Chapter Sixty Nine
A guard was left to watch over the women. He squatted, unconcerned, with his shotgun across his knees. He didn’t expect trouble and the women weren’t about to give him any. He mindlessly prodded in an ear and then examined the findings on the tip of his little finger. He flicked and tried the other ear.
His companions disappeared around the far side of the plane and Irene could hear them working inside the cargo-hold. It took them over fifteen minutes to reappear. They struggled under the weight of heavy backpacks but there was no denying the look of satisfaction on their faces. The leader took one last wistful look at the women but he clearly had his priorities and the men drifted off among the trees again, as silently as they had arrived.
Irene waited a full two min
