‘This is so you don’t try any more little tricks, or think about jumping out,’ he said as he looped a length of rope around the bindings on her wrists and tied the free ends around the pole supporting the plastic seat next to his. ‘Now, stay down,’ he ordered, pushing her back onto her side.
The boat was powered by a big outboard motor, which was fed from a tin gasoline tank that could be removed when the boat was not in use. Hassan squeezed a bulb in the middle of the rubber hose that connected the tank to the engine. Miranda knew from her own trips back and forth across the river that this was to pump some fuel into the engine in order to prime it. Her face was a few inches from the tank and the gasoline fumes stung the inside of her nose.
Hassan started the engine and put the throtde
