Globusz^® Publishing 

hey ran forward, Helen was looking down to make sure of her footing; she had taken three or four strides when she suddenly saw the machete on the ground. There was no chance of picking it up whilst they were running so she made a snap decision.

“Stop! Stop!” She called and dug her heels in.

Peter, slower to react, took another stride before he attempted to stop, but his feet were on the rock now and he slipped, the glider control bar crashed down, and Peter on his back now started to slide over the edge. Helen was down on her knees and being dragged to the edge, desperately trying to get something to hold on to. At the last moment Peter completely letting go of the glider managed to get a finger hold, and that with the wind pressing down on the ‘sail’ stopped them.

“What the bloody hell!” Then he got control of him self, and feeling round with his feet found a toe-hold and pushed back. Helen, scrambled back very frightened, not only for what may have been but also because of the look on Peter’s face. He was absolutely livid, and speechless, opening and closing his mouth. They dragged the glider back in silence, Helen unhooking her self before making a great show of retrieving the machete. Peter, freeing him self from the glider without saying a word, had a good look at the control bar and the nose of the glider. Having put the machete back in her pack whilst Peter finished checking the glider, they stood and looked at each other. The silence between them was overpowering, neither were laughing, they had come so close to a total wreck and both new it.

“Please! Please! Never ever do that again... I know why you did it... I understand you had only a split second to decide, and this time it paid off, but not next time, not ever again. Next time we go and if necessary we come back.”

“I’m sorry! I just saw it there and it was so important, I could swear I put it in my pack before... but I can’t have... Are you all right? We were so nearly going over the edge.”

“Yes! I’m okay! And yes I did go over the edge, that’s at least a five-metre fall. However let’s not dwell on it, no harm done. We’ll do another check round the site before we go again, Eh!”

He walked round the glider, checking it again and making a show of checking all the ground around. All was clear and he proceeded to fasten him self on. Once again they backed up to the bushes.

“Okay! Are we ready this time,” somehow resisting the temptation to chastise her further, she didn’t need reminding and probably felt bad enough already.

“Yes! Ready to go.”

“There’s plenty of breeze so it shouldn’t be difficult... I’ll keep the nose down till the last moment. Ready, take six strides... go!”

* * *

This time the take off was perfect, Helen took five strides before she saw the edge of the rock, on the sixth step she dived forward just as Peter pushed lightly on the control bar and up they went soaring away clear of the trees.

“Now that was a perfect take off, though I do say so myself.”

“Well! You know, they do say that practice makes perfect,” she commented, just as the control bar went over to the left. They banked round onto their course down the valley and within a few minutes were passing over the top of the water fall where they’d had a shower during the day, Peter busily working the up draft off the edge.

“How high do you think we are we above the ledge Peter, I’m curious to know how much we gained through all that labour of hauling the glider up that last slope?”

“It’s a bit difficult to estimate in the dark, may be two hundred metres, but then down there we probably wouldn’t have got as much lift, this is good at the moment, riding the very lip of the cliff edge. If this continues we could stay up all night. But of course it won’t.”

Helen began to do a bit of mental arithmetic, attempting to work out how much extra distance they would achieve in five hundred extra feet of height. If we assume a sink rate of one in ten that only gives us five thousand feet distance, that’s approximately one mile further. ‘That is a very poor reward for all that labour. I hope we are getting a lot more lift along the top here.’ She was looking around now, continually checking in front, but visibility was good, they could easily see into the valley below, occasionally catching a glimpse of silver as the moon reflected of the river, that at the moment was running close to the road. There ahead, she could see the road bridging the river. ‘Was that some lights on the bridge? Are they soldiers? What are they doing? It’s the middle of the night, is that a roadblock they have set up? Can they see us?’

“Peter there are some soldiers or guards down there, they appear to be manning a roadblock or something on the bridge over the river, do you see those lights down there?

“Yes I see them,” then very casual so as not to alarm her, added, “they’re probably on an exercise or something with that helicopter we saw during the day.”

“Don’t be silly,” she snorted in disgust and realising perfectly what he was trying to do. “Obviously they’ve discovered we are missing by now... and that is a roadblock set up just to catch us. They’ve set it up in the natural bottle-neck of a bridge over the river. Do you think they could see us if they looked up, we will be silhouetted against the sky?”

This was greeted with a silent pause. “You’re right.” Then she felt the glider start descending and the speed built up, he didn’t however take it below the edge but flew closer to the ground.

“I can still see them, so they could see us,” she pointed out.

“Yes that’s a shame, I think we will have to go over the lip and fly along below the skyline, with the dark of the cliff behind us it should be much more difficult to see us. Unfortunately we will lose some lift.” With that he swung the glider round and they dived over the edge, turning along the cliff face and keeping very close in to it. They weren't in shadow but the glider did have a black ‘sail’ and they were moving fast and silently. Helen was still worried and kept a sharp eye on the bridge. If one of the soldiers did see them perhaps he would think it was a cloud shadow or a bird, she hoped! It was darker down there and difficult to make out features but she watched them all the same, looking for sudden movement whilst Peter was trying to get the best lift he could. This continued for some time until the bridge faded from view without the alarm being raised.

“Peter do you think they’ve set that roadblock up rather quickly, they must have called in the army as soon as they found the count at the prison wrong, I would have thought Seņor Carlos would want to keep it to him self and try and recapture us before calling for further help.”

“That’s true, but he hasn’t had enough time to get the guards to get ahead of us, not with these roads, he must have called in the army. I believe if they think we are on foot in the valley.”

“Well as long as they don’t call in the air force,” Helen joked, lightening the conversation.

“Perhaps we should steer well clear of the road tonight when we land, but I can’t see any traffic on it, at least not with lights on.” Then she remembered the state of the road on the way up. ‘A person would certainly need lights to travel on that road at night,’ she mused. Another quick look around, there appeared to be no problems, they were still flying just below the edge of the cliff but she could see ahead that this was going to disappear soon. They were making good progress, having to drop over the edge had been no great loss as before the cliff petered out they regained the top. The slope of the mountain was gentler than the previous night but the wind appeared stronger so they managed to progress without loosing height, sometimes even gaining height. It was slow though and whenever the lift improved Peter would circle once or twice to gain more height. Never mind she thought we have all night and the more height they gained, meant less climbing during the day.

Ahead of them the shape of the valley changed as it was joined by what appeared to be another valley on their right with a stream flowing out from it. At the junction of the two valleys there was a large relatively flat area with a village at the confluence of two rivers which they could see glistening in the moonlight. Peter tried to visualise the map he had seen of this country but couldn’t recall a valley joining from this side.

“We now have an option,” he said. “We can fly straight across hear, it looks about a mile, but we won’t be getting any up lift from the mountain slope, or we can fly up this valley to the right, cross over at a narrow point and fly back down it. Unfortunately we will probably lose lift from the sloping side of that valley when coming back; the breeze can hardly blow up both slopes.”

