Assegai

Before they went to their hut Leon issued instructions to the two Masai and Ishmael to have the horses saddled and make all preparations for departure at dawn on the morrow.

The night was quiet and still but they slept only fitfully. When they started awake they reached out for each other instinctively, seized by a formless sense of dread. When the birds in the surrounding forest began their symphonic chorus of greeting to the dawn, and first light showed through the chinks in the walls, they made love with a desperate abandon they had never known before; a passion storm that, when it passed its climax, left them trembling in each other’s arms, their naked bodies drenched with sweat, their hearts racing wildly. At last they drew apart and Leon whispered, ‘Time to go, my beloved. Get dressed.’

He rose and threw on his clothes before he went to the door and pulled it open. He stooped through the opening and stood upright. The forest around him was black. The morning star was still aloft, and pricked the dark velvet sky. The light was leaden and dull. Eva came through the doorway behind him and he placed his arm around her. He was about to speak when he saw the men. For a moment he thought they must be his own, for they were leading horses.

They had been waiting in the darkness at the edge of the forest, but now they came towards them, and as they drew closer, Leon saw that there were seven. Five askaris and two officers. They all wore slouch hats and khaki campaign uniform. The askaris carried rifles slung over their shoulders, the officers only sidearms. The senior man stopped in front of them, but he ignored Leon and saluted Eva.

‘How did you find us, Uncle Penrod? Did you have somebody watching Percy’s Camp who followed Ishmael here?’

Penrod nodded. ‘Of course.’ He turned back to Eva. ‘Good morning, Eva, my dear. I have a message for you from Mrs Ryan and Mr Brown in London.’

Eva recoiled. ‘No!’ she said. ‘Otto is dead and it’s all over.’

‘Graf Otto von Meerbach is not dead. I grant you, it was a close call. The doctor had to amputate his left arm, which was rotten with gas gangrene, and sew the rest of him together. The Graf was completely non compos mentis for a long time – in fact, until very recently. But he is as hard as granite and as tough as elephant hide. He is still very weak but he is asking for you, and I had to make up a cock-and-bull story to explain your absence. I think he truly loves you, and I have come to take you back to him so that you can finish the job you were sent to do.’

Leon stepped between them. ‘She is not going back. We love each other and we are going to marry as soon as we can get back to civilization.’

‘Lieutenant Courtney, may I remind you that I am your commanding officer and the correct form of address is either “sir” or “General”? Now, step aside at once.’

‘I can’t do that, sir. I can’t let you take her back.’ Leon hunched his shoulders stubbornly.

‘Captain!’ Penrod snapped, over his shoulder, and the younger officer stepped forward smartly.

‘Sir?’ he said. Leon recognized his voice, but in his distress it was a moment before he grasped that it was Eddy Roberts, Froggy Snell’s toady.

‘Arrest this man.’ Penrod’s expression was grim. ‘If he resists, shoot him in the kneecap.’

‘Sir! Yes, sir!’ Eddy sang out jubilantly. He drew his Webley revolver from its holster and Leon started towards him. Eddy stepped back, cocked the hammer and raised the weapon, but before he could level it Eva jumped between them and spread her arms. Now the pistol was aimed at her breast.

‘Hold your fire, man!’ Penrod shouted. ‘For God’s sake, don’t harm the woman.’ Eddy lowered the weapon uncertainly.

Immediately Eva switched her attention from Eddy to Penrod. ‘What do you want of me, General?’ She was very pale but her voice was cold and calm.

‘Just a few minutes of your time, my dear.’ Penrod took her arm to lead her away, but Leon intervened again.

‘Don’t go with him, Eva. He’ll talk you around.’

She glanced back at him, and he saw that her eyes were veiled and the spark had been extinguished. His guts shrank: she had gone back to that place where nobody could follow her, not even the man who loved her. ‘Eva!’ he pleaded. ‘Stay with me, my darling.’

She gave no indication that she had heard him, and allowed Penrod to walk her away. He led her to the edge of the cliff so that Leon could not hear a single word of their conversation. Penrod towered over her, head and shoulders. He was twice her bulk. Eva looked like a child beside him as she gazed up solemnly into his face and listened to what he was saying. He placed both hands on her shoulders and shook her gently, his expression grave. Leon could barely restrain himself. He wanted to protect and defend her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and cherish her for ever.

‘Yes, Courtney, do it!’ Eddy Roberts said, in a gloating tone. ‘Just give me the excuse. You got away with it last time, but that won’t happen again.’ The hammer was cocked, his finger was on the trigger and the weapon was aimed at Leon’s right leg. ‘Do it, you bastard! Give me the excuse to blow your bloody leg off.’

Leon knew he meant it. He clenched his hands until his fingernails dug into his palms, and ground his teeth. Eva was still staring up into Penrod’s face as he talked. Occasionally she nodded expressionlessly and Penrod kept talking, in his most charming and convincing manner. At last Eva’s shoulders slumped in capitulation and she nodded. Penrod placed an arm around her shoulders in an avuncular, concerned manner, then led her back to where Leon stood under the menace of Eddy’s pistol. She did not look at him. Her expression was dead.

‘Captain Roberts!’ Penrod said. He would not look at Leon either.

‘Sir?’

‘Use your handcuffs to restrain the prisoner.’

Eddy unhooked the bright steel chains from his webbing belt and snapped the bracelets on to Leon’s wrists.

‘Keep him here! Don’t harm him, unless he deserves it,’ Penrod ordered. ‘Don’t allow him off this mountain until you receive orders from me. Then take him to Nairobi under guard. Don’t let him speak to anyone there. Bring him directly to me.’

‘Yes, sir!’

‘Come along, my dear.’ He turned back to Eva. ‘We have a long ride ahead of us.’ They walked to the horses, and Leon called after them, his voice cracked with despair, ‘You can’t go, Eva. You can’t leave me now. Please, my darling.’

She paused to look back at him with opaque, hopeless eyes. ‘We were two silly children playing a game of make-believe. It’s over now. I have to go. Goodbye, Leon.’

‘Oh, God!’ He groaned. ‘Don’t you love me?’

‘No, Leon. The only thing I love is my duty.’ And he was not to know that her heart was breaking as she walked away, the lie still scalding her lips.