a brothel and a place where drinks are served to the infidel soldiers. If you go directly to this tavern, the two men of Abu-el-bab will meet you there and tell you what you wish to know. Is there more that we can do?"

"If you're in the neighborhood when we break out," Moffitt said with a smile, "You might get in a shot or two at the drivers of the machines that pursue us."

"That, too, shall be as you ask," Ben-el-bab said. Moffitt and Hitch stood as Al Ombo Beni reentered the tent gathering their clothing and equipment.

"May Allah smile on your fortunes," Ben-el-bab said. "Meanwhile we shall give what assistance we can by our efforts."

Moffitt touched his forehead and Hitch and he followed Al Ombo Beni to another, smaller tent where pillows were scattered on a rug, and food and drink,
kunafa, basabusse
and
eish Al-Saraya,
all of them delicious pastries, together with a great pot of
mazbout,
or slightly sweetened coffee, awaited them on a low table.

"We came up smelling like roses, Doc," Hitch said happily, contemplating the breakfast and the pillows.

"Yes," Moffitt said thoughtfully. "We'll spend at least this day in comfort. But I can't help wondering how our friends are faring and what Dietrich is up to now. I'd like to think Wilson, Troy and Tully had a chance but I have my doubts."

"Doc!" Hitch said and he sounded amazed and horrified. "It's not like you to be discouraged."

"It's not like Troy and Tully to fail in what they set out to do," Moffitt answered. "This may be the time that Dietrich is holding all the cards.