“It seems to me you have answered your own question... If we lose lift coming back down that valley we may as well lose the lift as we cut straight across.”

“Fair enough, we’ll just skirt the village to the right though, not go straight over it. I don’t fancy crash landing on a roof. Then we’ll see if there is any lift on the other side. We’ve got plenty of height at the moment so we should get across.”

Peter held close to the mountain-side for a short while before gently turning left and venturing out to cross this spur from the valley. By looking to her right beneath Peter’s head Helen could see that this valley was short with a waterfall at the end. It didn’t take long before they were flying over one or two outlying buildings, high up as they were; it was safe unless someone looked straight up. Helen was keeping a sharp lookout for any people about in the village though this was unlikely as it was after all the middle of the night. Realising that her hands were aching by gripping the control bar tightly, she took first one hand then the other off the bar flexing her fingers to get rid of the tension. Those soldiers at the roadblock back there had really got to her. Before seeing them this had been a pleasure flight, she had been quite enjoying it, now her whole attitude had changed. After leaving the buildings behind it became apparent that they would reach the other side of this short valley with very little height to spare. Peter had been concentrating hard trying to get the best out of the flight; he had seen the outbuildings and noticed the tension Helen had displayed. Their wasn’t much he could do about it though, he could only coax as much distance for minimum height loss as possible and this required sensitivity on the control bar.

At last they were getting near to the other slope where they could expect to regain some lift. What was really needed now was a good strong puff of wind to lift them up the side of the valley but as they joined the slope again the breeze was fickle and it was some time before they caught an updraft. Even this though wasn’t worth circling to stay with, ‘the breeze must be fading we will have to land soon,’ Peter thought. “Keep a lookout for a suitable landing site. We aren’t going to be able to fly much longer.”

Helen heard him and disappointment set in, they hadn’t done too badly for distance tonight but now the were squandering what height they had to gain extra distance and get as far away from that village as possible. All this height loss they will have to make good by walking and climbing. Her legs ached at the thought of it; they were stiff now after spending a second night hanging in the slings of the glider. She was reluctantly looking round for a landing site when she noticed a small road climbing up the side of the valley beneath them. Now that would be easier than fighting through the forest.

“Peter! There’s a dirt track or road going up the hill ahead and to the right, it’s not the main road, we could make good progress on that, climbing the hill... can we land near it?”

“Good idea! We could use it for a couple of hours at least, but it must lead somewhere, some farm or other, as long as we keep a sharp lookout. I’ll turn and stay above it, if there is any clearing we’ll land.”

They hadn’t been following it long when they saw it turned sharply back on itself in a zigzag for a hundred metres or so before continuing. They still had some height left but couldn’t see the next turn of the road. The bend looks just about clear enough Peter thought but I will have to judge it just right or we’ll end up in the trees.

“Right we’re going in, get your feet down, I’ll land us on the bend, the wind has dropped so we’ll go in up hill, and land, with any luck, right on the road.”

“Oh! Scary! But if you think that’s best then let’s do it.”

Peter banked the glider round to the left loosing height but gaining speed, they both got their feet down and now heading in a full circle flew up the road with the bend approaching rapidly. About a hundred yards short of the bend he dived of to the left, slightly below it then round to the right coming in fast below the corner. Helen tensed, it looked like they were going to end up in the trees, this is going to be a catastrophe she thought and began to strain on the control bar. Peter felt her straining. “Relax! Don’t push the bar,” he said quickly. Then at the last moment, with a muttered, “Now!” he pushed forward. The glider responded instantly and shot up, over the bushes on the slope, next moment the bend of the road was below them and they dropped onto it from about ten feet up, the glider easing their fall.

Helen was flabbergasted, it was a heavy landing, but she had no need to step forward at all. “Gosh!” she exclaimed. “You should have warned me what you were going to do. I thought we had crashed, one moment we were flying straight for the trees and the next I’m standing still.”

They lowered the glider to the road and unhooked themselves. Helen stepped away from it and had a look around, the nose was less than two metres from the trees ahead, at the rear the left wing tip had caught on some low branches and to the right the wing rested on a bush in the turn of the dirt road, it was very nearly perfect, if they had gone half a metre further forward it would have been. It occurred to her then how skilful a landing it had been, but even so she didn’t fully appreciate it.

“Hey! That was lucky wasn’t it we’ve got away with just a small tear in the wing here. Can you patch it up later Helen?” A big smile came over his face as he realised everything was fine as the adrenaline rush abated. “We’d best get things packed and get on the road... walking and climbing, that is, before the natives wake up.”

* * *

They had been seen. The soldiers at the bridge checkpoint were ostensibly there for the exercise with the US marines. The fact that the nearest marine was unlikely to be any nearer than fifty miles was irrelevant to the specials. Carlos had said that the prisoners must be getting help, and Fidel had agreed. The only help available must be a vehicle. Therefore have a roadblock at a choke point, stop and search everything from donkey carts onwards. No one however had said they couldn’t smoke or show a light. Jose was leaning against the bridge parapet grumbling to him self. His fingers had nearly recovered and he was sure he could ride a scramble bike now, but they wouldn’t let him, instead he was a foot soldier, a plod and having to stand this roadblock, at night. ‘Blast that woman,’ he thought, ‘I just hope they try and come down this road, and then I’d have some fun.’ Alto came across and gestured with a cigarette asking for a light and offering a smoke in return. Jose fished one out of the packet with his good hand, found his lighter, and offered it to Alto. “I was just thinking what I would do to that woman if she came down this road,” he commented. Alto, muttered something about ‘castrating the man with her first’ whilst he fingered his nose which also had almost healed. Jose was looking up at the big guy trying to see if there was any difference to the shape of his nose when his eye was suddenly draw to a shadow flitting across the skyline behind Alto’s left ear. At that moment Alto flicked the lighter and the bright flame destroyed their night vision. “Hey! I just saw something, up on the skyline, a big bird maybe, with something in its claws.”

“That would be a sea eagle with a fish. I’ve seen one or two since they built the dam. I didn’t think they hunted at night though.” Alto replied, as he took a deep drag on the cigarette.

* * *

Once again Peter and Helen packed up the glider, slipped it into its bag and carefully stowed all the bits and pieces. They did it quickly, not only because they had a way to go, but just in case some person came along. Inside three quarters of an hour they started walking, Helen in front and Peter carrying the rear again. It was so much easier walking than the night before, even though it was a rough dirt road. They made good progress and after a few hundred metres came to the other sharp bend where the road turned back on itself and headed west. It wasn’t quite as wide as the bend where they had landed and they had to take care turning the length of the hang-glider.

“Have we got anything left to eat?” Peter asked, as they negotiated the bend.

“You know just as well as I do that we only have two apples, and that has to last us all day, we’ll cut one in half and have half each at the next turn in the road. Until then you will have to make do with a drink of water.”

