‘Keep still.’
A blade flashed in the darkness. A moment later, the ropes that had bound me to the pole fell to the ground and I shuffled away with a sigh of relief. Half-turning, I held out my wrists to him, still tightly bound behind my back, waiting for the knife.
He put the blade away.
What the-?
A moment later that unfinished question was succinctly answered when he grabbed me around the waist, hauled me up and slung me over his shoulder.
Without removing my bonds.
Without removing my gag.
‘Nnng! Mmp! Mmmmmph!’
‘Yes, you are quite heavy, aren’t you?’
‘Mmmph? Mmmph mp!’
‘But, in spite of that fact, the situation does have a few advantages,’ he remarked, his hands sliding over areas of my body that, in this position, were suddenly very accessible to him. ‘Don’t you agree, Mr Linton?’
‘Nnng! Mgmk! Mmph! Rg!’
Swiftly and powerfully, he rose to his feet. If my weight really bothered him, his movements didn’t betray the fact. He slid out of the tent, where a shadow was waiting, so big it could only be one man.
‘Sahib?’
‘I have her, Karim.’
‘Intact?’
‘To judge by the way she’s squirming, in mint condition. And you?’
‘The manuscript is back in our possession.’
‘Adequate. Let’s move.’
We slid silently through the night. Even in my current state of blind, disbelieving rage, I was smart enough to realise I had better keep quiet while we were in the enemy camp. If we were captured again, we’d never get out of here. And if we didn’t get out of here, I would never get my chance to murder Mr Ambrose. And I needed to murder him! I wouldn’t even need a weapon! I would simply close my fingers around that velvet throat of his and squeeze hard! And, if my fingers weren’t strong enough, I would bite his throat and gnaw and nibble until I reached his lips and then I would-
No, no! Bad Lilly! That’s kissing! You wanted to kill, remember? Kill, not kiss! With double-l, not double-s!
Well, it was an easy mistake to make.
Kill. That’s what you’re going to do. Kill!
It wouldn’t be long now until I got my chance. I didn’t see much of what was going on from my position, but I glimpsed the slumped body of a guard on the ground, and felt the lights of the camp receding. As soon as we were safely away, he would cut my bonds and set me down, and the bloody business of the night could finally begin!
Or that’s what I thought.
Only…when the camp had completely disappeared in the dark behind us, and we were safe in the depths of the jungle, Mr Ambrose didn’t put me down.
‘Mmph! Mmp mph!’
‘You know, I could get used to this, Mr Linton.’
‘Mmph? Pttt mm dnn!’
‘The calm, the incredibly relaxing quiet - yes, this situation really has its advantages.’