“We have almost arrived at Pate,” he informed them. “The captain tells me we have to make good speed to land before tonight or the wind will keep us out at sea, and he doesn’t want that.”
“Where is Rostam?” Rav’an demanded. She pushed back some strands of hair that had managed to escape her light veil.
“He is up at the front of the ship,” Talon told her. “Tarif, bring Rostam back to this deck,” he called to one of the seamen below. The man nodded and grinned. They had adopted the boy as one of their own, patiently answering his incessant questions with helpful instructions and amused grins. Rostam’s Arabic was improving by the day.
The captain himself had not been immune to the boy’s charm and had instructed him on the behavior of the sea with obvious delight. Rostam had solemnly shared with Talon and Reza the wisdom provided by the captain on the subject of navigation. Talon relearned how to use the Kamal from the captain and joined with Rostam in calling out the names of the nighttime constellations, treating it as a game, but the boy soaked up the information avidly. He was even better than Reza at remembering their names, and scornful of a mistake made by either his father or uncle.
The crew would point to the birds flying overhead and tell him what they were called, and just as importantly, why they were so far out to sea. They helped him understand the nature and moods of the sea on which they sailed. Most of the crew had sailed this route several times, so they knew the features of the land over to their west and the sea currents through which they sailed.
“See those birds that dive into the water and fly nearby?” the captain said to the three of them on one occasion. “That means we are only about ten or so leagues from dry land, as that is where they live. Few birds live on the sea far from land; they must return to nest, whether on island or mainland.”
The captain would indicate the color of the water, both when they were out of sight of land and while they sailed towards the coast.
“It changes color because it is either a current, as we have seen when we were far out from land, or lighter blue because it is shallow. When you see brown in the water it means that there is a river and it has rained far inland, bringing silt and sand out to sea with the water following deep channels. You can even test it and see that it is still sweet, which will again tell you how close you are to a delta.”
Rostam would peer over the side of the ship, excitedly pointing to the fish that sometimes accompanied the vessel as it ploughed through the waves. He became enthralled by the small fish that seemed to fly along just above the surface of the water, to plunge and then take off again to fly many times their own length before diving back into the water. He would lean over the transom watching them for hours. Once he shouted in his high voice, “Papa, there is a huge fish over there!”
Talon walked over to the side and saw a monster fish unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was enormous, with an accompanying shoal of smaller fish, languidly moving through the water just below the surface. Talon experienced a shiver of fear when he first saw it; its body seemed to be almost the same length as their ship, but the captain having come over to look reassured him.
“It is harmless and only eats very tiny sea creatures, not even fish. I have never heard of one of these attacking a ship. It is feeding on the currents that come south with the trade winds,” he told them. “There are infinitely more dangerous creatures than that in these seas,” he added as an afterthought.
Sure enough, they saw other large fish which the crew and the captain warned were very dangerous, able to gulp a man whole if he fell into the sea. On one exciting occasion, a huge glistening shape with a sword-like point on its nose leapt high into the air only a few hundred paces from the ship. Everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed to watch. It disappeared with a splash, only to reappear far ahead of them as it again rose high into the air in a flurry of spray.
“Look! It has a fan on its back!” Rostam yelled, pointing.
“It is beautiful!” Rav’an breathed to Talon, who was standing next to her at the time.
She glanced up at him and then asked playfully, “Why, Talon, you look pensive. Do you not like the sea?”
“I am in awe of the sea and its creatures,” he responded seriously. “But I am always a little fearful, because it is so unpredictable.”
He’d had ample reason to remember that statement a week later when the captain pointed to the East. “We have run into the ‘mad waves,’” “he stated, with real apprehension in his voice. “You must hang on to something and do not let go! Allah protect us now!”
Talon looked towards where he was pointing, but before he could say anything the waves were upon them. Without warning, they found themselves sailing in turbulent waters. The waves seemed to Talon to be small mountains: they sprang up with no foam on top. The valleys were as frightening as the tops, for the ship plunged into them as though they would never come up. Some of the crew began to sing.
Barbar and Jafuna, mad are thy waves,
Juna and Barbara, see their waves.
The men on deck had to hang onto whatever they could while the strange, monster waves rose and fell and then disappeared, leaving the ships in rough water but not the terrifying mountains and valleys they had just experienced.
Fortunately, the others were all below when this phenomenon struck, but it left Talon shaken. More than ever he resolved to respect the sea and its unpredictable behavior.
*****
Now as they approached the islands, the captain asked them all to keep clear of the steersmen while they prepared to sail into the shallows of a wide bay. He posted two reliable men right up in the bows to look out for reefs. Within a short while, they could discern the shape of a low stretch of land ahead of them, which the captain said was Pate Island.
