‘You all right, Thomas?’

Thomas didn’t answer; instead he shook his head and kept staring skyward.

‘Thomas?’ Jake repeated.

‘Today, for the first time, I feel like we are not going to get out of this,’ Thomas answered softly.

Jake looked at Thomas more closely. His eyes were red-rimmed and so dark and tired that they seemed as if they had been drawn in charcoal and then smudged.

His words hit Jake in the pit of his stomach. Thomas was the baby in the group and yet he was also the one who usually kept them all focused and gave them hope. Each of the five played a vital role for the others. Jake was the leader. If Lucas had been well, they would have made all the decisions together, the way they always did. They argued about stuff, then they laughed about it, but in the end they always agreed on a scheme. Anna was the strong one who never lost her fight. She also always knew what time it was back home. She knew exactly how many days they had travelled and she could detail the landscape in every hill they had crossed. Silke was kind and compassionate. She saw the best in people and she was always the first to offer sympathy. She was always the one who knew how the others were feeling. Silke carried the weight of everyone’s problems on her shoulders. Thomas made them laugh. He lived in a world of dragons and extra-terrestrials. He could mimic the robots from Star Wars, he could make them laugh with his impressions of Toad and Weasel. But not today. Today Thomas had turned a horrible corner and had fallen into a void of despair.

‘We will, Thomas, as long as Saw hasn’t got what he wants, we have a hope.’

‘But how long will he keep waiting? We have been moving for—what did Anna say—nineteen days?’ He looked across at Jake. ‘If anyone was going to help us, they would have done so by now. I think he will kill us soon.’

‘We have to keep strong, Thomas. We can’t give up hope now.’

Thomas turned his head and looked at his sister and Anna and at Lucas in turn. Then he turned back to stare at the ceiling.

‘Whilst you were unconscious in the poppy field, Saw tortured and executed that man and his son and shot the bodyguards. He put them in a pile, poured petrol on them and set them alight and then he raped the woman and her children and threw them onto the fire. They were running around on fire, screaming. Saw just laughed. He doesn’t care, Jake. He doesn’t care about life, about death or anything. He’s a devil. I don’t want to watch Silke being raped, killed. I don’t want to see you get murdered.’ He turned to look at Lucas. ‘Lucas is dying. I envy him. I would rather go first.’

‘Thomas, don’t say that! Don’t give up now. The girls rely on you. We all need each other, Thomas. For fuck’s sake—we all need each other.’

Lucas had started moaning again. His lips were cracked and dry. His body shook and sweated.

‘Thomas, have you got any water left?’ Jake asked him. Thomas shook his head. Anna and Silke were still sleeping. Handsome was nearest to them, harassing the porters whilst they prepared the food. As much as he didn’t want to ask Handsome for anything, Jake could see that Lucas desperately needed water.

‘He needs water,’ Jake called out. In the still of the barn, his voice sounded flat. The porters turned to stare at him, as if he were mad. ‘He needs water,’ repeated Jake, louder this time. Anna stirred.

Handsome strode towards them and stood over Jake, looking disdainfully down at him.

‘My friend is very sick. He needs water.’ Handsome looked at Lucas but his eyes wandered to Silke and Anna and stayed there.

Thomas looked from him to his sister.

‘Water! We need water.’ He added his voice to Jake’s to try and distract Handsome’s thoughts away from the girls.

Handsome answered with a grunt and he strode back over to where the porters were and began to kick the old man. The female porters screamed as they tried to get out of the way but couldn’t. The old man covered his head with his hands. Handsome started shouting at the women. They scrabbled onto their knees and began frantically searching in their packs. Handsome stood over them, pulling at their clothes, laughing. The old man was the last one to empty his sack. He was obviously reeling and so exhausted and frail after seven days on the road with no food. Handsome punched him viciously.

‘Stop it,’ Jake called. Handsome ignored him. ‘Stop it, you bastard!’ Jake sat up and shouted louder. ‘He is an old man. He’s had enough.’

For a second, Handsome didn’t even seem to have heard; but then he turned sharply on his heel and charged towards Jake. Frothing at the mouth, his face contorted with rage and, without stopping to draw breath, he transferred his anger from the old man to Jake and kicked him hard in the ribs. Silke woke up and started screaming. Anna began shouting abuse and curses at Handsome. Jake could see her trying to free herself from her ties to help him.

‘No, Anna, don’t!’ He curled into a ball to try and protect his head from the blows. He knew the less they did, the better it would be. Handsome reached down and pulled Jake up by his hair. Jake’s hands were tied to Lucas and Lucas was dragged with him as Handsome held him by the throat and squeezed tightly.

Sudden shrill whistles resounded around the camp and Jake felt the floor reappear beneath his feet as Handsome dropped him. There were intruders.

38

A unit of twelve heavily-armed military men wearing the Burmese army insignia, SPDC, on their arms came into the camp.

Their leader had an air of authority in the way he strode into the camp. He was big, broad shouldered and upright. He was a smart man who took care with his appearance. He had a handsome face and a thin moustache that traced the outline of his mouth. He kept his army cap on his head throughout. He seemed to want to hide his face. On the occasions he looked in the direction of the five, he quickly looked away. He smoothed his moustache with his forefinger: a nervous habit that also served his vanity. Behind him his men stood with their guns at the ready. Saw’s men hovered menacingly.

‘Tell your men to back off, Saw,’ the commander said as he signalled his men to wait where they were as he walked forward. ‘I want to talk man to man, in private. There are things a leader should not share with his men.’

Saw cautiously waved his men back. They reluctantly retreated. Saw looked at the commander as he talked and smoothed his moustache.

‘Everything has changed now,’ the commander said as he looked Saw square in the eyes. If he was afraid, he didn’t show it. ‘You killed some important men in the mountains. Kasem and his son had many friends in the government. You forget the army runs on drug profits. I have to watch my back. I have a good thing going. I don’t want to lose it. The idea was to expand it, not lose it all.’ Jake could see that Saw was nervous. He listened, visibly uncomfortable, whilst the other man talked.

‘We go back a long way, Saw. I have known you for many years. I knew you when you were running this refinery.’

‘I passed a lot of business your way.’

‘Yes. We have been useful to one another over the years, but now…’ He stroked his moustache and looked up at Saw from beneath his cap. ‘You are forgetting what is important. Business is what matters, Saw, not personal vendettas. You have become a liability. You had better hope a new deal comes swiftly.’ His eyes flicked towards Jake and the others.

‘It will come,’ Saw barked, his hackles up.

‘If it doesn’t,’ the commander stood and indicated to his men they would be leaving and then he leant over and whispered, ‘I will have to kill you and the hostages. The Burmese junta doesn’t want the world knowing the truth. They will blame the death of the hostages on the Karen and the world will hate them and the Karen will have no place to hide any more. They will be wiped out…but so, my friend, will you.’