The Quest

by Wilbur Smith

  ‘It is a terrible story,’ Fenn said. ‘You have suffered much.’

  ‘Yes, but not as much as the girls who are still in the temple,’ Sidudu reminded them.

  ‘We will rescue them,’ Meren blurted out impulsively. ‘When we escape from Jarri those girls will go with us, I swear it!’

  ‘Oh, Meren, you are so brave and noble.’

  Thereafter Sidudu made a swift recovery. She and Fenn grew closer each day. All the others liked her, Hilto, Nakonto and Imbali, but Meren more so than all the rest. With the help of Bilto and the other villagers of Mutangi, they were able to escape from the house during the day and spend time in the forest. Meren and Hilto continued to train Fenn in archery, and soon they invited Sidudu to join in. Meren made her a bow, which he matched carefully to her strength and the span of her arms. Although small and slim, Sidudu was surprisingly strong, and showed a natural aptitude with the bow. Meren set up a target for them in a clearing in the woods, and the girls shot against each other in friendly rivalry.

  ‘Pretend that the mark is Onka’s head,’ Fenn told her, and after that Sidudu seldom missed. Her arms strengthened and developed so swiftly that soon Meren had to build her another bow with a heavier draw weight. After much devoted practice she was able to send out an arrow to the mark at two hundred paces.

  Meren, Hilto and Nakonto were all inveterate gamblers and laid wagers on the girls when they shot against each other. They urged on their favourite, and haggled over the allowances given to Sidudu. Because Fenn had been using the bow for so much longer than Sidudu, they made her shoot from longer range. At first this was agreed at fifty paces, but gradually it became shorter as Sidudu’s skill increased.

  One morning they were holding another tournament in the clearing, Meren and Sidudu teamed against Hilto and Fenn. The competition was keen and the banter raucous when out from among the trees rode a stranger on an unfamiliar horse. He was dressed like a field worker, but he rode like a warrior. At a quiet word from Meren they nocked fresh arrows and stood ready to defend themselves. When the stranger saw their intention he reined in his mount and pulled aside the headcloth that covered his face.

  ‘By Seth’s dung-smeared buttocks!’ Meren exclaimed. ‘It’s That.’ He hurried forward to greet him. ‘Colonel, something is amiss. What is it? Tell me at once.’

  ‘I am pleased to have found you,’ That told him. ‘I have come to warn you that we are in great danger. The oligarchs have issued a summons for all of us to appear before them. Onka and his men are hunting for us everywhere. At this very moment they are searching every house in Mutangi.’

  ‘What does this mean?’ Meren asked.

  ‘Only one thing,’ That told him morosely. ‘We have come under suspicion. I believe Onka has denounced me as a traitor. Which, of course, by Jarrian standards, I am. He found the bodies of the trogs you killed when you rescued Sidudu, which infuriated him because now he is certain that you are hiding her.’

  ‘What proof has he?’

  ‘He needs none. He is closely related to Lord Aquer. His word is enough to condemn us all,’ That replied. ‘The judgement of the oligarchs is certain. We will be interrogated under torture. If we survive that, we will be sent to the quarries or the mines … or worse.’

  ‘So now we are all fugitives.’ Meren did not seem worried by the prospect. ‘At least the pretence is over.’

  ‘Yes,’ That agreed. ‘We are outlaws. You cannot return to Mutangi.’

  ‘Of course not,’ Meren said. ‘There is nothing there that we need. We have the horses and our weapons. We must take to the forests. While we wait for Taita to return from the Cloud Gardens we will make the final preparations for our flight from this accursed place back to our very Egypt.’

  ‘We must leave at once,’ That concurred. ‘We are much too close to Mutangi. There are many places in the remote hills where we can hide. If we keep moving, Onka will be hard put to catch up with us.’ They mounted and rode eastwards. By late afternoon they had covered twenty leagues. As they climbed into the foothills of the range of mountains below the Kitangule Gap a herd of large grey antelope with long spiral horns and huge ears broke cover and ran across their front. Immediately they unslung their bows and gave chase. Fenn, on Whirlwind, was the first to catch up with them and her arrow brought down a fat, hornless female.

  ‘Enough!’ Meren cried. ‘There is plenty of meat on it to last us for days.’ They allowed the rest of the herd to escape and dismounted to butcher the carcass. As the sun set, Sidudu led them to a stream of clear sweet water. They bivouacked beside it and grilled antelope chops over embers for dinner.

  As they gnawed the bones, That reported to Meren on the most recent disposition of the forces loyal to the rebel cause. ‘My own regiment is the Red Standard, and all the officers and men will come over to us when I call them to arms. I can also rely on two divisions of the Yellow Standard, which is commanded by my colleague Colonel Sangat. He is one of us. Then there are three divisions of troops who are responsible for guarding the prisoners and captives working in the stopes of the mines. They have had first-hand experience of the brutality and inhumanity with which the captives are treated. They await my orders. As soon as we begin the struggle they will release their charges, arm them and bring them by forced march to join us.’ They went on to discuss the mustering point, and eventually decided that each unit must make independently for the Kitangule Gap, where they would all come together.

