DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lara Croft or Tomb Raider. I am not making money
with this work of fiction.
Only to be archived at Fanfiction.net and "Lara Croft's Tales of Beauty and Power". All other sites please email me first at siirma6@surfeu.fi to gain permission.
Tomb Raider: Prevail by Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi)
Chapter 4
They had flipped a coin on who got to drive and Josephine had won. Lara enjoyed the scenery, her arm out of the window as they passed fields and houses, along with a shanty town inhabited by the poor. Little black children with supernaturally white teeth waved at them as they drove past. A group of women were carrying water on their heads and singing a happy melody in perfect harmony as they trekked towards the village. This was the real Africa.
The Senga Bay docks consisted of two half-rotten rows of logs, where dozens of boats were roped to. It reminded Josephine of a few Caribbean port of calls she had seen on her holidays with her ex-husband.
Josephine and Lara unpacked their equipment and set to wait. Lara put on a suffered straw hat and lied on the sand, and Josephine took a short stroll on the beach. She wanted to ask Lara when she had arranged to take off from the docks, but she sensed that time was a subjective word in Africa. And she didn't mind waiting on the beach.
A light had been burning in Lara's room late the previous night. At midnight Josephine had stuck her head out of her window to see where the gleam of light was coming from and seen Lara sitting on the window sill, glasses on, reading Josephine's notes, underlining phrases.
Now Lara had obviously dozed off on the hot sand.
After a good half-an-hour of waiting an old fishing boat with a low water line made its way to the more steady-looking jetty. It was steered by an old man, dark as coal who waved her hand at Josephine. She took off her hat and walked to the end of the jetty to grab the towrope. The old man jumped on the dock suprisingly lithely. He came to shake Josephine's hand and smiled widely. "Atan," he introduced.
"Josephine Ross," Josephine said, and turned to take a look at Lara, who had woken up and was now carrying their bags toward the dock.
"Josefin Rooz," Atan repeated. "Wellcome to my boat." His English was strongly accented, and obviously not very good.
Lara walked up to them and dropped the bags on the jetty. She offered her hand. "Lara Croft. I believe I spoke with your friend Sam yesterday?"
Atan nodded and shook Lara's hand. He then smiled at both women and made an inviting gesture towards the boat deck. Josephine climbed on the deck and moved to the open water side of the boat to admire the scenery as Lara and Atan carried the rest of their equipment to the dock. Atan then started loosening the ropes, and Lara hauled two tanks down on board.
"I'd so love some help in here," she hinted to Josephine, and together they managed to get the rest of their diving gear on the wooden deck without dropping them.
Atan steered them off the docks and towards the open lake. The sandy beach became a mass of brown as the mountains in the far horizon on the opposite banks of the mountain-framed Lake Malawi became more distinct.
"Is there any place we could change in?" Josephine whispered to Lara after she had told Atan they were at the spot, near an underwater arch of rock, obviously treacherous to anyone who didn't live and fish around Senga Bay.
"In the hold, I believe." Lara leaned on the side railing of the boat to gaze down to the muddy water. Maybe the water would be clearer in the bottom. The only underwater map she had managed to find from the Internet at home in Surrey read that the depth was around forty feet where they were parked. Underneath the boat, an archway of rock was visible. It looked uninviting.
Lara walked to the stern and pulled up the fish hold trapdoor. Atan tied the helm to the port railing and sat down on the deck with a sandwich.
Lara lowered herself down to the hold. It smelled heavily of fish, both ripe and rotten. It would have to do as a dressing room, as the small boat had no cabins.
Soon Josephine peered over the trapdoor edges and brought their bags. She jumped down, crashing on an old cardboard box as her grip on the trapdoor slipped.
"Are you alright?" Lara asked.
"Just swell. Let's get this show on the road." Josephine passed Lara her bag and then banged the trapdoor shut. Total darkness overcame the hold.
"Now that was a great idea," Lara taunted. "I can't see my own hands. Open the hatch."
"You don't suppose Atan will sneak up on us?" Josephine asked.
"And that would make the world lose its balance? He won't."
Nevertheless, Lara pushed open the hatch, and they changed quickly. Josephine felt a little out-of-place in her yellow swimming suit next to Lara's short-legged wet suit, but it would have to do. She had decided against her wetsuit as the water was warm and not very deep.
