Ashes of the Red Heifer (26 page)

His eyes flitted to her then back to David. “You let him touch you. You are with him.”

“Yes. I’m with David.”

He scrutinized her then let go of her wrist. He sounded mystified. “You don’t know.”

“What don’t I know?”

Moshe closed his eyes.

A light hand rested on her shoulder and David said, “They said the plane is landing. We need to get Moshe into a sling.”

TWENTY-FOUR

David and Annie helped Moshe up. He was much stronger than when they’d taken off but he still clamped his mouth against pain.

When they had Moshe harnessed David spoke to them both. “The crew told me we have very little time to unload the animals. They will radio about engine trouble, go down and open the cargo door. As soon as the cargo door opens, we have to get off as quickly as possible. The crew won’t check to make sure we’re safe. To keep authorities from suspecting anything, they won’t stop completely. When the door is fully open, they’ll apply sudden full power and the animals’ crates will slide out on the rails. The tethers have already been detached. Then they’ll gain slight altitude and falter for good a few miles from here. We should have about ten minutes to get out of the area before rescue teams arrive for the plane.”

Suspicion flared across Annie’s brain. What had Moshe tried to tell her? Why did David know the plan so well? She tried to keep her voice steady. “Sounds like a pretty elaborate plan.”

David took her arm and directed her to a sling. “With security so tight, a person can’t simply fly into Israel and unload contraband. We have to fake engine trouble, and we have to have legitimate cargo to keep the authorities from being suspicious.”

Annie’s throat went dry. David said “we” not “them.” She fought to keep the pieces from falling into place but it was clear. Moshe’s hostility when he caught them together. His fearful glances at David. When her father had a heart attack, it had been David giving orders, not Moshe. Alanberg didn’t know about their research but David did. He’d known where Hassan asked her to meet him. Too many clues flashed in Annie’s memory.

Moshe’s eyes were on her. He purposely looked to David, who was getting into his sling, then back at Annie and nodded.

She tried not to know, to deny the truth of this ultimate betrayal but her body turned to burning ice. She couldn’t breath. This man, his charm, his killer smile, his touch, oh god, his touch…. She struggled to stop the panic even as it spread through her. She closed her eyes.

Breathe. Like giving mouth to mouth to the dying calf Annie concentrated on inhaling then exhaling. David touched her and she let out a small scream.

He laughed. “You look scared to death. It’s not that bad.”

She couldn’t let him know she’d figured him out. She fought for the control to put the fear behind another door in her brain. Maybe the head doctors wouldn’t appreciate her well-honed ability to squash emotions but the practice came in handy now. She tried for an imitation of a smile and pulled the straps on her halter tighter.

Her heart kicked into overdrive and her empty stomach roiled. “The plan is to wriggle out of the halter, help Moshe out of his, race down the ramp of a moving plane, and get clear of the crates so we won’t be mowed down and the dust and gravel from the desert won’t shred us.”

David nodded, his face grave. “Essentially, that’s it.”

Annie swallowed, anxiety coating her throat. “Is this kind of procedure normal for the crew?”

David rested a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry. The Corporation has planned meticulously.”

Annie gripped the straps of the harness fighting the instinct to slap his hand. “Yeah, they take care of everything, like Melvin, for instance.”

“He shouldn’t have interfered.”

She never thought she’d end up defending Melvin. “As far as he knew, we were cattle rustlers. I would have done the same thing.”

“No doubt. You’d have had us roped and tied inside of five minutes.”

The plane tilted toward the earth at an alarming angle. She sucked in a breath and tightened her grip on the canvas harness.

Concern colored David’s face. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

Annie didn’t lie. “As a matter of fact, I’m scared shitless.”

David laughed out loud. She scowled at him. “What’s so damned funny?”

“I thought you were fearless. Who’d have thought you have fear of flying?”

“I’m not afraid of flying. It’s crashing that makes me jumpy.” That, and betraying religious freaks who kill and maim in the name of God.

