CHAPTER
Twenty-six

Oh, look at that. Blast, I’ve missed it. Oh, look another one,” said Julian, staring out of the window at the passing desert.

“Another what?”

“Camel. Look. I say, I don’t suppose I could stop and take a photo, could I?”

“You’ve already got twelve pictures of camels.”

“But, you see, the sun’s behind me now which is much better because—”

“Wait till we stop again for Oliver.”

Poor Oliver kept having to trek across the sand to squat behind skimpy bushes with a toilet roll.

“Do you think if I gave the people in this camp some money it would help them, or is it only the food they want?” said Julian.

“It would help, but you have to do it in the right way.”

“Could I have another boiled sweet, please?”

“Of course you can. Here you are,” I said, and let him put the wrapper in my bag.

We had been on the road since 7:00 A.M. . The air above the tarmac shimmered in the heat, the desert spreading flat to the horizon on either side. To the left a group of huts was soft brown against the sand. To the right, a quarter of a mile away, the camel which had attracted Julian was tugging at a tuft of thorns. A nomad clad in soft blue and gray was sitting motionless on its back.

“Braargh! Oh! Oh!” Kate Fortune screamed.

The truck ahead of us had braked slightly. She put one hand against her chest and the other on her forehead.

“Heurgh. Oh, I’m sorry. Oh!”

The driver, Fayed, looked daggers at her from under his turban. We were the second vehicle in the convoy.

“I’m sorry. I really think . . . you know I have a child who is dependent on me at home, and this really isn’t safe.”

She reached for her hair to flick it back, and an expression of anguish crossed her face. Kate had decided to have a light body wave at the hotel hairdresser’s. This single casual decision had transformed the once long, straight, silken tresses into a dry-ended frizz, reminiscent of old ladies in markets with more on their minds than hairstyles. Kate had been combing conditioner through the frizz throughout the journey, but the combination of goo and dry heat only served to coagulate the fraying mass.

She let out a sob, and grabbed a handful of frizz, yanking at it madly.

“I can’t believe this has happened to me. It’s too awful. I can’t go on screen like this. I’m going to sue them, sue them.”

She turned to me beseechingly. “Does it really look awful?”

“You could always wear a hat,” said Julian.

Kate broke into a wail. Fayed looked round at her furiously.

“Or a scarf,” Julian finished helpfully.

“It’s nice, Kate, honestly,” I lied. “It’s good to have a change of look for a program like this. It suits you.”

“Do you really think so? Really?” She grabbed at the rearview mirror and turned it towards her. Fayed muttered something unintelligible, grabbed the mirror and twisted it back. He kept glancing across at her now, as if she were a dangerous mental patient. She burst into tears again.

Actually, I did feel sorry for her. Just because there was a famine it didn’t mean your own problems stopped existing. “It’s not what you look like that matters. It’s what you’re like inside,” I ventured vaguely.

“So it does look awful,” she wailed.

Fayed changed violently to a lower gear.

Soon, we were driving through a sand cloud which seemed to have been thrown up by the wheels of the convoy. We closed the windows, and turned off the air-conditioning, but the dust filled the cab so that we had to wrap cloth round our heads to keep the sand out of our eyes and stop us coughing. Kate was trying to take out her contact lenses under a piece of white cotton.

“What’s that?” said Julian.

The lorry in front of us had groaned to a halt, and then started reversing towards us. I looked where Julian was pointing and saw a naked body, curled up in a fetal position lying in the lee of a rock. The wind was rolling the body slightly. It had stiffened, and a layer of sand was blowing over the ribs.

The whole convoy was pulling up, and I asked Julian to let me get out past him but he climbed out before me. The drivers from our truck and the truck in front went over to the body. I walked down towards the other vehicles. We were in one of the areas of rocky outcrop, which dotted the desert floor like giant molehills. Sandstone rose on either side of us, worn by the wind into smooth sculptures, with boulders and smaller rocks forming stationary avalanches in the gulleys. The dust hung around the mountains like mist. The wind was blowing the sand quite hard now so that it stung my skin and I had to pull the shawl over my face. The next vehicle behind us was the Land Cruiser where Corinna and the TV soundman were traveling. Corinna was wearing dark glasses and listening to her Walkman. I asked the soundman to tell the rest of the convoy to stay in the vehicles because it wasn’t good if everyone crowded round the body.

