Contagion - Plans of Deception - Book One.

Sweat was dripping from Adams forehead, his muscles were refusing to respond to his brain, as he cast his eyes back to where he had been laying he could see the machete still on the ground where he had left it. From behind him came a quiet voice, “Please men sab, do not move or it will kill you,” the voice behind him sounded very young. Slowly Adam could see a small figure coming up along side of him. He had a long staff, that he held in his hand, and was swaying it in a sideways motion, “now please, do not move quickly, the snake is many times faster than we are. Any sudden movement will only course it to strike, which would not be a good idea.”

The child’s English was passable, but certainly needed working on, slowly the boy extended the staff taking the snakes glare away from them. Then in a blinding flash the snake had struck out at the tip of the staff, at the same instant the boy had thrown a large sack type material that he had produced from behind him. Within a matter of seconds the child was upon the snake having it pinned very expertly down by its neck, and was then very carefully proceeding to put the venomous creature into a bag.

Adam was in a daze, everything had happened with such speed, as he watched the boy lift the heavy bag he realised he had actually wet himself, been in fear of his very life. “It is all right now men sab, it can no longer hurt you, I have been after this beast for weeks. It will get me a good price at the market, yes?” As he walked from the overhang there on the ground was another sack, Adam could see from the movements, that inside were more snakes. Looking at the child in disbelief at what had just happened, he could see he was no older than 13 years; he had a cheeky grin and an appealing personality.

“Tell me, do you do this for a living,” asked Adam, the boy looked at him with a broad smile, revealing two front teeth missing. “Oh yes and whatever else, that I can do.” Adam smiled he almost regretted having to leave the child, yet he knew it was imperative for him to keep forcing himself on, doing whatever it takes to get himself home. “Are you travelling alone,” ask the boy, and then without giving him a chance to answer, he continued talking. “You must be hungry yes, come I will cook us something to eat.”

At that he took hold of Adams hand and proceeded to lead him along a small, almost hidden walkway. Adam let his hand go and quickly returned to where he had been sleeping, and picked up the machete and rucksacks that he had so carelessly left behind. When he walked back out he smiled showing the child what he had gone for, then preceded to follow the child to what must have been his home. It was a small hole, which had been carved into a cliff, about twenty feet from the ground, there was a sort of natural but dangerously narrow pathway, like blocks of stairs making its way up to and past his home.

A small bush had been growing from the side of the rock face, this gave the entrance some protection, and unless one knew the makeshift home was there, it could so very easily have been passed. It took only a couple of minutes for them to make their way up the cliff face, from behind the bush Adam could see the cave was approximately ten feet deep and about six feet high. To his amazement the boy had fashioned himself some basic cooking utensils, from old bits of iron and brass, there was also a crude blanket that lay on the floor, and a small ring of stones where a fire had been.

To the side of the cave was a bundle of dried wood, it was not until Adam had actually gone inside, that he realised there was another room that had been cut out from the rock. It was dark inside but he could just make out another figure of a young child huddled in the corner, the older boy placed down the snakes and spoke to his younger brother in Urdu. “I am sorry men sab; younger brother not learn yet English.” He was obviously very proud of the fact that he could himself speak another language, “tell me,” asked Adam “from where did you learn you’re English?” There was another broad smile on the boy’s face, “From missionaries, who are at the village,”

He was pointing in a westerly direction, and then without further ceremony he proceeded to light a fire and started to prepare a humble meal. To Adam surprise he opened one of the sacks and quickly pulled out a snake, within seconds he had killed it and started to skin the creature with a stone knife. Adam was totally amazed at how this young man had adapted to his surrounding, and shown that he was a true survivor. Before long the three were sitting and eating a simple but sustaining meal.

It had now become dark and Adam knew he had to be on his way, opening the rucksack that he had stolen from the travellers, he fumbled around inside until he had found what he was looking for. Slowly he pulled out a 12-inch bone handled knife, and a couple of vests and a leather belt, looking over to his new friend, he smiled and then handed the items over to him. “Here these are for you, in exchange for saving my life and for the meal.” Said Adam. The boy looked in amazement as he pulled out the knife, and his face lit up like a shining candle, and then looking at the shirts, he handed them over to his younger brother saying something that Adam could not understand. The child reached over and took them with eagerness, “My brother is thankful of your kindness, as I am as well.” Adam smiled again at the child’s English, then got up, thanked the young lad once again, then departed, ensuring this time that he had picked up his machete. “Well at least I have learnt how to kill and cook myself a snake,” he thought to himself. In the distance he could see some lights coming from the area that the boy had said there was a village.

