1. The Dare
“I got Brian on his mobile,” Jack Ellis said excitedly, putting down the phone. “He said he’d drive us out there this evening.”
“Was he all right about it?” queried his friend Peter, doubtfully. Jack’s brother was in the Sixth Form and had always been a bit of a stickler, so Peter found it hard to believe that he’d agreed to take part in their prank. But the fact remained that they couldn’t go through with it unless Brian did the driving.
“He thought it was a great idea … if we can persuade Lewis to go, that is,” Jack assured him. “Said it was time somebody took him down a peg or two.”
“Or even three,” muttered Peter.
“Where is this village? What did you call it … Al Antra?” asked Colin, whose father had only joined the oil company a few months previously.
“Al Antara, you mean?” Jack looked at him sharply. “Of course, I’d forgotten that you haven’t been there yet. Come over to the window and I’ll show you.”
Colin looked out over a scene as far removed from Britain as you could imagine; for the bay window of the sparkling white villa overlooked a lush, green garden full of exotic plants and flowering bushes.
“Al Antara’s a proper desert oasis,” Jack said with a grin. “Rolling sand dunes, waving palm trees, an old stone well, the lot — definitely as seen in the movies! Look,” he pointed, “over there, in the distance, at the foot of the Zor Hills. You can just see it. It’s not really as far away as it looks.”
Jack’s house lay near the edge of the oil-company township and as Colin’s eyes lifted to the barren reaches of desert that stretched beyond the garden, he picked out a ragged scatter of palms nestling amid sand dunes that rose in shades of brown and gold to the massive peaks of the Zor Hills.
“Got it,” he nodded, again feeling very much the new kid on the block; for although it hadn’t taken him long to find his way round the township, he knew he still had a lot to learn about the surrounding desert. Despite himself, he felt a growing sense of excitement. The set up here, he thought, was nothing like life back home but boy was he enjoying it!! School had turned out to be okay. He’d made friends with Peter and Jack right away and the only boy in the class that he hadn’t much liked, a pillock called Lewis Grant, was due to leave the following day for Scotland.
“Is it tomorrow night he’s going?” asked Colin, for Lewis’s father had been posted to Aberdeen and their house was all packed up.
“Yeah, his dad’s coming back from Bahrain tomorrow but tonight he’ll be on his own in the house with only the house staff to look after him. Roger told me that he’s really miffed that no one’s throwing a farewell party for him. Believe me, he’ll grab at the idea of spending the night at Al Antara. He wants to go out with a bang and leave everybody talking about him, so he’ll see this as his chance.”
“And you can bet your bottom dollar he’ll make sure that the story gets round before he goes! Lewis the brave! You just watch! He’ll buy it!”
Colin looked concerned. “You mean he’ll drive his dad’s car out into the desert and sleep there?”
“Lewis has always done what he likes, when he likes!” grinned Peter. “And he’ll be quite safe, you know. Nobody’ll bother him out there. The bedouin won’t go near the place after dark.”
“You think he’ll do it then?”
“Of course he will!” Jack said witheringly. “Lewis Grant refuse a dare! You must be joking!”
“Well, we’ll soon know,” announced Peter as a shining, silver 4x4 drew into the driveway. “Here he comes now … and surprise, surprise … he’s driving himself!”
Lewis Grant winced as the full force of the desert heat hit him as he jumped down from the cool interior of the jeep. Slamming the door shut, as though he drove his father’s car every day of the week, he waved casually to the group of boys clustered in the bay window of the flat-roofed, white villa. Pleased that there was an audience to witness his arrival, he flicked back his long, black hair and swaggered up to the front door.
“Hi, there,” he said, walking through to the living room and throwing himself into an armchair. “Is there anything to drink, Peter? I’m gasping!”
“Sure, hang on. We’ve bags of cola in the fridge.”
“How come you’re driving your dad’s car, Lewis? Does he know?” Jack asked breathlessly.
“Don’t be daft, Jack! Of course he doesn’t know. He’s in Bahrain just now. One of the BAPCO wells is on fire and they’re getting Boots & Coots in.”