She was ready more quickly than Lara, who had to struggle with the stunt of the zipper in her back. Lara also carefully strapped a rough-blade diving knife to her calf. They climbed back up on the deck and declined Atan's offer of fly-covered sandwiches. They strapped onto their tanks and regulators, and Lara gave Josephine a 'go'-sign. She took one look at the muddy water, sat down on the railing, and let herself fall down back first. Lara followed, jumping feet first from the edge of the deck.
Josephine felt the ever-so-familiar slight panic of diving into an unknown place, and she felt a bit relieved as the bubbles that her dive had created surfaced, and she could see more clearly. Lara was to her left, head still on the surface, adjusting her goggles. In a minute Lara's head dived below surface, and they gave each other a 'down' -sign. Josephine set to follow Lara, who seemed to have a much better underwater light than she did.
They swam below a rock arch housing a family of blue fish, a very distinctive and helpful feature as they would sooner or later have to find the boat again.After a good five metres they slowed down and blew air from their noses to adjust the pressure in their ears. Lara's break was a bit longer as she had to get some water out of her mask as well.
There was less and less light as they dived deeper. Lara led the way, kicking steadily and quickly and Josephine had to admit her leg muscles weren't much competition to Lara's. Lara stopped every minute to check that Josephine was still there but it was only a nod of the head - it didn't seem that Lara was even looking behind her. A few pike-looking fishes swam past them and Josephine saw Lara touching a passing one's side.
Water was clearer deep down. After what Josephine's console called thirteen metres they saw a bottom. It was grey and dull-looking with almost no vegetation. Lara had told her Lake Malawi was a part of a long graben that went throughout Africa. It was old and deep at most parts, the part they were diving above was one of the highest points in the whole lake.. The rocky bottom housed crabs and colourful fish, but nothing else.
The ship should've been right under the arch. It wasn't - which was no news to Josephine.
But that wasn't a piece of information one could easily share with Lara Croft.
They had found nothing. No skeletons, no ship, no hull pieces. Only a pair of barracudas in the dark water. Lara had been visibly disappointed, as she agreed with Josephine of the fact that a note made my Josephine's father had clearly indicated the place. The Sudanese tomb wasn't mentioned on the scrap of paper, but it was close enough to some notes of it in a file held together by two thin leather straps.
Or had it?
Their boat had returned to the pier late in the afternoon. Atan hadn't accepted any money as a payment for the boat hire - he wanted a drink. Lara agreed before Josephine could have a say - not that she minded, but it was always nice to be considered the other person in charge - which she was.
They had settled into the crummiest of bars which was, unfortunately for the customers and fortunately for the owner - the only bar in town. The bartender was a young, white South African man named Chris. Josephine had shared a few smiles with him over the counter, just for the fun of it. Atan had gotten his drink, eight in fact, and left tipsy but happy at eight o'clock. Lara stood up an hour later after gulping down a glass of white wine, ready to leave.
"Josephine, are you still going to have a glass or two?"
Josephine glared to the bottom of her whisky soda. Her second. "Probably," she said.
The voice of Elvis rattled across the foyer from the radio. Lara put her glass on the counter. "I've got the mother of all headaches. I'm sorry for leaving you all alone here, but I think I'll be able to think more clearly after a few hours of sleep."
Josephine nodded. She didn't mind. After Lara had left she abandoned her chair at a table and landed on a chair next to the counter.
"Hey Chrissy, if you get me another one I'll give you an extra tip."
"Yes, Ma'am," Chris replied and reached under the counter for a bottle of scotch. "Long day?"
"Do they pay you for asking or are you actually interested?" Josephine blurted.
"I'm sorry if you took it that way."
Josephine noticed he spoke excellent English. "Are you really from around here?"
Chris scratched off smut from a wine glass and shook his head. "No. I'm from Johannesburg, but I studied law in Los Angeles."
"My mother's from around there," Josephine replied bluntly, wondering what a person with a law degree was going in a hellhole like Monkey Bay. At least it was a hellhole with beautiful nature.
Chris looked at her, apologetically. "We seem to have run out of soda. Can I get you something else?"
"A double scotch on the rocks and I'll be your friend always." Josephine flashed a friendly smile.
"Certainly. So, I assume you're one of the two ladies that made Atan's day."
"What do you mean?"
"He hasn't had a drink in weeks, the old smuggler. So, what's your interest in our little town?"
