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.The dog yelped and fell on to its side, twitching and bleeding.Hakim staggered to his feet again and turned to run.There was a shout from the front of the truck but he kept going until two shots rang out, hitting the ground a metre ahead of him and blasting clouds of dirt into the air.Hakim stopped and turned, raising his hands.The Scorpion’s men grabbed him by the arms and dragged him back to the truck.The Scorpion was hunched over his dog, which was lying still with its tongue hanging from the side of its mouth.He stroked the animal’s bony head and crooned to it, until it opened its eyes and staggered to its feet with a whine.As soon as the Scorpion was sure his dog was not going to die, he rose to his feet and turned to Hakim.‘You could have killed him,’ said the Scorpion, switching to French.His voice was hoarse with fury.He back-handed Hakim twice across the face and his signet ring cut the boy’s mouth open.Hakim took the blows silently, then stared defiantly at the Scorpion, blood pouring down his chin.‘You want to leave us?’ rasped the Scorpion.‘Very well.’Li gasped as the slaver pulled a wicked-looking, curved knife from the sheath at his belt.He stepped towards Hakim and his men turned the boy to give their boss a clearer target.Li could not stand by any longer.She launched herself from the truck, landing a flying kick in the throat of the nearest man as she came down.He let go of Hakim, dropped his Kalashnikov and fell to the ground, clutching his windpipe.Li grabbed the weapon and rolled to her feet.Before the second man had time to react, she came up behind him and clubbed him on the back of the neck with the rifle butt.Hakim took the chance to break free while the second man was still reeling from the blow.The man staggered and leaned on his Kalashnikov while he put a hand up to the back of his neck.Hakim lashed out with his foot and kicked the rifle away.Caught by surprise, the man fell and Hakim scurried to pick up the weapon.Li grinned when she saw Hakim take possession of the second Kalashnikov.She was beginning to think they might just get out of this situation alive.‘Keep them in your sights!’ she yelled, pointing to the two men on the ground.Hakim nodded, raising his Kalashnikov, and Li turned, ready to deal with the Scorpion.She froze, her eyes widening with horror at what she saw.The Scorpion was standing at the back of the truck, holding a crying Samir in front of him.His curved knife was digging into the side of Samir’s throat and a thin trickle of blood was running down the boy’s neck.‘Put down the weapons,’ said the Scorpion coldly.Li felt the hope drain out of her.There was no way they could refuse.If they did, Samir would die.She looked over at Hakim.He was already laying the Kalashnikov on the ground, never taking his eyes off his little brother.Li sighed and did the same.‘On your feet,’ barked the Scorpion to his men.Coughing and staggering, they picked themselves up, retrieved their weapons and trained them on Li and Hakim.Li narrowed her eyes, judging her chances if she used her fighting skills again, but the element of surprise had gone and the men were standing well back, out of range.Li relaxed and stood balanced, feet apart and arms by her sides, waiting for her next chance.She never got it.Suddenly the Scorpion pushed Samir to the ground and sprang for Li.His knife flashed in the sun as he lunged for her face.Before she could move, the knife sliced past her ear, close enough for her to hear the swish of the blade.She winced, waiting for the pain to start, but there was nothing.The Scorpion stepped back and Li moved up on to the balls of her feet, to be ready for his next attack.He merely stood there, watching her with a cold smile.Li was getting seriously freaked.What was he waiting for? His first lunge had missed: why didn’t he try again? A chill ran through her as she considered the possibility that the knife had injured her so seriously, she was experiencing no pain.Cautiously, Li raised her hand to her neck, expecting to feel the slick warmth of her own blood.All she found was whole, undamaged skin.She peered down at her hand, double-checking.When she looked up again, the Scorpion was holding something up for her to see.Dangling from his fingers was a twist of her long, silky black hair.Li froze in shock.The tendril of hair must have come loose from her headcloth during the fight.Quickly, she tucked the rest of the escaped hair back under her headcloth, even though it was too late now.The Scorpion already knew she was a girl.He lunged forward again and, before Li could react, yanked the layered cloth from her head.Her long black hair came tumbling down over her shoulders, falling nearly to her waist.There was a gasp from the Scorpion’s men and from the children in the truck, who were all peering through holes and gaps in the canvas.Still smiling coldly, the Scorpion stepped up to Li and, using the knife, pulled her gandourah open at the neck.He saw the bandage wrapped around her chest and his smile widened.‘Your value has just increased,’ he said.‘There will be many men interested in buying you tomorrow.A pretty, light-skinned girl is worth a lot more than a scrawny boy.’The dog whimpered again from under the shade of the Unimog and the Scorpion’s expression hardened.‘Get the others out here,’ he ordered his men.‘I want them to see this.’Once the rest of the children were gathered in a frightened huddle outside the truck, the Scorpion grabbed hold of Samir and pulled him away from his big brother.Hakim looked over at Li, wordlessly reminding her of her promise to look after Samir.She nodded and gathered up the little boy, holding his shaking body in the circle of her arms.Satisfied, Hakim turned to face the Scorpion.The slaver back-handed him again, hard enough to make him fall to the ground.Then he bent down, grabbed Hakim’s right ankle and pulled his leg up into the air.Hakim’s baggy sirwal slid down and pooled at his hip, leaving his skinny leg exposed.