Chapter Twenty-Two
February 4, Afternoon at Camp
As the afternoon wore on, Dane became more and more worried. He felt again that pressing need to pray for Angelique and Drew, and spent a lot of time in prayer, so much so that he missed what was going on under his nose. Zabronski sidled up to Fredericks, “I’ve been thinking about all that money, just going to waste out there.”
Fredericks looked up at him, a trifle fearfully. He had seen what Shaw had done to Zabronski, but he also knew that he was no Dane Shaw. “What about it? I suppose we will pick up the halftrack on the way back, and the captain will turn the money over to the authorities.”
“But what will they do with it, and who’s to say that it won’t disappear into some moneygrubbing hands that have less right to it than we do? After all, we’re the ones who risked our lives to recapture it,” he said persuasively.
“Well,” Fredericks twisted uncomfortably, “that has nothing to do with me. I know the corporal is going to turn it over, and you can’t stop him. The captain and Tielson are on his side about it too. There’s nothing that you can do about it.”
The Russian’s face turned dark at the jibe about the fight. “Things happen during battles, people die,” he said smoothly and walked away, leaving a man behind him, frightened, but not knowing what to do.
As midafternoon came, Dane took his turn on the hill as guard. He carefully searched the barren hills, but saw no sign of life. “Not even much vegetation,” he mused to himself. Some low bushes, some kind of thistles, and a handful of cacti were all that he could see. In the distance, he could see some greenery, probably marking oases.
As he scanned the desert hills, he could feel a pressure, like someone crying out for help, and he was needed to supply that help. He felt it mount and mount while images of Angelique and Drew filled his mind. He had no doubt this was coming from God, that God wanted him to pray for them. He prayed and begged God for the help he was sure Angelique and Drew needed now. He wanted to fly to their rescue, but he couldn’t; he didn’t know where they were. Only God could help them right now, and he was begging God to supply that help. But all the while he prayed, he also knew that his men were depending on him to be their lookout and he did not close his eyes, but kept them active.
Suddenly, he spotted movement towards the north, and at the same time the pressure left him. Whatever was happening to them was now in God’s hands, and he had to concentrate on the here and now. He ducked for cover, and carefully using the binoculars so they wouldn’t reflect the sun, scanned the hills. A group of Arabs jumped into view and his heart jumped too; they were spread out in a line abreast, watching the ground, moving from the northwest towards the southeast. Suddenly one of them pulled his camel to a stop and flung his arm up in the air. The others gathered around him, looking at the ground.
“Found our tracks,” Dane muttered to himself, his mind now completely focused on the problem materializing in front of him. Then one of them looked up, apparently straight at Dane. Dane froze, knowing that he was invisible to the Arab where he was lying, but that any movement would draw the man’s attention. He could see the Arab’s face in the glasses, a sly, cruel looking man with grey appearing in his beard. The Arab broke the unseen eye contact and turned to his comrades and said unheard orders to them. They turned directly in the direction of the camp. Dane counted nine of them.
Dane moved carefully, keeping under cover, until he could look down into the camp. He saw Tielson, and threw a rock to catch his attention. When Tielson looked up, Dane pointed in the direction the Arabs were coming and held up nine fingers. Tielson nodded his understanding and quickly and silently alerted the others. They assumed their defensive positions and Dane melted away.
As the Arabs came into view, Bob Tielson carefully picked out his target. Some sixth sense seemed to warn the Arab and he halted, looking around for the danger. Tielson squeezed the trigger and the Arab tumbled off his camel and lay still on the ground. Three more rifle shots rang out and another Arab fell to the ground. Suddenly all the Arabs disappeared from sight. Tielson wiped his sweaty face, and a bullet ricocheted off the rock he was hiding behind. He fired back and heard the whine of his bullet as it smashed off a rock. A few minutes later he saw a bush slightly move and he sent a round through it, and instantly two or three bullets smashed into his rock, cutting his face slightly with rock fragments. He heard Fredericks off to his right and then Zabronski above and behind him return the fire. High above them all, Dane lay hidden in the rocks, waiting and watching for an opportunity to whittle down the odds, undetected by the attacking Arabs, his eyes constantly on the move while his body waited motionless.
Webster caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure and fired, but in his haste shot too high, and then he, too, was bracketed by rifle fire. By now, the Arabs had pegged the positions of the four Americans and started working their way around them. Sporadic gunfire would erupt whenever one side would catch glimpses of the other. Fredericks got his hand burned, and Webster got a leg scratched.