“Water! Half an apple! and then only in a mile or so, what do you think this finally tuned body of mine runs on woman,” he joked.

“Legs!” was the immediate response.

“Oh! Ha! ... Oh! Ha! Ha!”

The next fold in the road was nowhere in sight after half an hour of walking, they’d covered several miles, climbing all the time and even Helen was thinking of relenting. She couldn’t get the thought of half that apple out of her mind, but if she gave in now the remaining apple wouldn’t last five minutes longer. ‘No! I’d said ‘at the next bend in the road’, or rather this ‘dirt track’ and I didn’t mean a bend round the contour of the slope, I meant at a hairpin bend to zigzag up the slope. But what happens if there aren't any?’ She asked her self, and then answered it. ‘We save an apple! Peter would just love that.’ A couple of times already he had proclaimed they were at a ‘bend’ and been overruled. She plodded on. He plodded on. Peter was beginning to hate this dirt road. And was continually asking him self, ‘who would make a road go up the side of a mountain without a zigzag for miles.’ The only good thing about it was they were heading in precisely the ‘correct’ direction. He was thinking, ‘if I could have a road made just for us, this would be it, no traffic, going up gently ‘most of the time’ and along the valley, so why am I bitching about it?’ They walked round another curve, that Helen had declared was not a bend, he also had taken to calling them ‘curves’ along the contour. There! In the distance, about a mile away he could vaguely see in the remaining moonlight a road climbing up ‘towards them’, their must be a bend just about... there!

“Come along in front, pick up the pace, I can see a bend in the road looming up and we need to get somewhere before daybreak.”

Helen was surprised; she could feel the extra push from behind, whereas before she sometimes had to drag him. ‘Well it felt like it. Now at the prospect of just half an apple he was pushing! Perhaps I should dangle the other apple over my shoulder rather like a carrot before a donkey,’ she mused. This thought brought a smile to her face. ‘Yes! A donkey would be very handy at the moment, it could carry this damn great glider and she would just walk ahead and guide it. Don’t be silly that’s just what is happening!!’ This last thought brought a laugh to her throat, ‘no that’s not really fair, a donkey can’t fly!’ When at last they got to the corner there was no chance of continuing until she rummaged in her pack for an apple and sliced it in half with the machete.

“Thanks” he said when she passed it to him. “Can we have the other one when we get to the next bend?” Knowing full well that it was in sight and only two hundred yards up the road.

“No! Don’t be greedy, we have to save that for this afternoon, that’s the only food we have left. We are going to have to start thinking seriously about finding something to eat.”

“Start thinking! What do you imagine I’ve been doing for the last two days; we haven't been near any population to beg, borrow or steal food. The locals round hear are so poor, if we had money or something to barter with it would perhaps be worth a try.”

They were approaching the next corner in the dirt track, and as they carefully stepped round Helen thought now was a good time to tell him. “I have some money, but we’ve nowhere to spend it, we haven't passed any super markets lately.”

“Yes! Well I have money at home too; unfortunately I doubt the locals will accept my credit... Pity though, I’d give them a good rate.”

“No! I don’t mean at home, I have a hundred and ten dollars, American, a ten and a hundred. It’s my emergency money. A sort of get out of jail free card.”

With this statement Peter stopped dead in his tracks. “Pardon! A what card? You have a hundred dollars, on you... at this moment. I do not believe it. Where? How did you hang on to it?”

When he suddenly stopped she nearly fell over. “Hey! There’s no need to stop, it’s in my back pocket,” she said slapping her bottom. “I told you it’s my emergency money.” Then casually added, “I wasn’t about to let them have it. I thought I may need it.”

“You thought you may need it. God! you're full of surprises, what with gloves and bee keepers hat, boots, machete, apples and now some money, what next are you going to surprise me with.”

In response to this she turned lowered her head and looked at him with a big cheeky grin. He immediately got the message, blushed then grinned back.

“Yes! Okay! ... Err! Food!” he stuttered. “As we have some money then we could buy some food from a local, better not show them the hundred though, even the ten dollars is a bit high and that’s a week’s wages around here.”

Helen felt in her back pocket and pulling out the notes separating the hundred and put the ten dollars back. “Do you want to look after this,” she said, offering the other note to him.

“No! It’s yours; you’ve looked after it ‘till now, put it in another pocket.” Then kicking at the surface of the road he added. “This road must lead somewhere. It looks as if it’s been used in the last few days, so maybe there is civilisation at the end of it”.

It was beginning to get light now, the sun about to rise over the mountains behind them and Peter was wondering whether it was wise to continue on the road. They were very exposed, if a helicopter came by like yesterday they could easily be seen. It would also be a problem if a truck came along the road, in fact that would be worse as then they were bound to be discovered. The glider was his main concern, if the prison guards new they were travelling this way it would be much more difficult to avoid them. Perhaps it would be wise to get off the road, an hour after daybreak, well! Say an hour’s time. After reaching this conclusion he talked it over with Helen, She was loath to leave the road when they were making such good progress. Hacking through the bush and trees had certainly lost its appeal over the last two days; but she agreed in the end it was the sensible thing to do. They continued up the dirt road, pressing hard now, determined to make the most of the time they had left. Peter was wondering how to tell when an hour has passed! Daylight is approximately twelve hours so; one hour is when the sun has travelled one twelfth of the way across the sky. That works out at fifteen degrees. I suppose I could fold a piece of paper in half diagonally then fold the diagonal in to three and that would give me fifteen degrees. But that assumes the sun goes right overhead. No! I will assume it’s an hour when the sun has risen a hands width at arms length, that’s near enough, he decided. Pleased with this decision he occasionally called a halt to check the ‘time’. They came to yet another corner, turned it and were now climbing towards the sun, the ‘time’ was up, they were due to get off the road but as he could see the next zigzag he decided to leave the road at the corner.

“We’ll have to leave the road at the next corner Helen, if we turn there, then step off to the right and go up the slope that should be best. Sorry, but we need more cover than the road gives.”

“Yes! It’s a pity though. It will be much harder, even where the bushes aren't so dense.” Then she added, “Can we keep the road in sight though, it may lead to a village or a house where we can get something to eat.”

Their progress now slowed considerable, they had to use the machete to clear a path at times and with the road occasionally visible some two hundred yards below it was very tempting to return to it. Helen had decided to leave this matter to Peter; she would not try and persuade him either way. To relent and return to the road was just too dangerous, to be discovered and caught at this stage didn’t bear thinking about. Another hour passed and they were well into their second hour of hacking through the bush when they heard the sound of a truck coming. Quickly they lay down where they were and watched the road. In a short while an old Ford half truck rattled past with one man in it going down the hill. It was soon out of sight and they climbed to their feet to continue with renewed vigour, their decision to leave the road, vindicated. The sun climbed higher, they became hot, sticky, more and more tired and there rests became longer. One of these stretched into over an hour as they catnapped. It was during one of the shorter rests that they heard music, a radio perhaps.

