Chapter 17

Jonathan had been staring into the glaring dunes for so long, dark hazy spots where undulating in the centre of his vision.  He'd rub his eyes to rid himself of it, but it did no good, they were there to stay till his eyes got a rest from the bombardment of the merciless midday sun.   He didn't care if he burnt himself in the sun, or if he sent himself blind.  He couldn't stay under the robe-come-tent any longer, if not for the smell of raw snake flesh, then for the sight of the previously vivacious Constance brought to the edge of life itself.  Even from the distance that he sat, he could hear her coughing.  It could have been Evy though, and that possibility did not make him feel any better.

He glanced up to the sky, wincing in the agony of the searing white light of the sun.  For a moment, a spot danced before his eyes.  It wasn't like the other ones.  The other ones were washy and he could see things through them.  This one was small and dark and it stuck.  He rubbed his eyes again, whimpering, thinking perhaps he should have gone in lest he blind himself.  He slowly made his way to his feet, grunting in pain, his body heavy and tired.  He glanced to the same part of the sky again hopelessly, and he noticed something.  The spot did not travel with his eyes.   It stayed very much in one place - in the sky.   And it was roughly oval shaped.

He leapt up, jumping as high as he could, waving his arms madly and shouting with all his lungs could muster.  "HEEEY!  HERE!   WE'RE OVER HERE!"

At this riot O'Connell and Ardeth came staggering out from their shelter, squinting at the sky, searching for the source of Jonathan's jubilation.

"There!" he wailed, "Can you see it?!  It's THERE!"

Rick squinted, then his eyes grew wide, a grin splashing across his tired handsome features.  "Izzy..."

"YES!  IZZY!" wailed Jonathan with glee, "That metal-toothed conniving little beggar better come this way or I'll throttle him!"

Rick looked to Jonathan, jaw a little lax.  "Uh... did Connie hit you with the 'weben' thing somehow or..."

Jonathan glanced to Rick.  "What?"

"Never mind..."

"OVER HERE!"  Jonathan raced forward, waving his arms wildly, leaping about in the bright midday sun.

Ardeth stepped over to Rick, a thoughtful frown on his features.  "We will need to draw his attention."

"And Jonathan isn't doing a good enough job of that?" said Rick.  He waved off a stern look from Ardeth, looking about with a purse of his lips.  "I don't know what else we can do, Ardeth.  We've got nothing to set fire to, so smoke is out of the question."

"We have other alternatives," said Ardeth with a knowing smile.  "Come with me."

Ardeth took down the make-shift robe shelter.  The girls had just enough shade to cover them, and as it was heading into the afternoon, the shadow would only increase.   He gave the robe to Jonathan, who proceeded to wave it about like a large flag, still calling out loudly, even though there would be no way for Izzy to hear him at that distance.  Ardeth lead Rick to a patch of softer sand in front of the shelter rock, and picked up a handful of it.

"Throw it in the air," he said.  "The dust will cloud and float away."

"Clever," said Rick, and proceeded to throw about the dust, trying to get it as high into the air as possible.  In desperation he began to scale the large shelter rock, and with hearty grunts he clambered up the side of it.  He helped Ardeth up after him (for there was plenty of space for two) and he called to Jonathan.  "Hey - hand us up some dust!"

Ardeth swung his outer robe in a wide arc like a flag, Rick throwing dust about in the air like a mad man.  Jonathan jumped and leapt up and down on the ground, flapping his arms about, shouting out loud.

"D'ye think this'll work?" asked Rick, huffing from all his dust throwing and exertion.

"We will find out," said Ardeth.

Behind the rock, Evelyn cradled Connie in her arms, stroking her dirty blonde locks from her now worryingly pale face.  Not for one moment did Evelyn stop worrying for her.  She hoped upon hope that Ardeth's survival skills had been enough, and that they could bring Connie from the state she was in.

"Connie," she said, voice hitching as she spoke, "Do you hear the boys?  They've spotted Izzy.  It's not long now."  She squeezed Constance as she spoke, jiggling a little.  "It's not long now."  Constance did not stir; she remained limp and unresponsive.  Evelyn shook her a little harder now, the hitch in her voice slipping to a panicked whimper.  "Connie, darling, please wake up!  Connie!"

Jonathan heard the sound of Evelyn under duress and he immediately stopped his wagging and shouting.  He turned, staggering behind the rock, his heart thumping hard in his chest.  "Evy!  Evy are you all-" His words drifted off as he turned the corner of the rock to meet the eyes of his sister.

She sat there, arms wrapped around her childhood friend, tears streaming down her red blotched face, her lips shuddering as she clutched a limp Connie tight to her chest.

"Sh- Uhm," Evelyn gulped, trying to control her tears, "She's breathing, she's - she's just - she's not waking up, Jonathan!  She won't wake up!"

Jonathan dropped to his knees next to the women, patting Connie's face roughly.  "Come on, then, Con!  Wake up, sweety, we have the train ride back to Cairo to take, remember?  Some nice white wine and a nice hearty English breakfast, eh?  Come on then!"  Connie did not even bat an eyelid as he slapped her cheek, and he stopped for a moment, letting the palm of his hand sit at her cheek.  It was cool, worryingly cool.  Jonathan looked to Evelyn a moment, his eyes dark, and he squeezed his sister's shoulder.

“He’s seen us!” cried Rick from above, “He’s comin’!”

“Good,” called out Evelyn, then looked back down to the unconscious woman in her arms.  “Let’s just hope he’s not too late.”

Those ominous words caused Ardeth to cease in the waving of his robe, and he dropped it without thought, the large swath of material floating away as he turned and scrabbled down the side of the rock.   He muttered her name under his breath as he sank to her side, shaking dirty hands sinking into her hair.

