A wall of sand, like an ominous cliff face a mile high, stretched from one horizon to the other. The frantic, rolling cloud of darkness was lit by occasional flashes of lightning. It churned across the sand, heading straight towards them.
There was nowhere to run.
Caine leapt off his camel and approached Safiya, yelling already because of the noise. “Do we erect the tent?” he asked, ready to do something. He knew they didn’t have long. They had to act quickly.
She shook her head. “Too late! I apologize most profoundly. God forgive me, I did not see the warning signs.”
“No need to apologize,” Kimberley shouted. “Just tell us what to do!”
Safiya nodded. “The biggest danger is sand getting in our throats. Too much and you will drown.”
“Charming,” Kimberley replied with a shudder.
“First, we must secure the camels. We must hammer a stake into the sand, deep, and tether them too it. Thomas, can you do that?”
Caine nodded. “Sure. I assume they can endure sandstorms?”
“Yes. Camels have a third eyelid. It protects their eyes when the
sand is blowing. They can close their nostrils, and they have bushy eyebrows and eyelashes. They will be fine, so long as we are not separated from them.”
“And what do we do?” Kimberly asked.
Caine had been trained in desert survival. He was already dousing some clothes with water from the canteen. He wrapped a wet rag around his mouth and nose, then handed one to Kimberly and Safiya. Safiya nodded when she saw what he was doing. “Kimberley, do as Thomas does. Just breathe normally through the cloth.”
“You finish with Kimberley,” Caine said. “I’ll deal with the camels.”
He found the equipment he needed, a hammer and stakes, then bashed two stakes deep into the sand. He took the harnesses of each grunting beast, and secured them to the stakes. Then he returned to Safiya and an increasingly anxious Kimberley.
Safiya smiled, and said to Kimberley in comforting tones, “We will be fine. Just do as I say, and we will get through this safely.”
Kimberley nodded, even though she looked no less scared than she had a second before. She looked up suddenly. Caine turned too. The sandstorm was almost upon them, a wall of churning sand that seemed to rise all the way up to the stars.
“Quick, now! We must not be separated!” Safiya shouted.
Safiya proceeded to tie a rope around Kimberley’s waist and then her own, securing them together. She moved towards Caine with the rope, when a loud, terrified braying rose over the wind. Caine turned and saw that one of the camels had come loose from its mooring.
“Wait here,” he shouted. “I’ll be right back!” He ran towards the loose camel, grabbing for the rope that dangled from its harness.
The wind grew even more wild and forceful.
Absolute darkness fell over them.
The noise of the storm was terrifying. The whirling sand stung as it bit against exposed skin. The sky lit up for a brief second, as a bolt of lightning crackled above. Then just as quickly it plunged them back into darkness
.
Caine pulled his head scarf around his face, protecting his eyes as best he could. He looked for Kimberley and Safiya, but he could not see them in the storm. The two women were tethered together, but they weren’t attached to the camels or Caine. The sandstorm was chaotic and disorientating. If either group moved, they might wander apart and become separated.
“Safiya!” Caine cried out, risking an intake of sand. He should have covered his eyes to protect them, but he had to find the two women before he could protect himself. Grains of sand worked their way under his eyelids, causing his eyes to tear and blink. “Kimberley!”
Another flash of lightning. For a second, he saw the two women. They were huddled together struggling to remain upright in the howling winds. Then everything was plunged into darkness yet again.
Sand was building up around his feet. The wind threatened to blow him over. “Safiya!” he called out again.
Using only touch, he reached into the saddlebags and felt for the guy ropes. When he had one, he tied one end to the camel stake, then the other around his hand. Then he stood, waited for the next flash of lightning. His eyes burned so he kept them squeezed almost closed, but not quite.
When the next bolt came, he saw Kimberley and Safiya standing where he expected them, desperately trying to hold onto each other. He advanced quickly with his eyes closed, pushing against the wind until he smacked into them. He reached out and grabbed one of the women’s wrists, then pulled her close. He took the rest of the rope and wrapped it tight around her waist.
“We’re all tethered now, including to the camels,” he yelled through the stinging sand. “We’re safe.”
“We need to sit with our backs to the sand,” Safiya cried. “Wait out the storm. Also, we are at the bottom of a dune. Sand will build up on us during the night, so we need to keep digging ourselves out. We cannot let it bury us.
”
Kimberley sobbed. Caine grabbed her and felt her tremble in his arms. He had never seen her this scared, not even during the violence in Sana’a.
The three of them huddled together. Caine kept his arms around both of them. Their head scarfs were wrapped tightly around their faces, protecting their eyes and ears. The only sound they could hear was the howling wind, surging around them. The only sensation they could feel was sand grinding against their skin, penetrating even the tiniest opening in their clothing.
The sandstorm lasted hours. No one spoke. Safiya and Kimberley sobbed from loss and fear respectively. There was nothing Caine could do to comfort either of them, except to hold them tight through the long night of terror.