Flight of Souls

Chapter 17 - Pursuit

Rick and Ardeth ended up spending several hours working with Ardeth's horses. The first time they'd returned to the camp to switch mounts, Ardeth had noticed the bay mare and foal weren't in their pen. Assuming that Tia or A'isha had taken the horses to the oasis, he didn't think much of it. When he and Rick returned a second time and the mare and foal were still missing, he wondered, but dismissed it. Likely Evie had gone with Tia and they were deep in discussion of ancient Egypt.

Rick collapsed on the ground under a small tree and took a long swig from a skin full of water. "I haven't done this much riding in years." He leaned back and let out a deep breath. "You have marvelous horses, Ardeth."

Ardeth grinned at the compliment and moved to another pen to check the pregnant Dawn's Light. No signs of imminent labor. He straightened and frowned slightly. Two adolescent boys were leading the bay mare and foal back from the oasis. They looked at him apprehensively. "What is this?" he asked sharply.

The older of the two shrugged and looked uncertain. "They were down at the oasis alone, Lord Ardeth," he said. "Hamid and I just brought them back."

"Alone?" Ardeth's voice became even sharper with alarm. Without another word, he jogged toward his tent and flung back the flap. A quick look inside showed that there was no one there. Swiftly he crossed to his grandfather's tent and disappeared inside. Apprehensively, Rick followed. He reached the tent just in time to meet Ardeth coming out. They stared at each other for a moment. Ardeth's voice was clipped, his face grim. "Tia and Evie took the mare and foal to the water this morning, not long after you and I rode out the first time."

"Goddammit." Rick turned and sprinted toward the oasis, followed closely by the tall Arab.

When the reached the water, they quickly scanned the area. There were several people there, but none were the missing women. Ardeth's eyes began searching the underbrush looking for any disturbance. One area showed several broken branches and trampled foliage. He began to examine the ground nearby. "Rick!"

Rick looked to where Ardeth was pointing, and saw the hieroglyphic drawn in the sand. He looked up. "That's the symbol for 'help'."

The two adolescent boys gaped in surprise as Ardeth and Rick strode back toward the tents. Rick's usually amiable face was set in grim lines, and Ardeth's looked like an approaching thunderstorm. Ardeth's eyes flicked in the direction of the boys and snapped out an order in Arabic. They fell over themselves to grab saddles and hurried to tack up the two horses indicated.

Ardeth ripped aside his tent flap and disappeared inside. He reappeared a few minutes later, saddlebags in one hand and rifle in the other. Rick emerged from the tent he and Evie had stayed in wearing four pistols in holsters, and carrying his favorite shotgun. Ardeth flung back the flap of his grandfather's tent and walked in. A'isha met him halfway into the tent, grabbed the saddlebags and disappeared into the women's quarters in the back. Ardeth stopped in front of Lord Asim. "Tia and Evelyn O'Connell have been taken away," he said bluntly. Rick and I are going after them."

Asim rose to his feet. "Go with Allah, then Ardeth."

Ardeth nodded curtly. A'isha came out at that moment and handed him the saddlebags. "Take care, my son." He kissed her quickly on the cheek, then turned and strode out.

When he got to the horse pens to two boys had just about finished tacking up the horses. Rick was in the process of strapping the saddle holster for his shotgun onto the saddle of a light gray mare. Ardeth flung the saddlebags onto Midnight Song's back and started to strap them into place. "That's one of my better mares," he said, jerking his chin toward the nearly white horse. "Her name is Silver Dove."

Rick nodded curtly. "Then we'll make good time."

Ardeth thrust his rifle into the holster on the saddle made for it, checked the girth and swung up. "We will."

Rick mounted and the two men rode out, the boys backing hastily out of the way. After seeing the sign Evie had traced in the sand, they'd followed the trail until they'd found the place where two camels had been tethered. Footprints continued out into the desert beyond the oasis. Knowing the area well, Ardeth turned his horse to a narrow path that headed up one of the hills that bordered the camp. This should be a shortcut to wherever the kidnappers had headed. When the reached the trail, he dismounted and checked the tracks. Yes, these were the tracks of the same camels.

"How much of a lead do you think they have?" Rick asked.

"A few hours at least," Ardeth replied, mounting up again. "The camels will be going slower than the horses.

"Will we be able to catch them?"

"I hope so."

Tia closed her eyes in weariness. The two men who'd kidnapped them kept whipping the camels into a faster gait than the camels wanted to travel in. The resulting jolting was enough to make anyone sick to their stomachs. Riding double on a horse with Ardeth seemed luxurious in comparison. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on breathing in and out. The veil over her face kept the dust out of her nose and mouth. That was one good thing anyway.

Evie wasn't wearing a veil, and was having trouble with the dust. She had to choose between shielding her face with her hands or holding on to the jolting camel. With her hands bound before her, she couldn't do both at the same time. She assumed that the men were pushing the camels at a fast clip to try and avoid pursuit. Obviously they feared that the Medjai would overtake them. Evie knew that Ardeth had some magnificent horses, and like most desert men, was a good tracker. She also knew that Rick wouldn't rest until he'd found her. She just hoped that help would come soon. There was no way of knowing how long they'd been gone before they were missed.

An hour or so before sundown, the men stopped. The camels groaned as they went down on their knees so their riders could dismount. Tia staggered away from the camel. She'd barely regained her balance when one of the men, Bakkar, she thought she'd heard him called, grabbed her arm and shoved her to the ground. The other man, Malik, forced Evie to the ground next to her. He snarled an order in Arabic. "Stay put." Or at least that's what Tia thought he said.

The women exchanged glances. "Are you okay?" Tia asked. Evie was coughing, choking up the dust she'd inhaled.

Bakkar came over the backhanded Tia across the face, knocking her over. "No talking!" Malik got out a radio and started it up, talking into it in a low voice. Tia levered herself back up to a sitting position and pressed the veil into her stinging lip. The edge of the fabric turned red.

Evie reached out and put her hands on Tia's shoulder, squeezing slightly. "They'll come for us," she mouthed. Tia nodded. Yes, they would. The only question was when.

You're right ephona, I do love all the reviews! When I saw I had 16 waiting for me my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Hope you like this chapter too.