Parker Pyne Investigates - Agatha Christie [44]
II
The convoy for Baghdad started at seven o’clock in the morning. There was a party of twelve. Mr Parker Pyne and General Poli, Miss Pryce and her niece, three Air Force officers, Smethurst and Hensley and an Armenian mother and son by name Pentemian.
The journey started uneventfully. The fruit trees of Damascus were soon left behind. The sky was cloudy and the young driver looked at it doubtfully once or twice. He exchanged remarks with Hensley.
‘Been raining a good bit the other side of Rutbah. Hope we shan’t stick.’
They made a halt at midday and square cardboard boxes of lunch were handed round. The two drivers brewed tea which was served in cardboard cups. They drove on again across the flat interminable plain.
Mr Parker Pyne thought of the slow caravans and the weeks of journeying…
Just at sunset they came to the desert fort of Rutbah.
The great gates were unbarred and the six-wheeler drove in through them into the inner courtyard of the fort.
‘This feels exciting,’ said Netta.
After a wash she was eager for a short walk. Flight-Lieutenant O’Rourke and Mr Parker Pyne offered themselves as escorts. As they started the manager came up to them and begged them not to go far away as it might be difficult to find their way back after dark.
‘We’ll only go a short way,’ O’Rourke promised.
Walking was not, indeed, very interesting owing to the sameness of the surroundings.
Once Mr Parker Pyne bent and picked something up.
‘What is it?’ asked Netta curiously.
He held it out to her.
‘A prehistoric flint, Miss Pryce–a borer.’
‘Did they–kill each other with them?’
‘No–it had a more peaceful use. But I expect they could have killed with it if they’d wanted to. It’s the wish to kill that counts–the mere instrument doesn’t matter. Something can always be found.’
It was getting dark, and they ran back to the fort.
After a dinner of many courses of the tinned variety they sat and smoked. At twelve o’clock the six-wheeler was to proceed.
The driver looked anxious.
‘Some bad patches near here,’ he said. ‘We may stick.’ They all climbed into the big car and settled themselves. Miss Pryce was annoyed not to be able to get at one of her suitcases.
‘I should like my bedroom slippers,’ she said.
‘More likely to need your gum boots,’ said Smethurst. ‘If I know the look of things we’ll be stuck in a sea of mud.’
‘I haven’t even got a change of stockings,’ said Netta.
‘That’s all right. You’ll stay put. Only the stronger sex has to get out and heave.’
‘Always carry spare socks,’ said Hensley, patting his overcoat pocket. ‘Never know.’
The lights were turned out. The big car started out into the night.
The going was not too good. They were not jolted as they would have been in a touring car, but nevertheless they got a bad bump now and then.
Mr Parker Pyne had one of the front seats. Across the aisle was the Armenian lady shrouded in wraps and shawls. Her son was behind her. Behind Mr Parker Pyne were the two Miss Pryces. The General, Smethurst, Hensley and the R.A.F. men were at the back.
The car rushed on through the night. Mr Parker Pyne found it hard to sleep. His position was cramped. The Armenian lady’s feet stuck out and encroached on his preserve. She, at any rate, was comfortable.
Everyone else seemed to be asleep. Mr Parker Pyne felt drowsiness stealing over him, when a sudden jolt threw him towards the roof of the car. He heard a drowsy protest from the back of the six-wheeler. ‘Steady. Want to break our necks?’
Then the drowsiness returned. A few minutes later, his neck sagging uncomfortably, Mr Parker Pyne slept…
He was awakened suddenly. The six-wheeler had stopped. Some of the men were getting out. Hensley spoke briefly.
‘We’re stuck.’
Anxious to see all there was to see, Mr Parker Pyne stepped gingerly out in the mud. It was not raining now. Indeed there was a moon and by its light the drivers could be seen frantically at work with jacks and stones, striving to raise the wheels. Most of the men were helping. From the windows of the six-wheeler the three women looked out. Miss Pryce and