The Alamut Ambush

whenever I encounter it myself I have a great desire to kick it in the teeth. And yet I am a peasant myself, and I find my reaction most contradictory.'

'I think he had the right of it, Colonel Razzak,' replied Isobel equally seriously. 'We were probably disturbing his television and we may have woken the baby. Those are two capital crimes in England, you must understand.'

'The right of it?' Razzak nodded thoughtfully. 'He takes us for criminals, and there are several of us and only one of him — but he has the right of it! How admirable!'

The gun-dogs came out of the churchyard and headed towards them, watched closely by Goliath. As he slipped into the driver's seat the younger of the two shook his head at Razzak.

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'No one there now, Colonel,' he said obsequiously.

Razzak nodded again, and turned back to Isobel and Roskill. 'Can I take you now to wherever you were going, perhaps?'

Isobel glanced at Roskill. 'I think I'd prefer to go home, if you don't mind, Hugh. I've rather lost my appetite.'

'If that's what you wish, Lady Ryle.' Roskill was not quite able to keep the relief out of his voice. But her common sense would tell her what he was thinking, anyway: if he was someone's target –

and bizarre though that thought was, it appeared to be the case –

she would only be a liability to him now.

Isobel reached for the door handle. 'I'll take the short cut home, then – don't worry about me. I'm sure you and Colonel Razzak have important things to discuss.'

Razzak cut in before Roskill could reply. 'Allow me to send Captain Majid with you just in case, Lady Ryle – he would be honoured to accompany you.'

'Colonel, I couldn't possibly – '

Razzak held up his hand. 'Please! Let us say no more about the matter. Captain Majid will accompany you and make his own way home when you are safely in your house. Jahein here can drive me perfectly well, so long as he remembers it is a car he controls, not a tank.'

The driver got out of the car – rather sulkily, Roskill thought – and the older Arab moved behind the wheel.

'It's very kind of you, Colonel,' murmured Isobel. 'One thing, Hugh

– when is the funeral?'

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Roskill frowned, perplexed. 'The funeral?'

'Your friend,' she said with a hint of irritation. 'I would like to send a wreath, old- fashioned as that may seem to you.'

Isobel had known the Jenkins family in Harry's day, Roskill remembered – in the halcyon time when they'd all been equal and innocent recipients of the Ryle hospitality. And Isobel, who never forgot a birthday or an anniversary, would undoubtedly be an inveterate wreath-sender. It was the side they had not got in common: strange, but he hadn't once thought of Alan's funeral –

only of his death.

'I'll phone you when I know,' he said.

He watched her walk away beside the Egyptian captain, very tall and straight and entirely Lady Ryle now. It was at times like this that he wondered what the hell he was doing with his life, while knowing that if he could have the same time again he would make exactly the same decisions. A part share in Isobel was worth ten times a whole share of any other girl he had ever known.

VIII

'A REMARKABLE WOMAN,' murmured Razzak.

'Yes, she is. And it was civil of you to send your man with her, Razzak.'

The man behind the wheel gave a suppressed snort, and Razzak himself chuckled.

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'Not civil at all, Squadron Leader – a mere trick to rid me of the noble captain. If I had thought there was any danger I would have despatched Jahein – is that not so, Jahein?'

The grizzled head bobbed.

'You see, we are old soldiers, Jahein and I, and the captain is a new soldier set beside us to see that we don't get into trouble. He is like a – what is that shellfish that fastens itself to the rocks?'

'A limpet?'

'A limpet! Yes. Or a pilot fish that swims beside the shark – that might be more like it. But every now and then we give him the slip, don't we, Jahein?'

Jahein spat out a few words of Arabic in a hoarse, almost strangled voice. Their meaning was lost on Roskill, but they sounded so marvellously obscene that no translation was necessary.

Razzak laughed. 'Sergeant-Major Jahein has a very low opinion of Captain Majid – and bad as it is for discipline, I must agree with him. Majid is a nuisance. But fortunately he is an obedient nuisance, so he doesn't get in the way too much – like now, for instance. Let's get out of here before he comes back, Jahein.'

Jahein jerked the big car forwards, narrowly missing the Triumph, and embarked on a clumsy turning operation, swearing continuously under his breath.

'A tank driver – I warned you,' said Razzak. 'And not even a very good tank driver. But there's nothing wrong with his nerve. Slow down, man – I must give a word of praise to the man who had the right of it.'

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They were alongside the open doorway in which the big man in the Fair Isle pullover was still standing,