The Quest tes-4

by Wilbur Smith

  Soe licked his dry, cracked lips. 'Yes!' he whispered. Clearly the truth.

  'Where are your manners, Colonel Meren? Bring our honoured guest some water.'

  Meren grinned and went to the waterskin. He filled a wooden drinking bowl, and came back to kneel beside Soe. He held the brimming bowl to the parched lips, and Soe gulped huge mouthfuls. Coughing, gasping and panting in his eagerness, he drained the bowl. Taita gave him a few moments to regain his breath.

  'So, are you scurrying back to your mistress?'

  'No,' mumbled Soe. The green tinge to his aura marked the lie.

  'Is her name Eos?'

  'Yes.' Truth.

  'Do you believe she is a goddess?'

  'The only goddess. The one supreme deity.' The truth again, very much so.

  'Have you come face to face with her?'

  'No!' Lie.

  'Has she allowed you to gqima her yet?' Deliberately Taita used the coarse soldier's word to provoke the man. The original meaning had been 'to run', which was what a soldier in a victorious army had to do to catch the womenfolk of the defeated enemy.

  'No!' It was shouted with fury. Truth.

  'Has she promised to gijima you when you have obeyed all her commands, and secured Egypt for her?'

  'No.' It was said softly. Lie. Eos had offered him a reward for his loyalty.

  'Do you know where she has her lair?'

  'No.' Lie.

  'Does she live near a volcano?'I 'No.' Lie.,!

  'Does she live beside a great lake in the south beyond the swamps?'

  'No.' Lie.

  'Is she a cannibal?'

  'I do not know.' Lie.

  'Does she devour human infants?'

  “I do not know.' Lie again.

  'Does she lure wise and powerful men into her lair, then strip them of all their knowledge and powers before she destroys them?'

  'I know nothing of this.' A great and veritable lie.

  'How many men has she copulated with, this whore of all the worlds?

  A thousand? Ten thousand?'

  'Your questions are blasphemous. You will be punished for them.'

  'As she punished Demeter, the magus and savant? On her behalf, did you send the toads to attack him?'

  'Yes! He was an apostate, a traitor. It was a judgement he richly deserved. I will listen no longer to your filth. Kill me, if you like, but I will say no more.' Soe struggled against the ropes that held him. His breathing was hoarse and his eyes were wild. The eyes of a fanatic.

  'Meren, our guest is overwrought. Let him rest awhile. Then peg him out where the morning sun can warm him. Take him outside the camp, but not so far that we cannot hear him sing when he is ready to converse once more, or when the hyenas find him.'

  Meren strung the rope round his shoulders and began to drag him away. Then he paused and looked back at Taita. 'Are you certain that you have no further use for him, Magus? He has told us nothing.'

  'He has told us everything,' said Taita. 'He has bared his soul.'

  'Take his legs,' Meren ordered Shabako and Tonka, and between them they carried Soe away. Taita heard them hammering the pegs to hold him on the baked earth. In the middle of the afternoon Meren went out speak to him again. The sun had raised fat white blisters across his belly and loins; his face was swollen and inflamed.

  'The mighty magus invites you to continue your discussions with him,'

  Meren told him. Soe tried to spit at him but could gather no saliva. His purple tongue filled his mouth, and the tip protruded between his front teeth. Meren let him lie.

  The hyena pack found him a little before sunset. Even Meren, the hardened old veteran, was uneasy as their demented howling and giggling drew nearer.

  'Shall I bring him in, Magus?' he asked.

  Taita shook his head. 'Leave him. He has told us where to find the witch.'

  'The hyenas will make it a cruel death, Magus.'

  Taita sighed, and said quietly, 'The toads made Demeter's death as cruel. He is a minion of the witch. He spreads sedition through the kingdom. It is fitting that he should die, but not like this. Such cruelty will sit heavily on our consciences. It reduces us to his level of evil. Go out there and cut his throat.'

  Meren came to his feet and drew his sword, then paused and cocked his head. 'Something is amiss. The hyenas are silent.'

  'Quickly, Meren. Go and find out what is happening,' Taita ordered sharply.

