103. She Wanted Love (16 page)

“Then find me Samson quickly,” Eleta urged.

She thought as she spoke that she was being rather presumptuous in giving orders with the Marquis present.

But he did not say anything and she said to him,

“Whatever you do, my Lord, you must not be seen approaching. If you are seen, they might try to take Pepe somewhere different. Or perhaps just dispose of her.”

“You are quite certain,” the Marquis said quietly so that only she could hear, “that you are doing the right thing in going to Pepe? It is very brave of you and I suppose I should really go myself.”

“That would be disastrous. They would, I am sure, shoot at you even if they thought that you were bringing the money. As you can see, I am carrying a white flag and I think even Africans will understand what that means.”

Abbey brought Samson out of the stable and the Marquis, without waiting for her to go to the mounting block, lifted Eleta onto it.

Then he whispered so that only she could hear,

“I think that you are the bravest and quite the most wonderful woman I have met in my whole life. I promise you we will not be very far behind and I would willingly pay twenty thousand pounds to save you and Pepe from having to go through all this.”

“It is a challenge and we cannot allow them to get away with it,” Eleta asserted.

She did not wait for him to answer, but rode away holding the white flag and because she had not put on a hat the Marquis thought that she looked extremely lovely with the sunshine again turning her hair to gold.

She looked very small on a very large horse and at the same time she was going into battle against the enemy.

He knew that he had to save her as well as Pepe.

He therefore started giving his orders sharply in a manner that made everyone start running to do what he asked of them.

Eleta did not hurry across the fields.

She thought if anyone was watching her they might be agitated into thinking she had an army behind her.

She passed through the wood thinking as she did so that the kidnappers had chosen exactly the right place to receive the money they expected.

The pool was protected by the trees and it would be difficult for anyone to hide there without being seen.

Then she was in the open fields where at the far end was the large stony hill and in the distance she could see the mouth of the cave.

Holding up her flag so that it was high above her head, she rode directly across the middle of the field.

She wondered if anyone was watching her and she began to pray that Pepe was not hurt and that she would reach her safely.

It was an eerie feeling to be aware that eyes were watching her from a darkness she could not see into.

At last she reached the foot of the hill and it was then that she realised that the whole of the lower part of it was of rock and only in the entrance at the top was there anywhere for a man to hide.

Eleta dismounted and knotted the reins so that they would not be in the way of Samson eating the grass.

Then she patted him and he made no effort to trot away. He merely looked for some good grass.

Then she began to climb up the rocks.

It was a slow process and by this time the sun was very hot and she felt breathless when she reached the top.

Then two men appeared out of the darkness of the entrance to the cave.

“What you want?” one of them asked harshly.

One look at them told her that she had been right in thinking they were Arabs.

As he was speaking in an almost unintelligible way in English, she answered him in French.

“I have come to tell you,” she said slowly so that they could understand every word, “that his Lordship, the Marquis, has gone to the bank to fetch the money you have asked for his daughter. I have come to stay with her until he puts it down in the wood by the pool as you demanded.”

“You be sure that he’s goin’ there and not a-comin’ here?” the man asked.

To her relief he spoke in broken French, but she was sure that it was better than his English.

Fortunately, because she had been interested during the time she was in Africa, she had learnt a little of their language.

Now she repeated what she had said in French in what she was able to remember of Arabic.

The man laughed.

“You speak our language!”

“I think your country is very beautiful,” she replied, “and I hope to go back there.”

“That’s what we hopes too,” the man said. “And, when we goes back, we’ll go back rich.”

“You will be rich as soon as the Marquis can bring the money for you,” Eleta told him in English. “But he does not have all the money in the house.”

She was not certain if he understood this and so she therefore said it again both in French and Arabic.

Then, as they seemed to be pleased at what she had told them, she asked,

“Now may I please go to the child? She must be very frightened and I don’t want her to be upset.”

The two men looked at each other and then the first man shrugged his shoulders.

“I suppose it’ll do no harm.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Eleta said. “I just want to tell her stories and keep her happy until her father gives you the money you have asked for.”

“He’d better do that,” the other man answered, “or he no see daughter again!”

Eleta took a few paces forward and he led the way.

The outer cave was low and very dark. It was like a tunnel and Eleta was thinking just how much it must have scared Pepe.

Then there was a light ahead and Eleta now found herself in a very large cave and there was sunlight seeping through some holes in the broken rocks of the roof.

She could understand why people had said it was dangerous, as, if they walked on top of the rocky roof, it would be easy to fall through, even if not down into the cave and they might easily break an arm or leg in an effort to save themselves.

Patches of light made it easy for her to see Pepe.

She was sitting on the floor at the far end of the cave with her feet tied together.

She gave a cry when she saw Eleta.

“It’s you! It’s you”

“Yes, it is me,” Eleta said, running towards her and, kneeling down beside Pepe, she put her arms round her.

As she did so, Pepe burst into tears and she held her very close.

“It’s all right,” she whispered, “it’s quite all right. I am here and I am going to stay with you until your father rescues us.”

“I am frightened, so very frightened,” Pepe wept.

“Of course you are, but I am sure you have been very brave and now we just have to wait here until your Daddy gives these men the money they have asked for. I can tell you, darling, that you are very very expensive!”

“They said they were asking for money for me and I was afraid Daddy would not give it to them.”

“Of course he will,” Eleta assured her.

The man who had led the way was still listening.

“Now the first thing I am going to do,” Eleta said, “is to undo this rope which is round your legs.”

“It’s very tight,” Pepe sobbed, “and it hurts me.”

“I am sure it does.”