"I'm a tomb raider, you know," Josephine laughed. "The academical sort, though. My gun-toting, action-packed better half went to bed already."
Chris eyed her curiously. "She's Lara Croft, isn't she?"
Josephine snorted. "Darn if everyone doesn't know her." Josephine received her glass from Chris, suddenly lost her desire to mingle, and sat down to a side table.
She was tired of keeping up appearances. She had travelled there to prove a point to both herself anf the uppity bitch she had assumed Lara to be. She had been mistaken. Lara was a bit alike her, really. She only had better luck and no argument or discovery would change that. As a young student she'd dreamt of actually embarrassing Lara in front of the world, by finding out her dirty secrets or just plain embarrassing her. That dream had moved aside from more professional and grown-up desires of snapping Lara's nose just a little.
Josephine sipped her whisky. I'm going to get pissed, she thought. Who cares?
At one o'clock in the morning Josephine had to raise the reed mat on her room floor to see if she'd paced a canyon on the floor. She'd been walking around her room for three hours, waiting. At midnight Lara had flicked off her bedside lamp and after that there was no more sound from her room. Josephine had once snuck out of her window to the alley and looked in Lara's window. She slept with a pistol in her hand. Not stopping to wonder if the safety clip was still on, Josephine abandoned the idea of sneaking into Lara's room. She would only get herself pierced by bullets.
It was her discovery, and despite all her mistakes she had earned it. Earned it by working hard when others were rewarded for doing nothing but being adventurous and pretty. She hadn't cheated to get on top of things.
Josephine had became interested in history in her early teens and she realized at an early stage that all the famous people in history - they all had in common not skill and hard work but good luck. Since then she'd been intrigued by the nature of such luck. Now she had a live specimen of such fate, and she didn't feel interested anymore.
Because besides lucky people, famous figures of history had become famous by cheating, lying, murdering or deceiving.
And according to Josephine's brother-in-law Zippy G, Lara had gotten away with a lot of those. So, Josephine muttered to herself, what's preventing me from experimenting with such luck?
She had made up a plan. It wasn't anything fancy - dear old James Bond would've been ashamed, but it was good enough for her. One leg of her chair was loose and Josephine pulled it off, weighing it in her determined, but ever so slightly trembling hands. She opened her window wide and stuffed a few pillows underneath her bed covers. Then she slipped into the shadows behind the bathroom door. Near her was a metallic trash bin that hadn't been emptied for ages. Standing firmly, Josephine checked her watch. It read 01:32.
Then it began.
Josephine hit the trash bin with the chair leg as hard as she could, just once. In an amazing ten seconds she heard someone walking in the alley. Then the mouth of a silver-colored pistol appeared in the window. After that, Lara peeked in. "Josephine?" she asked.
Josephine clattered the trash bin a bit. Lara leapt in from the window, and landed on Josephine's bed. "Oh God, I'm sorry," Lara muttered, and quickly jumped down, placed her back against the wall, and patted the spot under the blankets where Josephine's shoulder was supposed to be. Naturally, Lara seemed a bit confused, as her landing on top of her hadn't woken her up. Josephine saw Lara bit her lip in the faint light coming from the alley. Then Lara turned to look at the bed and raised the blankets, staring at the pillows used in giving the impression of someone sleeping in the bed.
Then Josephine leapt from behind the door, and hit Lara in the head with all her might with the unfortunate chair leg. Lara managed to turn before the impact to face Josephine's horrified eyes, and for a split second Josephine was sure she would be done for. But then Lara fell. Josephine rushed to her side to avoid Lara's head colliding with the sharp edge of the dressing table, but she came a moment too late. Blood trickled down Lara's face as she fell down next to Josephine. The pistol had clattered away under the bed.
Gasping from the rush of adrenaline and scared to death, Josephine ran to flick on the lights.
She'd just knocked out Lara Croft, who lay next to her bed with a bloody face in a dark blue T-shirt and leggings, barefoot.
Josephine walked to the bathroom, kept a towel under running, cold water, and used it to wipe blood off Lara's nose.
She looked a bit pitiful, lying in there. It wasn't what Josephine had meant, but anyway. Straining her arm muscles she managed to pull Lara into her own bed and cover her with a blanket. Then she quickly dressed, snuck into Lara's room to get the jeep keys, grabbed her ready-packed bag and began the seven-hour drive to the nearest airfield to get a ticket to Namibia on the first possible flight.
