The Quest

by Wilbur Smith

  Sidudu slung her bow over her shoulder and turned to meet Fenn as she galloped up. Fenn reached down, Sidudu jumped up and they linked arms. Fenn used Whirlwind’s speed and impetus to swing her up over the hindquarters. Seated, Sidudu wrapped both arms round her friend’s waist, and Fenn spun Whirlwind round.

  The next three Jarrians were close upon them, howling with anger at the killing of Onka. Meren met them head on. He cut one man down, and the others broke away rather than risk a collision. They circled him, waiting for an opening, but his blade danced in a glittering arc they could not penetrate. By this time Taita and the two Shilluk had taken in his predicament and were coming at full tilt to support him.

  ‘Nobly done!’ Taita shouted to Fenn, as they passed each other. ‘Now ride for the Gap. We will cover your retreat.’

  ‘I cannot leave you, Taita,’ Fenn protested.

  ‘I will be close behind you!’ he shouted over his shoulder, then plunged into the fray. He hacked one of the Jarrians from the saddle, and the other found himself heavily outnumbered, the rest of his squadron still far behind. He tried to defend himself, but Nakonto thrust his long spear into his side and Imbali swung her axe into his raised sword arm, severing it above the wrist. He broke away and galloped to meet his comrades, swaying in the saddle.

  ‘Let him go!’ Taita ordered. ‘Follow Fenn.’ With the rest of the Jarrian squadron coming up behind them, they raced away. Taita gazed ahead: the band of strange horsemen was much closer now. They were heading directly towards each other.

  ‘If they are Jarrians we will fort the horses and stand to meet them,’

  Taita shouted. They would form the animals in a circle, dismounting behind them, and use their bodies as a defensive wall.

  Taita watched the newcomers intently. His eyesight was so acute now that he recognized the leading rider even before Meren or Fenn could.

  ‘Hilto!’ he cried. ‘It is Hilto.’

  ‘By the sweet breath of Isis, you’re right!’ Meren shouted. ‘By the look of it, he has brought half of Tinat’s regiment with him.’ They slowed to a trot as they waited for Hilto to come up. This confused the pursuing Jarrians, who had thought the interlopers were a detachment of their own forces. They halted uncertainly.

  ‘By the wounded eye of Horus, you are welcome, Hilto, old friend,’

  Meren greeted him. ‘As you see, we have left a few of the rascals for you to test your blades upon.’

  ‘Your kindness is overwhelming, my colonel.’ Hilto laughed. ‘We will make the most of it. We do not need your help. Ride on to where Colonel That Ankut awaits you at the Kitangule Gap. It will not be long before we are free to follow you.’

  Hilto galloped on with Tinat’s men in a tight group behind him.

  He gave the order and they extended their line into battle formation. He led them in the charge straight at the milling Jarrians. They crashed into them and sundered their ranks. Then they chased them back in rout across the plain the way they had come, cutting them down as they overhauled the winded horses.

  Taita led his own band on towards the blue hills. As they caught up with the two girls on Whirlwind, Meren reined in beside them. ‘You shot like a demon,’ he told Sidudu.

  ‘Onka brought out the demon in me,’ she told him.

  ‘Methinks you have paid off all your debts in gold coinage. Now you and your demon can sleep peacefully at night.’

  ‘Yes, Meren,’ she answered demurely. ‘But I never wanted to be a warrior - it was forced upon me. Now I would rather be a wife and mother.’

  ‘A most laudable aspiration. I am certain you will find a good man to share it with you.’

  ‘I hope so, Colonel Cambyses.’ She looked at him from under lowered eyelashes. ‘A short while ago you spoke to me of love…’

  ‘Whirlwind is already tiring under the great weight Fenn is forcing him to carry,’ Meren said seriously. ‘I have room for you behind me. Will you not come across to me?’

  ‘With the greatest pleasure, Colonel.’ She held out her arms to him.

  He swung her across effortlessly and placed her behind his saddle. She circled his waist with both arms, and laid her head between his shoulder blades. Meren could feel her trembling against him, and occasionally her body heaved with a sob before she could choke it back. His heart ached. He wanted to protect and look after her for as long as they should live. He rode on after Taita and Fenn, with Nakonto and Imbali bringing up the rear.

