258 | John W. Warner IV wayward escapee with laughter. In the dark distance of the arrow-straight craggy tunnel she saw a pinpoint of light, an opening a quarter mile or more away she reckoned. She felt the walls of the seven-foot high tunnel; pick and chisel marks maybe. Once outside, she waved for Bea, then stuck fingers in mouth and whistled. Up here! Bea struggled up the steep goat path. What now? A tunnel. Could be wrong, but I think its man-made. Emerging from the tunnels other end, Gwafa led Bernie on the horse. Bernie hopped down and looked through his binoculars. Jesus, a hidden valley! Lined on all sides by the steep peaks. About…eight miles long, two-and-a-half-wide, shaped like a canoe. Several streams and a small pond. Scrub oak trees and lots of thorn bushes. There goes a couple of ibexes, there, a fox. Great hunting up here. I dont see an easy way out, or any exit pass for that matter. Well that was simple. Whats that in the distance to the left, behind that rise? asked Bea, sheltering her eyes from the sun. Tents. I count around five. A truck or two. Could be more nomads, but… theyre camped on a rise or something, a mound or hill. Sonofabitch, I think weve hit some kind of pay dirt. Hell, all those weeks chasing shadows… For fifteen minutes they moved closer, easing their way down slowly. Bea borrowed the optics and re-focused, the images quite distant, the waves of atmospheric distortion acute. Great Nelsons codpiece. No flag or identifier. But its an expedition all right, a dig. The question is, whose? To the floor of the valley was an eighteen hundred-foot descent through pistachio and walnut trees, the narrow path serpentine. Once they reached a small grassy rise, Bernie got off the horse. I will be behind these rocks. Nature business, said Gwafa, leaning his BAR against a small tree. Bloody goat guts. I count thirty or so Germans, tan uniforms. Maybe sixty locals assisting, said Bea excitedly. Now I see a small flag. Busy lot. Damn you, Rodgers, not bad work. She laughed. Unbelievable! Alice took her turn. Over there, see them? Two Kubelwagens. One heavy Opel truck. Now howd they get them up here? A secret road or tunnel? Bernie said: We better make ourselves scarce befo