“What is wrong?” he asked Evelyn as he put his cheek over her nose and mouth to see if she was breathing.  Relief splashed through him as a warm and light puff of air brushed his cheek.   She was breathing, but not deeply and often enough for his liking.

“She won’t wake up,” Evelyn said.  “I’ve tried to wake her, but…”

Ardeth carefully shifted Connie from Evelyn’s arms, stroking straggled dusty locks from her porcelain skin.  “Her skin is cold…” He smiled a little, despite himself.  “This is a very good sign.”

Evelyn looked to him.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” said Ardeth. “But we must get her to some water immediately before her symptoms get worse.”

The creaking and fluttering shape of the dirigible balloon eclipsed the rock they were all now huddled at, the excited shouts of Izzy now reaching them.

“Where the HELL have you been?!” he wailed, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

Rick stood next to the rock, leaning against it, looking drawn and thin despite his thick muscular build, wincing up at Izzy as the dirigible settled onto the ground.  “We were captured; we had to escape before they were onto us.”

“Right,” said Izzy, “So you run for miles into a dead empty desert where I can’t FIND you?”

Rick frowned. “I thought you said you knew these deserts like the back of your hand?”

“I do!” said Izzy.  “Usually you’re not IN them, hiding behind great bloody rocks!”

“Jonathan, Evy - get in,” sighed Rick, moving around the rock to have a look at Connie.  He couldn’t help but wince again at seeing her.  Ardeth was next to her, looking stricken.  It was the first time in his life he had ever seen the Medjai before him so pale.  He put a hand on the man’s shoulder.  “You okay?”

“Yes,” he said, “But Connie will not be unless we get her to some water, now.”

“You need help?”

Ardeth shook his head.  He stood, a little shakily, Connie limp and curled up in his arms.  He stepped over to the dirigible, but it became obvious as he tried to climb up the ropes that the days without sustenance had taken their toll on him.  Even with his desert upbringing, he couldn’t survive such an ordeal without losing his strength some.   Rick helped him, pushing him up the ropes, Izzy grabbing at Connie’s arms and pulling her limp form up the boat.

“She all right?” he cried.

“Water,” said Ardeth, “She needs water!”

“There, right there!” Izzy led them to an exceedingly large water skin, tipping it up and filling a tin cup with it.  Jonathan fell to his knees, sticking his head underneath it and catching the water that spilt and splashed all about.  Izzy frowned at him like a wayward dog.  “What you think you doing? You can have some in a minute!”

“You’re wasting it!” whimpered Jonathan.

Izzy rolled his eyes, shaking his head at the parched man.  “There’s plenty there and I got more below, so stop it.” 

He handed the tin cup to Ardeth, who was now settled on the ground, leaning against the wall of the dirigible with Connie in his arms.  He edged open her mouth gently with his fingertips, speaking softly to her.

“Habibti,” he breathed, and tipped the tin cup up so that the water trickled into her mouth.   He massaged her throat, his brows knitted in concern, wiping away the drips of water that were on her cheek.  Evelyn knelt in front of them both, mouth over her hands.  “Evelyn,” Ardeth said, “I need you to wet a blanket for me and bring it over.  We need to wrap her in it.”

“Yes, yes,” Evelyn said in a stutter, turning and going to fetch these from the other side of the wheel house.  She was soon back, and she carefully draped the wet soggy woollen blanket around the slumping form of Connie, Ardeth holding her upright a moment before letting the woman lie in his lap.   He looked about himself.

“A cloth… I need-“

“Here.”  Izzy handed Ardeth an old rag from the wheel-house.  “It’s all I got.”

“It shall be fine.”  He was at a loss for a moment, wanting to dip it in water but being stuck underneath Connie, till Evelyn knelt next to him carrying a bowl filled with what he was after.  He sighed appreciatively to her, dipping the fabric in, wetting it, then giving it a good squeeze before running it over Connie’s cool features.  He breathed words that nobody could understand, presumably Arabic, brows tilted as he gazed at the woman in his arms.

“Will she be all right?” asked Izzy tentatively.

“If we get enough water into her, yes,” said Ardeth.  “We must also cool her off sufficiently.  Although her skin is cold, her body is burning within.”

Evelyn took the tin cup that Ardeth had abandoned and filled it again.  “Well, we’ll just have to make sure we get some more water into her.”

“Salt!” Ardeth said suddenly.  “You must put salt in the water.”

“I got some below deck,” Izzy said.  “Hang a tick, I’ll go get some.”

Ardeth barely registered the goings on around him.   His eyes were locked on the faint woman in his arms, her straggled frame, the dark circles under her eyes. The skin on her cheeks was raw from where she had been sun burnt and her lips were cracked and chafed.  He remembered those lips being perfect ruby red swells that he was sure only existed in the fantasies of men.  He didn’t care for the perfection of her appearance, all his heart was set on was having those eyes open again, to hear her rough little voice and glory in her western quaintness.  He did not want to let her go, and he swore to himself that he wouldn’t.  He was sure that this was all somehow his fault, that he hadn’t looked after her properly.  She didn’t drink enough snakes’ blood.  He didn’t keep her cool enough.  His heart wound around itself like this, picking apart all that he did the past few days, thinking and wondering how this all would have been better if he’d done something different.

“Ardeth…” Ardeth glanced up, and before him was Evelyn, offering him the tin cup.  “I dissolved some of the salt into it.”

“Thank you.”  He couldn’t manage a smile, but the gratitude was clear in his dark brown eyes.  Evelyn squeezed his shoulder gently and sat back on one of the crates, letting the man set to work on getting the salty water into Constance. 

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Hello From Sunny Hamunaptra – Chapter 18