  Before they reached the foothills, Hilto and his squadron caught up with them. Hilto came forward to report to Meren. ‘We killed seven and took their horses,’ he said. ‘The rest would not stand to fight. I let them go rather than follow them. I could not be sure what enemy force might be coming behind them.’

  ‘You did well, Hilto.’

  ‘Shall I bring one of the captured horses for little Sidudu to ride?’

  ‘No, thank you. You have done enough for the present. She is quite safe where she is. I am sure there will be need for more horses when we catch up with That. Keep them until then.’

  As they climbed the track through the foothills towards the Gap they met the tail end of the long procession of refugees. Most were on foot, although those who were too sick or weak to walk were being pushed in two-wheeled handcarts or carried on litters by their families or comrades.

  Fathers had small children on their shoulders and some of the women had infants strapped to their backs. Most recognized Meren and called to him as he passed, ‘The blessings of all the gods upon you, Meren Cambyses. You have released us from bitter durance. Our children will be free.’

  The young girls they had released from the breeding pens ran beside Fenn and Sidudu, trying to touch them. Some were weeping with the strength of their emotion. ‘You have saved us from the mountain of no return. We love you for your compassion and your courage. Thank you, Sidudu. The blessings of all the gods on you, Fenn.’

  None recognized Taita, although the women gazed with interest at the young man with the penetrating gaze and commanding presence as he rode by. Fenn was acutely aware of their interest and moved closer to him in a proprietary fashion. With these lets and delays their ascent of the hills was slow and the sun was setting before they reached the crest and stood once again in the Kitangule Gap.

  That had seen them coming, from the watch-tower of the border fort.

  He clambered down the ladder and strode out through the gate to meet them. He saluted Meren embraced Fenn and Sidudu, then stared at Taita. ‘Who is this?’ he asked. ‘I do not trust him, for he is too pretty by a long way.’

  ‘You may trust him with your life,’ Meren said. ‘The truth is that you already know him well. I will explain later, though it is not likely you will believe me when I do.’

  ‘You vouch for him, Colonel Meren?’

  ‘With all my heart,’ said Meren.

  ‘And with all of mine,’ said Fenn.

  ‘And mine,’ said Sidudu.

  ‘Mine also,’ said Hilto.

  That shrugged and frowned. ‘I find myself in the minority, yet still I reserve my final judgement.’

  ‘Once again I am grateful to you, Colonel That,’ Taita said quietly.

  ‘As I was at Tamafupa when you rescued us from the Basmara.’

  ‘You were not among those I found at Tamafupa,’ said That.

  ‘Ah, you have forgotten.’ Taita shook his head. ‘Then surely you recall escorting Meren and me down from the Cloud Gardens after his eye surgery. That was the first time you revealed your true loyalty and your longing to return to our very Egypt. Do you recall how we discussed Eos and her powers?’

  That stared at Taita, and his stern expression crumbled. ‘Lord Taita! Magus! Did you not perish on the mountain in the Cloud Gardens? Surely this cannot be you!’

  ‘Most surely it can and is,’ Taita smiled, ‘although I admit to certain changes in my appearance.’

  ‘You have become a young man! It is a miracle that defies belief, yet your voice and eyes
convince me that it is true.’ He ran forward and took Taita’s hand in a powerful grip. ‘What has become of Eos and her oligarchs?’

  ‘The oligarchs are dead, and Eos no longer threatens us. That is enough for now. How stand your present circumstances?’

  ‘We surprised the Jarrian garrison here. There were only twenty men and none escaped. We threw their corpses into the gorge. See? The vultures have already found them.’ That pointed up at the carrion birds circling in the sky above. ‘I have sent a hundred men to seize the boatyard at the headwaters of the Kitangule river, and to secure the vessels lying there.”

  ‘You have done good work,’ Taita commended him. ‘Now you must go down to the boatyard and take command there. Assemble the vessels, and as our people arrive embark them and send them down the river, with a good pilot to guide them. The whole flotilla will muster again on the shores of Lake Nalubaale, at the place where we disembarked to hunt the beast with the nose horn.’

  ‘I remember it well.’