Not wanting to draw any further attention to himself, Adam decided to avoid the area; there was one thing though that had caught his attention. It was only some ten minutes from when he had left the boys, he could make out a sturdy tree with its branches extending outwards, some were tangled, but a few were straight, and looked like they would make him a good staff. Placing down his rucksack, he pulled out the machete and proceeded to cut himself a quality hard wood staff.

After seen how the boy had used his as a weapon, or simply as an aid for walking, he had been suitably impressed enough to make one of his own. Adam knew it was dangerous anyway, to travel such areas at night, as there were wild animals about, who would not think twice about eating him, that’s if the opportunity was to arise.

Over the next eight days, Adam had made his way through India and had entered into Afghanistan, he had been fortunate, in been picked up by a group of land rover drivers, who were on some sort of university field trip. They had clubbed together and had given him some food and about $20.00 to help him on his way, they had also cleaned and dressed his wound for him, with one of the drivers slipping him a small bottle of oral Morph. For Adam, it had been a true blessing, the shoulder wound had been troubling him, he openly had told them that he had been attacked and had been cut by machete. Although he avoided having to tell them of how he had decapitated one of the aggressors and placed his head onto a fence post.

By the tenth day, he had found himself in Kataghan; his biggest problems lie in travelling through the various countries without travel permits. A very irate village policeman had been hostile, having found him asleep one afternoon in an old farm shed. Not speaking any English, he eventually had led him at gunpoint into his jeep and had proceeded to drive him back to the police station. His mistake had been in taking his eyes off Adam to negotiate his way along the lonely dirt track. It had taken Adam only a matter of seconds, to have killed him and to dispose of the body in a roadside ditch. He took his gun, Sunglasses and jeep, and this had given him an opportunity to travel quickly. The Sunglasses were Foster Grant’s and gave him adequate protection, from the glare of the mid day sun.

Keeping to the mountainous roads, Adam made his way through Kataghan and headed the jeep in the direction of Iran, having travelled some ninety-three miles before it ran out of petrol. He had been pleased with the transport; it had gained him many miles and was sorry to have to leave it by the roadside. Before leaving it he had managed to point it facing in the direction that he had just come from, a precaution should it be found with anyone looking for him?

Elaine’s Nightmares had returned, and with the veracity of a Pit Bull Terrier guarding its bone on a bad day. There was an underlying element to the dreams, which was causing her concern; as she could remember the violent attack, and with the deadening blows that lifted her off her feet, and as she had fallen, Elaine could feel in her mind as the pain had surged through her, and when her leg had broken pushing a jagged bone through her flesh. The nightmare had brought her back to floating from her body and looking down on herself, there before her she had seen Brien, as he moved his body away from her. It confused her as to why she still had her shoes and socks on; it was as Brien had started to turn around, that she shuddered in fright at the sight before her, and not wanting to accept as to who it was that she was looking at, and then in her mind, she could remember it had felt as if she was been drawn away into a realm of light.

Amander had spoken to her, asking her if she was sure that it was Brien who she could see. This had upset Elaine as she hated him, and had blamed him, as been the instigator of all her troubles. In reality Elaine was unable to comprehend or grasp the reality that Brien had in fact, taken this action, in a desire to protect her. The very thought, that he could be innocent of the attack, when she thought that she had seen him, truly scared her and if it had not been for her love of her friend, that she would have reacted violently to her suggestion.

That evening as Elaine sat in her mother’s studio with the room lights switched off, so she could do some star watching, Amander had appeared into the room and had asked if it was OK to join her. “Don’t be silly; you are always welcome here you know that” said Elaine, Amander was unsure, as she had unintentionally upset her friend. As the two girls sat in the darkened room, leaning back and looking up through the glass-domed room, they could see a beautiful clear sky. There had been an unusual cluster of shooting stars, and each one that streaked across the sky caused the girls to shout with glee, and also making a wish in turn, on seeing each one as it flew above them.

It was Amander’s wish that had caught Elaine’s attention, as a particular bright and colourful star had come into view, Elaine heard her wishing that she had never run away and that her father would forgive her. “Amander do you remember that day you helped me to walk out of the cave?” there was a moment’s pause as another star streaked across the sky. Then the girl’s returned back to talking, “Yes why do you want to think about that?” “Well it was when that police dog was calling its master, and that policeman had struggled his way through the hedgerow.”

