The men began discussing the possibility in more detail, but Juliet did not join in. She had a bone-deep conviction that staying with Ross was the right thing to do.
She was equally sure that doing so would be miserably difficult for both of them.
Chapter 14
The steep sand dune tilted Juliet's camels to such a treacherous angle that she dismounted and led her two animals down the sharply pitched surface. As their hindquarters lurched awkwardly, the camels bawled with irritation.
At the bottom of the dune Juliet remounted, then indulged herself in a very small drink of water. She used the fluid to moisten her dry lips, holding it in her mouth as long as possible before swallowing. Though warm and oily from the waterskin, it still felt ambrosial, for the heat was now more like summer than spring.
After Merv, they had spent three days crossing a stretch of desert with no oases. At Rafitak they were able to refill their waterskins, but only after digging out two wells that marauding Turkomans had filled with sand and stone.
Wearily Juliet rubbed at her forehead, thinking that it would be pleasant to feel the wind on her face. She was heartily sick of being swaddled from head to toe. However, quite apart from her need to stay disguised, high temperatures in the desert made it essential to wear multiple layers of clothing to prevent the body from losing too much moisture.
As they wound their way between the dunes, sand spurted into the air from the camels' padded feet, then whirled away on the wind. The Kara Kum would be impassable in summer if it were not for what the poetic residents of Turkestan called "the wind of a hundred days." It blew from the north, sometimes soft, more often fierce, but never ceasing.
In the distance Juliet saw a dust devil, a whirlwind that spun fine sand high into the air. They were very common here; once she had counted six different dust devils at the same time.
With a sigh, she put her waterskin away. Less than a week to Bokhara. Then her troubles would really begin.
* * *
The caravan reached a water hole nestled next to a stone outcropping by mid-afternoon. Since the next well was two days away, they broke for the night. Because of the early halt, it was still full light when Juliet and her companions finished their sparse meal of bread, saffron-flavored rice, tea, and dates.
Afterward Ross excused himself and went off somewhere, probably to talk to one of the many friends he had made. Saleh and Murad both settled down for a nap in the shade of a blanket stretched between their panniers, and the camels grazed contentedly on nearby camel thorn. But in spite of Juliet's fatigue, she felt restless. Wanting to be alone for a while, she decided to go for a walk.
She chose to head east, into the area of towering two-hundred-foot-high dunes that the caravan had been skirting. To her surprise, when she had walked her fill and was about to return to the camp, she rounded a dune and discovered Ross sitting in the sand, gazing absently into the wilderness.
She was about to turn back when he heard the faint sound of her steps and looked up warily. Recognizing her, he relaxed. "I see that you weren't ready to rest either. Come join me."
After a brief hesitation, Juliet did so. By her choice, they had scarcely talked since leaving Merv. But over the last few days her rampaging lust had subsided—heat, fatigue, and thirst were amazingly anti-erotic. It should be safe to be in his company for a few minutes.
As she settled on the sand near him, she remarked, "I thought you were visiting elsewhere in the caravan."
"Sometimes I like to be alone with the desert. Beautiful, isn't it?" He gestured toward the surrounding dunes. In the late-afternoon sun they formed an elegant, otherworldly scene of sensuously curving surfaces and dramatic shadows.
"Beautiful, yes, but bleak," she commented. "I can't help thinking of how green Scotland is. All that lovely water."
He raised his brows. "Do you miss Scotland?"
"Sometimes. I spent the first five years of my life there. I think that what one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever."
"True. England, the kingdom by the sea, will always be my home." His gaze went back to the scene before them. "But in spite of the dangers, I'm grateful to have another chance to travel on the Silk Road. It fascinates me to know that men have crossed this wilderness for thousands of years, carrying goods and ideas all the way from Rome to China and back again. We walk in the steps of Marco Polo and countless other merchants and adventurers."
"A romantic thought." Since he was looking away, she took the opportunity to admire his profile. Because of the shortage of water, he hadn't shaved in several days, and his cheeks and chin were dusted with dark-gold whiskers. Wrenching her gaze away, she said, "Is that why you've traveled so much—for the romance and adventure?"