“We have flashlights,” Lazlo reminded.
“Which will make us great targets for any predators,” Remi said. “Let’s just hope there are no rebels around.”
“Did you have to say that?” Lazlo said.
Sam powered on the sat phone and reached Des. After explaining the situation and agreeing that the Aussie would embark for town while it was still light out, he hung up and turned to them. “We should stay quiet as we hike to the road. Whoever did this might be waiting for us to try to get back that way.”
“Maybe it would be worth another twenty to have our escort show us an alternate route to the main road?” Remi suggested.
Sam smiled. “Excellent idea.” He looked over his shoulder to where the youth was sitting with several others, watching them, and waved him over. The young man practically bolted to them and for an instant Sam wondered whether the vandalism wasn’t part of his moneymaking enterprise and then dismissed the thought. They’d never know for sure so no point in wasting energy on speculations.
After a quick negotiation, they set off down the slope, taking a game trail rather than the main track. Half an hour into it, the sky rumbled ominously and rain began pelting them, making the ground slippery and slowing their progress even further. Leonid’s limp was more pronounced as time stretched on and he cried out in pain several times when he misstepped in the darkness, twisting his ankle, punctuating his intakes of breath with a Russian curse.
When they finally made it to the pavement, their surroundings were pitch-black. Leonid sat by the road shoulder with a sigh of relief and Lazlo and Remi joined him, their energy spent. Sam called the Darwin and confirmed that Des had gone to town, and after paying their escort and watching him disappear back into the jungle, they settled in for a long wait on the desolate road.
CHAPTER 43
By the time Des picked them up in a bedraggled Mitsubishi SUV and drove them into Honiara, it was after ten p.m. The town was all but closed down as they negotiated the empty streets. Sam instructed Des to drop them off at the hospital so that Leonid could be attended to and Des decided to stay with them.
“No point in trying to make it all the way back to the Darwin tonight on the skiff. Better to do it first thing in the morning when there’s light,” he explained as he pulled into the hospital parking lot. “I also have to deal with returning the car and the office doesn’t open until eight tomorrow.”
“We’ll gladly put you up at our hotel, Des,” Remi said. “There won’t be a problem. Since the assassinations, it’s been empty.”
“Good deal.” Des peered through the windshield at the darkened hospital, the only light visible filtering from the emergency entrance. “Sure the place is open?”
“Yes. It’s the only game in town,” Sam said.
They helped Leonid into the hospital, where after a short registration process he was taken into the back in a wheelchair by an orderly. Sam and Remi followed him, leaving Lazlo and Des to wait in the reception area.
Dr. Berry greeted them with a tired handshake.
“What seems to be the problem?” he said as the orderly helped Leonid onto the exam table.
“Hiking accident,” Leonid said.
“I see. Let’s have a look, shall we?” he said. He reached for a pair of scissors and trimmed away the bandage and then examined the wounds. “Ouch. Probably hurts,” he observed.
“I was able to walk on it, so I didn’t break anything,” Leonid said.
“That’s good to know. But we’ll want to get an X-ray, just to rule out any fractures.” He inspected the butterfly sutures and looked at Sam and Remi. “Nice job.”
“Thank you,” Remi said. “Dr. Vanya isn’t working tonight?”
“No. Do you know her?” Dr. Berry asked.
“Yes. She’s a friend.”
“She’s a good physician,” he said, removing Leonid’s blood-soaked shoe and sock. “We’ll probably want to use some proper stitches on this upper gash. Looks like, oh, ten should do the trick. The lower looks like only two or three.” He glanced up at Leonid. “I’m going to have to clean this out. It’s going to sting a little.”
“Why am I afraid that’s the understatement of the year?” Leonid asked.
Ten minutes later, Leonid was sewn up and on his way to the primitive radiography department. Sam and Remi rejoined Lazlo in the waiting area, where he was regaling Des with a story from his dubious past. Remi heard enough to blush and Lazlo immediately cut his account short.
“How’s our Russian bear?” Des asked.
“I don’t think he’ll be doing any ballroom dancing in the near future, but it looks like it’s all repaired,” Sam reported.
“That’s good news, then,” Des said. “So the blighters flattened all your tires?”