Talon stood next to the captain, who pointed to a line of white surf ahead. “That is the surrounding reef for the entrance to the bay. The brothers Mardini know the way in, and we must follow them closely or we risk having our ship torn apart by the coral on either side, as it is only just below the surface,”
He turned away and bellowed orders at the crew, who dropped the main sail and its boom so that the ship now moved with only the front and the after sails to drive it forward. The captain adjusted their path to point directly at a space between the surf, where the other two ships had just passed without mishap. It quickly became their turn. Their ship was now sailing directly towards what Talon apprehensively saw as an obstacle rather than a pathway. Although the gap was wide, it was still intimidating for the uninitiated. The white surf and roar of the waves crashing onto the reef water on either side of them became louder and the swell increased, lifting the ship noticeably, but Dandachi held the vessel steady and they moved smoothly through the gap in the reef.
Rostam was leaning over the side watching the sharp fangs of the reef go by, as were Rav’an, Reza and Jannat. All were silent as the captain and the crew took them into calmer water ahead. The two women gasped with relief, while Rostam squeaked with excitement. Talon, remembering another time in far off Byzantium, breathed more easily and glanced at the captain, who nodded and gave a small smile of satisfaction.
“God is with us,” he said briefly.
The calm on the other side of the reef was a relief for all, but it was also full of human activity. There were many ships and boats, both large and small, plying the bay. Safa al Dandachi pointed to his left towards a cluster of small white buildings nestling amongst the vivid green foliage against a low rise in the land. “That is the port over there,” he informed Talon.
The smells and noises of the land became noticeable. The island was almost completely covered in dense jungle, apart from where the hand of man had carved out a space for buildings, and there were cultivated patches where men had made inroads. The shoreline above the pure white sands of the beaches was lined with tall, slim palm trees, their gentle rustling audible even from a distance of several hundred paces.
As they approached the island itself, they could hear the calls of creatures from the dense foliage. Bird calls intermixed with barks from high in the canopy filled the air, while the smell of rotting vegetation wafted across the water. The water itself was clearly the main highway, as dhows and fishing boats moved purposefully in all directions, the color of their sails ranged from dingy white to dark brown.
Men called up from their small fishing boats.
“Salaam Alaikum. Where are you from?”
“We come from Muscat!” several of the crew called back to them.
“Insha'Allah you had a good journey?”
“God was kind. The sea was not bad.”
They sailed on. The water was translucent as a bowl of spring water. It seemed almost as if they were moving on air. The two women and Rostam were enthralled; leaning over the starboard rail, they watched the jungle shoreline go by and stared down into the water. The myriad of colorful fish that swam in shoals, flicking nervously from one coral outcropping to another or simply drifted next to some jumble of coral, held their fascinated attention as their ship, following closely on the wake of the other two vessels, moved steadily towards the anchorage. They pointed at large white birds that stood fishing on the edge of the water with long beaks, and waved at the sea gulls that drifted over their heads on air currents to investigate this new vessel, their beady yellow eyes watching for scraps, quite unafraid of the beings on its deck.
Talon and Reza stood next to the captain and observed his every move, listening carefully to every command. To Talon this was not only an expedition but a process of study. He remembered Henry, one of his captains in the inner sea, who had told him that he should learn all he could about the sea and ships, as it would make the whole experience less nerve-wracking for him. Well, now he was doing so.
They could see a small forest of masts and sails ahead of them, behind which was the crescent of the port itself. It did not strike Talon as a very significant place, but the captain had assured him that this was the port that represented the vast hinterland, and all the goods of Africa came here.
“This port and that of Lamu are like a spring of riches, from which comes gold, ambergris, ivory, skins and slaves,” he told Talon.
Talon recalled the keen interest of the Egyptian merchants and their greed for the riches drawn from this dark and mysterious land. This, then, was one of the spigots of the Omani wealth, he reflected.
The houses along the water’s edge were of lime washed or bare cut coral blocks, giving the impression of a row of flat teeth, some of which were bad or rotten, while others retained their natural whiteness. The white sands that sloped into the water were dazzling, even in the afternoon sunlight, although long shadows had already begun to stretch across the water from the low hills beyond the harbor. It was evening and would soon be dark.
Talon felt sweat trickling down his back. Although there was still a light sea breeze, within the confines of the lagoon the air was stifling hot and still. Even the deck beneath his sandals was warm. Shouted commands brought his attention back to the ship itself. They were about to drop anchor alongside the other two ships, which had now dropped their fore and after sails and come to a stop.
He noticed Boulos standing on the after deck of his own ship and waving.
“Bring your ship alongside,” he called over. Talon nodded and glanced at the captain, who had already issued orders to do so. A line was thrown and then another, and slowly their ships were drawn closer, until finally they bumped gently and the crews tied the two vessels together.
A wide plank was dropped across the remaining space between the ships with a clatter, and then Boulos strode across to join them.
“As-Salaam-Alaikum!” he boomed. “I hope you enjoyed your first voyage in your new ship?” he asked, as he embraced Talon and then Reza.
“Wa-Alaikum-Salaam,” they responded in unison.
He nodded politely to Rav’an and Jannat and then led the way back up to the stern of the vessel.
He pointed towards the shoreline. “It will be time for evening prayers soon, so there is no point in going ashore today. We will wait until tomorrow.”
