The Triangle and The Mountain: A Bermuda Triangle Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page A

hard.
    “No,” he said. “Somebody will be following, maybe soldiers. If
they see us they might shoot. How many of our people nowadays are shot for no
reason at all? ”
    “But we can hide when we see them,” said Hadah.
    “Not if they have some of our people as trackers. They will
pick up our presence. In fact, they might lead the Dutch to our home. We have
to get away from this side of the mountain until things are quiet again.”
    They backtracked to their cave, lifted a heavy stone to unearth
the rabbit from its cool hiding place, loaded up with the water and set off on
the path. Halfway to the col connecting the two peaks they came across the
three runaways.
    “Where are you going?” asked the master, using Kitchen
Dutch, which he spoke fluently.
    “We are running away,” said the one in front. They looked
nervous, which was understandable. Running away was punishable by death.
Perhaps they also knew that the KhoiKhoi might carry poisoned arrows in
their quivers. You never knew when you met them in their traditional dress.
    “Why are you going this way?” asked the master.
    “We heard that there is a cave down this path where we can
hide.”
    “Too many people know about this cave. If you are followed
they will corner you there and catch you.”
    “The Dutch will not know.”
    “That could be true but then the Dutch like to use our
people to track. They will follow you there. It will be better for you to
continue on the other side of the neck. Follow the path that goes down. Turn
right at the bottom. Don’t stop. Don’t use the cave down there either. Just
follow the path and go home.”
    “Where is home?”
    “That way.” He pointed north. “’Go on until you meet up with
our people and ask them the way. Don’t stop. If you follow the path it will
lead you to a break in the Great Mountains, at the place where this mountain
ends.”
    The two KhoiKhoi watched the runaways go and thenturned
south. They gingerly picked their way over the rocks. The hot side of the
mountain was a totally different prospect from the other side. It was due to
the fact that the mountain was just not high enough. The cloud-carrying north-westerly
winds came directly from the Atlantic Ocean, screamed through the craggy peaks
with a noise that the two would have equalled to hundreds of jet engines had
they lived three centuries later, and stopped dead against the massif of the
Great Mountains on the other side of the valley to the north. For that reason
it rained a lot on the lee side of their mountain, strange as it may seem and
almost nothing along the windward ridge. It had sparse vegetation that the master
had only seen in the desert, many days’ travel to the north, where the black
slaves were headed. He pointed out plants with edible tubers that grew only
here and they dug up several to go with their evening meal.
    “Watch out for the puff adders,” he warned. “And tonight we
need to watch where we put our feet. The scorpions on this side of the mountain
can sting so bad they will hear you scream all the way to Stellenbosch.”  They
looked down on the Dutch settlement. It was a full day’s travel way, but from
on top here it looked so close that you had the feeling that you could spray
your water on it when you peed.
    ***
    Grant brought down the spinnaker not only because he needed
to get away from his fellow traveller’s questioning. He reckoned that it would be
prudent to reduce speed for the night, given the lower visibility. He would be
able to pick up other vessels easily enough but logs and half-submerged ship’s
containers were another story. You did not want to hit one of these at full
speed. He hove to and let the sheets fly. Once again it was tough going, doing
it all by himself. As he laboured he realised that it was very ambitious
putting the big sheet up in the first place, with just the two of them on board.
And it was not as if his day was over. There was no change in Madeleine’s
condition