As I walked back, the drivers were wrapping the body in a piece of sacking. When I got close I asked them to stop and unwrap it again. It was an old woman who was very thin. She had died with her mouth and eyes wide open. She had no teeth and the gums were jagged and dry and full of flies. The drivers wrapped her again and lifted her into the back of the lorry at the head of the convoy.

“What do you think happened?” said Julian, as we started up again. His face was sweating.

“I don’t know. They don’t leave their dead unburied here. She might have been a madwoman.”

“Why a madwoman?”

“Sometimes villages turn mad people out into the desert. That might be why she died alone. I hope so.”

“Why?” I didn’t answer.

“Why, Rosie?” he said again.

“Because if not, then she’s a refugee from Kefti, and refugees from Kefti don’t usually abandon the dying or leave their dead unburied.”

“So why would they abandon her?” Shut up. Please, just let me think.

“Because they were desperate,” I said. But to cross that psychological barrier they would have to be very desperate indeed. She didn’t even have a shroud.

“But why should they—”

“Please. Just be quiet now. Look, there’s a desert rat— Look where my finger’s pointing.”

The road was approaching a bend and after that we would hit the open desert again. I was afraid of what we would see, because after this the road ran parallel with the Kefti border and our route would merge for a while with that of the refugees. The truck ahead had disappeared round the bend and we were turning now. My breath was caught in my stomach. As we cleared the bend, the desert unfolded itself under the thick yellow sky, flat, featureless, empty. I was stunned. Where were they? If not even stragglers were left on this part of the route they must have brought a very sudden disaster to Safila.

We had been driving for perhaps another half hour when we heard the whine of a plane, quite a way off.

“Hey! What’s that?”

“A plane, Julian.”

“Who do you think it is?”

“Probably the UN,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. The driver glanced across at me. Planes this close to the border made us very nervous. We could not have been a more obvious Aboutian target: nine vehicles in open desert bringing food for the Keftians.

“I say,” said Julian, turning to me with huge eyes, “I say, it wouldn’t be any of those rebel fighters, would it?”

“Oh, no. I can’t believe this.” Kate Fortune was hyperventilating. “I was told it was safe. I can’t believe this. I have a child at home. I was told it was safe.”

“We are safe. It’s fine. We’re in Nambula,” I lied in a gay voice, trying to listen to the engine as the plane got closer. It didn’t sound like a MiG. It wasn’t a MiG. It was a small plane: quite low. It was overhead now. We all peered up through the windshield. It was a Cessna: dark green with the insignia of the Security forces painted on the side and heading for Safila. Now what did that mean? Nothing was making any sense.

An hour from Safila we stopped at a village where there was a restaurant—or, rather, an indescribably filthy area of boiling cauldrons and soda crates. The ground here was covered in dry yellow grass, dotted with failed spindly trees. It was still cloudy, with an oppressive heat unrelieved by breeze. It was three o’clock. I wanted to get to Safila in time to distribute the food before dark. Oliver was already rushing off across the scrub clutching a loo roll. Everyone else began getting out, putting their hands on the small of their backs, stretching their arms. People in djellabas were appearing from nowhere, gathering round the trucks. I could see us getting involved and losing time. Now we were so close, I was desperate to be back. I asked the restaurant manager if he had news of what was happening at Safila. He said he had heard that things were very bad there, but that was all. It was hard to believe that Safila could revert to the way it was in ’eighty-five but I knew it was possible. It didn’t take very long for things to spiral out of control.

“’Ere, is it all right to eat this muck?” asked Vernon, gesturing towards the cauldron.

“Depends how hungry you are,” I said.

