‘Sounds good to me.’ He put his hands on her waist and pulled her in towards him. She pressed her hips against him and gave a playful grind. Just then Riley appeared. Sue quickly pulled away.

‘Did you manage to get your hair washed, Sue?’ Riley said, looking from one to the other.

‘Yes, thanks.’ Sue had looked momentarily embarrassed but she recovered quickly. ‘What about you, Riley, did you talk to Mo about setting up a school here?’ Mann had the sense he was watching two people who had known each other intimately for many years.

He shook his head. ‘I will try again later. She’s not in the mood for learning at the moment. She’s busy with Gee.’

‘What about using Alak’s radio?’

‘I’ll do that later, too. He hasn’t set it up yet.’

‘Here, use my new toy.’ Mann pulled his sat phone back out from the bag and handed it to Riley.

‘Ah, been dying to get my hands on one of these. I bet this was expensive, wasn’t it, mate?’

‘I live in Hong Kong, remember? Go ahead, be my guest. Just don’t chat for long.’

‘I will then. Thanks, mate, I’ll grab it later.’

Gee appeared at the top of the ladder looking smug. He was still wearing his red baseball cap. He hardly seemed to sweat, he was so used to the climate. He spotted Sue’s mosquito repellent that she’d left out beside her bag and began slapping it on his arms and face.

From down below, Mo bellowed: ‘Come and eat. Come to my table.’ She looks in a good mood, thought Mann, looking down at her over the edge of the balcony.

‘Happy lady.’ Gee grinned up at Mann from under his cap. ‘She likes my contribution.’

Gee’s bony shoulders shook as he chuckled.

Mann watched from the balcony as Mo wandered back in the direction of her house and began inspecting the contents of the canvas bag lying outside it. She had a Kalashnikov AK-74 in one hand and a grenade launcher in the other. Sue took the mosquito repellent off Gee and replaced it in her pack.

‘Okay, let’s not keep her waiting,’ she said, adding under her breath, ‘She’s not the kind of woman I’d ever want to piss off, frankly. And now she’s trigger-happy—great.’

They walked across to find Run Run helping with the food preparation, still carrying Kanya on her hip. Alak was sitting nearby, talking with some of his men, though Mann noticed he still kept a close eye on Run Run. It could easily have been the usual village domestic scene, thought Mann—the husband watching the wife as she made dinner, a child on her hip, another running around at her feet. Childhood sweethearts they may have been, but it didn’t look like the love had gone away. Whatever bond they once had was still there. Mann watched Sue walk on ahead. He wasn’t the only one watching. Alak’s soldiers paid her more than a little attention. Mann had a feeling she encouraged it and he smiled to himself. That didn’t bother him. Mann’s thoughts were interrupted by one of Alak’s men who finished watching Sue walk by and then grabbed Phara and pulled her onto his lap. She struggled to release herself.

Mo looked up from her canvas bag. Alak ordered his man to release Phara. Either the man didn’t hear, or he didn’t want to hear. Riley marched over and pulled Phara from his lap. He picked the soldier up by his shirt.

‘Step out of line again, and I’ll deal with you personally.’

The soldier looked at Alak. Alak glared back at him. The soldier backed down with a dismissive shrug of indifference.

Mo’s eyes lingered coldly on the soldier and then on Alak. She gave a flick of her head and went back to examining her new toys.

Alak and his second-in-command, Captain Rangsan, got up, leaving the rest of the men eating their dinner, and came to join Mann and the others as they gathered in front of Mo’s hut. Mo held up one of the rifles to her face, closed her eyes, and breathed in its smell as if it were a newborn baby.

‘Ah…’ She waved it in the air triumphantly. ‘It’s been many years since I held a new rifle, many years. All thanks to my new friend here.’ She reached out and pulled Gee close to her, squashing him to her large breasts. ‘I think I have a new lover.’ She kissed him hard on the cheek, squashing his face in her hand. Gee looked terrified.

Riley didn’t look happy.

‘Didn’t know we were gun runners now.’ He stood with his arms folded across his chest. ‘I thought we were on a rescue mission, not a military one.’

‘The two will be hard to separate in the end, Riley,’ Mann answered. ‘We can’t afford to meet up with these men unarmed. We will need all the help we can get to rescue these kids. These guns were not bought with NGO money—they were a private donation, hey, Gee?’

Gee gave one quick sharp nod of affirmation. He was still restrained by Mo’s vicelike grip and was frightened to make a move in case she crushed him further.

‘Food!’ Mo was hungry. She picked up a bottle of rum in one hand whilst still maintaining her grip on Gee with the other. She signalled the way and propelled Gee forward to the other end of the compound. Alak and Ransang followed them. ‘I will show you my new building,’ she announced.

‘You’ve been building since we were last here?’ Riley asked. He stopped in his tracks as they came to a newly cleared area in the forest and they saw an open-sided building with a raised floor, furnished with benches and tables. ‘What’s this, Mo?’ He looked amazed.

‘You don’t know what this is?’ Mo looked slightly put out. ‘This is the school you keep telling me to build.’

Riley nodded approvingly, a wide grin splitting his face. The group moved to sit at some of the long rows of desks.

‘So, we are the first to sit in this school,’ beamed Mo. ‘Let us hope it will not be burnt to the ground next week, huh? My heart tells me that my village will soon be moving on. We are running out of places to hide in this world. We are running out of friends.’

Mo poured herself a glass and then put the rum bottle in the middle of the table. Louis came to join them. Mann had seen him talking to the villagers earlier. He was preparing for his job of guiding them and tracking the five. It was a big responsibility. Louis acknowledged everyone with a grunt, but didn’t speak. Lamps were dotted and incense sticks lit to keep away the mosquitoes. Lizards ran across the tables and up the beams of the open-sided school.

Phara brought over bowls of rice and sweet hot curry for them. Mo finished her rum, poured herself another, and then handed the bottle around. Mann didn’t have to know Mo well to read her expressions. She was in an aggressive mood that had been exacerbated by Alak’s appearance, and the drink was bringing it to the fore. She drank plenty during the meal. Once they finished eating, Phara cleared the table and Alak spread a wellworn map in front of them. Run Run placed a candle in its centre.

Alak said, ‘Since we left you, we have been talking with the hill people.’

‘Do they think the five are still in the area?’ Mann asked.

Alak nodded. ‘They have been seen here.’ He used a stick to reach over the map to point. ‘I have sent six trackers out looking for them. Three have returned and say that the kidnappers have journeyed as far as the Laos border, up to the opium hills of the Golden Triangle. But now they keep moving, only staying one night or two in each place, and they force the villagers to help them carry their loads. That’s how we will find them.’ He traced the line of dots already drawn onto the map. ‘The villagers will tell me. They have taken porters and demanded food and somewhere to sleep here on their way north, but not straight north—they take a twisting path. They are not trying to escape, they are waiting for something…someone.’ Alak pointed out the kidnappers’ course with the tip of his stick as it zigzagged across the hills. ‘They move every day, but they go nowhere. The mountains of the Golden Triangle will hide them.’