Amander was looking at her friend with interest, “Yes,” “Well when you saw the man’s face you called out Daddy,” she paused for a moment. “Is that man who rescued me really your dad?” The question had taken Amander by surprise, and it was some minutes before she answered her friend. “Yes…I had not realised that it was him until I saw his face; I was scared he was still angry with me, and I didn’t know what to do.” “Do you think he would still be angry after all this time?”

Amander had become restless, and had lost interest in looking up to the stars. “I…don’t know…I went back to my old house once about a year after I had gone away, my parents were no longer there and I couldn’t find them. I cried and cried for days until I came back here to Preston Cliffs, I felt drawn and wanted here, I’m not sure why, but I feel at times, as if there is some bright light drawing me back here, every time I wonder away to visit someone or go somewhere.”

The girls were once again looking back up towards the sky; several stars flew across the sky but had gone unnoticed. “I could talk to your daddy for you,” said Elaine. “I could tell him you are my friend and that you have tried to visit him, but for some reason you just can’t see her.” “No…I would rather you didn’t do that.” Said Amander.

It was then that Elaine realised that Amander was suddenly looking defensive; and her reaction had taken Elaine by surprise. Suddenly there was a thunderous noise, as a small meteorite had crashed into the ground, only some one-mile from their home. Both girls jumped to their feet and were watching for any more, and within seconds another crashed into the Sea, they had seen this one with a fiery tale as it seemed to explode and descend with speed down into the water. Peter had come up to the dome to join in watching the skies.

The next day he was up early and went out with the two girls to see if they could find where the meteorite had landed. After some three hours of searching they discovered a small crater, measuring some nine feet across, which had been made by the impact. After some careful searching it was Amander who found what they had been looking for, and as Peter examined the remains, he realised he was holding a small fortune. As the demand for such objects far outweighed the supply.

The girls had both forgot their conversations and were once again looking forward to spending a day fossil collecting, along the coastline at Preston Cliffs. They had accessed the beach unobserved by boat, and had made their way to the mouth of the cave that split into two. Peter had left there, three large fossils, each needing two people to carry them back to their boat, it was as they were loading the third fossil that Peter had remembered Amander’s description, of how she had come to be trapped in the cave before them.

They were fully equipped for a day’s collecting and had brought with them miner’s lights, torches, water, refreshments, diving gear and tools. After talking it through with Elaine and Amander, it had been agreed that they should explore the cave, both Peter and Elaine had no problem with entering the cavern. It was Amander who found she was unable to gain the courage needed to re-enter into its domain.

After some further consultation, it was agreed that Peter would explore the area by himself and that the two girls should stay by, or on the boat, and as company for each other. Peter had been able to keep in contact with too small portable transceivers, with the base station been manned by Christine back at the lighthouse. As he had made his way through the cave, he could see in his mind, Amander as a frightened child, who was desperately trying to escape the incoming tidal water.

If it had not been for his torch and miner’s light it would have been terrifyingly dark within the cave, he could almost hear her screams of help, as they would have echoed off the cave walls over the sound of the incoming tide. Shining the light onto the walls, he could see the high tide mark, even here, some ten meters in, and the water line was over six feet from the ground. No child or man could have survived been trapped within here, before long Peter found himself by a pool of water, there was no telling how deep it was. Yet he knew that this must be the entrance into the Cavern as described by Amander.

Walking back to his boat Peter informed the girls of his discovery, then lifting his wet suit from the boat, he prepared himself to enable him to explore further into the cavern. He secured a length of rope onto his boat, taking the other end into the cave with him, just before he had reached the pool he had to join another length together, and then entering the pool, he lowered himself into the unknown.

It was very dark and cold, his wet suit afforded him a level of protection yet still he could feel the cold, the further he went, he could not help wondering how many thousands of years that this water had been trapped here. As he gently felt his way further into the pool, he could just make out that the rocks were closing in as they started to narrow. Checking his microphone and camera were still functioning he informed his daughter that he was about to see how far he could go, without becoming restricted by obstacles in his way.

