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Very good, Alphonse said, rubbing his hands briskly together. Everything is perfectly in order.
Jackals barking in the small hours just before dawn were the first sign that everything was far from in
order.
That doesn t sound right, Eddie said to Neville, after the captain shook him awake. Too many. Too
scattered. I might believe it of a wolf pack, but jackals . . .
My thoughts exactly, Neville agreed. I m going to wake the others. I ll send Derek to help you ready
the camels. Muffle the harness. We ll take the gear but leave the tents set up.
Are we leaving? Eddie asked, stomping into his boots.
I want to get out of this canyon, Neville replied. Box seems too apt a description for it. Let s make
certain the box doesn t turn into a coffin.
Neville woke Alphonse and Derek, warning them to keep both light and sound to a minimum. Then he
crossed to the small tent Miriam occupied. He d half-expected to find it empty, but the girl was waiting,
dressed and alert.
Those are not jackals, she said as soon as she saw him.
I thought not, Neville replied. This canyon is too closed in for my tastes.
I understand, Miriam replied. I will help with the camels.
Good. Send Eddie Bryce to me. I want him on guard.
Since their gear had been ready for a morning departure, loading the camels didn t take long. The
jackals barking had nearly ceased, but Neville wasn t fooled into complacency. Earlier, whoever was
out there must have been getting into position. Now they were probably waiting for better light.
By the time Derek reported that the camels were ready, Neville had made his plans. Open desert was
hardly preferable to the box canyon, but it did offer a faint hope for escape.
Form up, he told the others. We ll get out and head east toward the Nile.
No one spoke. No one protested, though the glimpse Neville had of Alphonse s expression
demonstrated more eloquently than any impassioned words that Neville would pay dearly if this proved a
false alarm.
It isn t, though, Neville thought, and moved his camel forward.
Camels feet are soft and made for traveling across sand. They are quiet, but not noiseless. Equally,
though Neville s band carried no lights and the moon had set, the darkness was not absolute. Starlight is
quite enough for eyes accustomed to its glow. Even so, Neville hoped they might get away with it.
But whoever it was who had raised the jackal s call in the darkness did not wait for daylight to attack.
Perhaps someone noticed that, though the tents kept their places, the grumbling shapes of the camels
were no longer picketed at the camp s fringe. Perhaps the attack had been planned for earlier in any
case.
For whatever reason, before Neville and his band had traveled far from the Hawk Rock, a shrill cry of
rage and disappointment pierced the clear desert air. Neville knew that their enemies would seek them to
the east for there was nothing but desert to the west. Speed, then, rather than deception was their only
chance.
He thumped his camel and the creature reluctantly stretched out its limbs in an undulating run. The other
camels followed suit without prompting. Indeed, the shrieks from where the Hawk Rock bulked behind
them were prompting enough.
It s five days back to the Nile, Neville thought despairingly. If they have camels or horses we re sunk.
Maybe we should have fought it out back there.
But he knew his small group wouldn t have had a chance. He and Eddie were in training, but Derek was
disabled, and Alphonse didn t even carry a gun. Miriam would also be useless in a fight. Indeed, Neville
expected that if he looked back he would see that her camel and perhaps one of those bearing their
supplies would be gone. What better way for the Bedouin girl to win back her father s support?
Thus Neville was surprised out of all proportion when Miriam s camel drew alongside his own. The girl
called out to him.
Follow me, Captain Hawthorne. I know a place where, Allah willing, these superstitious dogs will not
follow.
Neville did not permit Miriam to take the lead; she pressed her camel to the front. The beast not the
water carrier this time lightly burdened by no other weight than her lithe form, took the lead easily.
And Neville followed. What else could he do? Miriam was offering some hope, slender though it might
be. If her offer proved to be another trap well, they were already into it up to their necks. Glancing
back over his shoulder, he was certain he saw a fair-sized dust cloud occluding the stars and knew that at
least some of their pursuers were mounted.
Miriam led them to an area where the desert was broken and rocky. A rise nothing like the Hawk
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