blooming lustre of her reputation. She knew none of her colleagues had
dared the League's sanctions and violated international frontiers with
a gang of gun-runners to file a story.
As a bonus, there were two attractive males for company, It all looked
very good indeed, just as long as she kept it all on a manageable
basis, and did not let her emotions get into an uproar once more.
They followed the path down through the mahogany forest, and she smiled
secretly to herself as she watched Gareth and Jake jockeying for
position beside her. However, when they reached the clearing, Gareth
stopped abruptly.
'What now? 'he demanded.
'The paint job is Greg's idea,' explained Jake. 'Make people think
twice before they start shooting at us.' The four vehicles were now
painted a glistening snowy white, and the turrets were emblazoned with
a flaming scarlet cross.
'if the French or the Italians try to stop us, we are a unit of
armoured ambulances of the International Red Cross.
You, Greg and I are doctors, and Vicky is a nursing sister.'
'My
God, you have been busy.' Vicky was impressed.
'Also the white paint will be cooler in the desert,' Greg explained
seriously. 'They call it the 'Great Burn' with good reason.'
'The carrying racks I designed,' said Jake. 'Each vehicle will be able
to carry two forty-gallon drums of gasoline and one of water at the
rear of the turret. The crates of arms and ammunition we will
distribute between the four of them and rope them down here across the
sponsons, - I have welded cleats here to take the ropes.'
'The crates will be a dead giveaway,' objected Gareth.
'They are all marked-'
'We'll plane off the marking and re-label them as medical supplies,
'Jake told him, then took Vicky's arm. 'I've chosen this one for you.
She's the most docile and friendly of the four.'
'Do they have characters of their own?' Vicky teased him, and laughed
at the seriousness of his reply.
'They are just like women. My iron ladies,' he slapped the nearest
machine. 'This one is an absolute darling except that her rear
suspension is slightly out of alignment, so she waggles her bottom a
bit at speed. It's nothing serious, however, but it's why her name
is
Miss Wobbly. She's yours.
You'll grow to love her. 'Jake walked on and kicked the tyre of the
next car. 'This one is the bitch of the party. She tried to break my
wrist the very first time I ever cranked her. She is known as
Priscilla the Pig. I'm the only one who can handle her. She doesn't
love me, but she respects me.' He moved on. 'Greg has chosen this one
and called her Tenastelin which means 'God is with us' - I hope he is
right, but I doubt it. Greg is a bit funny about that sort of thing.
He tells me he was going to be a priest once.' He winked at the
youngster. 'Gareth, this one is yours she has a brand new carburettor.
