Chapter 43

That day uniforms and rifles were distributed so men sat round loading clips and putting them into their bandoliers. During the evening David said good-bye to Susan and the children. Hanga had packed his saddlebags and bedroll onto Zeus along with his rifle in its scabbard. One of the .45 Colt Semi-Automatics was put in his saddle holster and he wore the other in his belt holster along with his kukri. Outside he said farewell to Martin and Jill before turning to Sultar, “Keep them safe old friend,” he murmured.

“With my life David,” was the reply.

Then with N’debi trotting on ahead and Tartrha at his side, the troop moved off down the track to the entrance. The Havildar in charge of guarding the entrance stopped David. “Colonel, a native just delivered this letter for you. I was just about to send it up to your home,” he said handing over the letter.

David halted the column and dismounted going into the guard hut to read it. It was from Paul, written in a hasty hand. Basically he and his son were not taking sides but Askari’s had raided his farm, forcibly enlisting his young workers into their ranks and stealing chickens and three of his Jersey cows. He had been powerless to stop it. They would have taken more but a German officer had arrived to stop them. The officer had apologised, but said they needed food for the coming invasion and had let slip that they would get more cattle and horses once they were across the river. This could only be the Crater, Paul wrote, and urged David to leave before they arrived. Before remounting, David gave the letter back to the Havildar with orders to send it to Major Sultar.

They reached the rift in the dead of the night and, as soon as they were under the netting, the horses were unsaddled and taken away. Guards were placed around the rim of the rift and the men were told to get some sleep. Caves had been dug into the sides of the rift by the troops on their frequent visits to it. Not only for personal use but also for storing food and ammunition. Tartrha showed David to the cave that had been provided for him. It was around eight feet deep and seven feet wide and a blanket hung across the doorway. Inside a small table and stool had been provided for him along with a bunk bed alongside of which stood a small packing case. David lit the paraffin lamp that hung from a root in the ceiling. Over the next half hour his saddle and saddlebags, bedroll and rifle were returned to him so he settled down to the first night in the rift.

The next morning after breakfast, N’debi along with a Gurkha carrying a telescope went towards the river to keep watch. The men were kept busy attending to the horses, cleaning their weapons or improving their living conditions. The weather was hot, being late July the sun blazed down from a cloudless sky, but at least in the rift they were protected from the worst of it. David knew water would be the main problem, so he had ordered that the men keep their water bottles filled and to keep the water skins full from the slow trickle of the pool.