The plane screeched again and Annie felt it slow even more. The nose came up and they leveled out. Annie clenched her teeth and clung to the harness. She waited breathless minutes almost hoping the plane would crash. She’d risk dying herself if it would kill David, too.

She managed to get herself and Moshe out of the sling without falling or dying. How did her body know what to do, when every thought was consumed by the engine’s screaming pitch? She grabbed Moshe by his good arm and flew down the ramp, ran to the first dip in the desert floor and threw herself behind scrub brush. Moshe landed beside her. She wrapped her arms around her head and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could burrow far into the earth.

The engines roared louder and she heard the rattle and crash of the crates as they ejected. Sand blew from under the wheels of the massive plane. It seemed to take forever for the aircraft to rise from the desert floor and travel far enough to quit assaulting them with noise.

Annie lowered her hands and searched for David. He emerged from behind a rock and brushed sand from his pants.

The plane didn’t gain much altitude as it flew over the hills to the south, but it moved out of sight quickly and soon the roaring that had been a part of her life for so many hours faded.

She rolled over to look at Moshe. “You okay?”

He nodded and sat, pulling his knees up and resting his good arm over them. He dropped his head.

She shakily made her way to the crates and surveyed the agitated heifers. There were a few scraped legs and a bloodied nose. They snorted around their crates, eyes white with panic, but none looked seriously injured.

They were in a low desert valley. Hills jutted on all sides, making it feel as if they were at the bottom of a giant’s cereal bowl. In the late morning light, everything took on the yellow cast of the dust.

David glanced toward the hills that ringed the valley. “The trucks were supposed to be waiting when the plane dropped us.”

Annie looked all around them and saw nothing but empty desert. She could run. There must be a gas station or house or someone traveling the road. She could get help. But even as the possibility formed in her head she knew if she ran Hassan would die. She had to cooperate for a little while, anyway.

A dribble of sweat slid down David’s face. “The government rescue vehicles will be arriving to help the plane soon. I don’t know what will happen if they find us here with the cattle.”

Annie held her hand to shield the sun and looked around. “We can’t herd the heifers on foot. You saw how wild they can be.”

A faint sound of an engine drifted to them. It came from the north. Annie felt like a lone calf with coyotes closing in. Would it be The Corporation with the truck or authorities who would toss them in jail without any questions? Or the Silim with big guns?

Moshe pushed himself up and staggered to Annie. David joined them and together they stared down the road. David took hold of her hand.

She had to close her eyes to keep from punching David, or at the very least, throwing up. When she opened them Moshe was staring at her. She looked in his eyes seeing Jacob and Hannah. She’d have more chance saving them and Hassan if she pretended she still trusted David.

The engine noise grew louder.

A truck jumped into view. It looked like a typical farm truck, a rusty relic that could carry produce, lumber, cows or people.

David stood in front of Annie, as if to protect her. “They aren’t shooting at us, so it probably isn’t the military or the Silim.”

Annie watched it close the half mile between them, only slightly relieved. Another truck appeared, following the first.

Annie looked at the rickety trucks and the crates with the heifers. Just how the hell did they expect her to get the cows into the trucks before someone came along?

The first vehicle raced to them and slammed on the brakes. Olive-green canvas arched above the truck beds, concealing the contents. The driver jumped from the cab.

He spoke angry words in Hebrew.

The other truck squealed to a stop behind the first.

David replied, pointing at Moshe and Annie. The driver, seemingly very angry, snarled at David, pointed to the back of his truck and at the cows. David’s worried face reflected what Annie felt. He motioned at the driver. “He’s got a ramp he’ll set up. We have to get the heifers out of the crates and up the ramp. How about a rope and halter? You can lead them up.”

Annie barely looked at him. “These aren’t pets. They aren’t broke for that.”

The driver’s voice sounded irritated and impatient. David answered curtly and they both fell silent.

Annie glanced skeptically at the truck with the tailgate four feet off the ground. She eyed the restless heifers. “And we have how long?”

David looked at his watch. “I think about five minutes.”