“Well where there is a radio, there are people and maybe a homestead, If we bypass it and hide the glider before walking back, then we can see if you can buy some food with that ten dollars.”

“When we leave, won’t it be a bit strange to leave the way we have come, I mean back up the hill,” she replied.

“Yes! I suppose so. It’s a bit of messing about but after hiding the glider we could come back hear, then walk up the road from this direction.”

She nodded approval. “That a better idea, by then it will be nearer lunch time as well and we may be able to get something extra to take with us for tomorrow.”

This was agreed and they set of to walk round the homestead, they had to go wide and keep down wind, which meant uphill, in case there were any dogs so it took some time. There were two houses in a natural depression of the hillside and there didn’t appear to be any soldiers about. This was not surprising, as evidently the road ended at the houses because they only found a path on the other side leading up the mountain. They climbed this path for about half a mile before hiding the glider. Then they turned about and made their way back. It was frustrating retracing their steps and altogether it was nearly two hours before they regained the road and were able to walk up towards the houses. They walked side by side for the first time, talking as if they didn’t have a care in the world and were about a hundred metres from the houses before the dogs started barking which brought two children onto the road. Standing bare foot outside a scruffy white washed building they were joined by a middle-aged woman who came to the open door. Peter hung back on the road whilst Helen walked over towards her; it was less threatening and less intimidating. Helen greeted her in Spanish and started asking about the food. The woman of the house was shaking her head, obviously not wanting anything to do with them, it was only when American dollars where mentioned and Helen produced the note that she became interested.

‘Yes! They have chickens, pot roast, two dollars, with vegetables three dollars, bread!’ The conversation went on and became more animated. Helen new she had the full ten dollars to spend, she was hardly likely to get any change up hear, after about five minutes of bargaining it was agreed, smiles all round and Helen beckoned to Peter. “Two pot roasted chickens, one to take with us, two loaves of bread and a bottle of wine, vegetables with the pot roast. That’s the best I could do, mind the chickens will probably be scrawny old hens, and the wine will taste like vinegar. All for eight dollars. When she starts I’ll give her the ten out and bargain some more with the other two.”

“That sounds marvellous,” Peter said, trying to keep a solemn look on his face. He didn’t want this woman to think she was being too kind. “Ask her if she has any apples when you negotiate again.”

The woman spoke quickly to one the children and then spoke to Helen more slowly. Peter’s Spanish was not that good and he only caught a few words, Helen interpreted again. “The woman say’s, would we like to come through to the back whilst we are waiting, as it will take an hour or so, this is a good idea, and she’s also sent that child of for one of the men.”

“Well! That shouldn’t be a problem, let’s go through to the back, perhaps we can sit down and have some bread and wine while we wait.” Then with a pleasant smile to the woman he moved towards the door. They were lead through the house which was surprisingly clean and tidy, into a courtyard at the back, a table and five chairs in the centre, and the whole garden surrounded with flowering bushes. Now this is great he thought as they both sat down, the woman disappeared into the house to emerge shortly with a bottle of wine with glasses and a loaf of course bread. Peter sat back and relaxed, putting both hands behind his head as Helen poured the wine. “We’ve struck lucky here Helen, we couldn't have picked a better place. If the dinner is as good as this, I will be great!” He reached for the proffered glass of wine and took a sip. “Not bad... not ‘wine of the month’ but quite drinkable. To show good faith how about putting that ten dollar note under the edge of the plate?”

Helen thought for a moment then did as he suggested, and began to relax her self, whilst Peter broke the bread into several pieces. She had just taken a bite when there were sounds of loud voices in the house, obviously the man had arrived. Shortly he stepped into the courtyard with the woman behind him wringing her hands. Peter jumped to his feet offering his hand as the newcomer looked over both of them with hard stare, he then glanced at the table seeing the wine and bread, it was only as he noticed the ten dollar note that his face softened. He looked again at Peter and took the proffered hand, then shook Helens hand. As he did so Peter flipped the note from under the plate and handed it to the woman, as if this was the most natural thing. She took it, smiling at him, as she quickly put it in her apron pocket, then after a quick look at the man went back inside. The slight frown on the man’s face disappeared as Helen invited him to sit down and join them for a glass of wine. He accepted and then as he drew the chair out made an excuse to get a glass from the house. However the woman had anticipated this and came out with an extra glass, she now had a big smile on her face, then saying something very rapidly, tapped the man on his head and disappeared inside again. Peter and Helen exchanged glances with a bit of a smug smile as the man sheepishly sat down and introduced him self as Alfonzo Valverde

They started talking in halting Spanish so that Peter could follow the conversation, Alfonzo couldn’t relax and shortly excused him self to go inside the house. Peter lent over to Helen and whispered. “I bet he’s gone to check that ten dollar bill, to see if it is genuine, you're sure its okay.”

“Of course it’s okay... What would be the use of carrying dud emergency money?”

A few minutes later the man came out from the house, a big smile on his face and carrying a large piece of cheese, setting it down and inviting them to help themselves. From this point on things were much better and they spent a pleasant two hours resting whilst eating their dinner. It was only when a helicopter passed nearby for the second time that Peter commented about it; Alfonse shrugged his shoulders and changed the subject. He was loath to talk about anything that was remotely military, even when asked about the dam; he only offered that it could be good for the country.

When they had finished the woman made a big show of wrapping the other chicken, some bread and cheese, and four tomatoes then putting them in a bag. With this and their water bottles topped up Helen didn’t have the heart to ask for any change. After hand shakes all round and smiles from everyone they took their leave. It was now well into the afternoon as the walked up the path to climb the slope of the mountain and find the glider. They were both feeling lazy, with full stomach’s and the wine, the merest suggestion from Peter that carrying the glider may not be a good idea with the helicopter flying around was soon converted to a siesta and they curled up in the warmth of the day to catch up on some sleep. They were tired after sleeping only six hours in the last two days.

* * *

Helen awoke first feeling cold, the sun was very low in the sky casting long shadows from the trees and a slight breeze was blowing which had turned back her blanket. She looked around but there was nothing unusual to be seen and no sound, it’s time to start walking again she thought, prodding Peter in the ribs. “Come on lazy bones, time to get up, we have to get on the way and find a launch point for tonight. Come on!” He groaned and mumbled, pulling the blanket around him tighter. But Helen was more persistent and prodded him until he started stretching and sat up.

“What’s the time” he grumbled, rubbing his thigh.

“Sunset! Or very nearly” she answered, “and it’s time we were on our way, now come on, get up. It will be dark enough in the valley to stop the helicopter flying.”

“You are assuming that they don’t fly at night.”

“Well we haven't heard them have we, and you made enough noise, chopping that tree last night, to wake the whole valley.”

“When we get out of here I am going to sleep for a week.” he said standing up and stretching.