Only to be archived at Fanfiction.net and "Lara Croft's Tales of Beauty and Power". All other sites please email me first at siirma6@surfeu.fi to gain permission.
Tomb Raider: Prevail by Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi)
Chapter 4
They had flipped a coin on who got to drive and Josephine had won. Lara enjoyed the scenery, her arm out of the window as they passed fields and houses, along with a shanty town inhabited by the poor. Little black children with supernaturally white teeth waved at them as they drove past. A group of women were carrying water on their heads and singing a happy melody in perfect harmony as they trekked towards the village. This was the real Africa.
The Senga Bay docks consisted of two half-rotten rows of logs, where dozens of boats were roped to. It reminded Josephine of a few Caribbean port of calls she had seen on her holidays with her ex-husband.
Josephine and Lara unpacked their equipment and set to wait. Lara put on a suffered straw hat and lied on the sand, and Josephine took a short stroll on the beach. She wanted to ask Lara when she had arranged to take off from the docks, but she sensed that time was a subjective word in Africa. And she didn't mind waiting on the beach.
A light had been burning in Lara's room late the previous night. At midnight Josephine had stuck her head out of her window to see where the gleam of light was coming from and seen Lara sitting on the window sill, glasses on, reading Josephine's notes, underlining phrases.
Now Lara had obviously dozed off on the hot sand.
After a good half-an-hour of waiting an old fishing boat with a low water line made its way to the more steady-looking jetty. It was steered by an old man, dark as coal who waved her hand at Josephine. She took off her hat and walked to the end of the jetty to grab the towrope. The old man jumped on the dock suprisingly lithely. He came to shake Josephine's hand and smiled widely. "Atan," he introduced.
"Josephine Ross," Josephine said, and turned to take a look at Lara, who had woken up and was now carrying their bags toward the dock.
"Josefin Rooz," Atan repeated. "Wellcome to my boat." His English was strongly accented, and obviously not very good.
Lara walked up to them and dropped the bags on the jetty. She offered her hand. "Lara Croft. I believe I spoke with your friend Sam yesterday?"
Atan nodded and shook Lara's hand. He then smiled at both women and made an inviting gesture towards the boat deck. Josephine climbed on the deck and moved to the open water side of the boat to admire the scenery as Lara and Atan carried the rest of their equipment to the dock. Atan then started loosening the ropes, and Lara hauled two tanks down on board.
"I'd so love some help in here," she hinted to Josephine, and together they managed to get the rest of their diving gear on the wooden deck without dropping them.
Atan steered them off the docks and towards the open lake. The sandy beach became a mass of brown as the mountains in the far horizon on the opposite banks of the mountain-framed Lake Malawi became more distinct.
"Is there any place we could change in?" Josephine whispered to Lara after she had told Atan they were at the spot, near an underwater arch of rock, obviously treacherous to anyone who didn't live and fish around Senga Bay.
"In the hold, I believe." Lara leaned on the side railing of the boat to gaze down to the muddy water. Maybe the water would be clearer in the bottom. The only underwater map she had managed to find from the Internet at home in Surrey read that the depth was around forty feet where they were parked. Underneath the boat, an archway of rock was visible. It looked uninviting.
Lara walked to the stern and pulled up the fish hold trapdoor. Atan tied the helm to the port railing and sat down on the deck with a sandwich.
Lara lowered herself down to the hold. It smelled heavily of fish, both ripe and rotten. It would have to do as a dressing room, as the small boat had no cabins.
Soon Josephine peered over the trapdoor edges and brought their bags. She jumped down, crashing on an old cardboard box as her grip on the trapdoor slipped.
"Are you alright?" Lara asked.
"Just swell. Let's get this show on the road." Josephine passed Lara her bag and then banged the trapdoor shut. Total darkness overcame the hold.
"Now that was a great idea," Lara taunted. "I can't see my own hands. Open the hatch."
"You don't suppose Atan will sneak up on us?" Josephine asked.
"And that would make the world lose its balance? He won't."
Nevertheless, Lara pushed open the hatch, and they changed quickly. Josephine felt a little out-of-place in her yellow swimming suit next to Lara's short-legged wet suit, but it would have to do. She had decided against her wetsuit as the water was warm and not very deep.