Corinna was sitting under the rush shelter on a metal chair. She was still completely withdrawn behind her shades and her Walkman. It seemed very odd, but I guessed she was just a bit thrown and trying to keep herself together. Kate was posing for the News photographer, crouching down with a little crowd of kids, ordering them to put their arms round her. Suddenly they all looked in one direction and rushed off. They were heading for Julian, who was completely surrounded. He was bending down, beaming like Santa Claus, then putting his hands on his ears and making a noise like a donkey to make the kids scream.

He looked across at me radiantly. “Aren’t they super? Blast. Hang on. Run out.” He did the donkey impersonation again.

Oliver was leaning over one of the Land Cruisers. He looked in a very bad way. He must have lost half a stone. I walked over to him.

“Have you had anything to drink?”

“No.”

“You must. I’ll go and get you some salts.”

“No, no. I don’t want any salts. I don’t want anything to drink.”

“You must, you’ve lost so much fluid.”

He looked at me with the expression of an ax murderer. “I said I don’t—want—anything—to—drink, all right?”

The Nambulans near him started to laugh. He treated them to the thunderous look and they laughed again. Bad temper was taken so seriously here that you hardly ever saw it. They wouldn’t understand a temper which flared up like this, without apparent cause.

“Jesus Christ!” he shouted at them. The Nambulans threw back their heads and roared appreciatively.

“Fucking hell.” He banged his fist down on the Land Cruiser, occasioning another great shout of laughter and delighted round of applause. Quite a little group had gathered about him now, waiting eagerly to see what he would do next. I glanced nervously around our team, wondering how we were going to cope with Safila in the grip of a famine. There was a tug on my sleeve. It was one of the cooks from the restaurant.

“This very bad man,” he said. “Very bad man.” He was pointing towards Vernon, who at that moment was reaching out to pat a young Nambulan woman, dressed in purdah, on the bottom. The cook, who I thought was probably married to the woman, hurried back towards Vernon. Kate was sitting in the Land Cruiser now, gesticulating at a group around her window.

“Stop staring,” she was saying, pointing at her eyes. “Stop staring, it’s rude to stare.”

“Rootastair,” repeated the crowd.

“Stop it,” she said, almost crying now. “Stop staring at me.”

A great shout went up from the kids around Julian, and people started to run in his direction. He was handing out dollar bills. I hurried towards him again.

“Don’t give them any more money,” I shouted.

“Why?” If he said “why” just once more I was going to eat my fist.

“Because every time a Westerner appears they’ll start begging. Give the money to the headman, quietly.”

His face crumpled, which made me feel like a bossy harridan. They were all at it now. The camera crew were giving out pound coins and sweets. The News photographer was taking Polaroids of everyone and giving them away.

“Fucking hell, just GO AWAY, WILL YOU!” yelled Oliver, occasioning another cheer.

“Rootastair,” went the crowd around Kate.

The restaurant manager was standing a little distance away, beaming contentedly. “They are being very funny people,” he called to me. “They are making very much laughing.”

I didn’t know what to do. There was no point asking the villagers to leave them alone. It was far too entertaining. I went back to Oliver who was leaning on the Land Cruiser, silent, with his head in his hands, the crowd still surrounding him expectantly.

“I think we should get everyone together and have a talk before we get to Safila,” I said. “It will be easier for everyone if we explain a few things.”

“Well, don’t look at me,” he said. “I want to go home. Now.”

I decided to try Vernon instead. He was eating meat stew from a metal tray with a piece of bread. Gravy was dribbling down his chin and a piece of gristle had lodged itself in the cunt tickler.

“I think we should get everyone together and tell them what to expect before we get to Safila.”

“Bloody right,” he said pushing the plate away. “Bloody right. Look at ’em. Bloody shower. Look at that bloody Oxbridge wanker lying on the Land Cruiser. Let’s kick some sense into ’em. Basic rule with Johnny African—show ’im who’s boss, don’t converse except to give orders, don’t give ’im a bloody penny. Don’t you worry, my love. I’ll give ’em a good talking to.”

“On second thoughts,” I said looking at my watch, “maybe we’d better get moving and do it when we get there. Yes, I’m sure that’s best. Jolly good. Excellent. I’ll get everyone going.”

