'Thank you, beloved Taita,' she said, her smile sweet and sunny.
'That was not what I meant,' he replied, but they both knew that it was.
The child was endlessly fascinating, and Taita delighted in her presence. He felt that she had become an extension of his own being.
When the patrol rode out, Fenn was between Taita and Meren.
Nakonto and Imbali trotted ahead as trackers to read the sign. On her long legs Imbali could match Nakonto over the leagues. Habari and two troopers brought up the rear. For once Taita wore a sheathed sword at his waist, but carried his staff in his hand.
They rode along the crest of the hills whence they could look down the full length of the valley. On the left the terrain was rolling and heavily forested. They saw numerous large herds of elephant spread out below the ridge. Their huge grey bodies showed up clearly in every open glade, and every so often a large fruit-bearing tree was sent crashing to earth by their massive strength. When a tree was too strong to yield to the efforts of a single beast, the other bulls came to his assistance. No tree could resist their combined assault.
Since the tribes had fled from this land the elephant had not been molested, and they were unalarmed by the close proximity of humans.
They did not flee at the first approach but stood their ground while the horsemen passed close by. Occasionally a cantankerous female indulged in a threatening display, but none pushed home her attack. Fenn was delighted by the antics of the calves, and plied Taita with questions about the mighty beasts and their ways.
The elephants were not the only wild animals they encountered.
There were herds of antelope, and yellow baboons foraged in the open glades or swarmed nimbly to the tops of the tallest trees. One troop erupted into shrieking panic. The mothers snatched up their infants and slung them under their bellies as they bounded away in flight. The big males formed a belligerent rearguard, fluffing out their manes and uttering explosive barks of fury.
'What ails them?' Fenn demanded.
'Likely a leopard or some other predator.' As Taita spoke, a beautiful
gold and black spotted cat stalked out of a patch of grass just ahead: The leopard's markings blended perfectly with the background.; 'You were right again, Taita. You must know everything there is to know in this world,' Fenn told him admiringly.
They angled up the slope of the next range of hills, but before they reached the crest a vast herd of zebra thundered over the skyline. Their hoofs tore up the dry earth and lifted a cloud of pale dust high into the brazen sky. They took little notice of the horses, seemingly accepting that they were of their own species, and passed them within a few paces.
'Something must have alarmed them,' Meren said.
'Fire or men,' Taita agreed. 'Nothing else would have caused a stampede on this scale.'
'I see no smoke of a bushfire,' Meren said. 'It must be men.' They rode cautiously now, approaching the skyline at a walk.
Suddenly Fenn exclaimed again and pointed to the left. 'A child! A little black child.'
It was a naked infant of no more than three or four years. He was toddling up the slope on bowed legs, his plump little buttocks wobbling with each pace.
'I am going to pick him up,' Fenn exclaimed. She pressed Whirlwind into a trot, but Taita grabbed her rein.
'Fenn, this smells like ripe bait.'
'We cannot let him go,' Fenn protested, as the child went over the skyline and disappeared. 'He is lost, and all alone.'
'We will follow him,' Taita agreed, 'but with caution.' He did not release his hold on Whirlwind's rein as they rode on. He halted a hundred paces below the ridge.
'Come, Meren!' he ordered. They dismounted and passed their reins to Fenn.
'Stay here and hold our horses, but be ready to ride hard,' Taita told her. He and Meren went forward on foot. They used a small bush to break up the outline of their heads as they peered over the far slope of the hill. The child stood just below them, facing them with a cheerful grin on his round face. He was holding his tiny penis in both hands, piddling a yellow stream on to the sun-baked earth. It was such a homely scene that it lulled them for a moment. Meren started to grin in sympathy but Taita seized his arm. 'Look beyond!'
They stared for an instant longer, then Meren reacted. 'The Basmara impis!' he cried. 'That little devil was the bait.'
Not fifty paces beyond where the child stood, they squatted rank upon
I
4 THE QUEST
close-packed rank. They were armed with wooden clubs, long throwing spears and shorter, stabbing assegais, tipped with sharp flint. Their rawhide shields were slung upon their backs, and their features were daubed with coloured clay to form warlike masks. They wore headdresses of fur and feathers, ivory pins pierced their nostrils and earlobes, while bracelets and anklets of ostrich shell and ivory beads adorned their limbs.
As Taita and Meren looked at them a hum, as though from a disturbed beehive, went up from the close-packed masses. With a single concerted movement they unslung their war shields and drummed upon them with their spears. Then they burst into their battle hymn. The deep, melodious voices soared and swelled with the drumming. Then the din was pierced by a shrill blast on an antelope-horn whistle. This was the signal for the ranks to leap to their feet and, in a mass, they started up the slope.
'Back to the horses,' said Taita.
Fenn saw them coming and galloped to meet them, bringing Wind smoke and Meren's steed. They mounted swiftly and had turned the horse's heads as the first rank of Basmara warriors burst over the crest behind them. They galloped back to where Habari and the remainder of the patrol were waiting.
'Already they have sent out men to try to head us off,' Fenn called, rising in the stirrups and pointing into the forest. Now they could make out figures among the trees, racing to surround them.
'Take my stirrup rope!' Taita called to Nakonto, as he kicked his left foot free of the loop. Nakonto grabbed it.
'Meren, pick up Imbali to cover your blind side.' Meren swerved and Imbali snatched the right loop. She and Nakonto were carried along by the horses, their feet skimming the earth.
'Ride hard!' Taita shouted. 'We must break through before they encircle us.' The fastest runners among the Basmara were streaking ahead of their companions. 'Fenn, stay between Meren and me. Don't allow yourself to be separated from us.'
Four of the racing Basmara cut in directly ahead of them, closing the gap for which Taita had been aiming. They turned to face the oncoming riders, their tall shields on their backs so that their hands were free to use their weapons. Taita and Meren slipped their short recurved cavalry bows, designed to be shot from horseback, from their shoulders as they closed in. They dropped the reins on to the necks of their mounts and, guiding them with the pressure of their feet and knees, rode straight at the spearmen. A Basmara hurled his spear. He was aiming at Meren, but the range was long. Meren had time to react. With a touch of his toe
he turned the bay and the spear flew past his left shoulder. He raised his bow and loosed two arrows in rapid succession. One flew high, almost an arm's length over the man's head and went on for fifty paces - at this close range the bow was massively powerful — but the second hit the Basmara in the centre of his chest and flew clean through him. It burst out between his shoulder-blades in a spray of blood. He was dead even before he hit the ground.
Out on the right the second spearman heaved back his throwing arm.
He, too, was concentrating on Meren, and he was in Meren's blind zone.
Meren did not see him so made no effort to defend himself. Imbali swung out on the rope stirrup and threw her axe, which cartwheeled through the air. The Basmara's weight was on his back foot - he was in the very moment of his throw, unable to dodge or duck. The axe struck him in the middle of the forehead and buried itself deep in his skull. Imbali leant down to retrieve it as they swept by. Taita shot an arrow into the body of the third spearman, who dropped the weapon he had been about to throw and tried to pull the arrow out of his belly but the barbs had bitten deep.