  ‘On your way down the mountain, leave a gang of twenty good axemen at the bridge over the gorge. They will cut down the bridge and let it drop into the gorge after the last of our people have passed over.’

  ‘What will you do?’

  ‘Meren and I will wait here at the fort with some of the men you sent with Hilto. We will delay the Jarrian pursuit until the bridge is down.’

  ‘As you command, Lord Taita.’ That hurried away, shouting for his captains.

  Taita turned back to Meren. ‘Send Hilto, the two Shilluk and as many men as we can spare back down the path to give assistance to our refugees. They must hurry them. Look! The main Jarrian army is not far behind us.’ He pointed back down the mountain the way they had come up. In the distance, far out on the plain, they could see the dustclouds, as red as spilt blood in the setting sun, that the Jarrian chariots and the marching legions had raised.

  Taita took Fenn with him to make a rapid inspection of the small fort and the defences in the throat of the Gap and he found them rudimentary, the walls low and in poor repair. However, the arsenal and the quarter-master’s store were well stocked, as were the kitchen and larder.

  ‘We will not hold the enemy here very long,’ he told Fenn. ‘Speed is our best defence.’ They gazed down at the straggling column of refugees.

  ‘They will need food and drink to give them strength to carry on. Find willing younger women to help you and Sidudu hand out food to them as they pass, whatever you can find, especially those with young children. Then send them on down the track to the boatyards. Keep them moving. Don’t let them rest or they will die here.’

  Meren hurried back to join them. He and Taita climbed the ladder to the top of the watch-tower. From there, Taita pointed out a ledge higher up the scree slope that overlooked the head of the path. ‘Assemble all the men you can spare and take them up there. Tell them to gather large rocks and pile them on the ledge. We will roll them down on the Jarrians as they come up the path.’ Meren scrambled back down the ladder and went for his men, while Taita hastened to join Fenn beside the path.

  While she selected women to prepare food, he picked out the able bodied men and sent them to work with Meren on the ledge.

  Gradually they made order from the confusion. The pace of the retreat quickened. With food and drink in their bellies the people took new heart. As they passed him, Taita exchanged banter with the men and made weary women smile and hoist their infants higher on their shoulders. Everyone plodded on with renewed determination. As evening fell, the laughter of Fenn’s helpers sweetened the night, and the light of the torches that Hike’s rearguard carried marked the tail of the column.

  ‘By the grace of Isis, it looks as though we shall get them all through,’ said Fenn, as they picked out the tall figure of Hilto in the torchlight, and heard his deep voice urging the column along.

  Taita ran down to meet him. ‘You have done well, good Hilto,’ he greeted him. ‘Have you seen the Jarrian vanguard?’

  ‘Nothing since sunset when we made out their dust. But they cannot be far behind.’ Hilto was carrying a young child on each shoulder and his men were similarly burdened.

  ‘Go on with all speed,’ Taita ordered, and ran on down the empty track until he was alone and the noise of the retreating column was muted by distance. He stopped to listen and heard a faint murmur below him. He fell to his knees and pressed his ear to the rock. The sound was sharper. ‘Chariots and marching men.’ He jumped to his feet. ‘They are coming up fast.’ He raced back to where Hilto was shepherding the tail of the column. Almost the last in the line was a woman with a child strapped to her back. She dragged two others behind her, snivelling and whining.

  ‘I am tired. My feet are hurting.’

  ‘Can we rest now? Can we go home?’

  ‘You are going home,’ Taita said, then picked up both children and settled them on his shoulders. ‘Hold tight,’ he told them and reached out his free hand to the mother. ‘Come, now. We shall soon have you at the top.’ He strode on upwards, pulling the woman after him.

  ‘Here we are.’ He set the children down as they reached the top of the pass. ‘These two pretty girls will give you something good to eat.’

  He pushed them towards Fenn and Sidudu, then smiled at the mother, who was worn out and wan with worry. ‘You will be safe now.’

  ‘I don’t know who you are, but you are a good man.’

  He left them and went back to join Hilto. Together, they saw the last of the refugees over the top of the pass and started them down the far side. By now dawn was breaking. Taita looked up to where Meren stood on the ledge at the top of the scree slope. Meren waved, his men crouched among the piles of loose rock they had gathered.

