manoeuvred into the tight defensive circle of the laager, a formation
Bruce's ancestors had used a hundred years before.
'Ruffy, get out those tarpaulins and spread them over the top to form a
roof We don't want them dropping arrows in amongst us.' Ruffy
selected half a dozen gendarmes and they went to work, dragging out the
heavy folded canvas.
'Hendry, put a couple of men under each truck. Set up the Brens in case
they try to rush us.' In the infectious urgency of defence, Wally did
not make his usual retort, but gathered his men. They wriggled on their
stomachs under the vehicles, rifles pointed out towards the silent
jungle.
'I want the extinguishers here in the middle so we can get them in a
hurry. They might use fire again.' Two gendarmes ran to each of the cabs
and unclipped the fire-extinguishers from the dashboards.
'What can I do?' Shermaine was standing beside Bruce.
'Keep quiet and stay out of the way,' said Bruce as he turned and
hurried across to help Ruffy's gang with the tarpaulins.
It took them half an hour of desperate endeavour before they completed
the fortifications to Bruce's satisfaction.
'That should hold them.' Bruce stood with Ruffy and Hendry in the centre
of the laager and surveyed the green canvas roof above them and the
closely packed vehicles around them. The Ford was parked beside the
tanker, not included in the outer ring for its comparative size would
have made it a weak point in the defence.
'It's going to be bloody hot and crowded in here,' grumbled
Hendry.
'Yes, I know.' Bruce looked at him. 'Would you like to relieve the
congestion by waiting outside?'
'Funny boy, big laugh,' answered
Wally.
'What now, boss?' Ruffy put into words the question Bruce had been
asking himself.
'You and I will go and take a look at the bridge,' he said.
'You'll look a rare old sight with an arrow sticking out of your back,'
grinned Wally. 'Boy, that's going to kill me!'
'Ruffy, get us half a dozen gas capes each. I doubt their arrows will go
through them at a range of a hundred feet, and of course we'll wear
helmets.'
'Okay, boss.' It was like being in a sauna bath beneath the six layers
of rubberized canvas. Bruce could feel the sweat squirting from his
pores with each pace, and rivulets of it coursing down his back and
flanks as he and Ruffy left the laager and walked up the road to the
bridge.
Beside him Ruffy's bulk was so enhanced by the gas capes that he
reminded Bruce of a prehistoric monster reaching the end of its
gestation period.
'Warm enough, Ruffy?' he asked, feeling the need for humour. The ring of
jungle made him nervous. Perhaps he had underestimated the carry of a
Baluba arrow - despite the light reed shaft, they used iron heads,