  ‘What force will the Jarrians be able to deploy against us?’ Meren asked.

  ‘Although they will outnumber us ten to one, it will take the oligarchs many days to muster their troops and march against us. As long as we can achieve initial surprise and a head start on the pursuit our forces will be of sufficient strength to fight a rearguard action as far as the boatyards at the head of the Kitangule river. When we get there we will seize the craft we need. Once we are on the river it will be an easy run downstream to the great Nalubaale lake.’ He paused and looked shrewdly at Meren.

  ‘We can be ready to leave within ten days.’

  ‘We cannot leave without the Magus Taita,’ Meren said quickly.

  ‘Taita is one man,’ That pointed out. ‘Hundreds of our own people are in danger.’

  ‘You will not succeed without him,’ Meren said. ‘Without his powers you and all your people will be doomed.’

  That thought about it, frowning morosely and pulling at a strand of his bristling beard. Then he seemed to reach a decision. ‘We cannot wait for him for ever. What if he is already dead? I cannot take the risk.’

  ‘Colonel That!’ Fenn burst out. ‘Will you wait for Taita until the rise of the harvest moon?’

  That stared at her, then nodded curtly.’ But no longer. If the magus does not come down from the mountain before then, we can be sure he never will.’

  ‘Thank you, Colonel. I admire your courage and good sense.’ Fenn smiled sweetly at him. He mumbled with embarrassment and looked into the flames. She went on remorselessly, ‘Do you know about the girls in the Temple of Love, Colonel?’

  ‘Of course I know there are temple maidens, but what of it?’

  Fenn turned to Sidudu. ‘Tell him what you told us.’

  That listened with mounting horror to Sidudu’s account. By the time she had finished, his expression was bleak. ‘I had no inkling that atrocities such as these were being perpetrated on our young women. Of course I knew that some of the girls were being taken to the Cloud Gardens.

  ‘Indeed, I escorted some, but they went willingly. I had no idea that they were being sacrificed to the goddess, or that cannibal rites were being conducted on the mountain.’

  ‘Colonel, we have to take them with us. We cannot leave them to the Jarrians,’ Meren broke in. ‘I have already sworn an oath that I will do everything in my power to set them free and take them with us when we escape from Jarri.’

  ‘Here and now I make that same oath,’ That growled. ‘I swear in the name of all the gods that I w
ill not leave this land until we have freed those young women.’

  ‘If we must wait until the harvest moon how many more will be sent up the mountain before then?’ Fenn asked.

  The men were silenced by her question.

  ‘If we act too soon, we will lose the element of surprise. The Jarrians will immediately unleash all their forces upon us. What do you propose, Fenn?’ It was That who had spoken.’

  ‘Only the girls with child are sent up the mountain,’ Fenn pointed out.

  ‘From my own observation I know that is true,’ That admitted. ‘But how does that help us? We cannot prevent them conceiving if they are being treated as playthings by many men.’

  ‘Perhaps we cannot prevent it, as you say, but we can halt the growth of an infant.’

  ‘How?’ Meren demanded.

  ‘As Taita did for Sidudu, with a potion that induces miscarriage.’ The men thought about what Fenn had said, until Meren spoke again.

  ‘Taita’s medical bag is in the house at Mutangi. We cannot return to fetch it.’

  ‘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 sav
e 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.

  They drew level with the girls and, for a moment, it seemed they would pass by. Then the female stopped abruptly, lifted her snout, flaring the wide nostrils and snuffling noisily at the air. The male followed her example and both of them began to grunt softly but eagerly. The male gaped to display a vicious set of fangs, then gnashed them shut. They were so close that Fenn smelt the stench of his breath. She felt Sidudu’s hand tremble in hers and squeezed her fingers again to encourage her.

  Both trogs hopped forward cautiously towards where they stood, still testing the air. The female lowered her head and sniffed the ground over which the girls had passed. She shuffled towards them slowly, following their scent. Sidudu was shaking with terror and Fenn could sense the panic rising in her to the point when it must boil over. She drew deeply upon her training and sent out waves of psychic strength to steady her, but by now the ape’s questing snout was only inches from the toe of Sidudu’s sandal. Sidudu urinated with terror. Her water ran down her legs and the trog grunted again as she smelt it. The ape gathered herself to spring forward, but at that moment a small antelope rustled the bushes as it fled, and the male trog let out a ferocious bellow and bounded away in pursuit. Immediately the female went after him, passing so close to Sidudu that she almost brushed against her. As the apes crashed away through the undergrowth, Sidudu sagged against Fenn and might have fallen to the ground if Fenn had not grabbed her. Holding her close, Fenn led her slowly up to the crest of the hill, taking care not to break the spell of concealment until they were out of sight of the temple. Then they ran to where Meren and Nakonto were waiting with the horses.