“Don’t be suspicious. It was the truth, and we both know it. I didn’t mention Joanna. That’s a disadvantage to both of us. Don’t you agree?”
“For now.” Jace concealed his warring emotions.
“Getting worried about losing your pay and our bet, old chap?”
“Not in the least.”
“You should, because I’m going to win,” Chad told him with just as much confidence. “Leigh is mine; I’ll make certain of it.”
Jace shrugged. “See you at nine, old friend.”
Chad watched Jace vanish into the shadows. For some crazy reason, he was feeling mellow tonight. Seeing Jace didn’t sting as usual. And Leigh, she had his heart pounding and his body flaming. As for Louisa, he dreaded to see her, even to sate his aching loins. He didn’t even want to talk with his close friend Reid. What, he mused, was wrong with him?
~*~
Leigh headed for the front desk and asked for a new room for the night, explaining she couldn’t sleep well in the bed in her suite. Hurriedly she fetched what she needed and went to the room where she hoped Jace could not locate her. When —because she had no doubt he would sneak in to see her—he found her suite unoccupied, let him think what he would, she decided. Until she learned the truth about the incidents with the beautiful native girl and the sultry redhead, she did not want to see him in a provocatively intimate setting.
~*~
By eight the next morning, Leigh was packed, dressed, and ready to depart. She joined the others downstairs for breakfast. She noticed that Chad was in a merry mood. Louisa was subdued for a change. Reid and Cynthia seemed bored. Her heart’s desire was absent.
“Jace is waiting for us at the train stop,” Chad told them. “Since he does so much work for them, they’re letting him pay to have the train take us near the end of the line. The railroad isn’t halfway to Nairobi yet. He’s having all our supplies and baggage loaded and we’re to be out front at nine with any remaining luggage. He’s arranged for a man to fetch us.”
~*~
The depot was nothing more than a small business office of the Uganda Railroad and an area from where supplies to continue the rail line were unloaded from cargoes and transported to work camps along the winding route into the adjoining protectorate. Everything and everyone was aboard within twenty minutes. The whistle blasted loudly, and the engine began to take them to their destination.
Leigh sat in the last car, the only one with seats and windows. She was to the rear, while the others were near the front. She wanted a last glimpse at Mombasa and the ocean as they moved inland. Jace was riding up front with the engineer. She wondered if he had come to her suite, last night to find her missing. If he had, did he believe she had spent the night with Chad?
Leigh turned to watch the seaport outlined against a vivid blue ocean, and realized how glad she was she’d come to Africa. The light structures with their red or white roofs, numerous mosques, and jungle greenery were striking against glittery sapphire water and cerulean sky. Soon, ferns and trees of several varieties ended the breathtaking sight. The engine picked up speed and traveled smoothly along the rails. It rolled through picturesque hills; passed plantations of mostly coconuts, mangoes, and bananas; and provided magnificent views.
The forest halted for a time. Stretches of small shrubs, baobab and acacia trees, thornbush, grasses, and other unfamiliar vegetation surrounded the short train as it chugged along. Here and there she spotted waterholes where animals were drinking. Everything intrigued her. She saw gazelles bound away at the noise of the engine, leaping gracefully. She saw huge elephants at the edge of the forest they had departed. Wildebeest and zebra mingled in herds as they grazed contentedly until the engine also startled them into speedy flight. She noticed several lions stalking the fleeing herd of brown and striped prey. Nature, she decided, could be very beautiful, and also very brutal.
Onward they traveled. They traversed a narrow gorge where tumbled rocks revealed how they had been blasted out of the path. They entered the Taru Desert. It was flat, sunbaked, and looked as endless at the western plains. The only signs of life were bunches of browned grass, stunted trees, twisted scrubs, and an occasional thornbush and acacia at its beginning. The earth was a dry blood-red, much like Georgia soil where Webster International had holdings. Crimson particles seemed to coat everything. In places, it was a cruel and challenging landscape. She could not imagine how the workmen had endured oppressive heat, choking dust, and hardships while laying tracks through this forbidden area.
The heat had increased, and the train did little to create a refreshing breeze. Leigh felt her clothes and body growing damper by the hour. The air was dry and dusty. She knew she looked a mess with red powder on her skin and garments. She knew, because she saw others covered in it.
Leigh observed how the rails stretched out like glittering silver snakes beneath the tropical sun. She remembered Jace telling them at dinner that this desert had been the great barrier to Swahili/Arab caravans in search of slaves and ivory. She was relieved the train would take them beyond the Taru and that they didn’t have to cross it on foot to begin their safari. The Taita Hills loomed before them. Soon, the Serengeti Plains would be to their left: their first destination.
The others enjoyed a picnic packed by the hotel, but Leigh wasn’t hungry. All she wanted was water to soothe her dry throat. She was glad Chad remained with Louisa, despite his furtive glances at her.
The landscape altered its face once more. They entered grasslands with thorn trees, flat-topped acacias, and scrubs, then woodlands. Soon, greenery surrounded them again and sand-colored rocks loomed in the fertile hills. The train slowed and halted.
With strength and agility, Jace pulled himself into their car. “I thought you women might like to refresh yourselves here. We’ll stop for fifteen minutes, then be on our way again. We have an hour to go. Our bearers will be waiting for us. We’ll load up and walk until dusk. There won’t be any privacy at our next stop, so take advantage now,” he told them, not once looking at Leigh.
“Can we bathe and change clothes, Jace. We’re filthy,” Louisa whined and pouted.
“Sorry, Miss Jennings, but we don’t have time. The train has to back its way to Mombasa before dark. It’s fifteen minutes break, no more.” When he briefly glanced at her, Jace noticed the cold glare in Leigh’s eyes and wondered—worried— about it.
When the redhead and brunette began to complain, Chad scolded, “Remember, Jace is the boss out here. Don’t be childish; do as he says.”
“There’s a river nearby. Use it if you want to wash your face, but be careful of hippos and crocodiles. Call out if you get into trouble.”
Leigh was furious with Jace and Louisa. From the way they behaved, nothing was between them.
The two women walked toward the river first to scrub their hands and faces. Leigh vanished into thick bushes and excused herself. The men did the same in another direction, then headed for the river.
When Leigh reached the water, she noticed it was as red and dirty as she was. The others had already discovered that fact and returned to the train to use their canteen water. Leigh gazed over the landscape as she knelt to wet a cloth. It came back soaked, but red. She sighed deeply, then washed as much of the dust as possible from her face and hands. She blew her nose and cleaned the stifling dust from it. Quickly she brushed her hair, knowing how awful it must look. As for her clothes, they looked ruined. If this red dirt was truly like fiery Georgia mud, the red soil would never wash out completely.