The Eagle In the Sand

Symeon grunted with pain and clapped his spare hand to the wound, raising it up red and dripping a moment later.

Macro winced and turned his head carefully towards Cato. 'Not good.'

Keeping his eyes fixed on Symeon, Ba

Symeon appeared to sway a little and Cato swallowed nervously. Then with what seemed an effort, Symeon lowered himself into a fighting crouch again and gestured to Ba

'Only too happy to oblige.' Now Ba

'How much longer can you last, old friend?' Ba

'No!' Symeon roared, and lumbered forward, his blade flashing yellow and red in the firelight as he slashed at his enemy's head. There was little finesse in his attack, just sheer brute force as he beat away at Ba

'You've had your chance,' Ba

Symeon did not cry out but bit his teeth together and moaned deep inside his chest. Ba

As the sword blade poised over Symeon's head there was a sudden explosion of movement. Symeon's good hand snatched the dagger from Ba

For a moment all was still, then Symeon rose unsteadily to his feet and looked down at Ba

Cato opened his eyes, surprised that he was still alive. Then he saw Ba

Macro glanced at him. 'You missed that? Sometimes I despair at you, lad.' Then he looked round at the Bedu warriors behind him, put his finger gently against the blade still at his throat, and eased it to one side, with a smile. 'If you don't bloody mind, that is?'

The Bedu warriors moved away from them and Macro and Cato hurried across to Symeon, who was swaying now. They eased him down on to the sand and Cato tore strips from Ba

Now that their entertainment was done, the Bedu largely ignored them and set about preparing their camp for the night. They cooked a meal over the fire and the leader beckoned the others to join them and share their food. Symeon was given pride of place and the Bedu warriors talked animatedly to him about the fight until he was too weak to continue, and begged them to let him sleep. Cato made up his bedroll and helped Symeon down and then covered him with a cloak to keep him warm once the fire died down. He did the same for the boy and then sat with Macro staring across the flames at the Bedu warriors.

For a long time Macro said nothing, and then he finally muttered,'That was close. Closest I've ever come to thinking I'd actually die.' He turned to his friend. 'Don't mind telling you, it scared the shit out of me.'

'You scared?' Cato chuckled. 'I don't believe it.'

'It's no joke, Cato. Seriously, no joke.' He turned to look at Symeon. Yusef had shuffled his bedroll closer to the wounded man and was resting his head against Symeon's uninjured side. 'That Symeon's a bloody marvel. Must have taken nerves of steel to wait for his chance like that. The problem of course is that he saved our lives.'

Cato could not hide his astonishment. 'That's a problem?'

'Oh yes. It means that now I owe him a favour.'

The Bedu had gone when Cato woke first the next morning. Only the faint impressions in the sand and the half buried mounds of camel dung remained to show they had camped there for the night. They had pilfered Ba

'Gone! How the hell did they do that?'

'You're not exactly a light sleeper.'

'Very fu

Cato jerked his thumb towards the bushes. 'Out of sight and out of mind. Where he belongs.'

Symeon's wounds felt stiff and he had to be helped into the saddle as they prepared to ride out of Rhum. Yusef insisted on riding the same horse that had carried him to this place. He took the reins and looked round at Cato. 'Where are we going?'

'Home.' Cato smiled. 'We're taking you home.'

07 The Eagle In the Sand