Chapter 4

Evelyn closed the hood of the Land Rover; having first removed the wire running from the start solenoid to the starter motor. It wouldn't stop a determined thief, but it would make things difficult. First, any would be thief would have to find the vehicle, hidden as it was in a dense thicket of thorny Acacia.

The mountains rising in front of them looked daunting. Evelyn knew from experience that the journey ahead was even more arduous than it looked. She looked at Charity, wondering whether she should have insisted on the woman staying behind, but at the same time realising that Charity was so stubborn that she would have followed her anyway. Charity was dressed in the most impractical outfit for mountain terrain that Evelyn could imagine. The spare boots Evelyn had given her were too big by a size and a half, so Charity had put on three pairs of Evelyn's socks. The thin cotton dress was still the only clothing Charity wore. To fend off the cold, Evelyn had cut a hole in one of the blankets, and given it to her to wear, poncho style for when they reached the higher, and colder altitudes. Apart from this, Charity had her pitifully few possessions tied in another blanket which she hoisted over one shoulder. Evelyn picked up her rucksack and slipped her arms through the shoulder straps. Adjusting her shoulders to get the heavy pack comfortable she picked up her long bladed machete, and strode toward the first slope of what would be a succession of ridges before they reached their destination.

The sun was sinking behind the peaks to their west as Charity started a fire to heat water for food and drink. Evelyn sat on a large boulder looking at the sky, watching the towering clouds change colours as the sun descended behind the neighbouring mountain tops. The sky behind her was already a darkening blue, and in the distance a lightning forked from ominous thunderclouds. Evelyn shivered as the thin air chilled rapidly without the heat from the now almost vanished sun to warm it. She looked at Charity; she was too busy with her cooking pot, and too close to the fire to be feeling the cold as yet. Evelyn stood up, and walked over to the fireside to warm her bare legs. It was quite dark now with just the light from the fire to illuminate the two women; overhead, the stars shone in the cold night air; with no towns or cities anywhere near, there was no glare to compete with the heavens. Evelyn again looked at the distant thunder storm, and realised that it wasn't as far away as before.

"I hope this food won't take long, we're going to get rain tonight." she said to Charity.

Charity looked up, pushing her braided hair away from her sweating forehead

"It needs some time to cook the chicken." she said, poking the contents of the pot with a wooden cooking spoon.

Evelyn realised Charity must have killed one of the chickens before they left.

"Let's hope there's time enough" she answered...

The tent was barely big enough for the two women as they settled down for the night, just as the first flashes of lightning were lighting up the now cloud filled sky overhead. As Evelyn had expected, Charity was now shivering with cold, even with her poncho, and all the spare blankets wrapped around her generously proportioned body.

Evelyn had stripped down to underwear and zipped herself into her large warm sleeping bag. She felt Charity trying to snuggle up against her in her attempt to keep warm and even through the layers of material separating the two women she could feel Charity's heavy breasts against her back. Tired from the trek, she slept almost immediately.

"Miss Evelyn."

Evelyn woke, it was dark and raining, she had no idea what time it was, but pretended to be asleep anyway.

"Miss Evelyn." Charity repeated and shook her slightly.

"What?", said Evelyn, irritably.

"I'm so cold." Charity complained.

"Then you should have stayed at the hut." answered Evelyn.

"Please, Miss Evelyn, I'm so cold." Charity repeated.

"Oh for Christ's sake!"

Evelyn sat up.

"Okay, lay your blankets on the groundsheet for us to lie on, and I'll unzip the bag and cover us both."

Reluctantly, Charity unwound the blankets from her body, and with some difficulty because of the shortage of space, spread the blankets on the floor of the tent. Evelyn unzipped the sleeping bag and opened it out like a duvet, which she now spread over both of them. Only by huddling close together could the two women be covered by the makeshift duvet. By now the rain was pouring down, and the fire which had been illuminating the tent was now out; only flashes of lightning dazzling them for split seconds in otherwise total darkness. The thunder sounded like an artillery barrage.