Sold! A Romance In The Sudan by Storm Chase Read Free Book Online

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Hafiq, rattled off something and offered her a sketchy bow.
    “What’s he saying?” Lilly asked.
    “He says you’re beautiful.”
    Lilly blushed.
    “Do you still want to see Robinson, the
consul?” Hafiq asked. When she nodded, he shrugged. Best she see
for herself how much good it would do. “Come on, then.”
    Ten minutes later they drew up in front of
the Mercure Port Sudan. Its pink walls, large windows and curved
arches pronounced it to be a luxurious, international hotel. From
the way the doormen greeted Hafiq, Lilly guessed he was a
regular.
    Robinson was small, pink and sweaty. He
clearly didn’t like Hafiq but he listened to Lilly’s story with an
air of world-weary courtesy as he drank an ice-cream sundae.
    “Very shocking,” he said. “You must have been
most uncomfortable.”
    Lilly stared at him. “Well, it wasn’t exactly
the luxury tour I expected,” she said, “but I survived.”
    “Well done.”
    Lilly wondered if he had heard her properly.
“I need a new passport and to borrow some money,” she enunciated
clearly. “I owe Hafiq for rescuing me and I have to buy a ticket
home. I can give you contacts for people who will vouch for
me.”
    Robinson was taken aback. “Nothing to do with
me, my dear,” he said.
    Lilly was holding on to her temper with
difficulty. Although his face was impassive, she was aware that
Hafiq was quietly enjoying himself. Turning her back to him, she
faced Robinson squarely. “I need help, Mr Robinson. Is that too
much to ask for? You are the consul, aren’t you?”
    “I have a purely token role,” he replied
simply. “This is well beyond my authority. You should apply to the
embassy.”
    “And where is that?” Lilly asked icily.
    “Khartoum, about two days travel inland,”
Hafiq answered. “Come on, Lilly, I told you he wouldn’t be
interested.”
    As he got up to go, Robinson put in a final
word.
    “It’s no use glaring at me, young lady,” he
said smugly. “There are advisories against all travel to the Blue
Nile. Also, we never pay for citizens who are, uhm, rescued by members of the local militia.” He sipped his drink slowly. “And
as you are entirely without paperwork, there is no saying who you
really are, is there?”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t say she’s without paperwork,”
Hafiq announced casually. “Lilly became a citizen of Sudan and my
wife, about half an hour ago.”
     
     

Chapter Nine
Hell
    Hafiq had never seen a woman so angry. She
didn’t want to go shopping. She didn’t want to see the harbour. She
refused to go anywhere.
    They were standing under the hotel’s pink
canopy, waiting for the car valet to return. Hafiq suspected he was
sitting round the corner, enjoying the scene.
    “How could you?” Lilly wailed. “What in the
hell were you thinking?”
    The hellcat from Atbara was back. Lilly was
in full voice and she didn’t care who heard her but Hafiq was
painfully aware of the attention they were attracting. As she got
louder and louder, he was increasingly humiliated at being scolded
in front of sniggering porters, bellhops and waiters. And by a
woman of all people!
    Hafiq curbed his temper manfully. Taking her
firmly by the elbow, he marched her out and through to the car
park. As he suspected, his car was standing there, the engine
idling gently as the boy sat listening with his ears on strings. He
didn’t even apologise; just grinned at him.
    Fuming, Hafiq took Lilly home. Her fear of
the traffic kept her quiet for a while but the second they got
home, she was off again. This time she wasn’t yelling; her voice
was icy.
    “Are you going to give me an explanation or
are you just going to stand there looking at me like the village
idiot?”
    It was a new experience. Hafiq had seen women
scream, shout, cry and on one occasion, throw things. But not one
had ever spoken to him with such disdain. He mustn’t lose his
temper.
    “You will not speak to me like that,
Lilly.”
    “How do you want me to speak to you?