That twinkling smile broke out over her face. “Really!” She commented, watching his face as whilst squatted to pick up her blanket. There it was again that devastating smile as Peter started laughing. When Helen stood and turned away he slapped her on the bottom. “You woman are wicked, you should be a banned substance, any more comments like that and I will not be responsible for my actions.”

Their spirits were high and the mood persisted as they collected the glider. Peter brought from his pocket the bag of pepper and again walked round shaking it. Helen looked on in amusement.

“Just in case,” he said. “Just in case, you never now what turn lady luck will take.”

“I suppose... better safe than sorry. How long do you think it would disable a dog for?”

“Depends on how good a sniff it gets.” Then, as they started off walking up the path with the glider once more slung over their shoulders he began to wonder whether the pepper would help or not. There was still a chance that the helicopter would put in an appearance so they didn’t stray too far from cover, but it wasn’t long before the path forked. The left fork looked the most used and had more cover, however the right fork went up the slope of the mountain and they did need height.

“We’ll take the right path I think Helen, it’s more exposed but the sun is almost gone now.”

“Yes! I was thinking that myself, we have been a bit lazy today, we were a lot higher than this at sunset yesterday.”

They continued on whilst the path became steeper and the trees thinned out as they came upon more and more rocks. Occasionally they had to stop to rest as it became difficult clambering over the boulders and shale, in front of them was a cliff face of a hundred metres or so whilst behind that they could see the mountain-side continuing upwards. The top of the cliff face sloped down to their right where it eventually petered out to join the slope of shale and this was where they were heading. They had to walk back eastward to a point almost above the homestead where they stopped for lunch but it appeared the only way to climb further up the mountain and gain more height. When at last they arrived at the peak of the shale slope, to their dismay they discovered there was still a vertical climb of some five meters. Stones and boulders had over the years fallen off the slope above and piled up against the face, but unfortunately not reached the top.

They put down the glider and packs, Helen sat down for a rest, she was exhausted with the climb and extremely disappointed at not being able to climb any higher. Peter meanwhile was examining the five metre of cliff face, he continued on to the right but saw no decent handholds only one or two fissures near the lip. Then he turned and looked out over the valley. Below he could vaguely make out where they stopped for lunch and beyond that the lights of three vehicles flickering as they bounced up the rough dirt road.

He paused, thinking as his stomach churned. Three vehicles! That’s one too many at least. One vehicle, that would be the truck coming back, two vehicles, the truck and another one from the other house, but not three, not in convoy!

He quickly walked back to Helen. “We’ve got company! ... At least we will have company in a couple of hours or so. There are three trucks coming up the road we were on this morning. It must mean the search is closing in, perhaps Alfonzo has tried to claim a reward.”

“Trucks on that road, can you see the road from here? What makes you think they're searching for us? Perhaps they are just coming home for the night.” Then getting to her feet Helen walked over to where he had been.

“There are the lights of three trucks Helen, think about it, two houses and three vehicles, those people weren't very well off.” He looked again at the cliff face. “We have to get up there, now we just have to!” He began to examine the face in more detail. Helen meanwhile was watching the trucks with dismay and thinking, ‘that’s the logical conclusion, the army or the guards were after them. They had been betrayed, yet they had paid pretty generously for their food... Damn! ... but we had to get something to eat.’

Peter was looking at a particular point on the face of the cliff where a small crack or fissure in the rock face was visible near the top. ‘If Helen stood on my shoulders? No! Even on my hands at full stretch she couldn’t reach, they needed a ladder or small tree. A tree! There are some down the slope, but they are a long way back and they would have to chop one down, all that noise! ... Now the glider! That’s like a tree. Have to be careful not to tear it whilst climbing. Is it long enough?’

“Helen! Come on, quickly, we haven't much time, help me get the glider propped up against the cliff just hear, maybe I can climb up it and reach that crack at the top of the cliff.”

Ah! Some hope again, maybe they can do it she thought as she ran over to him. They up ended the glider with the nose at the top; it was about four feet short of the crack in the face.

“That spare guy you have in your pack Peter, could we use it as a rope, I mean would it be strong enough to hold one of us, do you think?”

“If we doubled it up... possibly! But it’s very thin, difficult to grip, no use unless we can get one of us up there with it first... Get it out of my pack will you whilst I have a go at climbing up here.” He put his hands on the main bamboo poles of the glider and pulled him self up very slowly; it creaked and bent alarmingly, after halfway he didn’t dare to go any further in case it broke. At the moment they could assemble the glider and fly away, a little low perhaps but they may be able to manage, however if they broke it! They would definitely be caught. He lowered him self down again.

“Helen if you climb up on my shoulders, then with me supporting the glider you could climb up the rest of the way on the glider, maybe get a finger hold in that fissure in the rock and you're up.”

She looked at him then stepped back and had a look at the cliff face, it seemed as if it may be possible but the difficult bit would be standing on the very tip of the gliders nose with no handholds.

“You won’t need to worry about falling; if you do I’ll catch you.”

“It’s not the falling that worries me, it’s standing on the top of the glider, how do I manage that? And I will have to take the spare guy up with me as well.”

“Don’t worry about that, I can toss an end up to you afterwards, will you try it though?”

She looked at it again and began to work out just how to do it. Peter was watching her face and could see the indecision, they didn’t have much time. If she decided that she couldn’t do it they would have to rig the glider quickly and fly away before they could be seen. To cap it all the evening breeze had not yet set in. He didn’t want to rush her but he just had to push a bit. “Look! Have a go anyhow, that dog will be on the way soon, it’s a case of we either climb up here or try taking of from where we are.”

She shuddered at the mention of the dogs, just as Peter intended she thought, realising precisely what he was doing. But what the hell! He is right after all. “Okay! I’ll have a go... if you bend over and put your hands on the rock face while I climb on you're back.” She climbed first onto his back and then as he stood upright stepped onto his shoulders.

“Okay! Before you go any further I will hoist the glider up a bit, then hold it whilst you quickly shin up it to that handhold, put your hand in the fissure and then make a fist if you can, that should jam your hand. Ready!” Then without waiting for a reply he hoisted the glider about three feet. “Okay! Go! “

She straightened up on his shoulders. The glider was quite thick at her face level and it didn’t take long to shin up and get a hand over the nose, another heave and the nose was at her waist level. Dam! She thought, ‘there isn’t any hand or footholds.’ She was feeling very frustrated after climbing so far but still not able to reach that crack to get a decent handhold. “Peter I’m stuck, I can’t reach that crack and there are no handholds. I can’t see a way to go any further.”

“Hold on... can you come back down onto my shoulders, I’m going to try and lift the glider a bit more.” Helen slid down and stood on his shoulders again. Peter moved his hands keeping the glider pushed against the wall then heaved upwards; it went up a foot or so further as Helen got one hand to it and helped.