‘This is what we do to those who try to run away,’ said the Scorpion, looking at the other children.His curved knife flashed again and Hakim gave an agonized scream as the blade cut deep into the back of his leg, just above the knee [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.The dog yelped and fell on to its side, twitching and bleeding.Hakim staggered to his feet again and turned to run.There was a shout from the front of the truck but he kept going until two shots rang out, hitting the ground a metre ahead of him and blasting clouds of dirt into the air.Hakim stopped and turned, raising his hands.The Scorpion’s men grabbed him by the arms and dragged him back to the truck.The Scorpion was hunched over his dog, which was lying still with its tongue hanging from the side of its mouth.He stroked the animal’s bony head and crooned to it, until it opened its eyes and staggered to its feet with a whine.As soon as the Scorpion was sure his dog was not going to die, he rose to his feet and turned to Hakim.‘You could have killed him,’ said the Scorpion, switching to French.His voice was hoarse with fury.He back-handed Hakim twice across the face and his signet ring cut the boy’s mouth open.Hakim took the blows silently, then stared defiantly at the Scorpion, blood pouring down his chin.‘You want to leave us?’ rasped the Scorpion.‘Very well.’Li gasped as the slaver pulled a wicked-looking, curved knife from the sheath at his belt.He stepped towards Hakim and his men turned the boy to give their boss a clearer target.Li could not stand by any longer.She launched herself from the truck, landing a flying kick in the throat of the nearest man as she came down.He let go of Hakim, dropped his Kalashnikov and fell to the ground, clutching his windpipe.Li grabbed the weapon and rolled to her feet.Before the second man had time to react, she came up behind him and clubbed him on the back of the neck with the rifle butt.Hakim took the chance to break free while the second man was still reeling from the blow.The man staggered and leaned on his Kalashnikov while he put a hand up to the back of his neck.Hakim lashed out with his foot and kicked the rifle away.Caught by surprise, the man fell and Hakim scurried to pick up the weapon.Li grinned when she saw Hakim take possession of the second Kalashnikov.She was beginning to think they might just get out of this situation alive.‘Keep them in your sights!’ she yelled, pointing to the two men on the ground.Hakim nodded, raising his Kalashnikov, and Li turned, ready to deal with the Scorpion.She froze, her eyes widening with horror at what she saw.The Scorpion was standing at the back of the truck, holding a crying Samir in front of him.His curved knife was digging into the side of Samir’s throat and a thin trickle of blood was running down the boy’s neck.‘Put down the weapons,’ said the Scorpion coldly.Li felt the hope drain out of her.There was no way they could refuse.If they did, Samir would die.She looked over at Hakim.He was already laying the Kalashnikov on the ground, never taking his eyes off his little brother.Li sighed and did the same.‘On your feet,’ barked the Scorpion to his men.Coughing and staggering, they picked themselves up, retrieved their weapons and trained them on Li and Hakim.Li narrowed her eyes, judging her chances if she used her fighting skills again, but the element of surprise had gone and the men were standing well back, out of range.Li relaxed and stood balanced, feet apart and arms by her sides, waiting for her next chance.She never got it.Suddenly the Scorpion pushed Samir to the ground and sprang for Li.His knife flashed in the sun as he lunged for her face.Before she could move, the knife sliced past her ear, close enough for her to hear the swish of the blade.She winced, waiting for the pain to start, but there was nothing.The Scorpion stepped back and Li moved up on to the balls of her feet, to be ready for his next attack.He merely stood there, watching her with a cold smile.Li was getting seriously freaked.What was he waiting for? His first lunge had missed: why didn’t he try again? A chill ran through her as she considered the possibility that the knife had injured her so seriously, she was experiencing no pain.Cautiously, Li raised her hand to her neck, expecting to feel the slick warmth of her own blood.All she found was whole, undamaged skin.She peered down at her hand, double-checking.When she looked up again, the Scorpion was holding something up for her to see.Dangling from his fingers was a twist of her long, silky black hair.Li froze in shock.The tendril of hair must have come loose from her headcloth during the fight.Quickly, she tucked the rest of the escaped hair back under her headcloth, even though it was too late now.The Scorpion already knew she was a girl.He lunged forward again and, before Li could react, yanked the layered cloth from her head.Her long black hair came tumbling down over her shoulders, falling nearly to her waist.There was a gasp from the Scorpion’s men and from the children in the truck, who were all peering through holes and gaps in the canvas.Still smiling coldly, the Scorpion stepped up to Li and, using the knife, pulled her gandourah open at the neck.He saw the bandage wrapped around her chest and his smile widened.‘Your value has just increased,’ he said.‘There will be many men interested in buying you tomorrow.A pretty, light-skinned girl is worth a lot more than a scrawny boy.’The dog whimpered again from under the shade of the Unimog and the Scorpion’s expression hardened.‘Get the others out here,’ he ordered his men.‘I want them to see this.’Once the rest of the children were gathered in a frightened huddle outside the truck, the Scorpion grabbed hold of Samir and pulled him away from his big brother.Hakim looked over at Li, wordlessly reminding her of her promise to look after Samir.She nodded and gathered up the little boy, holding his shaking body in the circle of her arms.Satisfied, Hakim turned to face the Scorpion.The slaver back-handed him again, hard enough to make him fall to the ground.Then he bent down, grabbed Hakim’s right ankle and pulled his leg up into the air.Hakim’s baggy sirwal slid down and pooled at his hip, leaving his skinny leg exposed.‘This is what we do to those who try to run away,’ said the Scorpion, looking at the other children.His curved knife flashed again and Hakim gave an agonized scream as the blade cut deep into the back of his leg, just above the knee [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]