Antique equipment, no horse, no cowboys, no time. “Have him back up in the center of the crates about ten feet ahead. Get the drivers and whoever else is in the trucks. We’ll make a human corral in the shape of a funnel and push them into the truck.”

David yelled instructions to the driver of the first truck who put it in gear and positioned the truck according to Annie’s wishes. He ran to the second truck and spoke to the driver.

Three men climbed out of the cab of the second truck and five men jumped out of the bed. Two more men joined them from the first truck. All of them had guns either in shoulder holsters or stuffed into their belts. Annie directed them to form two lines from the outer edges of the crates to the ramp in an inverted V.

She opened the gates one by one and the cattle stood in the crates, too frightened to leave their new homes. Annie climbed the outside panel and dropped into the back of the first crate. “Ya!” She slapped the rear of the heifer and it leapt out the gate into the corral of men and stopped.

Annie slammed the gate to the crate so it couldn’t retreat. She climbed the rail and jumped into the second crate, slapping the heifer on the rump and sending it rushing past her to join the first. Now two heifers stood between the crates and the ramp.

Annie had to roust each heifer from her crate and when they were all in the flimsy human pen, churning like stew on a slow boil, she got behind them. “Stt, stt. Ya, get up there. Git.” She waved her arms and the animals whipped around even more, not sure what to do but certain they didn’t want to go up the ramp.

One heifer lowered her head and snorted, aiming at a space between two men. Annie shouted to alert the men but they had no idea what was coming. Legs pumping, Annie ran across the circle to prevent the rebel’s escape.

The heifer pawed the ground once and ran. Men who would no doubt run full force into a gun battle, jumped out of the way of the charging heifer. Annie launched herself in front of the freight train of a heifer in a futile effort to stop her.

She succeeded in throwing her arms around the heifer’s neck and dragging for several feet before being bucked to the rocky ground. She watched as the panicked animal raced toward the hills.

Another chance lost. One step closer to failure. She stomped back to the human corral.

The driver of the first truck looked at his watch and spoke to David. David needlessly interpreted for Annie. “We’re running out of time. They still have to load those crates and get out of here.”

Stupid plan, stupid cows, stupid Corporation playing by rules that were even more stupid. “Well, hell.”

Annie stepped up to the rear end of the heifer closest to her and grabbed her tail at the base. The heifer kicked, a rapid punch that could break a leg. But Annie anticipated it and moved before it made contact.

She bent the tail over the heifer’s back and threw all her weight against the rear of the heifer, forcing the animal forward. It moved a few paces. Then the inevitable happened and dark green, warm semi-fluid squirted from the back of the heifer all over Annie’s arms, shirt, jeans, and boots.

“Shit.” And she meant it. She put more pressure on the tail and heaved against the rear of the heifer, trying to ignore the smell and stickiness. “Damn Corporation got me into the asinine mix of James Bond and Hoppalong Cassidy.”

The heifer struggled one step at a time and finally put her hooves on the ramp. In a moment, she panicked and ran up the ramp into the truck.

Annie yelled at David. “You guys make a lot of noise and close in on those other critters. If you scare them enough, they’ll follow this one up here. I’ve gotta stay here to make sure she doesn’t run out.”

Annie got as far to the left of the ramp as she could so she wouldn’t scare the other three. She took a moment to look down at her manure-slathered body. Damn Corporation.

David spoke to the men and they started waving their arms, slapping their thighs, and yelling in imitation of Annie. The three heifers circled and spun, hating the noise, but scared to go up the ramp. The heifer in the truck poked her head from the canvas and started down the ramp.

Annie jumped in front of her and shouted. She got the first one to back up into the truck, but made the others more reluctant to climb the ramp.

Finally, one heifer placed her front hooves on the ramp. As soon as she made that move, the others crowded behind her and all three moved in an awkward bunch to run up. It wasn’t wide enough to accommodate them at the same time, but they wrangled until one broke loose and ran up and into the truck.

Annie turned and scanned the other two animals fighting to get on the ramp. She caught a look in one heifer’s eyes. Damn. She needed a view of the heifer’s rear end, but the heifer faced the ramp.