'I know which herbs he used to make the potion. I helped him gather them.'
'How will you get these medicines to the women?' That asked. 'They are guarded by trogs.'
'Sidudu and I will take them to the temple and explain to the girls how to use them.'
'But the trogs and the priestesses - how will you avoid them?'
'In the same way that we hid Sidudu from Onka,' Fenn replied.
'A spell of concealment!' Meren exclaimed.
'I don't understand,' That said. 'What are you talking about?'
'Fenn is the magus's initiate,' Meren explained. 'He has taught her some of the esoteric arts and she is far advanced in these skills. She is able to hide herself and others behind a cloak of invisibility.'
'I don't believe it is possible,' That declared.
'Then I will demonstrate it to you,' Fenn told him. 'Please leave the fire and wait beyond that clump of trees until Meren calls you back.' Frowning and grumbling, That stood up and strode into the darkness. Within minutes Meren hailed him and That returned to find him alone.
'Very well, Colonel Cambyses. Where are they?' That growled.
'Within ten paces of you,' Meren told him. That grunted and walked slowly round the fire, peering left and right until he came back to where he had started from.
'Nothing,' he said. 'Now tell me where they are hiding.'
'Directly in front of you.' Meren pointed.
That stared hard, then shook his head. 'I see nothing—' he began, then reeled back and let out a shout of astonishment. 'Osiris and Horus, this is witchcraft!' The two girls sat exactly where he had last seen them.
They were holding hands and smiling at him.
'Yes, Colonel, but only a small act. The trogs will be much easier to deceive than you were,' Fenn told him, 'for they are brutes of limited intelligence, while you are a trained warrior with a superior mind.' That was disarmed by the compliment.
She really is a witch. That is no match for her. Meren smiled inwardly. If she set her mind to it, she could make him stand on his head and whistle through his arse.
They could not approach the Temple of Love too closely on horseback. Unlike Taita, Fenn's skills were not sufficient to conceal a large party of horses and men. They left the horses with Meren and Nakonto, hidden in a dense stand of trees, and the two girls went forward alone on foot. Sidudu was carrying four small linen bags of herbs tied round her waist under her skirt.
They climbed up through the forest until they reached a crest of higher ground and could look down into the valley beyond. The temple stood at the far end. It was built of yellow sandstone, a large, gracious building, surrounded by lawns and pools of water on which floated the leaves of a gigantic water-lily. There was the faint sound of revelry, and they saw a gathering of women on the bank of the largest pool. Some were sitting in a circle, singing and clapping, while others danced to the music.
'We did that every day at this time,' Sidudu whispered. 'They are waiting for the men to visit them.'
'Do you recognize any of them?' Fenn asked.
'I am not sure. We are too far away for me to tell.' Sidudu shaded her eyes. 'Wait! The girl on her own at this side of the pool - do you see her? That is my friend Jinga.'
Fenn studied a willowy girl who was walking along the bank of the pool. She was dressed in a short chiton. Her arms and long legs were bare, and there were yellow flowers in her hair. 'How reliable is she?'
Fenn asked.
'She is a little older than most of the others, the most sensible of them all. They look up to her.'
'We will go down to speak to her,' Fenn said, but Sidudu seized her arm.: 'Look!' she said, her voice shaking. Just below where they crouched on the ridge a file of shaggy black shapes emerged from the trees. They lolloped along on all fours, knuckling the ground with their hands.
'Trogs!'
The great apes were circling the periphery of the temple grounds, but keeping out of sight of the women on the lawns. Every few paces one sniffed at the ground with dilated nostrils, searching for the scent of strangers or runaways from the temple.
'Can you mask our scent?' Sidudu asked. 'The trogs have a keen sense of smell.'
'No,' Fenn admitted. 'We must let them pass before we go down to the girls.' The trogs were moving rapidly and disappeared back among the trees.
'Now!' said Fenn. 'Quickly!' She reached for Sidudu's hand. 'Remember, don't speak, and don't run or break contact with me. Move slowly and carefully.'
Fenn cast the spell over them, then led Sidudu down the slope.
Sidudu's friend, Jinga, was still alone, sitting under a willow tree, throwing crumbs of dhurra cake to a shoal of fish in the water below her. The pair knelt beside her and softly Fenn lifted the spell of concealment from Sidudu. She herself remained cloaked so that Jinga was not startled by a strange face. The girl was so preoccupied with the swirling fish that, for a while, she was not aware of Sidudu. Then she started and half rose to her feet.
Sidudu restrained her with a hand on her arm. 'Jinga, don't be afraid.'
The girl stared at her, then smiled. 'I didn't see you, Sidudu. Where have you been? I missed you so much. You have grown even more beautiful.'
'You also, Jinga.' Sidudu kissed her. 'But we have little time to talk.
There is so much I must tell you.' She studied the girl's face and, with dismay, saw that the pupils of her eyes were dilated from a potion she had been given. 'You must listen carefully to what I say.' Sidudu spoke slowly as though to a very young child.
Jinga's eyes focused more clearly as she began to understand the enormity of what Sidudu was telling her. At last she whispered, 'They are murdering our sisters? It cannot be true.'
'It is, Jinga, you must believe me. But there is something we can do to prevent it.' Quickly she explained about the herbs, how to prepare and
administer them. 'They only take the girls who are with child up the mountain. The medicine brought down my infant. You must give it to anyone who is in danger.' Sidudu lifted her skirt and untied the bags of herbs from round her waist. 'Hide these well. Don't let the priestesses find them. As soon as Dr Hannah chooses a girl to go up the mountain to be exalted by the goddess, you must give her a potion. This is all that can save them.'
'I have already been chosen,' Jinga whispered. 'The doctor came four days ago and told me I was soon to meet the goddess.'
'Oh, my poor Jinga! Then you must take it this very night, as soon as you are alone,' Sidudu told her. She embraced her friend again. 'I cannot stay with you longer, but soon I will return with a band of good men to rescue you. We will take you and the others away to a new land where we will be safe. Warn them to be ready to leave.' She released Jinga.
'Hide the herbs well. They will save your life. Now go, and don't look back.'
As soon as Jinga had turned her back Fenn spread the cloak of concealment over Sidudu. Jinga had gone no more than twenty paces before she glanced over her shoulder. Her face paled as she saw that Sidudu had vanished. With a visible effort she braced herself and walked away across the lawns towards the temple.
Fenn and Sidudu started back through the forest. Half-way up the hill Fenn stepped off the path and stood perfectly still. She dared not speak, but squeezed Sidudu's hand firmly to caution her to keep the spell intact.
Barely breathing the two girls watched a pair of huge black trogs shamble down the path towards them. The apes were swinging their heads from side to side as they searched the bushes that flanked the track, their eyes moving quickly beneath beetling brows. The male was the larger of the pair, but the female following him seemed more alert and aggressive.