Danger in the Desert

by Barbara Cartland

  Royden was intent on driving the horses as fast as he wished them to go and, after a few more miles, Malva gave a little cry.

  “Look! Look ahead!” she exclaimed.

  “You are right,” he replied. “That is the Vizier’s Palace. As you see there are other small houses round it so that it is a permanent building to which, however far he journeys across the desert, he inevitably returns.”

  “I expect the Bedouin to be always on the move,” Malva said. “I never imagine them settling down in what I can see now is a small village of their own.”

  “I think my friend here has been inspired because the Sultan, who is the Head and Leader of them all, has a magnificent Palace a long distance from here, which I am sure is so magnificent that it’s the envy of every member of the Bedouin tribe.”

  Malva was listening intently, but her eyes were on the buildings that they were rapidly approaching.

  As they drew nearer, she saw that there was one large building and the rest were very small and gave the impression of not being particularly well-made.

  But the Vizier’s Palace was extremely different.

  The tall building was bristling with high crenelated ramparts from which a massive tower protruded.

  After they had passed through the gates which led to it and proceeded up the narrow passage to what Royden said was the main doorway, she could see that the Palace itself was well constructed and massive.

  It was completely different from anything Malva had expected.

  She looked round her with delight, feeling that this was something she would always remember and would tell her father about when she returned to England.

  They stopped the carriage and then Royden helped Malva to the ground.

  A huge wooden brass-studded door was opened and a number of white-robed men ran out to wave excitedly at what they clearly believed were important visitors.

  Now Malva could see a long succession of twisting galleries off which she had an occasional glimpse of square courtyards and fountains.

  They were escorted through a labyrinth of twisting passages filled with men, children and animals.

  Finally they reached what Malva guessed was the centre of the Kasbah and imagined it was where the Vizier must live.

  Malva was amazed after looking at the windowless exterior of the Kasbah to find that inside it was more like a Palace.

  They walked over the finest mosaic floors and the walls were covered with carved arabesques and tiles of the most intricate patterns in many brilliant colours.

  The tall ceilings were of richly painted wood while columns of carved capitols separated some of the rooms beside screens of lacework.

  Finally they were taken into a large room where multi-coloured High Atlas rugs from the North covered the floors and there were silk embroidered hassocks of red, green, white and yellow, all made of goatskin.

  A silver lantern was suspended from the ceiling.

  As they stood in the centre of the room waiting, exquisitely embroidered curtains were thrown aside and a man came through them.

  He was elderly with a short white beard and he was wearing in his belt a jewelled dagger carved in precious stones, which proclaimed his rank.

  For a moment he just stood looking at Royden, then he walked towards him and, holding out his hand, said in French,

  “Let me welcome you, monsieur, and I think I am right in believing that you own the yacht that anchored in the bay last night.”

  “You are right, Your Excellency,” Royden replied in French. “I am Charles Hill and I have brought my sister, Maisie, to meet you as one of the most important people in this whole area.”

  The Vizier bowed at the compliment.

  Indicating some brightly coloured hassocks beside him, he suggested,

  “Let us sit down and talk.”

  The Vizier settled himself on the largest and most colourful hassock with a lattice-work background behind it.

  Servants appeared with sweet mint tea in handleless cups and trays of sweetmeats which were made of almonds and honey.

  Malva sipped the mint tea.

  Only as the servants withdrew did the Vizier look towards her somewhat curiously.

  “My sister and I,” the Royden said in French, “are very interested in the magnificence of your Kasbah.”

  “I am glad that you have come to visit me,” the Vizier replied.

  They ate the sweetmeats the servants had presented to them and the Vizier began to talk to Royden about the difficulties they had endured during the winter.

  He then asked him questions about his yacht and the speed it travelled at.

  After only a short time, Royden rose to his feet and thanked the Vizier for his kindness and hospitality.

  He said he had visited his predecessor five years ago and was only sorry that he was not here now.

  The Vizier then told him that his predecessor, who had been his brother, had unfortunately been killed in a battle with another tribe, who had ventured onto their land and attempted to steal their women.

  “I am extremely sorry to hear that,” Royden said. “He was very kind to me and I had hoped to enjoy his hospitality as much as I did on my previous visit.”

  “Then I hope that you will enjoy mine instead,” the Vizier replied. “Any friend of my brother’s is, of course, very welcome here.”

  “We will not be staying long,” Royden told him. “We are on our way to Senegal, but I know that my sister would love to see more of your beautiful Palace another time.”

  The Vizier clapped his hands.

  Two servants hurried into the room with flowers for Malva and a bag containing fruit for Royden.

  Royden then thanked the Vizier for his hospitality and welcome and said that they would call on him again if it was at all possible before they returned to England.

  “I will be very upset not to see you, monsieur,” the Vizier replied. “As I have already said, any friend of my brother is a friend of mine.”

