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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2001
Copyright © Harry Patterson 2001
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015
Cover photograph © Nick Meers/Images Colour Library
Harry Patterson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
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This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008124908
Ebook Edition © August 2015 ISBN: 9780008159115
Version: 2015-07-30
Paul Rashid was one of the richest Englishmen in the world. He was also half Arab, and few people could tell you which influence most ruled his heart.
Paulâs father had been the leader of the Rashid Bedouin in the province of Hazar, in the Persian Gulf, and a soldier by both birth and tradition. Sent as a young man to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, he had met Lady Kate Dauncey, the Earl of Loch Dhuâs daughter, at a formal dance there. He was wealthy and handsome and, despite the obvious problems, it was a love match, and so, despite the initial misgivings of both sets of parents, they had married, Paulâs father travelling back and forth between England and the Gulf as necessary. Over the years they had produced four children: Paul, the eldest, Michael, George and Kate.
The children were intensely proud of both sides of their family. In deference to their illustrious Omani past, they all spoke fluent Arabic and were Bedu to the heart, but as Paul Rashid would say, their English half was just as important, and they fiercely guarded the Dauncey name and their heritage as one of Englandâs oldest families.
The two traditions flowed together in their blood, the medieval British and the Bedouin, producing a general fierceness that was most remarked upon in Paul, and was perhaps best epitomized by an extraordinary incident that occurred when Paul was himself about to pass out of Sandhurst. Heâd just gone home for a few daysâ leave. Michael was eighteen at the time, George seventeen and Kate twelve.
The Earl was away in London and Paul had gone down to Hampshire and found his mother in the library of Dauncey Place with a badly bruised face. She had reached to hug him and it was Kate whoâd said, âHe punched her, Paul. That awful man punched Mummy!â
Paul turned to Michael and said carefully, âExplain.â
âTravellers,â his brother told him. âA bunch of them moved into Roundhay Spinney with four caravans and some horses. Their dogs killed our ducks and Mother went to speak to them.â
âYou let her go alone?â
âNo, we all went, even Kate. The men laughed at us, and then when Mother started shouting at them, their leader, a large man, very tall, very aggressive, punched her in the face.â
Paul Rashidâs own face was very pale, the eyes dark, as he stared at Michael and George. âSo, this animal laid hands on our mother and you let it happen?â He slapped them both. âYou have two hearts. A Rashidâs and a Daunceyâs. Now, I will show you how to be true to both.â
His mother grabbed his sleeve. âPlease, Paul, no more trouble, itâs not worth it.â
âNot worth it?â His smile was terrible. âThere is a dog here who needs a lesson. I intend to give him one,â and he turned and led the way out.
They drove to Roundhay Spinney in a Land Rover, the three boys. Paul had forbidden Kate to come, but after they left, she saddled her favourite mare and followed anyway, galloping across country.
They found the caravans parked in a circle, with a large wood fire in the centre, and a dozen or so men and women grouped around it, along with several children, four horses and dogs.
The large man described by the two younger boys sat on a box by the fire drinking tea. He looked up as the three young men approached.