  ‘Go to the top of the watch-tower,’ Taita ordered Fenn and Sidudu. ‘I will join you presently.’ For a moment it seemed that Fenn might argue but she turned away without a word.

  Soon Taita heard the chariot wheels grinding up towards the fort. He walked a short way down the track to meet them, intending to divert the attention of the Jarrians from Meren’s men on the ledge above. Suddenly the first vehicle appeared round the bend of the narrow track not far below him. As it climbed towards him, others appeared behind it. A dozen foot soldiers ran beside each vehicle, clinging to the sides as they were towed up the steep pathway. There were eight chariots in all, and behind the last came a mass of infantry.

  Taita made no attempt to conceal himself, and a shout rang out from the leading chariot. The driver cracked his whip and the chariot bounced over the rough surface as it speeded up. Taita did not move. A spearman hurled a javelin at him, but Taita did not flinch. He watched the weapon fall five or six paces short of where he stood and clatter on the rocks. He let them come on again. The next javelin might have hit him, but he dodged aside and it flew past his shoulder. He heard Fenn cry from the tower, ‘Come back, Taita. You are placing yourself at hazard.’ He ignored her warning and watched the chariots. At last they were all fully committed: there was no space for them to turn and flee. He waved up at Meren. ‘Now!’ he shouted, and the echoes flung his voice along the cliffs: ‘Now! Now! Now!’

  Meren’s men bent to the task. The first rocks rolled over the ledge and bounced down the steep slope. They loosened others and set off a rumbling rockslide. The charioteers heard it coming and, with startled cries, abandoned their vehicles and ran for safety. But there was no shelter in the narrow pass from the tide of rock. It crashed into the stranded chariots, sweeping them and the men off the path and into the gorge below. When the rock stopped sliding, the track was blocked with piles of debris.

  ‘No chariots will be able to use that road for a while, and even men on foot will have difficulty getting over these obstacles,’ Taita said to himself, with satisfaction. ‘It should hold them for the rest of the morning.’ He signalled Meren to bring his men down to the fort. By the time he had climbed to the top of the tower, the last of the refugees had long disappeared down the track on the reverse slop
e.

  Fenn was so relieved to see him that she embraced him fiercely. ‘You are very dear to me, my lord,’ she whispered. ‘My heart stops beating when I see javelins flying about your head.’

  ‘If you have such high regard for me, then the least you should do is feed me before the rest of the Jarrian army arrives.’

  ‘You have become so masterful since you returned from the mountain. It pleases me, my lord.’ She laughed and disappeared to the kitchens.

  When she returned they leant on the parapet and ate eggs with dhurra cake. They watched the Jarrian commander send a detachment of fifty men up the slope to seize the ledge from which Meren and his men had hurled the rocks. He was standing in the middle of the track, just out of long bowshot, below them. He was tall and lean, and wore the ostrich plumes of a colonel on the crest of his helmet.

  ‘I don’t like the look of him in the least,’ Taita remarked. The man had swarthy features, a hard, jutting chin and a large, hooked nose. ‘Do you recognize him, Sidudu?’

  ‘I do, Magus. He is a hard and merciless man, hated by us all.’

  ‘His name?’

  ‘Colonel Soklosh.’

  ‘Colonel Snake,’ Taita translated. ‘He bears more than a passing resemblance to his namesake.’

  As soon as he had control of the ledge, Soklosh sent his skirmishers forward to clear the rock-strewn path before the fort, and to test the mettle of the defenders.

  ‘Send them a few arrows,’ Taita told Fenn. Quickly the two girls unslung their bows. Sidudu’s arrow passed so close over the head of one Jarrian that he ducked and ran. Fenn hit another in the calf. He hopped about on the uninjured leg howling like a wolf, until his comrades held him down and snapped off the arrow shaft short. Then they retreated down the track, two supporting the wounded man between them. After that there was a long pause before a dense phalanx of armoured men jogged around the bend, and came up the track towards the fort.

  ‘I think it is time for me to go down,’ said Meren, and slid from the ladder to the parapet. As the next wave of enemy infantry came into bowshot range, he called to Hilto: ‘Stand by!’