Dennis Wheatley - Unholy Crusade

Soon after they set out again he was cheered a little by coming upon a broad, smooth slope formed by an old river of lava. In the next quarter of an hour, gasping and sweating, they covered nearly double the distance they had before. But by the end of that time their state was desperate. Hunterscombe's head was hanging forward on his chest and Chela's jerking backwards and forwards with every hop she took. Owing to the gradient, Adam had all the time to lean back; otherwise he could not have held back the others, and all three of them would have broken into a stumbling run, then tripped and fallen on their faces. The strain of taking such a dead weight was appalling, his knees were beginning to give under him. Strong as he was, he knew that he could not support them for much longer.

The flow of hard lava ended in a small plateau, on one side of which there rose a ten foot high cliff with a cave in it. As Adam looked about for a place for them to rest again, Chela dropped the torch and slumped forward. She was all in and had fainted.

Fortunately, the bulb of the torch had not broken. Lowering her to the ground, he picked it up, then said with a sigh to Hunterscombe, `It's no good. We'll never make it.'

`Crazy to try,' the Wing Commander wheezed. `Get me to that cave. I… I'll stand a better chance lying still there than… And… and without me you can carry her.'

Adam had already realised that, the morphia he had given Chela having had time to take effect, it was not so much pain as loss of blood during their twenty five minutes' flight from the pyramid that had caused her to collapse. He knew, too, that when she did come round, her good leg could not possibly stand up to hopping more than another few hundred yards; so his only chance of getting her down was to carry her.

To leave Hunterscombe seemed an awful thing to do; but at

least they were now clear of the poisonous sulphur fumes and he was no doubt right in believing that if he lay still for the remainder of the night he would lose less blood than if he continued to stagger down the mountain. Clearly the sensible course was for Adam to try to get Chela down then, if he succeeded, he could return next morning with a doctor and stretcher party to collect Hunterscombe.

Without further argument he helped the Wing Commander cross the open ground to the cave and shone the torch round it. The beam revealed a primitive fireplace in which there were dead ashes, the rind of a paw paw and the stubs of several cigarettes; so evidently the place was used in bad weather by some goatherd to take his midday meals and siesta.

Sinking to the ground, Hunterscombe muttered, `Worse places… to spend a night in. Give me the morphia.'

Retaining the odd half tablet for Chela, Adam handed him the little phial. As he did so, he thought of giving him the flask of Brandy as well, but decided against it because he recalled being told by someone that the effect of taking brandy on top of morphia could prove fatal. Instead, he took off his feather kilt and cloak, then folded the kilt into a pillow for Hunterscombe and covered him with the cloak.

There seemed nothing else he could do and he was anxious to carry Chela away from the plateau while she was still unconscious, lest she should again refuse to leave their rescuer. After a moment, he said:

`I hate to leave you like this, and nothing would induce me to if it weren't for Chela. But, having lost so much blood, she may die from the cold up here if I don't get her down. In the morning, as soon as it's light enough to find this place again, I'll be up here with a doctor and rescue team.'

'No Hunterscombe held up his hand as Adam was about to turn away. `A stretcher party, but no doctor.'

`What the devil do you mean?'

`Have to go to the nearest town for a doctor. You'd be recognized.'

`Well, what if I am?'

For a good minute Hunterscombe remained silent, recruiting its strength, then he said in a hoarse voice, `Until you're certain I’m going to live you… you mustn't show your face to anyone

who might fetch a policeman.'

Adam stared down at him in amazement. `Why on earth shouldn’t I?' he asked. `Alberuque is dead. There will be no rebellion now. On my information Mexico has been saved from a

bloody civil war. Far from having anything to fear, they should treat me…'

`You have,' the Wing Commander cut in harshly. `I've let you down, chum. Took the credit to myself for giving the Mexicans the gen. Not… not for myself, really. But for the old firm… British Secret Service. Meant to see you right later. And… and will, of course, if they can get me to a hospital alive. But I'm in a pretty bad way so… so don't gamble on that. If I do kick the bucket… make for the coast. Get out of the country. Otherwise… otherwise you'll be for the high jump.'

CHAPTER 20

There's Many a Slip.

SLOWLY the full implication of Hunterscombe's confession sank into Adam's tired brain. In the past hour of fear, distress and exhausting effort, he had had little time to think about what the future might hold for him; but while they had been in the helicopter it had crossed his mind that, if only they could land safely, would once again be able to count himself `Lucky' Gordon.

Not only had he twice escaped with his life once when he had believed that no more than a moment lay between him and death under the sacrificial knife, and again when Hunterscombe had saved him from the mob of Indians swarming up the pyramid but he had earned the gratitude of the Mexican government and people for saving them from a bloody revolution and, above all, Chela had offered to marry him.

Now, in a few rasping sentences, Hunterscombe had rendered all those glowing prospects horribly uncertain. Unless Hunterscombe did live, Adam foresaw the awful situation in which he could find himself. Ramon Enriquez and the Chief of Police had ever been fully convinced that by his speech at Uxmal he had not deliberately incited the assembly to rebellion. They had given him the benefit of the doubt only because they thought they could make use of him. There had then been the horrible affair at the prison in which, on his account, a score or more of people had been murdered. Lastly, only a few hours ago, he had again appeared as Quetzalcoatl and had given his blessing to a great crowd which was about to take up arms against the government. After that, how could anyone possibly believe him to be innocent? Already the police all over the country must have been alerted to keep a look out for him. If he were captured, a life sentence was a certainty or, most probably, worse. Grimly he recalled Alberuque’s telling him that prisoners who had committed peculiarly heinous crimes were, unofficially, executed and it was then given out that they had been shot while trying to escape. Unless Hunterscombe did survive to clear him, he thought his chances of saving himself looked about as good as of his becoming Prime Minister of Britain.

To abuse the man who had let him down so badly was futile;

so, with a heavy sigh, he said, `What a bloody fool I was ever to let myself get involved in this and, from what you say, it seems I'm still in it up to the neck. But while there's life there's hope, and

I'm sure there's plenty of life in you yet. For both our sakes I'll be praying that you don't take a turn for the worse before I can get up here tomorrow. Anyhow, if you hadn't pulled Chela and me out we'd both be dead; so I've at least that to thank you for.'

`Decent of you to… to take it like that,' Hunterscombe murmured. `Don't worry too much. I'll stick it out. Only warned you just in case… Good luck, chum.' Turning away, Adam walked over to Chela. She was still unconscious. He felt her pulse and found it was very slow, which was far from reassuring. Grasping one of her wrists, he heaved her up in a fireman's lift so that her head and arms dangled over his left shoulder and her long legs over his right. In his free hand he held the torch and scanned the ground ahead for the path by which the goatherd reached the cave. After a few minutes he found it. Planting each foot firmly, he followed its downward course.