Suddenly, there was a single gunshot, and an Arab threw up his hands and slid down the slope. Startled, the Arab leader, Ali, looked around. Where had that shot come from? His desert wise eyes could see nothing, and yet there must be a fifth enemy somewhere. He felt a premonition that it must be that fox he had mentioned two days ago. He motioned for his men to keep up the pressure while he tried to keep an eye out for where the fox was holed up. Another half an hour passed, with an occasional burst of fire as he tightened the circle about the Americans. But his divided attention cost him, as Tielson saw him dodge from one rock to another and wounded him.
Then came that single shot again and an Arab howled in pain, grabbing his side. Ali was close enough to pull him to safety and see how bad the wound was. By now, Ali was worried. He had three dead and another badly wounded. He himself was nursing a shoulder wound, and he still had no idea where the hidden marksman was. He scanned the slope above him, and his heart froze. If the fox was up there near the top, it would only be a matter of time before more of his men would be killed. Since no firing had come from there at first, he had assumed no one was up there and he had allowed his men to come in close enough that now they were in real danger from that infidel. He cursed the fox under his breath and then raised his voice, “Back, my children, back to the camels.”
Zabronski, from his position, could tell that the Arabs were starting to pull back. He could see one Arab who was trying to draw a bead on Tielson before he left. He could also plainly see Tielson. He carefully aimed his rifle and squeezed the trigger. The rock exploded just inches from Tielson’s face. Startled, he jerked his head up. An Arab bullet found its mark, and Tielson fell down, dead.
After the Arabs’ departure, the Americans gathered around their fallen comrade while Dane watched to make sure the Arabs really left. He rose from his hiding place and sped down the slope to the gathering, and only then found out that Tielson was dead. Dane, with real sorrow, gathered his friend’s belongings together. While Dane was busy, Zabronski, with an innocent face, spoke to Fredericks, “See what I mean about people dying in battle? Are you with us or not?”
“You killed Tielson?” Fredericks asked in shock.
“Check the body, he was killed by an Arab,” Zabronski said with a smirk. Fredericks looked at the big man and shivered. If he accused Zabronski of murdering Tielson, there was no proof and who would believe him? If he could have Tielson killed that easily, how much easier would it be for Zabronski to have him killed? Thinking that he was trapped, and overawed by the bigger and wilier man, Fredericks jerked a nod. “Good man,” Zabronski clapped him on the shoulder with a jovial laugh. “What do you want me to do?” Fredericks asked miserably. “Nothing, just don’t interfere, and for that you will get a full share of the treasure.”
Dane returned to Tielson’s body with real distress on his face, “We don’t have anything to dig a grave with, and I don’t want to just leave his body out here.” He
sighed, “Well, let’s put it in the overhang for now.” Zabronski volunteered to help, and the two of them carried the body and put it at the back of the overhang.
The sun was sinking behind the mountains in the west when they heard a truck motor coming closer. Alarmed, they hid themselves and watched a German truck come into sight. They were readying their weapons when it stopped and a woman got out of the cab. Angelique! They stood up and waved, and she waved back and climbed back in the truck, and the truck started up again. Now it was close enough to see the captain driving, and Dane ran down the slope to greet them.
Zabronski stared at the truck and saw all of his plans go up in smoke. With the truck, there was no need to go back and get the halftrack and loot, and he knew full well the corporal and captain regarded it as unimportant and would not go after it. He had to come up with another plan quickly. While the other three conversed, Zabronski gathered his henchmen and hatched another plan.
“What happened?” panted Dane. Drew started to explain but Dane waved him off, “Did you get the information?”
“Yes, but what is the matter?” Drew asked, puzzled by Dane’s demeanor.
“We were attacked by Arabs. We drove them off, but I’ll bet anything they’ll be back tonight. They killed Tielson.”
“Oh, no!” gasped Angelique.
Drew stared at him, “And we are probably being trailed from town, to boot. We have to leave now.” By then Zabronski and the others had joined them and the captain started issuing orders. “Break camp and load up the truck. We can’t go back by the Faid Pass, we’ll have to go south around the mountains and back northwest to our lines.” All of them noticed the change in the captain; instead of asking questions and relying on Dane, he was issuing orders and taking command. With a chorus of ‘Yes, sirs,’ they started scurrying around.
