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

At the first flush of dawn, when it was light enough to backtrack the wounded horse, Shabako and Hilto took out a heavily armed search party. Taita left Fenn in the care of Meren, and he and Nakonto rode out with them. Within a few leagues of the camp they rode under the outspread branches of a clump of silverleaf trees and came upon a grisly scene.

Nakonto, with his tracking skills and his knowledge of the Chima's habits, knew exactly what had taken place. A large band of men had concealed themselves among the trees and lain in ambush for the hunters. Nakonto picked up an ivory bracelet that one had dropped.

'This was made by a Chima. See how crude it is - a Shilluk child could have done better,' he told Taita. He pointed out the marks on the tree trunks where some of the Chima had climbed into the branches. 'This is the way the treacherous jackals like to fight, with stealthy cunning not courage.'

As the four Egyptian horsemen rode beneath the overhanging branches the Chima had dropped down upon them. At the same time their comrades had leapt out of hiding, and stabbed the horses. 'The Chima jackals pulled our men from their horses, probably before they could draw their weapons to defend themselves.' Nakonto pointed out the signs of the struggle. 'Here they speared them to death - see the blood on the grass.' Using plaited bark rope the Chima had hung the corpses by the heels from the low branches of the nearest silverleafs, and butchered them like antelope.

'They always eat the liver and entrails first,' Nakonto explained. 'Here

is where they shook the dung from the tripes before they cooked them on the coals of the fires.'

Then they had quartered the corpses and used bark rope to tie the severed limbs on to carrying poles. The feet, cut off at the ankle joints, were still hanging from the branches. They had thrown the heads and ¦ hands on to the fires, and when they were roasted, they had chewed off ™ the palms and sucked the flesh from the finger bones. They had split open the skulls to scoop out the baked brains with cupped fingers, then scraped off the cheeks and taken out the tongues, a great Chima delicacy.

The broken skulls and small bones were scattered all around. They had not bothered with the dead horses, probably because they were unable to deal with such a heavy load of meat. Then, with the physical remains, the clothing, weapons and other equipment of the troopers they had murdered, they had set off into the west, moving fast.

¦j'Shall we hunt them down?' Shabako demanded angrily. 'We cannot let this slaughter go unavenged.'

Nakonto was just as eager to take up the pursuit, his eyes shot with bloodlust. But after only a moment's thought Taita shook his head. 'There are thirty or forty of them and six of us. They have had a head start of almost a full day, and they will be expecting us to pursue them. They will lead us deeper into difficult territory and ambush us.' He looked around at the forest. 'Certainly they will have left men to spy on us. They are probably watching us at this moment.'

Some of the troopers drew their swords, but before they could rush among the trees and root them out, Taita stopped them. 'If we do not follow them, they will follow us, which is what we want. We will be able to lead them to a killing ground of our own choosing.' They buried the pathetic skulls with the severed feet, then returned to the zareeba.

Early the next morning they mustered into column and rode out again on the endless journey. At noon they broke the march to rest and water the horses. On Taita's orders, Nakonto slipped into the forest and made a wide circle through the trees. As stealthily as a shadow he cut the back trail of the column. The prints of three sets of bare feet were superimposed on the horse tracks. He made another wide circle to rejoin the column and report to Taita. 'Your eyes see far, old man. Three of the jackals are following us. As you foretold, the rest of the pack will not be far behind.'

That evening they sat late around the fire in the zareeba, laying plans for the morrow.

The next morning they started the march at a sharp trot. Within half

a league Meren ordered the pace increased to a canter. Swiftly they opened the gap between themselves and the Chima scouts whom they knew would be following. As they rode Meren and Taita were studying the terrain they were passing through, seeking ground that they could turn to their advantage. Ahead, a small isolated hillock rose above the forest and they angled towards it. Around its eastern slope they found a smooth, well-beaten elephant road. When they followed it they saw that the hillside above was steep, covered with a dense growth of kittar thornbush. The vicious hooks and densely intertwined branches formed an impenetrable wall. On the opposite side of the road the ground was level and, at first glance, the open forest seemed to afford little cover for an ambush. However, when Taita and Meren rode out a short distance among the trees they found a wadi, a dry gully cut out by storm water, that was deep and wide enough to hide their column, men and horses.

The lip of the gully was only forty yards from the elephant road, within easy bowshot. Quickly they rejoined the main column. They stayed on the elephant road for a short distance, then Meren stopped again to conceal three of his best archers beside the road.

'There are three Chima scouts following us. One for each of you,' he told them. 'Let them get close. Pick your shots. No mistakes. Quick, clean kills. You must not allow any of them to escape to warn the rest of the Chima, who are behind them.'

They left the three archers and rode on along the elephant road. After half a league they left it and made a wide circle back to the gully under the slope of the hill. They led the horses down into it, and dismounted.

Fenn and the Shilluk girls held the animals, ready to bring them forward when the troopers called for them. Taita waited with Fenn, but it would take him just an instant to run to Meren's side when the time came.

The men strung their bows, and lined up below the lip of the wadi facing the elephant road. At Meren's command they squatted down, out of sight, to rest their legs and bow-arms, and to prepare themselves for combat. Only Meren and his captains watched the road, but to conceal the silhouette of their heads they stood behind clumps of grass or bushes.

They did not have long to wait before the three Chima scouts came along the road. They had been running hard to keep up with the horses.

Their bodies shone with sweat, their chests heaved and their legs were dusty to the knees. Meren lifted a warning hand and none of the men stirred. The scouts passed the ambush at a rapid trot and disappeared along the road into the forest. Meren relaxed slightly. A little later the three archers he had left to take care of the scouts slipped out of the

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forest and dropped into the wadi. Meren looked at them questioningly.

The leader grinned and pointed to fresh splashes of blood on his tunic: the scouts had been accounted for. They all settled down to await the arrival of the main body of Chima.

A short time later, from the forest on the right flank, the querulous alarm call of the grey lory, 'Kee-wey! Kee-wey!' rang out. Then a baboon barked a challenge from the top of the hill. Meren lifted a fist as a signal to his men. They nocked their arrows on the bowstrings.

The leading file of the main Chima raiding party trotted round the curve in the elephant road. As they drew closer Meren studied them carefully. They were short, stocky and bow-legged, and wore only loincloths of tanned animal skins. Even when the entire band came into view it was difficult to make an accurate head count for they were bunched in a tight formation and moving fast.