He began to point out the features of the town, starting with a large building perched on a small rise to the left of the main town. “That is the palace of the sultan. We will have to go and pay our respects tomorrow, and of course pay some bribes to that venal old pirate, the Vizier, before we can go and have a look at the warehouses and the slave barracoons on the island of Lamu,” he told Talon and Reza, who had joined them. Talon noticed Imaran striding across the deck of Boulos’s ship to join them on theirs.
“That is the mosque.” Boulos pointed to single minaret that stood above the rest of the buildings. “It is almost time for prayers, as the sun has set,” he reminded them.
Indeed, the sun had gone below the jungle barrier behind the port, leaving only a red glow in the sky. Long, dark shadows from the tall palms and other trees now darkened the once shining beaches and crept across the water from ship to ship, and the light breeze from the sea had completely fallen off. The dense air, which had just been bearable with a light wind to move it, now became stifling. Talon hoped that the captain was right about the change of wind direction later, because he decided that sleep would be impossible in this heat, certainly in the confines of the cabins below.
Then they heard the call to prayers from across the water. “Allah Akbaar!” the call began. The men on the ship immediately began the ritual of the prayers. Boulos joined Talon and Reza on the top deck. The womenfolk had disappeared below to perform their devotions in private.
After prayers, the men were invited to go across to Imran’s ship to have their evening meal, while the women and Rostam were left to their own devices on Talon’s ship. Talon could tell that Rav’an chaffed at the separation, but she seemed resigned to this custom and simply waved them off.
Later that evening, Talon and Reza came back to the ship and found Rav’an standing on the afterdeck staring at the town. Reza left Talon to go below, while he climbed the stairs to stand with Rav’an in silence, watching the dim lights of the ships swaying with the swell of the harbor and glimmering in the ripples of the dark water. There were several clusters of lights to be seen on land where people congregated.
Above them, clouds moved southward, obscuring the crescent moon from time to time and revealing the dense wash of the stars.
“It will rain tomorrow, I suspect,” Talon remarked in a low tone as he inhaled her scent. Her hand was on the rail, slim and pale in the moonlight. He placed his on top and squeezed.
“This place is like a paradise,” she said. “Can you hear the noises of that forest over there? There must be many animals within.”
Just then something hooted from the trees. The sound was followed by some agitated chattering, which died out as quickly as it had started.
“This is a strange place,” Talon remarked. “I am very glad that I could bring you.”
“I, too, my Talon, but I chaff at the restrictions these Arabs place on us women. I cannot go ashore without you, or even perhaps with you, and then I must be covered from head to foot or someone will complain.”
“Let us take care of the business with the sultan tomorrow, and then perhaps we can look around together. We will take Rostam with us. I do not see very much here. I understand that the real country where everything comes from is on the other side of this island,” he said, trying to reassure her.
“Can you smell the land?” she asked as she leaned closer to him.
“The smell of the jungle is strong, but there is one scent that I cannot identify,” he told her.
“Hah! That must be Nutmeg! Do you know what that is renowned for when taken as a powder?” she quizzed him with a smile as she turned to face him.
He shook his head. “Will you tell me?”
“Only if you come with me below to our private cabin.” This last was said in a whisper.
When they had shut
the door and were lying in each other’s arms, she murmured with a wicked smile on her lips. “It is known as a very strong aphrodisiac, and wives should not take it unless they are with their husbands, nor should the husbands without their wives.”
He chuckled as he kissed her. “Why, my Rav’an! You can see I need no aphrodisiac when I am with you. Just look at me!”
ADIEU, farewell, earth's bliss!
This world uncertain is;
Fond are life's lustful joys,
Death proves them all but toys.
None from his darts can fly;
I am sick, I must die—
Lord, have mercy on us!
—Thomas Nash
Chapter Seven
The Heyda
Talon and Reza joined Boulos and Imaran on their ship just as dawn was lighting up the eastern horizon. The sky was cloudy, promising a hot day with some rain later in the day. All the men were dressed in their best Omani clothes. They wore clean white robes with ornate worked leather belts with expensive silver clasps. Each man carried a sword, as befitted his station, but also the precious Khanjar knives so prized by the Omani tribes people, tucked into the front of his belt.
Talon and Reza had been given theirs as presents by Allam on the day of their departure. As he handed them the finely worked knives in curved silver scabbards he had said, “You are Omani now, and you are my family. It is fitting that you should wear these with pride, my brothers, and go with God.”
It had been a moving moment for Talon, as he had come to like Allam as a friend, and now they were brothers. The recovery of Jasmine had been a very emotional moment for the entire family. They had not been able to elicit any information from either Talon or his companions, but Nejem had left the vicinity of Muscat the very day the camel had been returned and had disappeared into the desert. Rumors had flown about the city, each one wilder than the last, but no one knew the truth. Allam’s brothers had regarded Talon and Reza with a wary respect henceforth. Allam himself had insisted upon financing the cost of hiring a crew as a gift.
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