Free Nightmare in Morocco by Vickie Britton, Loretta Jackson Page B

braced her hand against an overhead rock . The sudden movement caused the huge emerald walled by diamonds to flash . "Probably explorers, like us."
    Noa listened intently, but the noise had settled into the stillness and did not sound again . For a while she waited and watched with a growing feeling of uneasiness, but at last as time passed, Noa became interested in Belda's finds and together they tried to reconstruct in mind the splendid structure of so long ago .
    At length Noa returned to the shade the thick rocks offered while Belda took picture after picture . She had to admit this woman, old enough to be her grandmother, had much more stamina than she . "It's late . We'd better start down."
    "I want to take another picture."
    "We've got to go." Noa checked her watch . "Didn't you tell Johnny to be back for us in an hour? He's probably down there waiting . We're already ten minutes late."
    "Johnny'll wait . He's getting paid plenty." Belda arranged rocks on the ground that she believed belonged together and snapped a final picture.
    Noa waited for her at the edge of the bluff . Going back down the way they had come up seemed the only alternative . The cliff dropped straight down in most places, at least here existed a trail, however sharply it descended .
    Belda reluctantly drew forward . "Did we actually climb that?"
    Ascending the incline, it hadn't looked so steep; heading down would be a slow and careful process . Not even a tree grew to block a fall, and here and there great rocks jagged upward in a threatening way . "You mustn't lose your footing," Noa said . "Why don't you edge down facing the cliff until we get past the worst of the slope?"
    Slowly, carefully, they began working their way downward . The long trek had tired Noa . Watching Belda's slow descent, Noa straightened up, running fingers through her sweat dampened hair.
    From the corner of her eye she glimpsed the movement above her . She gazed upward . An arched form in dark, hooded robe loomed above the pile of rubble . He seemed to have no height or weight, no identity , but floated in layers of hazy heat . She could feel the power of his eyes evil eyes staring out from the folds of cloth that obscured his features.
    Noa's heart sank . Without conscious thought, she knew exactly what he was doing prying a limb against a huge stone pillar, half embedded in dirt and rocks .
    Noa gave a startled cry . At once she slid downward, colliding with Belda . Noa hurled her from the path, springing after her . Both of them lost their balance . At the same time the column of stone crushed against the path they had just vacated, crushed with such force that it smashed into the ground instead of rolling.
    The huge pillar missed Noa by less than a foot . Both of them had been but a few inches from certain death!
    Noa reached out for Belda, but the cotton cloth of her shirt slipped from her grasp . Belda rolled downward . Noa scampered to her feet . Reaching Belda, she didn't know how she found the power to lift the heavy woman to her feet . "Hurry! Hurry! We must get to the bottom!"
    As they stumbled and slid down the bluff, Noa glanced back . No figure appeared along the ruined wall . If they could just get to the car before their attacker could catch them!
    The ground soon leveled off so they could run unhampered . Anxiously Noa scanned the area . No sight of a car, not on the trail where the road ended or on the highway so far in the distance.
    "He should be here!" she gasped . She checked her watch . "He's already twenty minutes late!"
    "What if he's come and gone?" Belda answered .
    "He's just got to show up!" Even as she said the words, Noa regretted trusting Johnny Ramos . She wondered if he had left them there on purpose to get back at Noa for threatening his job with the tour company.
    Tension and exhaustion lined Belda's face . For the first time since Noa had seen her, she looked her age . Sweat trickled down her broad, pale forehead, where gray curls