It took them much longer than four hours to reach the river. Samir had miscalculated the distance as well as the speed with which the group could move. Night fell with the river still out of sight, and inevitably Samir began to hear complaints.
At first his new colonists limited themselves to whispers between each other. The whispers gradually grew louder and more frequent. Soon, his new recruits were speaking quite openly. They went so far as to glance at Samir, as if to make sure he'd heard what they'd said! It was impertinence of the highest order.
They said they were thirsty. They said they were hungry. They were exhausted! There were unpleasant comments about Samir's leadership, totally unfair because after all it was Neil who was leading the group - Samir had stayed at its rear. He wanted to keep an eye on his new recruits, and Neil knew the way well enough.
