EXTRACT FOR
Captives Of The Colonel
(Charles Graham)

Chapter One    



Port of Kalipar, India ??" March 3, 1876



	The bearded Indian soldier wearing the uniform of a Sergeant in the British Indian Army spread his hands wide, palms up, in a gesture of apology, "I am very sorry, Memsahibs," he murmured softly. "But there is nothing I can do. The escorted convoy to Peshlara left two days ago and there will not be another for a month."

	"A month," the taller and older of the two young women before him exclaimed angrily. "We cannot wait here for a month. It's quite ridiculous. Don't you know who I am? My husband is Colonel Mayhew of the 17th Lancers based at Peshlara, and my companion is the fiancée of one of the Captains of the Regiment. We are in a hurry and must leave at once, and you, my good man, must help us."

	"I understand, Memsahib," the Sergeant replied, "but you must understand, too. I have no troops to escort you until the return convoy arrives, so you have no choice but to wait."

	Arabella Mayhew drew herself up to her full height of five feet seven inches and allowed a cold expression to mar her pretty face. "Oh, is that so?" she said waspishly. "Well, we will see about that. I am sure that my friend and I will be able to find someone to guide us to Peshlara, without your help."

	A deep frown wrinkled the soldier's brow. "That might be unwise, Memsahib," he cautioned. "There are still bandits and worse in the hills; and, for two young English Memsahibs travelling without an escort, it could be dangerous."

	"Then give us an escort," Arabella retorted tartly, and the harassed Sergeant could only shrug his shoulders in defeat.

	"I cannot, Memsahib," he repeated. "Not for a month."

	Arabella turned away, "Come along, Belinda. There is nothing for us here. We shall make our own arrangements; and, when we arrive in Peshlara, I shall see that my husband hears of this Sergeant's refusal to assist us."

	Belinda Wallace hesitated then followed her friend out into the heat and dust of the Indian port at which their ship had arrived that morning. "That soldier seemed a little worried about us travelling alone, Arabella," she ventured. "Maybe we should wait."

	"What? For a month? I don't know about you, but I've waited a long time to see my husband, and I don't intend to wait for some unnecessary escort. After all, the mutiny was twenty years ago. India is peaceful now, and I don't believe all that nonsense about bandits in the hills. The Army will have put a stop to all that years ago."

	"Yes, I'm sure you're right, Arabella," Belinda agreed, her red lips curving into an attractive smile. "I can't wait to see Philip again. He'll be so surprised when he sees me and I tell him that I've changed my mind and I will marry him after all. When I turned him down, he stormed out and said he was going to go to India with the Regiment and meant to forget all about me, but I know my Philip. He loves me madly, and I think I may even love him; but, even if I don't, I'll marry him and make him a good wife because I do like him a lot, and he is rather handsome."

	"As good a reason for marriage as any," Arabella chuckled. "I married Randolph because he was charming and well bred and comfortably off. I liked him then and I still do, but he is very set in his ways and a tiny bit pompous, I'm afraid."

	"Philip's thirty, seven years older than me," Belinda replied. "But your Randolph is quite a bit older than that, isn't he?"

	"Mm, yes. He's forty one to my twenty six," Arabella agreed. "I sometimes think it's too wide a gap, but at least he's kind to me, and he is still very..ah..active if you understand me."

	Belinda flushed. "Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Men can be really insistent if we women let them. I always had to keep Philip very firmly rationed; otherwise, he'd never have let me out of bed. After we became engaged, I mean. I wouldn't let him do anything before, of course."

	"Of course not," Arabella nodded firmly. "It is just as important to observe the proprieties in love as it is in polite society. We are living in the 1870's after all, not the Dark Ages."

	"Quite right," Belinda smiled her agreement and turned her mind to the matter in hand. "Now then, Arabella, how are we going to find someone to guide us to Peshlara?"

	"Well, it can't be that difficult," the brunette said. "Randolph always tells me that all you have to do in India is find what he calls a middle-man. Every town has at least one and once you find him and offer a little money, anything is possible. So, come along, dear, let us go and find our middle-man and arrange a guide."

	Side by side and secure in their unfounded belief that the vast sub-continent of India was completely safe, Arabella Mayhew and Belinda Wallace set off in search of a guide to lead them across the hundreds of miles of plains and mountains separating them from their partners, never suspecting that ahead of them lay an ordeal that would change forever the whole course of their entire lives.