I put myself in the cab of the first lorry. When Safila village came into view on the horizon I stopped the convoy, got everyone out and started my speech before Vernon knew what was happening.

“So, to recap,” I was explaining to a resentful-looking team, “we are going into a very extreme situation and we should be prepared to see some very upsetting things. There could be five, ten thousand people starving in the camp. They have no food other than what we have brought, so you might see some fights over the distribution, but try to understand why that happens. They are utterly dependent on the success of our broadcast. But we must remember that they are human beings and individuals who deserve to maintain their dignity. They will expect you to treat them with the same respect which the SUSTAIN personnel have been showing them for many years. The SUSTAIN team are extremely sensitive and absolutely exhausted—so please try to treat them delicately too. Thank you.”

“I look forward to meeting your team of sensitive, exhausted neocolonialists,” murmured Corinna, with a smile as everyone dispersed. “Maybe they’ll make me alter my view.”

“Rosie, old girl!” Henry was bellowing, charging across the compound with a grin stretching from ear to ear. Kate, Corinna and I had speeded on ahead of the rest of the convoy.

“Bloody marvelous to see you,” he went on. “Bloody goddess-free zone without you. All gone to rack and ruin down the old black hole of Calcutta. Hello!” he said, seeing Kate and Corinna. “Ding dong! More goddesses. Welcome to Safila.”

Corinna had stopped in her tracks and was staring disbelievingly at Henry. “Kamal!” he bellowed towards the cabana, where our Kamal was crouched over the stove. “Dish up some tiffin, old boy, will you?”

Kamal beamed and waved. “Very good,” he shouted. “I am making tiffin for you. Welcome, welcome.”

Corinna removed her sunglasses, looked at me, looked at Kamal and then back at me.

“Henry,” I said hurriedly. “This is Corinna Borghese and Kate Fortune. Kate, Corinna, Henry is our assistant administrator. Henry is running the camp,” I said, remembering I had no job now.

“Absolutely charming, delighted, delighted,” Henry said, putting out his hand to Kate, who seemed not to notice. She was staring distractedly at the huts, her hands fluttering everywhere, like moths. I wanted to go straight down to the camp. I didn’t want to mess around. I could hardly bear to ask Henry how bad things were. He was trying to put his old brave, flip face on things but I could tell he was struggling. There were bags under his eyes and he was pale and drawn.

“How is it down there?” I said quietly.

“Pretty damn good, actually,” he said, brightening. “Bloody lot better than when you left, in fact. You heard we got some food from the EEC?”

I stared at him, speechless.

“We got a big delivery five days ago. Just when we were running out. They’d found it in a grain store in El Fayed. So we’ve put everyone on supplement.”

“Why didn’t you let us know? Why didn’t they know in El Daman?”

“Because it came from somewhere in the north. The radio’s still down. I sent a message in the pouch but—”

“Haven’t the new refugees arrived?”

“No. Bloody odd, actually. Haven’t seen hide nor hair of ’em. Muhammad reckons it’s because as soon as they started trying to cross the plains, the Aboutians started bombing them. So they’ve bedded down in the highlands. Have you got Security with you, by the way?”

“We’ve got a couple of minders. Why?” I was trying to make sense of what he had told me. It didn’t add up. I’d seen those people. There were too many of them just to bed down. Maybe some foreign aid had reached them through Abouti. But how, if the Aboutians were attacking them?

Henry was still talking about Security. “Their plane landed near the village a while ago. I thought they’d come to meet you.”

“What did we get from the EEC?” I said.

“Dried milk powder, oil, soya mix and the drugs.”

“How much?”

“We should be able to hold on till the ship comes.”

“How come they didn’t tell us it was there before?”

“They didn’t know. Stocktaking error or something.”

Corinna laughed incredulously. “Well,” she said. “Shall we turn round and go home now?”

Kamal was walking towards us beaming. “You are welcome,” he was saying. “Your tiffin is ready and waiting.”

Corinna took off her sunglasses and looked at me hard. “Is this man,” she hissed, “your servant?”