The Far Pavilions - Mary Margaret Kaye [535]
Wally could not remember having seen Wigram in such tearing spirits before. He was by nature a quiet man, and except on rare occasions, such as the annual Guest Night in celebration of Delhi Day, was anything but boisterous. Yesterday, preoccupied by the cares of command and sobered by the tragedy at the ford, he had been even quieter than usual. But now he seemed to have shed ten years and put care behind him, and Wally, struggling to his feet in horror at finding that he had slept through all the stir and noise of the waking camp, caught the infection of those high spirits and found himself laughing instead of apologizing.
‘I believe the old fellow is every bit as excited as I am,’ decided Wally, remembering, as he shaved and dressed in haste, that Wigram had once confessed to him that the sum of his ambition was to get command of the Guides Cavalry, and that anything that came after that, however exalted, would be an anti-climax. ‘You may think it's not much of an ambition,’ Wigram had said, ‘but it's all I've ever wanted. And if I get it I shall say “nunc dimittis”, and not care too much if I end up retiring as a crusty old has-been who never even rose to be a Colonel – because I shall have had my moment of glory.’
‘Well, he's got what he wanted,’ thought Wally, ‘and I suppose today will be just as much of a red-letter day for him as it is for me, because if there really is a battle, it will be a “first time” for both of us. My first cavalry charge and the first time Wigram has led his beloved Command into action in a full-scale engagement.’
55
The sky above the deserted village of Fatehabad was brightening with the dawn as the two officers sat down to eat a hasty breakfast. And as they ate, Wigram explained between mouthfuls that the General wished to send two members of his staff south towards Khujah, the principal village of the Khugianis, to test the reactions of the tribe, and that Lieutenant Hamilton and thirty sabres of the Guides Cavalry had been detailed to accompany them and see that they got there – and back again.
A second party, with a similar escort of 10th Hussars, would be recon-noitring the road leading to Gandamak to report on its condition, and it was hoped that both parties would avoid getting involved in a premature exchange of hostilities, and report back to General Gough as soon as possible: ‘In other words,’ said Wigram, kindly translating, ‘don't try jumping the gun and starting any private battles of your own. And if the local citizenry start shooting at you, “wait not upon the order of your going”, but run like hell. What His Nibs needs at the moment is information, and not a clutch of dead heroes. So keep your eyes peeled. I should imagine you'll be all right – always provided you don't walk into an ambush.’
‘Don't worry, we shan't do that,’ said Wally cheerfully. ‘Zarin says that Ash will see that we don't.’
Wigram helped himself to chuppatti and said with a smile: ‘Of course. I'd forgotten he'd be there. Well, that's something off my mind. Hullo – here comes the gilded Staff. Time you were off, Walter.’
It was half past seven and the sun was drying the dew from the near hillside by the time Wally mounted his waler Mushki – ‘the brown one’ – and rode away with the two Staff Officers, the thirty men of the escort cantering sedately behind them. An hour later, from high ground, they came suddenly within sight of a great lashkar of tribesmen, barely a mile or so distant across the hills. It was no peaceful gathering, for Wally could see the flutter of standards and the glint and flash of metal as the morning sunlight shone on curved swords and brassbound matchlocks, and studying the vast concourse through his field-glasses, he came to the