She was ready more quickly than Lara, who had to struggle with the stunt of the zipper in her back. Lara also carefully strapped a rough-blade diving knife to her calf. They climbed back up on the deck and declined Atan's offer of fly-covered sandwiches. They strapped onto their tanks and regulators, and Lara gave Josephine a 'go'-sign. She took one look at the muddy water, sat down on the railing, and let herself fall down back first. Lara followed, jumping feet first from the edge of the deck.
Josephine felt the ever-so-familiar slight panic of diving into an unknown place, and she felt a bit relieved as the bubbles that her dive had created surfaced, and she could see more clearly. Lara was to her left, head still on the surface, adjusting her goggles. In a minute Lara's head dived below surface, and they gave each other a 'down' -sign. Josephine set to follow Lara, who seemed to have a much better underwater light than she did.
They swam below a rock arch housing a family of blue fish, a very distinctive and helpful feature as they would sooner or later have to find the boat again.After a good five metres they slowed down and blew air from their noses to adjust the pressure in their ears. Lara's break was a bit longer as she had to get some water out of her mask as well.
There was less and less light as they dived deeper. Lara led the way, kicking steadily and quickly and Josephine had to admit her leg muscles weren't much competition to Lara's. Lara stopped every minute to check that Josephine was still there but it was only a nod of the head - it didn't seem that Lara was even looking behind her. A few pike-looking fishes swam past them and Josephine saw Lara touching a passing one's side.
Water was clearer deep down. After what Josephine's console called thirteen metres they saw a bottom. It was grey and dull-looking with almost no vegetation. Lara had told her Lake Malawi was a part of a long graben that went throughout Africa. It was old and deep at most parts, the part they were diving above was one of the highest points in the whole lake.. The rocky bottom housed crabs and colourful fish, but nothing else.
The ship should've been right under the arch. It wasn't - which was no news to Josephine.
But that wasn't a piece of information one could easily share with Lara Croft.
They had found nothing. No skeletons, no ship, no hull pieces. Only a pair of barracudas in the dark water. Lara had been visibly disappointed, as she agreed with Josephine of the fact that a note made my Josephine's father had clearly indicated the place. The Sudanese tomb wasn't mentioned on the scrap of paper, but it was close enough to some notes of it in a file held together by two thin leather straps.
Or had it?
Their boat had returned to the pier late in the afternoon. Atan hadn't accepted any money as a payment for the boat hire - he wanted a drink. Lara agreed before Josephine could have a say - not that she minded, but it was always nice to be considered the other person in charge - which she was.
They had settled into the crummiest of bars which was, unfortunately for the customers and fortunately for the owner - the only bar in town. The bartender was a young, white South African man named Chris. Josephine had shared a few smiles with him over the counter, just for the fun of it. Atan had gotten his drink, eight in fact, and left tipsy but happy at eight o'clock. Lara stood up an hour later after gulping down a glass of white wine, ready to leave.
"Josephine, are you still going to have a glass or two?"
Josephine glared to the bottom of her whisky soda. Her second. "Probably," she said.
The voice of Elvis rattled across the foyer from the radio. Lara put her glass on the counter. "I've got the mother of all headaches. I'm sorry for leaving you all alone here, but I think I'll be able to think more clearly after a few hours of sleep."
Josephine nodded. She didn't mind. After Lara had left she abandoned her chair at a table and landed on a chair next to the counter.
"Hey Chrissy, if you get me another one I'll give you an extra tip."
"Yes, Ma'am," Chris replied and reached under the counter for a bottle of scotch. "Long day?"
"Do they pay you for asking or are you actually interested?" Josephine blurted.
"I'm sorry if you took it that way."
Josephine noticed he spoke excellent English. "Are you really from around here?"
Chris scratched off smut from a wine glass and shook his head. "No. I'm from Johannesburg, but I studied law in Los Angeles."
"My mother's from around there," Josephine replied bluntly, wondering what a person with a law degree was going in a hellhole like Monkey Bay. At least it was a hellhole with beautiful nature.
Chris looked at her, apologetically. "We seem to have run out of soda. Can I get you something else?"
"A double scotch on the rocks and I'll be your friend always." Josephine flashed a friendly smile.
"Certainly. So, I assume you're one of the two ladies that made Atan's day."
"What do you mean?"
"He hasn't had a drink in weeks, the old smuggler. So, what's your interest in our little town?"