Both of the girls looked on at the monitor in amazement, as they spoke to Peter from time to time. Some ten minutes later Peter found he was swimming upwards and within minutes he broke water, and he had found himself in an enormous cavern that looked as if it had come out of a Holly-Wood script. As he waded his way onto dry land he realised that he must have been the first human to step foot on this sacred of sites. All around him were the most beautiful Crystals, some multi coloured with the rays of sun light shining through the small holes from above, was like a rainbow dancing and touching different spots on the cavern’s walls.

From where he stood, he could now understand what had been happening, over thousands of years, the water had slowly eroded away the cavern, and all along the coastline, the apparently solid ground, was in fact extremely dangerous, as when walking above on the cliff, a person had no idea of the danger below them. He had to carefully look where he even put his feet, as the fossils had lain undisturbed for countless thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years. He was glad that he had the wisdom to have brought along the video recording unit, and that he was now placing onto record, the scene before him. One thing had concerned him, he knew it was entirely possible that he may well come across Amander’s body. He had formed a plan within his own mind and had decided that if he caught sight of the body that he would switch off the camera before once again looking in that direction.

As it was, there was no sight of her, only countless thousands of valuable and rare fossils. Peter surmised in his mind that this area must have been rich in marine and land animals, and that they had in some way had become instantly trapped by some gigantic tragedy, that had instantly sealed them for eternity in time. And that there must have been a furthermore recent upheaval of the ground to form this cavern, since then time had been kind, and throughout the ages that water must have washed away more and more of the cavern, eventually leaving it as he found it on this day.

Elaine was so excited, that everywhere that her father looked, she could see the most beautiful of fossils and crystals; it was like looking into a dream of a fairy tale. Then her fathers’ eyes rested on the tailbones of a dinosaur, to her amazement as her father took his eyes along the length of the creature, they realised that it was an almost complete structure, a rarity in itself. Peter could not help wandering what further treasures were to be found beneath the layers of soil sand and rock.

That evening back at the Lighthouse, the family grouped themselves around the kitchen table, looking at the few small precious samples that Peter had managed to bring back with him. It was Christine who mentioned that she thought it would be wonderful, if the cavern could be transformed into a tourist attraction, like Whoky Hole or Cheddar Caves. She felt that something so beautiful should be open for the world to see, and that in time the supply of fossils would eventually come to an end. But the cavern if left with most of the crystals and fossils in place, would be an income not just for them, but also for their grandchildren and onwards.

Such a venture could in time give the family a treasure that they in turn could offer to the nation. The idea sat well with Peter, he knew that it would take considerable thought and planning, and that it would be wise to speak with his friend and solicitor, as soon as he could get hold of him on the following day. Christine had waited until Elaine had taken herself up to her room; she had never seen or spoken with Amander, other than the one day that she had seen her on the beach. She was aware that Peter had won the child’s trust, and that they had to be careful in her choice of words, as she was never really sure if the child was nearby.

When they felt it was safe to talk Christine brought up the subject of the body, it was obvious that Amander’s fear of entering the cave, indicated a strong possibility that her body lay somewhere within that area waiting to be found. Peter indicated that he had noticed when crawling his way through the underwater tunnel, and that a section of it seemed to branch off with a strong undertow drawing the water in that direction. He was unsure but felt it was quite possible that a further sunken tunnel, laid alongside that one, and was fed directly by the water shelf, and also the incoming tide.

Such a channel would easily draw in and trap any unsuspecting swimmer who was a child, or unable to have the strength to keep away from the undertow. It was agreed that given the opportunity, and that at a later date, they should try to see if they could send a remote unit with a VCR into the tunnels, to see if they could view the area from the safety of the cavern or boat.

Adam had made good progress still preferring to travel whenever possible during the early hours of the morning, through a combination of lifts and walking, he eventually made his way through Iran, passing Ferdow, Tehran and Tabriz. He had tried as much as possible to bypass Iraq & Syria, although on three occasions he had found himself dangerously close, as the various traders who had stopped their vehicles to give this English man a lift, had often taken him many miles out of his way.

On one such occasion, he had fallen asleep through sheer exhaustion, and had awoken to find his newfound friend had stopped just three miles from the Iraqi boarder to have a Pee. It had taken him a full four days to just back track on foot to eventually put him back on the road where he was originally picked up. He had been looking forward to visiting an old friend who lived in Turkey, the last address for him was in a small village just some seven miles to the west of Amasya.