  Meren ran out into the gathering darkness. Moments later his voice echoed from the hills in a wild shout. Taita jumped up and ran after him. 'Meren, where are you?'

  'Here, Magus.'

  Taita found him standing on the spot where they had pegged Soe down, but he was gone. 'What happened, Meren? What did you see?'

  'Witchcraft!' Meren stuttered. 'I saw—' He broke off, at a loss to describe what he had seen.

  'What was it?' Taita urged. 'Tell me quickly.'

  'A monstrous hyena as large as a horse, with Soe upon its back. It must have been his familiar. It galloped off into the hills, bearing him away. Shall I follow them?'

  'You will not catch them,' Taita said. 'Instead you will place yourself in mortal peril. Eos possesses even greater powers than I had thought possible to have rescued Soe at such a great distance. Let him go now.

  We will reckon with him at some other time and place.'

  They went on, night after stifling night, week after wearying week, and month after gruelling month. The knife wound in Taita's shoulder healed cleanly in the hot dry air, but the horses sickened and faltered, and the men were flagging long before they reached the second cataract. This was where Taita and Queen Lostris had rested for a season to await the renewed flood of the Nile, which would ensure sufficient depth for the galleys to surmount the cataract. Taita looked down upon the settlement they had built: the stone walls were

  still standing - the ruins of the crude royal palace he had built to shelter Lostris. Those were the lands where they had planted the dhurra crop, still demarcated by the furrows of the wooden ploughshare. Those were the stands of tall trees from which they had cut the timber to build chariots and repair the battered hulls of the galleys. The trees were still alive, sustained by the deep roots that reached down to the underground pools and streams. Over there was the forge that the coppersmiths had built.

  'Magus, look to the pool below the cataract!' Meren had ridden up beside him and his excited cry interrupted Taita's memories. He looked in the direction Meren was pointing. Was it a trick of the early light? he wondered.

  'Look at the colour of the water! It is no longer blood red. The pool is green - as green as a sweet melon.'

  'It might be another ruse of the witch.' Taita doubted his eyes, but already Meren was racing down the slope, standing high in his stirrups and yelling, his men following him. Taita and Windsmoke maintained a more sedate and dignified pace to the edge of the pool, which was lined now with men, horses and mules. The animals' heads were down and they were sucking up the green water like shadoofs, the waterwheels of the peasant farmers, as the men scooped handfuls to pour it over their own faces and down their throats.

  Windsmoke sniffed the water suspiciously, then began to drink. Taita loosened her girth rope to allow her belly to expand. Like a pig's bladder, she blew up before his eyes. He left her to it, and waded out into the pool, then sat down. The tepid water reached his chin and he closed his eyes, an ecstatic smile on his face.

  'Magus!' Meren called from the bank. 'This is your doing, I am sure.

  You have cured the river of her foul disease. Is it not so?'

  Meren's faith in him was limitless and touching. It would not do to disappoint him. Taita opened his eyes to see that a hundred men were waiting attentively for his reply. It was also prudent to build their trust in him. He smiled at Meren, then dropped his right eyelid in an enigmatic wink. Meren looked smug and the men cheered. They waded into the pool, still in sandals and shirts, and splashed sheets of water at each other, then wrestled each other
's heads beneath the surface. Taita left them to their revelry and waded to the bank. By this time Windsmoke was so bloated with both water and foal that she waddled rather than walked. He took her to roll in the crisp white river sand and sat

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  down. While he watched her he pondered the change in their fortunes and the miracle of the clear water that Meren had ascribed to him.

  This is as far as the contamination has spread, he decided. From here southwards the river will be clear. Wasted and shrivelled, but clear.

  They camped that morning in the shade of the grove.

  'Magus, I plan to stay at this place until the horses are recovered. If we go on immediately we will begin to lose them,' Meren said.

  Taita nodded. 'You are wise,' he said. 'I know this place well. I lived here for a full season during the great exodus. There are plants in the forest whose leaves the horses will eat. They are rich in nutrients and will put fat and condition on them within days.' And Windsmoke will soon drop her foal. It will have a better chance of survival here than out in the desert, Taita thought but did not say.

