The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читать лучшие читаемые книги TXT) 📗

They have news of my family,' he told Taita. 'Two seasons ago one of my wives was taken by a crocodile when she went to draw water from the river, but the other three are well and have borne many children.'

Taita knew Nontu had been at Qebui for the last eight years, and he wondered at the births. 'I left my wives in the care of my brothers,'

Nontu explained blithely.

'It seems they have cared well for them,' Taita remarked drily.

Nontu went on cheerfully. 'My eldest daughter has seen her first red moon and come of child-bearing age. They tell me she has grown into a nubile girl, and the young men have offered many cattle for her as a bride price. I must return with these men, who are my kinsfolk, to the village to arrange her marriage, and to take care of the cattle.'

'I shall be saddened by our parting,' Taita told him. 'What of you, Nakonto? Will you leave us also?'

'Nay, old man. Your medicines are pleasing to my bowels. Furthermore, there is good food and good fighting to be had in your company.

I prefer it to that of many wives and their squalling brats. I have grown accustomed to living without such encumbrances. I will travel on with you.'

They camped for three days beside Nontu's village, an assembly of several hundred large conical huts, beautifully thatched and laid out in a circle around the extensive cattle kraals where each night the herds were penned. There, the herdsmen milked the cows, then drew blood from one of the large veins in each beast's neck. This seemed to be their only food, as they planted no crops. The men and even the women were inordinately tall, but slender and graceful. Despite their tribal tattoos the younger women were nubile and pleasing to look upon. They gathered round the camp in giggling gaggles, ogling the troopers brazenly.

On the third day they bade farewell to Nontu, and were preparing for the departure when five troopers came in a delegation to Meren. Each led by the hand a naked Shilluk maiden, who towered over her escort.

'We wish to bring these chickens with us,' declared Shofar, the spokesman for the group.

'Do they understand your intentions?' Meren asked, to give himself time to consider the proposal.

'Nakonto has explained it to them, and they are willing.'

'What of their fathers and brothers? We do not wish to start a war.'

'We have given them a bronze dagger each, and they are happy with the bargain.'

'Can the women ride?'1 'No, but they will perforce learn soon enough.'

Meren removed his leather helmet and ran his fingers through his curls, then looked to Taita for guidance. Taita shrugged, but his eyes twinkled. 'Perhaps they can be taught to cook, or at least wash our clothes,' he suggested.

'If any causes trouble, or if there is any squabbling or fighting over their favours, I will send them back to their fathers, no matter how far we have travelled,' Meren told Shofar sternly. 'Keep them under control, that is all.'

The column moved on. That evening when they went into laager, Nakonto came to report to Taita and, as had become their custom, to sit beside him for a while. 'We have made good ground today,' he said.

'After this many days more travel…' he showed all of his fingers twice, indicating twenty days '… we will leave the land of my people, and enter that of the Chima.'

'Who are they? Are they brothers to the Shilluk?'

'They are our enemies. They are short in stature and not beautiful as we are.'

'Will they let us pass?'

'Not willingly, old man.' Nakonto smiled wolfishly. 'There will be fighting. I have not had the opportunity to kill a Chima for many years.'

Then he added, as a casual afterthought, 'The Chima are eaters of men.'

The routine that Meren and Taita had adopted since leaving the settlement on the high plateau was to march for four consecutive days and take a break on the fifth. On that day they repaired any damaged equipment, rested the men and horses, and sent out hunting and foraging parties to replenish their supplies. Seventeen days after they had left Nontu with his wives, they passed the last cattle post of the Shilluk, and entered territory that seemed uninhabited by anything other than large herds of antelope. Most were of species they had not encountered before. They also came across new species of trees and plants, which delighted Taita and Fenn. She had become as ardent a botanist as he was. They looked for signs of cattle or human presence, but found none.

'This is the land of the Chima,' Nakonto told Taita.

'Do you know it well?'

'No, but I know the Chima well enough. They are secretive and treacherous. They keep no cattle, which is a true sign that they are savages. They eat game meat, and they prefer that of their fellow men above all else. We must be on our guard lest we end up on their cooking fires.'

With Nakonto's warning in mind, Meren gave special attention to the construction of the zareeba each evening, and placed additional guards over the horses and mules when they let them out to graze. As they travelled further into Chima territory they came across evidence of their presence. They found hollow tree-trunks, which had been hacked open and the bees in them smoked out. Then they came across a cluster of shelters that had not been inhabited for some time. Of more recent origin were a string of footprints in the mudbanks of the river, where a party of thirty men had crossed in single file from east to west. They were only a few days old.

From the beginning the new Shilluk wives, none of whom were much older than Fenn, had been fascinated by her. They discussed the colour of her hair and her eyes among themselves and watched her every move, but kept their distance. Finally Fenn made friendly advances and soon they were conversing happily in sign language, feeling the texture of Fenn's hair, squealing with laughter together at feminine jokes and bathing naked each evening in the shallow pools of the river. Fenn appealed to Nakonto for instruction, and picked up the Shilluk language as swiftly as she had Egyptian. In ways she was still a child, and Taita was pleased that she had convivial company closer to her own age to divert her. However, he made certain that she never wandered too far with the other girls. He kept her close so that he could rush to her aid at the first unnatural chill in the air or any other inkling of an alien presence. She and Taita took to speaking in Shilluk when there was a risk of being overlooked by their adversary.

'Perhaps it is one language that even the witch will not understand, though I doubt it,' he remarked. 'At the least it is good practice for you.'

They were deep into Chima territory when, at the end of a hard day's march, they built the zareeba in a grove of tall mahogany trees. Wide pastures of grass with fluffy pink heads surrounded it. The horses favoured this grazing and herds of antelope were already feeding there. It was clear that they had never been hunted, for they were so tame and confiding that they allowed the archers to approach within easy bowshot.

Meren declared that the following day they would rest, and early in the morning he sent out four hunting parties. When Taita and Fenn set off on their customary foraging expedition, Meren insisted that Shofar and two other troopers went with them: 'There is something in the wind that makes me uneasy,' was his only explanation.

Taita preferred to have Fenn to himself but he knew not to argue when Meren smelt something in the wind. He might not be a psychic but he was a warrior and could smell trouble. They returned to camp late in the afternoon to find that only three of the hunting parties Meren had sent out had returned before them. At first they were not alarmed, expecting the last band to return at any moment, but an hour after sunset a horse belonging to one of the missing hunters galloped into camp. It was lathered with sweat, and wounded in one shoulder. Meren ordered all the troopers to stand to arms, an extra guard on the horses, and bonfires to be lit to guide the missing hunters home.