smoke-blackened billycan back on the burgeoning flames.
They only had one mug between them. 'Girls first,' said Nicholas,
passing it to Royan. She took a swallow and scalded her lips.
Good!, she sighed, and then cocked her head. 'This time it is definitely
Big Dolly I can hear.'
Nicholas listened and then nodded. 'I think you are right.' He stood up
and went to the radio. 'Big Dolly. You are audible.'
'Five minutes to landing, Pharaoh.'
From where he stood, Nicholas looked down the long strip. Mek's men were
retreating, flitting like smoke through the thorn scrub and firing back
in the direction of the river. Nogo was pushing them hard now.
'Hurry along, Jannie he murmured, and then adjusted his expression as
he turned back to the two women. 'Plenty of time to finish your tea.
Don't waste it.'
The rumble of Big Dolly's engines was louder than the sound of gunfire
now. Then suddenly she was in sight, coming in so low that she seemed to
brush the tops of the thorn trees. She was enormous, Her wingspan
reached from one side of the narrow overgrown strip to the other. Jannie
touched her down short, and she blew out a long rolling cloud of brown
dust behind her as he put the engines into reverse thrust.
Big Dolly went barrelling past the clump of acacia, and Jannie waved to
them from the high cockpit. The moment he had bled off enough speed, he
stood on his footbrakes and rudder bar. Big Dolly spun around in her own
length and came roaring back down the strip towards them, her loading
ramp beginning to drop open even before she reached them.
Fred was waiting in the open hatchway, and he ran down to'help Sapper
and Nicholas with the wounded men on the litters. It took only a few
minutes to carry them up the ramp, and then they started loading the
ammunition crates. Even Royan gave a hand, staggering up the ramp with
one of the lighter crates clutched to her chest.
A mortar shell exploded a hundred and fifty yards beyond the parked
Hercules, and then half a minute later a second shell fell a hundred
yards short.
'Ranging shots,' Nicholas grunted, picking up a crate under each arm and
running up the ramp.
'They have us in their sights now,' Fred shouted. 'We have to get out of
here. Leave the rest of the cargo. Let's go, GoV
There were only four crates still lying under the NMI-, MOrJL
spreading branches of the acacia, and both Nicholas and Sapper ignored
the order and ran back down the ramp.
and raced back.
They snatched up a crate under each arm 'Me ramp was starting to rise
and Big Dolly's engines roared as she began to taxi out. They hurled the
crates over the tailboard of the rising ramp and then jumped up to grab
a handhold and pull themselves aboard. Nicholas was the first up and
reached down to haul Sapper in.
When he looked back, Tessay was a small, lonely figure under the
acacias.
'Give Mek my love and thanks,' he bellowed at her.
CY