She realised that it was now or never. Peter couldn’t support her and the glider much longer, she quickly shinned up the glider again but the bottom of the crack or fissure was still out of reach, if I can get another foot. Some how she managed to get her knee onto the nose of the glider. She was crouched with one hand flat on the face of the rock the other holding the nose of the glider “Get ready to catch me if I fall, I’m going to try and push up”. Before he could reply she let go of the glider and jerked upwards. Her other hand slid into the fissure and she immediately clenched her fist to jam it. She uttered an exuberant cry. “Got it!” immediately the weight on the glider eased as she pulled, it was then only a matter of moments with Helen pulling her self up as Peter hoisting the glider even further gave her an extra push and she was safe. Helen now had both hands and one foot jammed in to the fissure, the rest of the climb onto the top was relatively easy.

Peter quickly began to tie the packs and loose gear onto the end of the spare guy, “Hear, catch the end of this.” He then tossed up the other end of the guy for Helen to haul it up. “Untie them will you and drop it back down, I’m going to tie a few loops in it to help me get up, mean while can you find a way of tying it up there.”

Shortly the guy landed at his feet and he began to tie loops in it but as soon as he pulled on the loops they tightened up to a knot. How do I get round this he was thinking, the bamboo wasn’t flexible like a rope and loses its strength when bent sharply. Answer! Tie it round something, a stone! He quickly cast around for three or four stones; took off his shirt and tore that into four pieces then wrapping the stones in pieces of his shirt he tied them in the loops of the doubled length of guy, it felt all right. “Have you found anywhere to anchor it up there.” he called.

“No!” came a desperate cry from Helen, “I could try holding it, but I’m not that strong.”

“You're right you couldn’t hold my weight, but never mind I have an idea, get a blanket out of one of the packs will you, I won’t be a minute.” With that he searched around for another larger stone that would go through the loops in the end of the guy. “You have a blanket! Right! Catch this stone first, then I will toss up the bamboo guy, you can wrap the stone in the blanket, put the loops in the end of the guy around it, and then wedge it firmly in that fissure. I should be able to climb up then.” With some luck, he added to him self.

Helen caught the stone and the guy and did as he instructed, she had to reach well down into the fissure to jam the stone, and then dropped the remainder of the guy for Peter. He first of all gave it a good pull before putting his weight on it. There were a few creaks from the bamboo but it held.

“Right! I’m coming up, keep your fingers crossed.” Slowly he put all his weight on it again and began to climb using the stones wrapped in his shirt to get a grip. He found it easy but was very slow and when he got to the level of the gliders nose he carefully looped the tail of the guy around it before continuing the climb. He reached the fissure, got his fingers in it and heaved him self up. With Helen pulling on his belt he managed to drag him self over the lip. They rolled away from the edge and breathing heavily he lay on his back. Helen leaned over him and gave him a kiss, “We did it!” she exclaimed, “You lovely man, we did it, now lets get the glider up then we can be on our way.”

It was only a matter of moments to pull up the glider, making sure that the guy looped around the nose didn’t slip off. It was a different matter trying to remove the stone which was wedged in the fissure but this eventually came free when they both pulled. Now everything was on top of the cliff. Peter put on the jersey from his pack and tossed in the remains of his shirt. Whilst Helen packed all their gear away, he had a short walk along the edge and looked down at where the homestead was, but nothing was discernible except the lights of two stationary trucks. 

The edge they were on sloped up westward so with everything stowed away they picked up the glider and started out once again. That climb up the face had made Peter feel a lot happier, if any dogs were after them, then that should slow them up. He began to wonder what the searchers or guards would do. They were not likely to have any means of climbing that cliff face which meant they would have to go back as he had anticipated doing him self. After about ten minutes walking they went near to the cliff edge to check on their pursuers. “There! On the path near where we had a sleep, you can see two... three torches” he listened intently “And I can hear a dog barking, I wonder if it’s that big vicious bitch from the prison.”

“How far... no! I mean how much time are we in front do you think?”

“That’s hard to say, about two hours plus the time it’s going to take them to climb that cliff. But that dog’s got its tail up and knows we are not far ahead, I wonder if it’s annoyed about that pepper. If they let it off the lead once on top, it’s going to cover the ground twice as fast as we can.”

“Right! Then we had better get going, come on Peter we can’t afford to wait here and watch.”

She hated those dogs at the prison whenever she’d seen one, especially the big bitch, which was always eyeing her up wondering where to take the first bite. Their pace increased as they clambered along the top of the escarpment, occasionally hearing the dog barking, but no shouts from the men who must be saving their breath. They had two further short stops to check on the pursuit and have a breather, each time it was the excited barking of the dog that set them moving again. And each time Peter sprinkled a little pepper. It was during the second of these breaks that the barking from the dog reached a crescendo. Helen who was sitting gasping for of air, jumped to her feet. “Oh! My god!” she exclaimed. “The dog’s got up the cliff. It’s going to be up to us soon.”

“Don’t be silly, don’t panic! Take a couple of deep breaths and think, that dog cannot climb that cliff face, it’s barking like that for just that reason, because it can’t get up.”

“Yes! Of course, but I don’t want to wait here for it so lets get going again. How long before we assemble the glider? The wind has got up now so there should be enough lift.”

“We’ll get round that corner in front, at least. I don’t want to give the guards any chance of seeing us. I don’t think they know we have the glider and I’d like to keep it that way.”

It took another thirty minutes of mad scramble to reach the corner. Helen was finding it more and more difficult to suppress her panic and tugging on the glider in an attempt to hurry Peter up. Immediately they went round the corner it became clear that this was the launch point for tonight. The ledge they were on narrowed to no more than a foot wide before disappearing into the dark ahead. Peter estimated their was at least another three hours to moon rise, but he was definitely not going to hang around that long so it meant flying by starlight or in complete darkness if the clouds built up. They started to quickly unpack the hang-glider and it took them about half an hour to assemble it. Helen, constantly looking over her shoulder in case the dog was coming became more and more agitated despite Peter’s reassurances. She couldn’t get into the harness quick enough. ‘I have to do something about this dog,’ he thought, and walked to the corner to have a look round, he could hear it barking in the distance as it tracked their scent on the ground. He walked back to the glider in a thoughtful mood.

“That dog, it’s quite a way off yet but I think it’s off the lead and running free, I don’t want it chasing us again tomorrow night so I’m going to do something about it.”

“Don’t Peter, please let’s go now.”

“No! Not yet, really it’s still too dark and cloudy, I’m damned if I’m going to be chased off by a dog.” Then in an attempt to take her mind of the dog he said. “One more thing, I have a bit of duck tape, can you mend that hole that we made in the sail this morning. Whilst I go back to the corner.” Bringing a very small roll from his pocket, he handed it to her without waiting for a reply.

