Afghan Bound Read Free Page A

fort.’
    â€˜That was an awful lot of money Paul gave you,’ Justin ventured cautiously. ‘Or am I being intrusive?’
    â€˜No you’re not – not at all. That was a private consultation fee, that’s all. For his wife.’
    â€˜Very private,’ said Justin flatly. ‘What was she here for, piss-flap adjustment?’
    â€˜Oh,’ muttered David through a wry grin. ‘You saw that then.’
    Justin grinned back. ‘I saw everything. What the hell was going on?’
    David rose from his chair and threw several large logs upon the fire.
    â€˜I think it’s going to be a long night,’ he sighed, crossing to the sideboard where several bottles stood on a silver tray. He poured them both a long drink and then returned to his chair. He sat quietly staring at the amber liquid for a few moments, and then began.
    â€˜When I finished my degree I went straight into a casualty ward. Fifteen, sixteen hours a day – every day.’ He took a drink before resting his glass on the arm of the chair. ‘One day I’m stitching up this guy’s head after he’d been involved in a drunken brawl – the same guy I’d stitched up the week before, and the week before that. And I think: what the fuck am I doing here? This can’t be it.
    â€˜Six weeks later and I’m on the plane to Quetta in Pakistan, doing my bit for voluntary work overseas and hoping to see a bit of the world. There’s a week in the university first, then a team of us end up in the mountains pulling bullets out of refugees from Afghanistan. We were there all of two days when the Mujahadeen raided the camp and forced us back over the border with them. They needed us to treat their casualties from an attack that had gone terribly wrong. It was quite scary I can tell you. One of the Pakistani doctors refused to do any work and demanded to be sent back. They sent him back all right, strapped across a donkey minus his bollocks.’ He took a swift slug of his drink to numb the memories.
    â€˜You know,’ he continued. ‘He begged them to stop. Told them he would do whatever they asked. But they wouldn’t listen. They knew we were watching, gauging how far they were prepared to go. They went all the way, in front of us. No one ever questioned them a second time – ever…’ His words trailed away like a song fading on the radio.
    â€˜Bloody hell, that must have been so frightening,’ whispered Justin. ‘How on earth did you escape? I mean, you must have escaped at some time, to be here.’
    â€˜Escaped!’ laughed David out loud. ‘I escaped twice. For six months we traipsed around the mountains like bloody nomads, then we met up with a group who’d been fighting around Kabul. They’d taken several Russian soldiers as prisoners, including some high-ranking officer or other. He was hooded and in a sort of straightjacket, and they’d put heavy chains around his ankles. That night I was ordered to the Rebel chief’s tent. Inside they’d staked the naked officer to four posts. It was my job to keep him alive while they interrogated him. His hood was still on and four Afghans were beating his feet with sticks. I’d seen what these guys could do to a man, but usually they were quick. Not for this one though. He was in for the works.’
    Justin shook his empty tumbler, prompting David to finish his drink. ‘Did he live?’ he asked on the way to refill the glasses.
    â€˜Couldn’t tell you.’ David took a tiny sip to wet his lips. ‘I kept him going on Amyl Nitrate but they kept beating him and stubbing their cigarettes out on his body. One of them even pushed a lighted cigarette under his foreskin. You could smell the flesh smouldering.’ Justin winced at the very thought while David continued.
    â€˜The poor bastard couldn’t even scream. Under the hood they’d forced a gag into his