When the horse stumbles, another shot rings out, and even before the animal hits the ground, the South African knows the two shots have been fired from behind him. So he does not jump out of the saddle but falls with the horse when the animal falls. He is nearly at the crown of the dune and falls hard, as the dune is very steep.
The tall Berber, watching him from behind a crown to Teuns’s back, does not move. Instead, he stares intently at the strange rider, who has just fallen off. Then, finally, he rises, slips down the dune, and jogs toward where Teuns and his horse have fallen.
“It is a blessing the Arabs are such bad shots,” Teuns whispers while lying next to the fallen horse in the sand, “Otherwise, I would have been dead now.”
He lies motionless and spies out the area as far as h