Again he walked to the corner and had another look, then made up his mind. Quickly he got the spare guy that they had used as a climbing rope and the remains of his shirt from his back pack. Whilst Helen, with shaking hands, stuck the small piece of duck tape over the tear in the sail he tied the bits of shirt through the loop at one end of the guy. Then lifting his jersey he wiped the sweat from under his arms on the shirt. Next, placing it near the edge of the cliff he coiled up the rest of the bamboo guy and laid it beside the shirt. “Helen, hook your self on to the right hand side this time.” Then, in an attempt to reassure her, he added, “you have better eyes than I have to watch the cliff.” He then calmly put on his harness, before picking up the other end of the guy and looping it around his left wrist. Next he hooked him self on to the glider then stood waiting, listening hard to the distant baying of the dog.

“We’re ready, can’t we go?” Helen muttered, at the same time guessing what he had in mind.

“Patience!” he answered, “patience, when I say go we run forward the same as before, six strides then launch. Don’t panic and don’t run too fast, we’ll have plenty of time. Okay! Now be calm, it’s only a dog. Let’s lift the glider, hold it steady... Ready? Six strides.”

Helen nodded, her eyes focused on the corner of the cliff face some twenty feet away, now she was scared and trembling with fright, she couldn’t trust her self to speak.

They could hear the hound getting closer, and closer, and still they waited. It caught their scent on the wind. Now they could hear its heavy laboured breathing. Yet still they waited!

Even though they had been expecting it the suddenness of the dog exploding around the corner made them jump, it was running at full speed, it’s eyes glistening, saliva drooling from it’s mouth and onto its chest, the sight of it made them both freeze for a moment. The dog saw them and increased its pace further just as Peter almost in panic shouted “Go!”

* * *

Fidel had now taken charge of the hunt for the prisoners him self. It was forty eight hours when they had last been seen and counted at the prison. Since then they had not had a report of any sightings or a sniff of them from either of the dogs. He had established a head quarters at a village well up the valley when a report came in that a man was flashing a one hundred dollar note about in the local saloon. He had received it for feeding two strangers at his home.

“Bring him to me immediately,” he ordered, whilst looking at a map of the area.

Five minutes later and the man stood before him. “Where did you see these strangers, was it a man and a woman?”

“Si Seņor a man and a woman, two norteamericanos, at my house, they wished for food and paid handsomely Seņor.”

“These two, what did they look like?”

“The lady, she wear jeans, nice, very tight and brown shirt and straw hat. Her hair... not black, light... straw. The man he wear brown trousers and dark shirt, tall man, she not so tall, my height.”

“Their feet, what were they wearing on their feet?”

The man screwed his eyes shut trying to think. “No Seņor, I do not remember... Yes! He wear boots, short grey boots. The lady I not see her feet.”

‘Boots! He has boots, so she probably has boots, they must have help. But now they’re back on their own and near by.’ Fidel spun the map round. “Show me; show me where your house is.”

The man looked down at the map, his eyes glazed over and he looked vague, before gesturing vaguely behind his head. “My home, Seņor it is up in the hills, I know nothing of this,” indicating the map before him. Then seeing the annoyed look on Fidel’s face he brightened and added. “I take you Seņor, my truck it is just outside, I show you my home. Show you which way they went. The path, it lead only up the mountain into the forest.”

* * *

Helen, mesmerised for a moment, was half a pace behind Peter as they ran for the edge, but in the six strides it took she caught up and together they dived forward. The launch was perfect and they were flying immediately, the bamboo guy trailing from Peter’s hand. The dog skidded to a halt at the cliff edge, saw the movement of the guy uncoiling and caught the scent from the remains of Peter’s shirt. In one quick movement it pounced and locked it’s teeth on the shirt, at the same moment the guy, now completely uncoiled pulled on the shirt which started to rip, but the dog had its teeth through the loop of the guy and wasn’t about to let this get away!

The pull on Peter’s hand was heavy, he was holding the control bar at the same time and this was pulled back and to the left, the glider dived to the right increasing the pull on the guy. The dog, its paws scrambling for grip on the rock, was hauled over the edge. It hung on, its jaw clamped firmly on the guy, and swung down below the glider like a pendulum, but the bamboo guy had been misused whilst they climbed the cliff face, with a hundred and fifty pounds of dog on the end, it snapped! They didn’t hear another sound as Peter pushed forward on the control bar and the glider shot upwards.

Helen shivered then let out a big sigh, “It’s a shame, it’s a real shame for all four of those dogs It wasn't really their fault that they were so vicious. It was because the guards trained and encouraged them to be like that.”

“Don’t! Don’t be sorry for those dogs. Think about what they did. Now concentrate, I need you to lookout for the cliffs, we have to fly this glider, so help me.”

They were flying close to the cliff now, getting an uplift from the breeze but it was very dark, their were no stars visible at all so they could see very little and Peter was afraid of crashing into something. “If you see a place where we can land sing out will you? It’s really too dark to fly and I think it’s gone colder which may mean rain soon. That would make it impossible to see.”

“Well we must keep the glider dry, if it gets wet we lose the starch then we lose the glider.”

“True! But we have an equal problem with visibility, which means we can’t fly in the rain, so let’s find somewhere to land.” They flew on for a little while but the visibility didn’t improve, however they managed to get enough lift to bring them over the top of the cliff face that they had been flying next to. On the top near the edge it still wasn’t clear, there were small shrubs and bushes growing from the cracks in the rock, though only a few trees had managed to find a precarious hold. The further back from the edge and the more trees there were until the rain forest became solid with vegetation. “We’ll have to go in there.” said Peter making a difficult decision. “I’ll have to land right near the edge, and we may land in a bush, get your feet down, but keep your knees bent till. Okay?”

A nod from Helen and a squeeze on his hand was all he needed, then he pulled back and they started descending. He was flying along the edge, going quickly and needed to slow down than at the last moment turn into the wind. But he must be careful not to over fly the edge when he turned and must not hit any trees. The first attempt failed as when he turned the glider picked up lift from the wind over the edge which made them too high. The next attempt was thwarted by some trees which loomed up at the last moment. On the third attempt the wind dropped slightly, the area was a little clearer and he had more room to turn. They landed lightly but fast and had to run. Their feet getting caught in scrub and both of them ended up face down in a bush. The glider’s nose slammed into the ground on the other side of it.

* * *

Fidel was furious, almost incandescent with rage. The guards had lost them, and the dog. This was the message from the army communications man, who was very loath to deliver it. At first Fidel had doubted the report the peasant had made, it can’t be them. ‘They couldn’t have got this far in two days and passed the village, even with the best of help.’ But the dog had confirmed it was them, almost going frantic when it picked up their scent. At first it took the lead dragging the handler along the path only to stop at a sniff of the pepper. The dog handler then took the lead and continued up the path to the fork where the dog once again picked up the scent and was off. It was a mistake by the handler after they had climbed onto the escarpment that set the dog free. That’s the last he saw of it and without any site of the prisoners.

