WORRALS GOES AFOOT
by Capt. W. E. Johns
12. BACK TO THE SEA
(Pages 156 – 168)
“The long walk across the moonlit wilderness had a strange effect
on Frecks; and perhaps on Worrals
too, for she rarely spoke”. As the day
dawns they reach a rocky outcrop that leads towards the sea. They are at a point where the plateau ends
and then abruptly drops several hundred feet to a deserted beach but there is
no easy way down. They finish the last
of their fruit and chocolate and make plans to contact a passing boat in due
course. Suddenly they hear an aircraft
and they wave to it. Worrals
signals “SOS” in Morse code with her mirror.
When it is clear that they have been seen, Worrals
signals “Operation Distaff. Arms dump
buried centre of oasis twenty miles east” in Morse code twice. The plane drops a message with a streamer and
Worrals reads “Operation Distaff. Message received. Picked your man up from canoe twenty miles
south. He brought us along. Have story from him. Stand by.
Will send help”. Mali must have
pinched a canoe and got away and Melinos must have
the Air Force out to watch for them, Worrals
speculates. Turning round, Frecks is shocked to see that Sheikh Abd-el-Katil and a dozen or so of his men are galloping towards
them. The signalling has given their
position away. Knowing it is futile to
try to run or fight, the girls calmly await capture. To Frecks surprise
they are put on two horses and taken back to oasis. She expected to be shot on the spot. Worrals says that
Cosmo will want to know how much they know, and he can only do that while they
are alive.