  Meren was speaking animatedly: 'I saw the tracks of oryx near the pool. The men will enjoy hunting them, and be grateful for the fine meat. We can dry and smoke the rest to take with us when we ride again.'

  Taita stood up. 'I will go to search out fodder for the animals.'

  'I will come with you. I want to see more of this little paradise.' They wandered together among the trees and Taita pointed out edible shrubs and vines. They were desert adapted and hardened to the drought conditions. Sheltered from direct sunlight by the tall trees, they were thriving. They gathered armfuls, and took them back to camp.

  Taita offered samples of the wild harvest to Windsmoke. After due consideration she nibbled one of his offerings, then nuzzled him for more.

  Taita assembled a large foraging party and took the men into the forest to show them the edible plants and to harvest them. Meren took a second party, and they scouted at the edge of the forest for game. Two large antelopes were disturbed by the sound of axes and ran within easy arrow shot of the hunters.

  When the warm carcasses were brought into camp to be butchered, Taita examined them carefully. The male carried stout horns, and had a dark, beautifully patterned hide. The female was hornless and more delicately built, her coat red brown and soft. 'I recognize these beasts,' he said. 'The males are aggressive when brought to bay. During the exodus one of our hunters was gored by a big buck. It severed the blood vessel in his groin and he bled to death before his companions could summon me. However, the flesh is delicious, the kidneys and liver in particular.'

  While they were encamped at the pools Meren allowed his men to

  return to the diurnal pattern of activity. After they had fed the horses, he set them to build a sturdy and readily defensible stockade of logs cut in the forest to accommodate the horses and themselves. They feasted that evening on antelope meat grilled on the fire, wild spinach and herbs that Taita had selected, with rounds of dhurra bread hot off the coals.

  Before he retired to his mattress, Taita wandered down to the pool to study the night sky. The last vestige of the Star of Lostris had disappeared, but there were no other celestial phenomena of import. He meditated for a while, but sensed no psychic presence. Since the escape of Soe, the witch seemed to have lost contact with him.

  He returned to the camp and found only the sentries still awake. In a whisper, so that he did not disturb the sleepers, he wished them a safe watch then went to his sleeping mat.

  Windsmoke woke him by nuzzling his face. Sleepily he pushed away her head, but she was insistent. He sat up. 'What is it, my sweet? What ails you?' She kicked at her belly with a back foot, and gave a soft groan that alarmed him. He stood up and ran his hands over her head and neck, then down her flank. Deep in her swollen belly he felt the strong contractions of her womb. She groaned again, spread her back legs apart, raised her tail high and urinated. Then she nuzzled her flank. Taita placed one arm round her neck and led her to the far end of the stockade.

  He knew how important it was to keep her quiet. If she was disturbed or alarmed the contractions might stop and delay the birth. He squatted to watch over her in the moonlight. She fretted and shifted restlessly, then lay down and rolled on to her back.

  'What a clever girl,' he encouraged her. She was instinctively positioning the foal correctly for birth. She came to her feet and stood with her head down. Then her belly heaved and the waters broke. She turned and licked the grass on which the fluid had spilled. Now her tail was towards him and he saw the pale opaque bulge of the birth sac appear beneath it.

  She heaved again, contracting strongly and regularly. Through the thin membrane he discerned the outline of a pair of tiny hoofs then, with each contraction, the fetlocks appeared. At last, to his relief, a little black muzzle peeped out between them. He would not be called on to perform a breech delivery.

  'Bak-her.1' he applauded her. 'Well done, my darling.' He restrained the urge to go to her assistance. She was doing perfectly well on her own, the contractions regular and strong.

  The foal's head popped out. 'Grey like its mother,' he whispered, with pleasure. Then, abruptly, the entire sac and the foal within it were

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  ejected. As it hit the ground the placenta parted and the sac was free.

  Taita was amazed. It had been the swiftest of thousands of equine births he had witnessed. Already the foal was struggling to break out of the membrane.

  'Fast as a whirlwind.' Taita smiled. 'That shall be its name.' Wind smoke watched her newborn's struggles with interest. At last the membrane tore and the colt, for a colt he was, heaved himself upright and stood swaying drunkenly. He was breathing deeply from his efforts, his silvery flanks heaving.