"I'm a tomb raider, you know," Josephine laughed. "The academical sort, though. My gun-toting, action-packed better half went to bed already."
Chris eyed her curiously. "She's Lara Croft, isn't she?"
Josephine snorted. "Darn if everyone doesn't know her." Josephine received her glass from Chris, suddenly lost her desire to mingle, and sat down to a side table.
She was tired of keeping up appearances. She had travelled there to prove a point to both herself anf the uppity bitch she had assumed Lara to be. She had been mistaken. Lara was a bit alike her, really. She only had better luck and no argument or discovery would change that. As a young student she'd dreamt of actually embarrassing Lara in front of the world, by finding out her dirty secrets or just plain embarrassing her. That dream had moved aside from more professional and grown-up desires of snapping Lara's nose just a little.
Josephine sipped her whisky. I'm going to get pissed, she thought. Who cares?
At one o'clock in the morning Josephine had to raise the reed mat on her room floor to see if she'd paced a canyon on the floor. She'd been walking around her room for three hours, waiting. At midnight Lara had flicked off her bedside lamp and after that there was no more sound from her room. Josephine had once snuck out of her window to the alley and looked in Lara's window. She slept with a pistol in her hand. Not stopping to wonder if the safety clip was still on, Josephine abandoned the idea of sneaking into Lara's room. She would only get herself pierced by bullets.
It was her discovery, and despite all her mistakes she had earned it. Earned it by working hard when others were rewarded for doing nothing but being adventurous and pretty. She hadn't cheated to get on top of things.
Josephine had became interested in history in her early teens and she realized at an early stage that all the famous people in history - they all had in common not skill and hard work but good luck. Since then she'd been intrigued by the nature of such luck. Now she had a live specimen of such fate, and she didn't feel interested anymore.
Because besides lucky people, famous figures of history had become famous by cheating, lying, murdering or deceiving.
And according to Josephine's brother-in-law Zippy G, Lara had gotten away with a lot of those. So, Josephine muttered to herself, what's preventing me from experimenting with such luck?
She had made up a plan. It wasn't anything fancy - dear old James Bond would've been ashamed, but it was good enough for her. One leg of her chair was loose and Josephine pulled it off, weighing it in her determined, but ever so slightly trembling hands. She opened her window wide and stuffed a few pillows underneath her bed covers. Then she slipped into the shadows behind the bathroom door. Near her was a metallic trash bin that hadn't been emptied for ages. Standing firmly, Josephine checked her watch. It read 01:32.
Then it began.
Josephine hit the trash bin with the chair leg as hard as she could, just once. In an amazing ten seconds she heard someone walking in the alley. Then the mouth of a silver-colored pistol appeared in the window. After that, Lara peeked in. "Josephine?" she asked.
Josephine clattered the trash bin a bit. Lara leapt in from the window, and landed on Josephine's bed. "Oh God, I'm sorry," Lara muttered, and quickly jumped down, placed her back against the wall, and patted the spot under the blankets where Josephine's shoulder was supposed to be. Naturally, Lara seemed a bit confused, as her landing on top of her hadn't woken her up. Josephine saw Lara bit her lip in the faint light coming from the alley. Then Lara turned to look at the bed and raised the blankets, staring at the pillows used in giving the impression of someone sleeping in the bed.
Then Josephine leapt from behind the door, and hit Lara in the head with all her might with the unfortunate chair leg. Lara managed to turn before the impact to face Josephine's horrified eyes, and for a split second Josephine was sure she would be done for. But then Lara fell. Josephine rushed to her side to avoid Lara's head colliding with the sharp edge of the dressing table, but she came a moment too late. Blood trickled down Lara's face as she fell down next to Josephine. The pistol had clattered away under the bed.
Gasping from the rush of adrenaline and scared to death, Josephine ran to flick on the lights.
She'd just knocked out Lara Croft, who lay next to her bed with a bloody face in a dark blue T-shirt and leggings, barefoot.
Josephine walked to the bathroom, kept a towel under running, cold water, and used it to wipe blood off Lara's nose.
She looked a bit pitiful, lying in there. It wasn't what Josephine had meant, but anyway. Straining her arm muscles she managed to pull Lara into her own bed and cover her with a blanket. Then she quickly dressed, snuck into Lara's room to get the jeep keys, grabbed her ready-packed bag and began the seven-hour drive to the nearest airfield to get a ticket to Namibia on the first possible flight.