Eleta waved to the man watching and asked,

“Please take this rope off the child’s legs. She will not run away now I am here.”

He seemed about to refuse and then Eleta said,

“Please, there cannot be any reason for her to be tied up now I am with her.”

Somewhat grudgingly, she thought, he drew a knife from his pocket and with some difficulty he cut through the rope and Eleta took it away from Pepe’s legs.

She was wearing her riding boots and the rope had been so tightly tied that despite the boots it must have been painful.

“Now we are comfortable,” Eleta said, “and, as there is nothing but rocks around this place, we just have to make the best of it.”

“How did you know – I was here?” Pepe asked.

“I guessed it because it seemed the only place they could really hide you and not be seen. Now what we have to do while we are waiting for your father is to hold hands and not be too afraid.”

As she was talking, she realised that another man she had not seen before, joined the man watching them.

He spoke to him in Arabic which she understood and then he said to her in broken English,

“See no one comin’. Her said he gettin’ money, put by pool.”

“Take him long time to get big sum,” the man who had been the guide muttered.

“More the better. Then we leave quick, ship sails tomorrow night.”

Listening, this told Eleta that she had been right in thinking that they were Arabs. From the way they looked, she was sure that they came from the Western region of North Africa where she had stayed with her friends.

Pepe had now stopped crying and she wiped her eyes with her handkerchief.

“Why were you carrying my flag?” Pepe asked her. “And why have you made it white?”

“I will tell you a story about flags,” Eleta said, “and I think it’s something you will find interesting.”

She started to tell her how flags were first used and how important they became in war. It took some time and Eleta realised, as she was making Pepe laugh, that now the two men at the entrance to the cave were listening to what she was saying.

They had even sat down on the ground, sitting in their traditional way on their heels.

Pepe, because Eleta had her arms round her, was leaning her head comfortably on her shoulder.

She was listening and apparently quite happy.

Then suddenly, at what seemed a long time later, when her voice was becoming quite hoarse from talking so long, the man she had first seen when she arrived came running down the cave.

“A man’s come round corner,” he called out, “and I thinks he be Marquis.”

“He go to wood?” one of them asked.

“He be alone, but if he’s up to tricks or take back money after we left, give him shot in leg so we get away.”

He did not wait for the others to answer, but just as they understood, so did Eleta.

Without disturbing Pepe, she managed to take out her her revolver.

Gently she put it where she could reach it quickly and then she started another story about a flag.

At the same time she was watching the men at the far end of the cave.

Each man, Eleta saw, produced a pistol.

Then they stood up and were watching the entrance.

She ceased speaking and there was silence.

Then she heard the voice of the third man and what she was sure was the Marquis asking him where Pepe was.

It was then, without waiting any longer, she fired at the two men.

There were two resounding reports that echoed and re-echoed in the cave.

Eleta shot the first man in the shoulder.

He screamed out and fell backwards, his gun falling from his hands.

Then she shot the other man in the right arm and he too dropped the gun he was holding.

At first he held his arm and then collapsed onto the ground.

It was then that another shot rang out.

Pepe screamed and hid her face against Eleta.

The Marquis then walked into the cave and he was holding a revolver in his hand. He saw Pepe and Eleta and hurried across the cave towards them.

He went down on one knee and asked Eleta,

“Who shot those other two men?”

She looked up at him and raised her hand and he saw the revolver she was holding.

Then Pepe cried,

“Daddy! Daddy! I am terrified. Take me away.”

“That is exactly what I am going to do, my darling Pepe.”

The Marquis lifted Pepe into his arms, kissed her and she hid her face against his shoulder.

“This is a horrible place,” she whispered, “and I want to go home.”

“That is just where I am taking you,” the Marquis said, as he stood up and put his revolver into his pocket.

Then he held out his free hand to Eleta and she took it, feeling that the clasp of his fingers was very comforting.

As she climbed to her feet, the Marquis said,

“You are absolutely wonderful.”

Then, as she looked up at him, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he bent his head and kissed her on the lips.

For a moment they were absolutely still and Eleta felt that same sensation she had when she first saw him.

But now she knew it was love and she loved him.

The Marquis had turned away and was walking to where the men were moaning on the ground.

Even as he reached them, the Head Groom and two footmen came hurrying towards them.

“Are you all right, my Lord?” they asked.

“There are two casualties here, Abbey. Take them with the man I shot to the nearest Police Station and say that I will be there tomorrow morning to charge them.”

“Very good, my Lord,” the Head Groom replied.

Still carrying Pepe, the Marquis went ahead and once they were outside Eleta saw that there were four more men from The Court, all carrying guns and looking pleased with themselves.

The man the Marquis had shot was groaning and Eleta saw that he had been shot in the leg.

When the men from The Court saw Pepe in the Marquis’s arms and Eleta beside him, they cheered.

He very carefully carried Pepe down the rocks and, as they reached the bottom, two more of his men brought the horses round from behind the entrance.

Eleta realised that the Marquis had taken her advice and he had approached the cave from the road, making a major detour, which was why he had taken so long.

She supposed they had really come as quickly as possible, but it seemed to her that she had been telling the stories about the flags for at least a hundred years!

“I think that Pepe should ride home with me,” the Marquis said as they brought him his horse.

“I would like that, Daddy,” Pepe murmured.

She had not spoken all the time that her father was carrying her down the hill and now she was safe, she raised her head from his shoulder.

“There is no hurry,” the Marquis said. “At the same time, I don’t know about you, but I am very hungry.”

“It seems such a long time since breakfast,” Eleta replied. “But we will be home for luncheon and I am sure that the chef will have thought of a delicious new dish.”