Just as he had despised Noberto doing when in his office, now Fidel was pacing to and fro. ‘Well Seņor Harding and Seņora Mirand I have the whole f....g army on my side so let’s see you outrun them,’ he thought. “Get some soldiers up the cable car. We’ll stop them at la Presa Milagro.” He ordered the lieutenant assigned to him. “And get the specials up there first on their motorbikes; tell them to ride east along the ridge. With their lights on if need be, then stop after about two miles and go quiet. I want them in place by first light,” he added. ‘You have done well for gringos, especially your woman, but you cannot outrun us now my friends. By noon tomorrow I shall have you.’

* * *

After struggled free from the bush Peter unhooked him self and then helped Helen, their luck seemed to be holding as they appeared to have survived with only minor cuts and bruises. But they had disturbed the insects which were flying around them and having the occasional nip. Helen covered up, adding her hat and vale. After dismantling the glider, they quickly bagged it and pushing the last few bits and pieces into pockets, carried the glider to the edge of the forest. The rain wasn’t far away; they could feel the moisture in the air. Anticipating rain in the forest at some time during their journey they had brought with them two extra bin bags with holes for head and arms. They put them on just before the rain arrived. When the rain did come it was like the heavens had opened. Helen at first used a large leaf as an umbrella but there was no shelter for either of them as the rain carried on the wind. The leaf then became a scoop to catch water and poor it into her mouth. Peter looked on with amusement and interest; she was now soaked out side the bin bag. The wind and damp permeated everything, her hat was plastered down on her head but the sparkle was still in her eyes and a smile on her lips. She looked great he thought, she may be wet through but her enthusiasm was damp proof. Now with three of the prison dogs gone, everything looked rosy if only the rain would stop. The deluge had even grounded the insects, and the air was much fresher. It had however brought with it a chill factor and both began to get cold. They fished out damp blankets from their packs and with these wrapped around them under the bin bags to retain some warmth waited for the rain to stop.

“How much further have we to go down the valley before we get to the sea Peter?”

“About fifty miles or so I think, we haven't flown past the dam yet and that’s about forty miles from the coast... as the crow flies, if you catch my drift.”

“Well I hope the American Navy or a British ship is in port when we get there, we won’t be able to get in the consulate and I don’t fancy waiting around for too long... Have you any idea how we will be able to get aboard?”

“No! I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, I suppose their will be a guard on the gangways, their will certainly be too many masts and things sticking up to be able to fly on board, may be we could fly onto the roof of the consul... No! Even if we could find it from the air, the guards would probably shoot us. We’ll just have to wait and see when we get there.”

The idle chatter continued for a while but Helen began to feel the cold from her wet jeans, this sitting around waiting whilst water ran every where wasn’t much fun. Peter put his arm around her. He was getting cold too, and then as suddenly as it started the rain stopped. The forest behind them was quiet though there were little waterfalls everywhere and puddles in every depression, soon they were both up and moving about trying to warm up.

“We’re not going to get warm with wet feet and trousers unless we start walking,” Peter said.

“I agree, let’s pick everything up and walk along the ridge some, see if we can find a better launch site further along. If we leave these blankets wrapped round us we should soon warm up.”

They walked for no more than ten minutes but their heart wasn’t in it. It appeared pointless to walk along a ridge which they could fly along far quicker. They compromised and decided a little chopping with the machete would give them enough space. Taking it in turns and chopping with enthusiasm in an attempt to warm up the area was soon cleared of bushes.

The light began to improve with the thinning of the rain clouds and still without a word to each other; they started to assemble the glider for the second time that night. A strange quietness had descended between them and assembly of the hang-glider was completed without a word.

Helen shivered and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t like this place Peter, let’s get going, I have a feeling of being... out of place.”

He moved over close to her put an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. “It’s a combination of things,” he said. “It’s because of that dog and the dark, your cold, tired and wet.”

She turned towards him and gave him a kiss, a kiss that lingered. The embrace lasted a short while but they were both chilled through and even this was not warming enough with the return of the breeze. They stepped apart, reluctantly letting go of each other. At last Peter broke the silence “I hope we see the dam tonight, we can’t be that far off now”

“But how do we get across to the other side...? I mean they are bound to have some sort of guard on it, and if there is enough light for us to fly... well they are bound to see us, aren't they?”

“Well yes! But there are guards who stay awake and then there are those that fall asleep at two o’clock in the morning. When we see the dam we’ll just have to land and have a look first. One thing though the shoulder of rock this side is pretty high as I recall, maybe we will have enough height to go straight over the top”.

When the moon came up it gave them a little moor light as it shone through the heavy broken clouds. Peter threw aside his damp blanket and stowed it in his back pack before clearing a little more of the brush. Then Helen decided she needed the exercise to warm her up, “Peter, can I take over here whilst you check the glider over, only we had a bit of a heavy landing in that bush earlier.” Reluctantly he agreed and handed her the machete. Moments later she was swinging it with gusto, bushes were getting chopped down all around. Five minutes later she had enlarged the area considerably and was tossing the remains over the edge. The job was nearly completed when she noticed, down in the valley, the lights of vehicles on the road. “Peter! Have a look here.”

Peter glanced up from examining the glider. “Whoa! We only want a small take of ramp; this is not a jumbo jet you know. You’ve cleared enough room for two to take off.”

Helen gazed about her sheepishly, “well I needed the exercise, and besides we don’t want to damage the glider again do we? Anyhow, that wasn’t what I was referring to. Look down in the valley, there's a lot of activity.”

Peter walked over, “It’s only trucks going up the road... perhaps it’s the army going to search for us. They’re going to be out of luck because they’re going the wrong way. It makes it easier and it leaves less of them ahead of us.” He reached out and held her hand, “come, lets get our harness on, it’s time we were on our way.”

She shrugged her shoulders to ease the tension in her arms before putting the machete back in its sheath and stowing it in her back pack. “Perhaps they will be sending some other troops up into the mountains ahead of us.”

“It’s possible, but consider it from their point of view, a couple of hours ago they new pretty much where we were, then both the dog and we go missing. They don’t know we have the glider else they wouldn’t be going that way up the valley. What they are trying to do is saturate the area with soldiers where they think we are and which is about four or five miles back. Even if they find the dead dog it doesn’t tell them anything. They must think they’re looking for two very lucky but extremely tired escaped prisoners.”

“And they’d be right on both points,” she retorted quickly.

For the second time that night they did a check around to make sure that nothing was left behind before putting on their harness, fastening themselves onto the glider and hoisting it up. All this time Helen was quiet, thinking. Peter was back on the right hand side now and the take off was becoming routine, this would be the fourth time. “Ready?”

He looked at her and received a nod for confirmation. “Now nice and steady, don’t run too fast, there’s no dog after us this time, let the updraft at the edge lift us of. We’re a bit far back so just walk forward a couple of steps. Now! Six strides. Go!”