  Because she knew that it was correct, Malva gave him a curtsey and held out her hand.

  She thought that he held it a little longer than was necessary.

  He looked at her very scrutinisingly with his dark eyes as if he was remembering her face from her eyes to her lips.

  Then Royden moved towards the open door.

  Malva curtseyed again and followed him.

  They were then escorted by the servants in white back to their carriage and the horses, which had been given something to eat and drink, were brought to the door.

  As they had walked down the narrow passages with the servants in white in front, Malva had a distinct feeling, although she could not see him, that the Vizier was still watching them closely.

  And that in some strange way he still had his eyes on her face.

  ‘I am just imagining it,’ she thought to herself.

  At the same time she was certain that was what he was doing.

  She felt that it was upsetting for some reason she did not understand.

  Then they were out of the last gate and driving back over the desert before Royden commented,

  “The Vizier’s brother was a much more pleasant man. I have a feeling that this one is very different and somehow dangerous.”

  “I feel the same,” Malva said. “But, of course, he could not have been more polite and was apparently glad to see us.”

  Royden did not answer.

  Malva wondered if he was upset at learning of the death of the Vizier he had known.

  However, she knew it had been a privilege for her to see the inside of the Vizier’s Palace and it was certainly very different from anything she had expected.

  The journey back to the yacht was not quite as easy as it had been on the way to the Palace.

  The sun had set while they were in the desert.

  Now with the swiftness of the change in the sky in the East there were already the first signs of night moving into the sky.

  Although Royden drove extremely
well, the horses were tired from their outward journey and were therefore slower in returning to the yacht.

  It was almost dark when they reached the small bay and saw the yacht below them.

  Royden then paid the man who had brought them the carriage.

  He was obviously very generous because the man’s grateful thanks, expressed in his own language, followed them as they went down the narrow path that led from the top of the cliff to the bay beneath.

  There the yacht was waiting with two seamen in charge to row them back to the yacht.

  As she climbed aboard, Malva could not help but feel in some way that their visit had not been as successful as Royden had anticipated.

  However, she was hot and tired after bumping over the sand for so long

  She went to her cabin and, taking off her dress, she lay down for half-an hour on her bed.

  The visit was something to remember, she thought, and something she would write about in her diary which she was determined would contain a description of every place they visited.

  She had already written short pieces about the other places they had visited or stayed the night in after they had left Gibraltar.

  *

  When later she went into dinner and found Royden waiting for her, changed as he always did into his evening clothes, she said,

  “Thank you so much, Royden, for taking me to that extraordinary Palace this afternoon. I had no idea that anything quite so magnificent would have been constructed in the middle of the desert.”

  “I thought it would surprise you,” Royden replied. “But I was sorry that my friend who had been there when I visited five years ago had lost his life.”

  He paused before he went on,

  “He was considerably more of a pleasant man and was truthful, I believe, when he had said that he admired the English and was so delighted to have me as his English friend.”

  “You did not tell the Vizier today that you were English,” Malva remarked.

  “No, I was careful not to betray myself as being anything but who I am pretending to be,” he replied.

  “Why?” Malva asked.

  “Because I thought the moment I first set eyes on him that I did not trust him particularly,” he answered. “I suppose it is because I have been so often in the East that I have learnt to be suspicious of anyone and everyone in this part of the world, especially as they are always at war with someone.”

  He paused and looked thoughtful before he went on,

  “Even though my friend had been killed, or so the Vizier said, by an enemy, I would not have been at all surprised if he had not already planned to take his brother’s place however difficult it might be.”

  Malva stared at him.

  “Are you suggesting that he deliberately killed his brother?” she asked incredulously.

  “I am sure that he would not do anything quite so obvious as that,” Royden replied. “Yet he might easily have made it imperative for his brother to fight the other tribe to which, as I am sure you noticed, he did not give a name.”

  “Now you are making me shiver,” Malva said. “I did not think him particularly attractive. But he was very hospitable and I thought that his Palace was fascinating.”

  “That is just what he meant you to think, yet the moment I saw him I was wishing that his brother was there as I had expected. Although I cannot put it into words, I am sure he is an interloper.”

  Malva shook herself.

  “Now you are scaring me. I have always thought of the desert as a challenge to civilisation because that is what it really is. Yet, when we were driving over it today, I felt that it was safe and free of war and strife as it had never been in the past.”

  “I assure you that they still take place in this part of the world, but let’s forget what happened today and plan what we shall do tomorrow.”

  “Oh, don’t let’s move on,” Malva pleaded. “It is so lovely here and I am sure that it would be hard to find a bay that makes it so easy for swimming as this one.”

  Royden smiled.

  “I am in no hurry if you are not,” he replied. “But I thought, like all women, you are longing to go to the shops and the local Bazaars and buy yourself a lot of unnecessary cargo to return home with.”