Zabronski carefully looked around. Shaw had found an iron rod in the truck and was trying to cave in part of the overhang to bury Bob Tielson, Angelique had put her belongings in the back of the truck and was watching the corporal, and the captain was carrying an armful of stuff towards the truck. He nodded to Webster and waited for the captain at the back of the truck. “Hey cap’n, did you see this?” holding back the flap and pointing to something in the bed of the truck.
“I haven’t looked back there, what is it?” Drew tried to see what Zabronski was pointing to. Zabronski lifted his rifle butt and brought it crashing down on the captain’s head. He crumpled to the ground. Zabronski picked the body up and heaved it into the truck and crawled in after it, tied and gagged the unconscious man, and then scrambled out again.
Webster wandered over to Angelique and touched her arm to get her attention, “Ma’am, the captain wants to see you at the back of the truck.”
“Oh, oui,” Angelique hurried over to see what Drew wanted while Webster moved over to Fredericks and whispered in his ear. The two of them walked over to the truck. When Angelique reached the back of the truck, she didn’t see anyone, so she lifted the flap to look into the bed of the truck. Just then she felt something stick into her back, and a hand roughly cover her mouth. “Make any noise and it will be your last,” hissed Zabronski’s voice in her ear. “Get in,” he commanded. She looked down to see the knife in his hand and climbed into the back of the truck. He tied and gagged her and left her lying beside Drew. Holding the captain’s pistol, he went back to the front of the truck, while Webster climbed in the back and Fredericks got under the wheel and started the truck.
Dane had finally got enough of the overhang to collapse to cover the body and backed out, subconsciously noticing the motor starting. “They must be ready to go,” he thought to himself as he picked up his submachine gun and got to his feet. He took a step and noticed something glittering in the rocky soil by his feet. A clip of ammo! What was it doing there? He bent down to pick it up. The bending down saved his life, for Zabronski fired just then. The bullet, instead of hitting him in the chest, hit his right shoulder and spilled him to the ground. Immediately, he rolled on the ground, gun out, looking for the assailant. He saw Zabronski standing on the far side of the truck, a look of surprise on his face at having missed such an easy target, and holding a pistol pointed at him.
Dane sprayed some bullets at him but missed as Zabronski jumped in the truck and hollered, “Go! Go!” Where were Angelique and the captain? Dane spared a quick look around but did not see them, and realized they must be in the truck. He held the gun down and sprayed more bullets at the tires of the disappearing truck, so as not to hit anyone inside. He saw with satisfaction that he hit one tire, but it was not enough, the truck kept on going.
After it was gone he sat there, surprised at the rapid turn of events, trying to grasp what had happened. “First things first,” he muttered and applied sulpha powder and a bandage to his shoulder. As far as he could tell, it wasn’t a major wound; it had passed through the top of his shoulder, somehow missing the bones. The shock was wearing off already and it was starting to hurt.
He took stock of his belongings; he had his submachine gun and spare ammo, his canteen was almost full of water, he had found the hand grenade in Tielson’s belt and added it to his own, so he had two now. He had no food and was over fifty miles away from the American lines as the crow flies, about twice that distance the way he would have to go. But the questions were, where was Zabronski taking the others, and why break away now?
Dane bowed his head, “Lord, you know what is going on and why. Where are they going? Is there a way that I can rescue Drew and Angelique? Lord, I need you to direct my steps now, and I cannot afford to make a mistake. Lord, give me wisdom. I need you now, Drew needs you now, Angelique needs you now. Oh God, help me!”
He sat there with his eyes closed, thinking. They had been on the verge of heading south, and the halftrack and loot were north. He opened his eyes. So that was why Zabronski had fled now, he wanted that loot. But he didn’t know that the loot and halftrack were hidden in different places. Drew would resist showing Zabronski where they were, knowing that once he did, Zabronski would have no further use for him and kill him. But Zabronski also had Angelique, and could use her to force Drew to tell him. Dane ruthlessly forced from his mind the methods Zabronski would use. If Drew resisted long enough, and went to the halftrack first, that just might give Dane time to get to the hidden treasure first. He also had to get out of here; the Arabs were probably not far away and just as likely had heard the gunfire. He got to his feet, took his bearings, and started walking north, a set look to his face and a greenish cast to his eyes.
Back to Table of Contents