regretted the foolishness of their plan and cursed himself for his greed. He thought about killing him there and
then and return to his post. However something about the Mongol impressed him and he decided to carry on.
As he built camp that night Gus unpacked his few possessions and tried to relax. He gathered some
wood and started a fire. The meal was just fish and rice but it was enough for both of them. He started to think
about the day. Something in the back of his mind was nagging him, something was wrong. He thought about the
walk. It had been very quiet and Gus recalled seeing only two people along the way who had seemed very
frightened. Then it hit him – they had been followed, but it was already too late.
Bandits from the forest, armed with clubs closed in on him and had him surrounded within seconds
giving Gus no chance to draw his bow. He made a full turn to observe the situation. Somehow the prisoner had
managed to escape! He cursed under his breath and prepared for the beating that was coming his way. His feet
were taken out from underneath him and he tumbled to the ground. Clubs came down from all directions. First
his arm blocked one blow though he wasn’t as lucky with the second as the club was a direct strike to the head
and his body went limp. He lay there unconscious being beaten by heavy clubs.
The morning sunlight fell across Gus as he lay on the ground. As he slowly woke up the pain hit him
straight away. Every single part of his body was in agony. He sat up slowly and eventually stood up. Inspecting
his beaten body he was amazed to see that his wounds had been roughly patched up using the bandages he had
used on the Mongol. Whilst the robbers had stolen his possessions he realized he was very lucky to be alive. His
mind turned to the prisoner who was nowhere to be seen but couldn’t be far away if he came back to help him.
He wanted to track him down, but instead of recapturing him, Gus wanted to help him escape back across the
border.
He knew the scout must head back to the Great Wall to get home so he began the long painful walk
back. Hours had passed and Gus had only made it to the foothills leading up to the Great Wall. Now he faced a
steep hill climb.
Rain was starting to fall. Gus began to look for shelter surveying the landscape; he tried to recall any
caves he had passed. He struggled on and on till he was near to collapsing when he suddenly saw a flicker of
orange light coming from the mouth of a cave. It was his only hope. Now on his hands and knees he crawled to
the mouth of the cave. As he entered he saw the Mongol, but with no strength left he couldn’t do anything but
collapse. Once again Gus was unconscious and at the mercy of his prisoner.
Early next morning he was awoken by the sound of movement. He was immediately alert and jumped
to his feet. He looked at the back of a man and knew it was the Mongolian scout. He saw there was a blanket on
the floor and next to it some scraps of forest food. The man he had tried to capture and turn in for money had
helped him twice now. Gus no longer wanted to capture his savior but instead help him as best he could. Gus
had found out the night that he had captured the Mongol, that he could speak Chinese. He told the scout about
his change of heart and how he wanted to do help him get back to his home.
After talking many hours they at last worked out the Mongol’s escape plan. When they reached the
wall the scout climbed up the steep face unnoticed and sprinted across the top. David was on duty and saw the