When he eventually arrived at the village, he was pleased to see that it had become a stop over point for European travellers, back packing there way around the world, or to Nepal. He had felt that his appearance would not drawn such attention to him, it had taken him a further ninety minutes before he had found the small farm on the outskirts of the village. It was here that an old university friend lived; he had married a French girl, and had to return to his family home when his father had unexpectedly died, leaving the family destitute.

Sidequi had been a close friend and they had kept in written contact exchanging two or three letters to each other every year. An elderly lady was hanging clothing on a length of thin rope, which was suspended from a fig tree, extending some thirteen metres to the wall of their humble home. From the side of the house Adam could see a small but attractive woman, as she walked carrying a wicker basket, and was feeding the chickens, while making a chuckling noise.

Siddiqui had seen the stranger as he was approaching the farm, having not realised at that time, just whom it was that he was looking at. “We have little to offer you,” he shouted to the approaching traveller. “But if its food and water that you need then we can spare a little.”

He had long learnt to treat these various travellers with caution, but also with respect, as it had been known over the years to occasionally of had a mentally disturbed traveller, who had proceeded to rape and rob their hosts. As such the local villagers needed the much-valued income, but always whenever possible kept these travellers at arms length. “That’s not why I am here you bald headed moron” came the reply, Sidequi stopped in his path, it had been some years since he had heard that voice, or been called by that name. It was not until Adam had come closer that he realised whom it was, that was before him. “Adam…is that you under all that dirt?” Adam could see the broad grin on his old friend’s face, “What’s this, have you taken to feeding all the drop out travellers in this God forsaken country?” “Oh no my friend, God has not forsaken us, nor this country, Allah has blessed us with an abundance.” “You call this an abundance?” Adam said jokingly.

Sidequi called to his family, his wife put down her basket and as she walked passed the door to her home two children came running out. “See my friend, what more could a man ask for than a good home, a beautiful wife, an attentive and loving mother and two wonderful sons.” Adam could see the wisdom in his friend’s words. “My friend, it is good to see you, has it really been seven years since I was last in this beautiful country of yours?” Adam reached out his arms and gave his friend a warm and hearty hug, as Sidequi pulled his arms back to his side he noticed Adam flinch in pain. “You have hurt yourself, yes?” Adam smiled and looked at the group of people before him. “It’s a long story my friend, and I will tell you all about it soon, but for now could this humble traveller grace himself at your table, and have some water and a piece of bread I’m bloody hungry and I have one hell of a thirst.”

After Sidequi had explained to his family who this strange man was, they smiled and welcomed him into their home. It was only Sidequi who could speak or understand English, “What is it that has brought you into this part of the world, I certainly never put you down as been a back packer?” After some hours later, both men sat out in the cool evening reminiscing and going over the past events that had led Adam to been there at that point in time.

“Now my friend, are you going to let me take a look at that shoulder of yours?” Adam flinched as Sidequi placed his hand on his arm. “Oh! It would appear this wound of yours, is not as small as you described it, now come on. I shall not take no for an answer, off with your shirt and let me take a closer look at this so called, small flesh wound.” As Adam lifted off his shirt Sidequi could see instantly that the dressing around the wound was dirty, and had been soaked in what was now dried blood. Adam flinched as he lifted away the dressing, the stench and sight before them was not a good sign.

Sidequi could see the wound had turned septic, and if not treated immediately, Adam’s very life could be in danger. Sidequi called out to his mother, she took one look at the wound, and then spoke directly to her daughter-in-law, and asking her to fetch the village doctor. To Adams surprise it was not a local villager who arrived, but a French Missionary, and his English was as good as Adam’s.

On examining the injury, the doctor looked up to Adam and spoke. “My I see they were not joking, when they told me your arm was almost green,” Adam looked up at the tall French man, he looked as if he would not have been out of place in an American Basket Ball Team. “You don’t beat about the bush then I see,” The doctor put his bag down on the small card table, “Tell me Adam, when did this happen?” Adam flinched gripping his teeth as pain shot through his arm. “It was about two months ago, in truth I can’t remember the exact date, some bloody…” he was about to say Wog, but managed to stop himself. “Some bloody basket case, tried to rob me, when I refused to hand over what little I had, the sod took a swing at me with this machete.”

The doctor could see the offending article lying on the floor, “I take it as you now have the said article that he never got away with it?” Adam grinned, “well lets just say I left him a bit light headed.” He suddenly flinched again as the doctor had found a useable vain and had injected him with some antibiotics. “The first thing we need to do is remove these grubs,” as he spoke he already had one of the offending creatures, and was lifting it away with some tweezers, within minutes he had removed the second creature and had proceeded to clean up the wound.