  “Oh, it will not be as bad as that. I will only buy small presents for those who love me and who will be very sad that I am away so long from the festivities that take place in the village at this time of year.”

  “I suppose that you mean the local cricket match,” Royden said, “as well as the annual race meeting which has every sort of race including one for the small children on ponies and donkeys.”

  “That, I can assure you, is the most popular race of the day. Papa and I always choose the prizes for it and, although you may sneer, the children think that the prizes are every bit as good as if they are receiving the Koh-I-Noor diamond!”

  Royden laughed.

  “I am sure that is true. We must make sure that, because you cannot be present this year, next year there will be even better prizes both on your part and on mine.”

  “I will keep you to it,” Malva said, “so don’t forget your promise when you reach home.”

  She went up on deck after dinner and stood looking up at the moon which was just coming out in the sky.

  There were already some stars glittering overhead and she thought as she had so often how beautiful this part of the world was.

  It was then that Royden joined her and said,

  “I have been planning with the Captain to take you on another drive tomorrow in the opposite direction. I have something most interesting for you to see there which is very different from all that you saw today.”

  “Tell me what it is,” Malva demanded excitedly.

  “No, it is to be a surprise, but I suggest that you go to bed now because it is rather a long journey and I don’t want you to be overtired.”

  “You are making me very curious,” Malva said, “and I am longing to know what it is you are going to show me.”

  “As it is to be a surprise, I am not talking about it anymore until the morning,” he declared firmly. “So go to bed and get your beauty sleep and this time tomorrow night you can tell me if I was right or wrong in thinking that you would enjoy it more than anything else on this trip.”

  “I am already excited and very curious,” Malva sighed. “But, as it is so special, I will do as you tell me and go to bed.”

  She drew in her breath before she added,

  “Thank you, thank you for today. It was thrilling and something I will write down in my diary so as not to forget any of it.”

  “It will be a book we will have to publish when we get home,” Royden replied. “I am sure it will be a great success and the people who have never visited this part of the world except in their dreams will find it fascinating.”

  “I will make it seem very very real to them so that they will not feel forgotten,” Malva answered.

  As Royden did not answer, she walked away.

  “Goodnight,” she called back, “and if you don’t dream of that Palace, I am quite certain I shall.”

  She did not hear Royden’s reply.

  But she heard him laughing as she ran down the companionway to her cabin.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The following day was a disappointment.

  Royden was informed quite early that the carriage he had ordered was not available until the following day.

  So when Malva came down to breakfast, he told her that they would have to postpone their special visit for at least twenty-four hours.

  “I am very sorry,” he said.

  Malva smiled.

  “I don’t mind. This is the best place I have ever known for swimming and I was thinking last night when I went to bed that I would rather swim than sightsee.”

  “This is something quite new,” he replied. “You had told me you only wanted to examine statues, Churches, Palaces and everything else ancient that may be available.”r />
  “That is before I found the perfect place to swim. I have never known anywhere as lovely as it is here. The sea is exactly right as it really ought to be, but usually one is disappointed.”

  “I am glad it pleases you, Malva. In which case we had better now go and say ‘good morning’ to the waves as tomorrow we will not be able to do so.”

  “I am sure they will miss us,” Malva giggled.

  They swam most of the day racing each other until it was too hot and then they were lying in the water where it was shallow and talking of what they had seen yesterday.

  Royden was very careful not to tell her what she would be seeing tomorrow.

  Although she tried very hard to tempt him into an explanation, he shook his head.

  “I want it to be a surprise,” he insisted. “Actually, if you think about it, we have had very few surprises on this trip so far.”

  “That is unkind,” Malva said. “I have had masses of surprises, especially Gibraltar which was more exciting than I expected it to be. To me this place is absolutely perfect – very close to my ideal of a Heaven on earth.”

  She thought as she spoke that she would be very sorry to leave.

  Somehow it would be a mistake to go back to the world outside instead of living in this quiet little bay where there were no disturbances and nothing was said or heard that might upset or irritate them.

  She wanted to stay with Royden for much longer.

  She told herself, although she did not tell him, that she found him far more interesting and intriguing than any building or museum could be.

  ‘Perhaps,’ she reflected, ‘he finds me rather boring and that is why he is looking forward to moving on.’

  She enjoyed the conversation they had at luncheon.

  And at dinner they had a long argument over what was the best collection of classic pictures to be found in the different countries of the world.

  As she had read so much about art and Royden had seen so many pictures on his trips, their conversation was spirited.

  At the same time so intelligent that he thought it a shame that it was not all being written down so that others could learn from their experiences.

  Finally it was time to go to bed.

  He made the move earlier than usual, because he said he wanted to leave sharp at eight o’clock the following morning when the conveyance that he had been promised would hopefully then be waiting for them.