Scorpion Sunset by Catrin Collier Read Free Book Online

her in in India.
    And him? Would he – could he – have turned a blind eye to an unfaithful wife?
    He left his stool and turned towards the medical tents. Thoughts – especially those of the future or ‘might have beens’ were pointless when he was surrounded by the sick and dying.
    After presiding at the burial of so many of his fellow officers and men he was certain that an unmarked grave in a desert he’d never wanted to visit and had learned to loathe, was all the future he could expect or hope for.
    What was worse, he couldn’t see how his presence along with those of his fellow sufferers was in the slightest use to King or Empire.
    The Wharf, Baghdad
    May 1916
    Bowditch tiptoed, balancing precariously as he wove a path around the bodies of men who’d stretched out wherever they’d found space on the deck of the steamer. He continued to head for the ship’s prow where he’d spotted the shadowy figure of Major Crabbe leaning on the rail, smoking.
    â€˜You’re up early, Major Crabbe.’
    â€˜Couldn’t sleep, Bowditch. You?’
    â€˜I’ve been waiting for the order to disembark.’
    â€˜All night?’ Crabbe asked in amusement.
    â€˜Bastards seem to enjoy tormenting us. When they didn’t move us when we dropped anchor, I thought they’d wait until we were all asleep then blow a whistle.’
    â€˜They won’t move us in the dark, Bowditch.’
    â€˜Because they’re afraid we might run off?’
    â€˜That’s the least of their worries. They know we have nowhere to run to. Not here.’
    â€˜Then when will they move us, sir?’ Bowditch persisted.
    Crabbe stared down at the undulating mat of flotsam and faeces that lapped sluggishly around the hull. ‘They’ll move us after the town wakes and there’s enough of a crowd to abuse us as we’re marched down the gangplank and through the streets.’
    â€˜We’re British, sir. They wouldn’t dare expose us to humiliation and ridicule …’ Bowditch began.
    â€˜Oh yes they would,’ Crabbe cut in sharply. ‘Halil Bey has scored a major victory in forcing Townshend to surrender to him and he’s going to exploit it to the full. The whole town will be out to throw brickbats at us. So I suggest you brace yourself and warn the other junior officers, non-coms, and ranks to do the same.’
    â€˜Most of us are sick, sir.’
    â€˜So much the better for Johnny Turk and the natives. We’re not in a condition to fight back.’
    â€˜Do you think they’ll keep us here, sir?’
    â€˜In Baghdad?’ Crabbe shook his head. ‘Not a chance. But hopefully we’ll be given reasonable quarters in the city until transport has been arranged to take us to the POW camps in Turkey. If they try marching us there I doubt any of us will survive the trek.’
    Bowditch stared at Crabbe and whether it was the subdued light that emanated from the oil lamp affixed to the mast, or the darkness that swirled like fog around the deck, the senior officer appeared wraithlike. He reminded Bowditch of the illustrations of ghosts from the Netherworld that had adorned the pages of the Illustrated Police News that he and the other boys in his prep school had devoured from cover to cover by torchlight under cover of the blankets on their beds. Bowditch shuddered.
    â€˜You look like someone just walked over your grave, Bowditch.’ Crabbe tossed the stub of his cigarette over the side.
    â€˜I feel as though someone has just walked over my grave, sir.’ Bowditch took a pack of Turkish cigarettes from his pocket and offered them to Crabbe
    Crabbe shook his head. ‘Keep them. We may have plenty at the moment but I’ve a feeling they’ll soon be in short supply.’
    â€˜You think so, sir?’
    â€˜Like food they’ll become a memory.’
    Bowditch leaned on the rail next to Crabbe. ‘Have you any