Mongolians, trying to switch the subject. “We need to arrive in Bayannaoer by midnight. Shall
we go?”
The group moved away from the ancient city. When they took a glimpse back, they were
utterly amazed to find the city had vanished as if it hadn’t ever existed.
As they took a few steps forward, Anna looked up as she saw a row of gilt buttons down the
front of a uniform. An airman stood before them, looking doubtfully as the two girls.
“Hello!”
Squirming a little, conscious of her appearance, Anna answered shyly, “H-e-llo.”
“What are you doing here?” He asked in a soothing and helpful tone, for fear of scaring the
children who looked exhausted and much weighed down by all the ordeals. “Where are your parents?”
“In Bayannaoer,” Anna replied in a faint voice.
“Everyone safe and sound, I hope?”
The tears which Anna’d been struggling to hold rolled down her cheeks.
“One … he’s …. gone…..” Anna couldn’t help sobbing, staring blankly at the sandy barren land
in the distance.
“One? Gone?”
Anna gave a nod hardly noticeable. The man bent down to look closely at the girls. He knew
she was telling the truth.
“Let me take you home,” the officer settled them in the helicopter.
Amid the thunderous noise of the blades, the aircraft elevated. Images of Tony entering the
monster’s sucker kept flashing back to Anna, with the Gobi Desert underneath them glittering
before dusk took over.
