They walked over the desert towards the hills for twenty minutes in silence, with Anthony keeping a discreet eye on her to make sure she was still doing alright. He stopped when they reached the rock field at the bottom of the hills, finding a bit of shadow to give them a break from the sun, and some protection against anyone looking for them.
"Water?" He offered her a drinking bottle drawn from a pocket in his robes.
"It's good, clean water" he added noting her hesitation. She took it, saying "Thank you" and sipped her first taste of pure water for over a week.
"Did the army send you?" she asked abruptly, still needing to process recent events.
He frowned and shook his head.
"No. No, I came off my own bat."
"How did you know where to find me?"
"I didn't know when I got here, but I knew how to find out. I pulled in every favour, and every string I could to find out which group was holding you, and where they were. The most difficult thing was to be introduced to them as an experienced headsman by people they trusted so they would accept me, but even that's possible if you know the right people, have enough money, and are, on average, a foot taller than most men in the vicinity."
They both considered this.
"How was my abduction reported…back home?"
It was a coded question. She didn't know whether Anthony knew about Michael or not.
"It was headline news the day after you disappeared. Every newspaper, internet bulletin, radio, and television station. I'm afraid I didn't really follow it after that, because I was here, looking for you."
"How did you get here so fast?"
"I emotionally blackmailed my old Colonel for passage on a transport flight direct from RAF Brize Norton."
"Why…?"
"No more questions for the moment, my dear. You're still coping wonderfully well, and I don't want to put that in danger, especially not while we climb this hillside and are still easy to spot by anyone out on the desert. Once we are over the crest and on the plain above, I promise I will answer all your questions."
He stood up, offered her his left hand to assist her, and made a start finding the easiest route up the rocky hillside.
... ... ...
About an hour later, they heard the engine of another jeep in the distance below them. Anthony caught her hand and scrambled to the cover of an overhanging rock, then drew a pair of small, high-specification binoculars from his robes and peered through them, watching the newcomers.
"They've found the bodies" he said to her in a low voice. "They're loading them back onto the first jeep, and one of them is driving them away. That's good. We've got one fewer to deal with."
"Do we have to deal with them at all?" Edith asked in panic. Anthony lowered his field glasses and looked at her sadly.
"Yes, dearest, we do, or rather, I do." He raised the binoculars again. "There's four of them now. One of them is following our tracks and indicating which way to go to the others in the other jeep. We have to do something."
Watching fear crease her face, he put out his hand to reassure her.
"Edith, sweetheart, I will do everything in my power to make sure they don't get hold of you again. Listen. Look at me and listen to my voice." He waited until she did, holding her tears at bay.
"We have the advantage that we know where they are, and they don't know where we are."
"Will you shoot them?" He became stony-faced at her question.
"Not if I can help it. I propose that we stay hidden around here." He looked about him. "There's a bit of a cave, well, not really a cave but an indent in the rock over there. If any of them find us, well…I'll deal with that if it happens."
"Can't you pick them off now?"
"No, dearest. I have a machine pistol and a handgun. Nothing else. I'd need a sniper rifle to hit them at this distance. Come on, sweet one, we could both do with a rest, even if it is enforced."
They walked very quietly to the fissure in the rock-face, keeping low, and squeezed through. It was very dark, quite small, but much cooler in there.
"This is better than I was hoping" said Anthony. "They'll actually have to try and get in through the crack to see if we're here, and by that time I will have dealt with them."
"Won't the others hear and come and find us?" she asked still terrified.
"Not the way I'm going to do it, no" he asserted, grimly. He sat on the stone floor and brought out a handgun and a silencer and proceeded to assemble them.
Below, the jeep engine cut out, and Anthony looked up at Edith.
"That means they've got to the bottom of the rock field. They'll have to climb now, and there won't be any tracks to speak of to follow on the rocks. It'll be sheer chance if any of them come this way."
He looked at her cowering, hugging her knees.
"You look done in, Edith. Why don't you try to sleep for a bit?"
"While there are men out there who are searching for me to kill me?" She hissed at him in disbelief.
"Sorry. I sometimes forget that us army types aren't normal. But here's a little trick I was taught. Close your eyes, breathe in for the count of three, hold it for three, and breathe out for three. You'll be better able to cope when we have to move again if you rest even a little. Concentrate on your breathing, and leave our pursuers to me, okay?"
"I'll…I'll try."
"You always were the bravest woman I'd ever known, Edith. I thought that this morning when I saw how you held yourself in the face of the…the nightmarish ghastliness, which you then thought inevitable. You were fantastic." He said it quietly, but with the emotion clear in his voice.
She smiled, just a little, and then went back to the breathing exercise. Despite her fears it did help her keep the panic at bay.
When she opened her eyes she saw that Anthony had taken up position just inside the fissure, to one side. In his black robes he was almost invisible. He stayed there on guard for the rest of the morning, waiting, watching.
A shadow crossed the entrance to their hiding place.
Anthony didn't move, but Edith could sense his readiness, like a tiger poised to attack. The shadow moved forward, to one side and back again, and then moved on. Anthony gave it a full ten minutes before he crawled to Edith's side to whisper.
"I think they must have moved on, but we will have to wait until they go back to the jeep, just to make sure."
Edith nodded her understanding, and watched as he went back to his sentry position. After that she had difficulty calming herself down again, and instead tried to distract herself by watching Anthony.
There were still so many questions. Why had he come for her? Where was Michael? What had Michael done to try to save her? Why didn't Anthony want to be called by his title any more?
She had never seen him doing his job as an officer. She wasn't surprised to find that he was so expert. It comforted her just to have him there, to know that he was protecting her. The contrast with what Michael had done, encouraging her to take this posting and utterly discounting the danger, was so extreme. Her anger with her editor flowed over her.
In a strange way, it felt good to be justifiably angry at someone, even if he was a thousand miles away. It was better than feeling hunted.
Without warning there were shouts outside, the jeep was fired up, and was driven away.
Anthony motioned to her to keep back and quiet, while he waited in case it was a trap to flush them out. When he heard nothing more, he took off his headdress, and cautiously leaned out through the crack in the rock. Edith saw his blonde hair, almost the same colour as the rocks and, for the first time, noticed that he had a week's growth of beard. He looked so different from the proper English gentleman she'd fallen for.
Still looking through his binoculars, he said "There's four of them in that jeep. They haven't left anyone to lie in wait for us to come out of hiding."
He slipped back inside.
"Do you feel up to trying to get up the rest of this hill?"
She was taken aback by his confidence.
"Do you really think we're going to make it?"
Anthony's smile faded, and he came to stand in front of her solemnly.
"I promise you I shall do everything in my power to get you home safely. Everything."
He meant it. She could see it. And she believed him. She smiled at him.
"I will get you home and return you to your family…and to your fiancé."
She looked away. So he did know.