“How far is it?”David asked, a hand held to his brow as he surveyed the southeastern horizon.
“About two miles,” Mahmood replied.“It will not take long with these horses, though,” he added, indicating the dark brown Arabians.“However, there are only four hantours for our party of ten,” he warned.
“I’ll ride with you two,” David said, his attention on Tom and Helen.
The other three couples stepped into the buggies while Mahmood sat next to one of the drivers on the front bench.A moment later, and they were racing off across the desert.
Tucked between David and Tom in a hantour, Helen was glad she had elected to wear a smaller bonnet and bring along a parasol.There would not have been room for her wide-brimmed hat given the tight quarters of the carriage.
“What are you most looking forward to seeing today?”she asked, her query directed to David.
“Everything,” David replied.“Especially if we can go inside.Carvings.Paintings.Columns.Diana packed her sketchpad and paints in her satchel and intends to document as much as she can while we’re in there.”
“From what I’ve read, it sounds as if this temple is one of the best preserved of all that have been discovered,” Tom offered.
“Why wouldn’t we be able to get inside?”Helen asked in alarm.
“The entrance might be blocked by sand,” he replied.
“Oh,” she said on a sigh of disappointment.
“I rather doubt Diana will allow that to deter her, though,” David remarked.“She probably has a shovel in that satchel of hers.”
“What about a lantern?Won’t it be dark inside?”Tom asked.He hadn’t noticed Mahmood carrying a lantern as they made their way toward the village.
Helen huffed.“If you dare say Diana has one ofthosein her satchel?—”
“Torches,” David stated.“She...has a couple of torches and a tinderbox to light them.”
“In hersatchel?”Helen asked in disbelief.
David nodded.“And a couple of flasks of water.I saw her packing it last night.She’s been anxious to study this temple for the past week.”
When Helen didn’t say anything in reply, Tom asked, “What’s wrong?”
She lifted her reticule from her lap, a difficult maneuver given how crowded they were in the hantour.“My father is always amazed at how much women can stuff into our reticules, but I do believe Diana’s satchel has mine beat,” she commented.
Tom chuckled, reaching over to heft her embroidered fabric bag in a gloved hand.The drawstring closure was made of a loop of ribbon that when pulled tight caused the top to close into a series of gathers.“It’s far heavier than I would have thought,” he remarked.
“That’s intentional,” Helen replied.
“Intentional?”Tom repeated.
“Should I ever be accosted by a footpad or an unwanted suitor, I will use it to beat him off,” she claimed with not the least bit of humor.
Although David barked a laugh at hearing her response, Tom sobered.“I do hope you have never considered using it on me,” he whispered.
Helen inhaled softly.“I have not, nor would...”
The hantour suddenly swerved and the Arabian let out a whinny of protest as he came to a stuttering halt and attempted to rear up.A shout from the driver sounded before the buggy tilted dangerously to one side and he disappeared from the driver’s seat.
“Hang on,” Tom shouted, his arms going around Helen as the hantour fell all the way over onto its right side, Tom ending up closest to the ground.The harness on one side snapped, leaving the horse still attached and off-kilter.His whinnied complaints accompanied those of the driver, who had been forced to step off the bench as the equipage tipped over.His continued shouts sounded from somewhere out of their view.
Atop the other two in the buggy, David hung on to the back of the seat with one hand whilst bracing himself using the other on the top edge the driver’s seat, the momentum of the equipage’s fall forcing him to seek purchase with a boot near the bottom of the driver’s bench.He was able to finally extricate himself from the carriage, stumbling as he did so, and he stepped on a booted leg in the process.
“Ouch,” Tom mouthed.Still in the squabs but lying on his side, his arms remained wrapped around Helen’s waist and shoulder.She ended up halfway atop and in front of him, her eyes wide with fright.
“Can you move your hand?”he asked in a strangled voice.
