Leopard Hunts in Darkness - Smith Wilbur (книга бесплатный формат .TXT) 📗
41 am sorry, Mr. Mellow. These are very rude things that I am saying about you. I am telling you only what Tungata said. He was your friend. He still is your friend."
"It doesn't really matter any more, what he thought of me, "Craig murmured. "Sam is probably dead by now."
"No!" For the first time Sarah raised her voice, her tone vehement, almost angry. "No, do not say that, never said that! He is alive. I have seen and spoken to him. They can never kill a man like thad" The chair creaked under Craig as he leaned forward eagerly. "You have seen him? When?"
"Two weeks ago."
"Where? Where was he?"
"Tuti at the camp."
"Sam alive!" Craig changed as he said it. TIte despondent slump of his shoulders squared out, he held his head at more alert angle and his eyes were brighter, more eager.
He wasn t really looking at Sarah. He was looking at the wall above her head, trying to marshal the torrent of emotions and ideas that came at him, so he did not see that Sarah was weeping.
It was Sally-Anne who put a protective and comforting arm about her, and Sarah sobbed. "Oh, my lord Tungata.
The things they have done to him. They have starved and beaten him. He is likea village cur, all bones and scars.
He walks likea very old man, only his eyes are still proud." Sally-Anne hugged her wordlessly. Craig jumped up from the chair and began to pace. The room was so small, he crossed it in four strides, turned and came back. Sally Anne dug in her pocket and found a crumpled tissue for Sarah.
"When will the Cessna be ready?" Craig asked, without pausing in his stride. His artificial leg made a tiny click each time he swung it forward.
"It's been ready since last week. I told you, didn't ! Sally-Anne replied distractedly, fussing over Sarah.
"What is her all-up capacity?"
"The Cessna? I've had six adults in her, but that was a squeeze. She's licensed for-" Sally' Anne stopped. Slowly her head turned from Sarah towards him and she stared at him in total disbelief.
"In the love of all that's holy, Craig, are you out of your mind?" "Range fully loaded?" Craig ignored the question.
"Twelve hundred nautical miles, throttle setting for maximum endurance but you can't be serious."
"Okay." Craig was thinking aloud. "I can get a couple of drums in the Land-Rover. You can land and refuel on a pan right on the border I know a spot near Panda Matengal five hundred kilometres north of here. That is the closest point of entry-"
"Craig, do you know what they'd do if they caught us?" Sally-Anne's voice was husky with shock.
Sarah had the tiss& over her nose, but her eyes swivelled between thL* two of them as they spoke.
"Weapons," Cra I ig muttered. "We'd need arms. Morgan Oxford? No, damn it, he's written us off."
"Guns?" Sarah's voice was muffled by tears and tissue.
"Guns and grenades," Craig agreed. "Explosives, whatever we can get."
"I can get guns. Some of our people have escaped. They are here in Botswana. They had guns hidden in the bush from the war."
"What kind? "Craig demanded.
"Banana guns and hand grenades."
"AKs," Craig rejoiced. "Sarah, you are a star."
"Just the two of us?" Sally-Anne paled as she realized th at he truly meant it. "Two of us, against the entire Third Brigade is that what you are thinking about?" A "No, I'm coming with you." Sarah put aside the tissue.
"There will be three of us."
"Three of us, gread" said Sally-Anne.
"Three of us bloody marvelous!" ack and stood in front of them.
Craig came b "Number one: we are going to draw up a map of Tuti camp. We are going to put down every detail we can remember." He started pacing again, unable to stand still.
"Number two: we meet with Sarahs friends and see how much help they can give us. Number dime: Sally-Anne takes the commercial flight down to Johannesburg and brings back the Cessna how long will that takeP 11 can be back in three days." Colour was coming back into Sally-Anne's cheeks. "That's if I decide to gaP okay! Fine!" Craig rubbed his hands together. "Now we M can start on the map." Craig ordered sandwiches and a bottle of w me to be sen t to the room and they worked through until 2 am.
when Sarah left them with a promise to return at breakfast time. Craig folded the map carefully and then he and Sally-Anne climbed into one of the narrow beds together, but they were so keyed up that neither of them could sleep.
"Sam was trying to protect me," Craig marvelled. "He was doing it for me, all along."
"Tell me about him," Sally-Anne whispered and she lay against his chest and listened to him talk of their friendship. When at last he fell silent, she asked softly, "So you are serious about this thing?"
"Deadly serious, but will you do it with me?"
"It's crazy," she said. "It's plain dumb but let's do it then." he sooty black smoke from the beacon fires of oil rags that Craig had set climbed straight up in two columns into the clear desert sky. Craig and Sarah stood together on the bonnet of the Land' Rover staring into the south. This was the dry wild land of northeastern Botswana. The Zimbabwe border was thirty kilometres east of them, the flat and plain between pimpled with camel.
