Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Miller was speaking with such nonchalance that, for a moment, his vision sounded pos-
sible. He slumped back in his chair, taking a long drag of his cigarette. 'I'll come with
yer!' he said, raising an eyebrow. 'It'll only cost yer seventy-five grand. US dollars, cash.
New bills, of course.' He must have seen the way I was staring at him, trying to suppress
my astonishment, because then he said, 'That would be all in. No expenses required.'
Slowly, I stood and backed away, stepping out of the cloud of sweet smoke that surroun-
ded us. 'Let me think about it,' I said.
The last thing I heard as I walked out of the bar was Miller mutter, 'Aye, you do that,
laddie . . .'
That night, I found Boston kicking his heels nervously outside the hotel. Across the
rooftops of Juba, the sky seemed steelier each day - a sure sign that the rainy season was
descending from the north.
'Boston,' I said, 'we need to talk.'
Boston tramped along the hotel wall, where the brickwork had been opened up by the
spray of automatic rifles. He had been like this for days, pacing up and down like a cap-
tured tiger, eager to get back on the road - to be anywhere but here.
'What did Miller say?'
'Miller's after money. It's hand him everything and risk failure, or get to Bor without
him and risk failure. It's a no-win situation. The only hope is getting to Bor on Allam's
papers and making a decision there. This expedition's thrown enough at us already that . .
.' I paused. 'Miller says to take the west bank, through Lakes State and into Unity. Once
you get past Terekeka and Minkaman, you reach the edge of the Sudd. Seems that's the
way to get to Bor.'
In an instant, all the nerves evaporated from Boston: 'When do we leave?'
I steadied myself. There was something I needed to say, a thought that had been blos-
soming in the back of my mind ever since we had crossed the border into South Sudan.
'Boston, we've been travelling together for four and a half months. Day in, day out, we've
never been further than a few metres apart. I don't think I can say that about another hu-
man being in my life. So . . .' I hesitated. 'This isn't an easy thing to say, so I'm just going
to say it: Boston, you're not coming with me to Bor, for a start your visa is about to run
out, and it's just too dangerous. Come to Terekeka by all means, but after that I just don't
know.'
At first Boston didn't speak. Perhaps he had known, all along, that sooner or later, I
would have to tell him this. But it seemed he was only gathering his thoughts: 'You can't
do this, Lev. This is my expedition too. Above everything else, I want to see the pyramids.
I want to see the sea.'
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