The Key

106

John Mann led the way with Gabriel and Liv sharing the bigger horse. They had followed the line of the wadi for a few hundred metres then cut across to another dry riverbed that sliced through the land in a different direction. Behind them the sound of gunfire rapidly melted away until all they could hear was the night air rushing past their ears and the thud of hooves on the dust.

Liv clung on to Gabriel partly just to feel him close but also to give him comfort. The revelation in the cave had been so sudden and shocking, she couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for him. She was glad it had happened though. She hated the thought that, if she did die, Gabriel would be alone in the world with all his family gone. Now he had someone, and she was glad for that.

She looked up and saw the snaking line of Draco pointing to where the moon hung low, only the merest impression of it remaining in the lightening sky.

Not long now, she thought. One way or another, not long now.

‘It’s me,’ Hyde called out as he neared the cave entrance. ‘Don’t shoot.’

He scrambled up the side of the wadi, scoping the landscape with his night-sight. There was still too much dust hanging in the air to see very far and the dust kicked up by a couple of horses would be a lot less than a vehicle. They had at least a fifteen-minute head start, but couldn’t have gone too far. He slid back down the bank and ducked into the cab of the personnel carrier. The radio squawked as he plucked it from the dashboard.

‘Base, this is Point One, do you read?’

‘Copy that.’

‘We have need of immediate air assistance for a search and discover. Get that Cobra airborne and tell it to turn on every instrument on the dash. I want it to light up this desert like a Christmas tree.’