  'Good!' Taita said softly. 'Good brave boy.' Windsmoke gave her foal a hearty maternal lick of welcome that almost knocked him down again.

  He staggered but recovered his balance. Then she started the process in earnest: with long firm strokes of her tongue, she scrubbed off the amniotic fluid. Then she moved to place her swollen udder within easy reach. Already the milk was dripping from her waxed teats. The colt sniffed at them, then latched on to one like a limpet. He gave furious suck, and Taita stole away. His presence was no longer needed or desirable.

  At daybreak the troopers came to admire mother and baby. Horsemen all, they knew better than to crowd them. At a discreet distance they pointed out to each other the new foal's shapely head and long back.

  'Good deep chest,' said Shabako. 'He will be a stayer. He will run all day.'

  'Front legs not splayed or pigeon-toed. He will be fast,' said Hilto.

  'Hindquarters finely balanced, neither sickle-hocked nor hip-shot. Yes, fast as the wind,' said Tonka.

  'What will you call him, Magus?' Meren asked.

  'Whirlwind.'

  'Yes,' they agreed at once. 'A good name for him.'

  Within ten days Whirlwind was frolicking around his dam, butting her udder fiercely when she did not let down her milk fast enough for his appetite.

  'Greedy little fellow,' Taita observed. 'Already he is strong enough to follow when we go on.'

  Meren waited another few days for the rise of the full1 moon before he took once more to the south road. As Taita rode down the column Meren saw him looking at the water-pots and lime bags strapped to the back of each pack mule. Hurriedly he explained, 'I am certain we will have no further need of them, but…'

  He groped for an explanation.

  Taita supplied it. 'They are too valuable to discard. We can sell them in Qebui.'

  'Exactly what I had in mind.' Meren looked relieved. 'Not for an instant did I doubt the efficacy of your magic. I am sure that from now on we will find only good water ahead.'

  So it proved. The next pool they came to was green and filled with huge catfish that had long barbels round their mouths. The shrinking pools had concentrated them in dense shoals so they were readily speared
.

  Their flesh was bright orange and rich with fat. They made delicious eating. Among the men Taita's reputation was now carved in marble and embossed in pure gold. The four captains and their troopers were ready to follow him to the ends of the earth, which was exactly what Pharaoh had ordered them to do.

  Fodder for the horses was always in short supply, but Taita had passed that way before and hunted in the surrounding country. He led them on detours from the river to hidden valleys in which grew stands of a low, leathery desert shrub that seemed dead and desiccated, but buried beneath each plant an enormous tuber was filled with water and nutrients.

  They were the staple diet of the oryx herds in hard times - they pawed them up with their hoofs. The troopers chopped them into chunks. At first the horses refused to touch them, but hunger soon overcame their reluctance. The men cached the water-pots and lime bags and replaced them with tubers.

  They sustained the pace of the march over the ensuing months, but the weaker horses started to falter. When they broke down, the troopers despatched them with a sword blow between the ears that went deep into the skull. They left their bones to bleach in the sun. In all twenty two died before they faced the final obstacle: the Shabluka gorge, a narrow cutting through which the Nile forced its way.

  Above the gorge the Nile, in spate, was almost a mile wide. However, through the gorge it was compressed to a hundred yards from one steep rocky bank to the other. When they camped below it they saw running

  water for the first time since they had left Karnak. A thin stream emerged through the rocky chute and spilled into the pool below. However, it had not run more than a mile before it was sucked into the sands and vanished below them.

  They ascended the Shabluka Ridge up a wild-goat track along the lip of the gorge. From the summit they looked southwards across the plains to a distant line of low blue hills. 'The Kerreri hills,' said Taita. 'They stand guard over the two Niles. Qebui is only some fifty leagues ahead.'

  The course of the river was marked by groves of palm trees along each bank, and they followed the western bank towards the hills. The river flowed stronger as they drew nearer to Qebui and their spirits rose. They covered the last leg of the journey in a single day and at last stood at the confluence of the Nile.