The sight before him, even after been cleaned, looked dreadful, “You will need to have this treated daily, and I would advise you to rest as much as possible. I’m sure Sidequi and his family will take more than good care of you,” at that he spoke to the family in their native tongue and then departed. Their new visitor fascinated the children, later that day, after they had a family meal, Adam told them the story of how a young boy had saved his life while he was in India. Their father translated the story while the rest of the family sat around the table listening intensively. “I had become tired and needed to find somewhere to rest,” he paused every now and then to enable Sidequi to translate. “Then I saw this wonderful overhang some short distance up a cliff” he paused to take a drink of the local wine. Then continued “It was just high enough to protect me from animals like the black bear,” as their father explained to the children what a bear was they laughed, but got a little closer together for protection. “I had been asleep for some hours, not knowing then that a visitor had also taken refuge in the cave,”

Adam could see the look of interest on their faces. “When I woke up my bones and muscles were stiff making it difficult to get up, I had not even by then realised that I was no longer alone. As I stood up I could hear this strange noise from behind me, and as I turned slowly around there looming in the shade of the overhang was this giant snake, it was some six feet away from me. As I looked at it I could see its total length was some five metres with about…”

Sidequi put his hand up to indicate, that he was going just a little to fast. “Three metres of it was standing upright and towering over me,” the children were used to snakes, but had never seen a king cobra or one as large as this. Adam continued, “Its neck had flattened out, and its eyes were piercing their gaze deep into me, I was so scared that I actually wet my trousers.” The children laughed when their father translated what Adam had said, placing their hands to there mouths, “I really was unable to move, and just watched this giant monster of a snake as it swayed before me. Then a miracle happened, a voice came from behind me telling me not to move.” He could see the whole family was listening, almost holding their breath, and wondering what was going to happen next.

“I couldn’t move, as I was too scared, then I saw this young boy no older than 13 years walk up along side of me. He was holding a wooden staff like this one,” as, he pointed to the staff that he had made for himself while in India. “He kept it at arms length swaying it from side to side, suddenly the snake striked out at the staff,” as Sidequi translated the family almost jumped backwards. “Then before I knew what was happening, this boy had thrown over the snakes head, a large piece of sack cloth,”

Adam smiled as he watched the children take a deep breath in fear and anticipation of what was going to happen next. “And within seconds he had pinned the snakes head down firmly onto the ground, and some how, he managed to get it into another bag. Later he took me to his home, which was a hole that he had cut out of soft rock part the way up a cliff, he killed a snake before my eyes, skinned it and then lit a fire and cooked it.”

By the time Sidequi had finished the translation the family were smiling and pleased that their new friend had shared the story with them. Later in the evening when the children had gone to bed, Sidequi and Adam sat resting there backs against some large boulders and were looking up at the night time’s sky. “You always were a wonderful story teller, thank you for sharing that with my family, I know the children were fascinated to hear how you escaped. They both have an intense disliking of snakes, I think now they will keep themselves well clear of those wretched creatures.”

Adam noted from Siddiqui’s voice that he too had a dislike of the creatures, “From the sound of your voice, I would say you feel the same way.” Sidequi looked over to his friend, “I do, I have myself been bitten three times by different snakes, and my wives father was killed by one only last month. The children took his death badly, as they had loved him dearly. It’s the farm, you see it attracts mice and rats and that in turn attracts the snakes.”

Adam could see the dilemma, that night the two men sat talking for hours long into the night. Adam explained in some detail how he had come to be in Thailand, leaving out any incriminating parts, only partly explaining of how he had managed to escape from the prison and come to be there, talking to his friend. Over the next two weeks Adam worked doing whatever he could to assist his friend, on his small farm and also earning his keep, his wound was slow in healing, and kept becoming re-infected. The doctors from the mission were concerned, knowing that unless it healed then he was in imminent danger, and had the wound of been lower on the arm, then they could as a last resort, have removed the arm; but been high on his shoulder it put a different picture before them.

Adam explained to them that he was also in the country illegally, and giving a brief explanation as to why. This in itself meant they had to be careful of not attracting the attention of the authorities, Turkey was a beautiful country to visit, and the ruling authorities were very just in their law. None the less, it had been known before now that they took a very dim view, of anyone been found illegally in their country. It was not even unknown for the occasional Westerner to be arrested on charges of spying and have become lost in their vast prison or correctional units.

