The Iron Tiger - Jack Higgins [49]
At that moment, the truck lurched forward. It had moved perhaps ten yards when the centre of the bridge erupted in a cloud of smoke. Pieces of stone girder lifted skywards as a series of violent explosions sounded one after the other and then the entire middle section of the bridge fell in, the truck slipped back into the gaping chasm and disappeared.
The troop carrier had slewed to a halt on the other side and now its heavy machine gun opened up, firing blindly through the pall of smoke, bullets ripping up earth and stone on the hilltop beside the trucks.
Brackenhurst was already behind the wheel of Amal's truck, lurching down the road to a chorus of terrified screaming from the women and children in the back.
There was no time to talk. Hamid scrambled up behind Father Kerrigan and drove away quickly and Drummond and Ahmed followed in the supply truck. For a heart-stopping moment, bullets ripped through the canvas hood and then they were over the hill.
Ten minutes later, Hamid sounded his horn, Brackenhurst slowed, turning in to the side of the road and Ahmed and Drummond pulled in ahead of him.
Drummond jumped down to join the Pathan and Brackenhurst stumbled towards them, his eyes wild. 'What do we do now, for Christ's sake?'
Hamid ignored him and held up Sher Dil's map. 'He left this in the cab, that's one good thing.' They leaned over it and he nodded. 'I thought so. There's another village fifteen miles further on and the border, fifty miles beyond that.'
'One thing's certain,' Drummond said. 'Cheung can't hope to catch us now.'
Hamid nodded. 'As long as there's no one waiting at the next village we should be all right.'
'What about ditching a couple of the trucks?'
Hamid shook his head. 'If anything went wrong with the truck we were travelling in, we really would be in trouble. Another thing - three trucks give us more of a show of strength than one. That could be useful if we run into any small patrols.'
'What about the women?' Brackenhurst demanded. 'Don't you think it's time we left them?'
'For the Chinese to get their hands on? Even for you, that isn't such a sparkling idea. Get back to your truck and take up third position.'
The contempt in Hamid's voice was obvious to them all. Brackenhurst turned as if he had been struck and stumbled away.
'For heaven's sake, Major,' Father Kerrigan said, leaning out of the cab of Hamid's truck. 'The man's at the end of his tether, can't you see that?'
'Which means he's got to be driven, Father. It's the only way, I'm afraid.' Hamid turned to Drummond. 'You and Ahmed take the lead in the supply truck, Jack, and I'll follow. If you do run into trouble, try to block the road with your truck. That'll give the rest of us a chance to turn round. If you run fast enough, you should be in time for a lift.'
'I hope so,' Drummond said.
He went round the front of Hamid's truck and waved to Janet. She waved back and so did the boy, the first real sign of life Drummond had noticed from him.
He climbed up beside Ahmed and they drove away. The mist had lifted even more which wasn't too healthy and the rain sluiced down relentlessly. It was bitterly cold and there was a bad taste in his mouth. He ran a hand over the stubble on his chin and leaned back in the seat watching the road, a sub-machine gun in his lap.
They had been driving for no more than twenty minutes when Hamid sounded his horn a couple of times. Ahmed turned in to the side of the road and Hamid pulled in ahead.
He jumped down and came to meet them. 'Brackenhurst doesn't seem to be following.'
'I wonder what the stupid bastard's up to now?' Drummond said.
'As far as I'm concerned, I'd leave him to stew, but we've the women to think of.'
Drummond nodded. 'You wait here. We'll run back in the supply truck. It's always possible that he's just broken down. I can't understand how the things have kept going this long.'
Ahmed reversed and drove back along the road. Within five minutes they saw the truck parked at the edge, the women and Brackenhurst standing beside it.