It was decided to keep everything very lowed keyed, and treat him as best as they could, however it was not long after their decision when the local village police had heard rumours of an Englishman staying at Sidequi’s house and how he was a great snake killer. The children had been talking and word had eventually made its way through the village, and changing in its content every time it was passed on. Fortunately for Adam the local Police were friendly with Sidequi, as one of them was the brother of his wife. It was a small village with many been inter married and very little ever went by without been noticed.

Adam realised that he was placing the family at risk; if the village authorities had come to know of his visit, then it was possible that word would eventually reach others, who were not so friendly. He had no wish in putting his friend in a difficult situation, where he would have to choose between him, and his family. Fortunately Adam had managed to retrieve two gold rings back from the doctor and some personal jewellery that he knew the doctor would no longer need.

As far as he knew there was no need for such items in hell, so he asked Sidequi where he could sell some gold and other items. Before long after much bartering, he had sold one of the rings and most of the doctor’s personal items. The trader went away a very happy man, as it was Adam was not that displeased, as all bar one item had belonged to some one else. He was now some Seven Hundred American Dollars the richer, strange he thought to himself, how the English pound or the American dollars were such world currencies, that everyone seems to prefer dealing with them.

As he made his way back to Sidequi’s farm he called into one of the local village shops and purchased a variety of items. With instructions to the shopkeepers to keep hold of the items until the next day, when he explained that Sidequi or his wife and mother would come by to collect them. It was known in the village that he was related to the law, so Adam realised there was little worry of the said items not reaching their new homes.

That evening he said his good byes to his friend and family, thanking them for the way that they had made him so welcome and for looking after him. He knew they had very little in the way of material possessions, and unknown to them, he had purchased some two months supply of dried food, having made a mental note of their daily diet. He also purchased several metres of silk and other material, a selection of farming implements and some toys, for the children.

Sidequi had walked to the village parameter with him, before he gave his friend a hug and watched him depart. When he had arrived back at his house the oldest child walked over to his father, and informed him that Adam had given this piece of paper to him, and in what little language he had learned, he had asked him to pass it on to his father. On opening the package Sidequi viewd the note and looked at the bundle of American dollars that his friend had left him and with interest at the receipts of goods awaiting their collection. The next day when the family had collected their packages they were virtually speechless, at the more than generous gifts that lay before them.

Adam had managed to make good progress; the mission doctors had given him a further seven-day supply of antibiotics and a quantity of clean dressing and ointment. It was now up to Adam to ensure that he kept the wound clean and dressed, preventing any further infection. He had met up with a group of three back packers who were making their way to Budapest; they shared food and wine with him and had picked a quiet spot off the main track to camp for the night. As morning came Adam had just finished cooking himself breakfast, the three back packers were all dead, he had disposed what was left of the bodies, in a shallow grave, hoping the animals would find them long before any other humans did.

Adam had used the gun that he had stolen from the Iranian policeman; he had sorted through their personal belongings keeping any money Gold and jewellery. The various visas giving permission to be in the country along with the passports were of great value. One of the back packers had actually had more than a passing resemblance to him other than having blond hair, Adams was black and by now much longer. He soon realised that there was a good and very probable chance, that if he could find some way of bleaching his hair blond, then he would most likely get away with using the passport, and giving him a way home.

After hiding the various Backpacks some miles from where he had killed their previous owners, he had made his way passed Ankara and into Bucurest. Fortunately, he had managed to stow himself safely hidden away on a motorised transporter, as it had made its way into Romania, it was there that he had joined up with a group of English Missionaries who had been delivering lorry loads of gifted items from a group of churches.

In exchange for manual labour Adam had worked his way through Romania leaving the church missionaries when they had arrived at Arad. One of the women there had cut his hair for him and he had acquired himself a razor and blades, plus a useable quantity of used clothing from one of the Lorries. In Arad, Adam had managed to purchase himself some hair dye and had proceeded to alter his appearance, it was not long before he had managed to make a presentable likeness to the picture in the passport. By the time he had eventually travelled through Hungary and had made his way into Poznan in Poland. There he managed to purchase himself a place on a fishing trawler, having agreed that they would drop him off on the East coast as near to Walton-on-Naze or Clacton-on-Sea as they could.