The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читаем книги онлайн бесплатно TXT) 📗

Taita watched the newcomers intently. His eyesight was so acute now that he recognized the leading rider even before Meren or Fenn could.

'Hilto!' he cried. 'It is Hilto.'

'By the sweet breath of Isis, you're right!' Meren shouted. 'By the look of it, he has brought half of Tinat's regiment with him.' They slowed to a trot as they waited for Hilto to come up. This confused the pursuing Jarrians, who had thought the interlopers were a detachment of their own forces. They halted uncertainly.

'By the wounded eye of Horus, you are welcome, Hilto, old friend,'

Meren greeted him. 'As you see, we have left a few of the rascals for you to test your blades upon.'

'Your kindness is overwhelming, my colonel.' Hilto laughed. 'We will make the most of it. We do not need your help. Ride on to where Colonel That Ankut awaits you at the Kitangule Gap. It will not be long before we are free to follow you.'

Hilto galloped on with Tinat's men in a tight group behind him.

He gave the order and they extended their line into battle formation. He led them in the charge straight at the milling Jarrians. They crashed into them and sundered their ranks. Then they chased them back in rout across the plain the way they had come, cutting them down as they overhauled the winded horses.

Taita led his own band on towards the blue hills. As they caught up with the two girls on Whirlwind, Meren reined in beside them. 'You shot like a demon,' he told Sidudu.

'Onka brought out the demon in me,' she told him.

'Methinks you have paid off all your debts in gold coinage. Now you and your demon can sleep peacefully at night.'

'Yes, Meren,' she answered demurely. 'But I never wanted to be a warrior - it was forced upon me. Now I would rather be a wife and mother.'

'A most laudable aspiration. I am certain you will find a good man to share it with you.'

'I hope so, Colonel Cambyses.' She looked at him from under lowered eyelashes. 'A short while ago you spoke to me of love .. .'

'Whirlwind is already tiring under the great weight Fenn is forcing him to carry,' Meren said seriously. 'I have room for you behind me. Will you not come across to me?'

'With the greatest pleasure, Colonel.' She held out her arms to him.

He swung her across effortlessly and placed her behind his saddle. She circled his waist with both arms, and laid her head between his shoulder blades. Meren could feel her trembling against him, and occasionally her body heaved with a sob before she could choke it back. His heart ached. He wanted to protect and look after her for as long as they should live. He rode on after Taita and Fenn, with Nakonto and Imbali bringing up the rear.

Before they reached the foothills, Hilto and his squadron caught up with them. Hilto came forward to report to Meren. 'We killed seven and took their horses,' he said. 'The rest would not stand to fight. I let them go rather than follow them. I could not be sure what enemy force might be coming behind them.'

'You did well, Hilto.'

'Shall 1 bring one of the captured horses for little Sidudu to ride?'

'No, thank you. You have done enough for the present. She is quite safe where she is. I am sure there will be need for more horses when we catch up with That. Keep them until then.'

As they climbed the track through the foothills towards the Gap they met the tail end of the long procession of refugees. Most were on foot, although those who were too sick or weak to walk were being pushed in two-wheeled handcarts or carried on litters by their families or comrades.

Fathers had small children on their shoulders and some of the women had infants strapped to their backs. Most recognized Meren and called to him as he passed, 'The blessings of all the gods upon you, Meren Cambyses. You have released us from bitter durance. Our children will be free.'

The young girls they had released from the breeding pens ran beside Fenn and Sidudu, trying to touch them. Some were weeping with the strength of their emotion. 'You have saved us from the mountain of no return. We love you for your compassion and your courage. Thank you, Sidudu. The blessings of all the gods on you, Fenn.'

None recognized Taita, although the women gazed with interest at the young man with the penetrating gaze and commanding presence as he rode by. Fenn was acutely aware of their interest and moved closer to him in a proprietary fashion. With these lets and delays their ascent of

I I

THE QUEST

the hills was slow and the sun was setting before they reached the crest and stood once again in the Kitangule Gap.

That had seen them coming, from the watch-tower of the border fort.

He clambered down the ladder and strode out through the gate to meet them. He saluted Meren embraced Fenn and Sidudu, then stared at Taita. 'Who is this?' he asked. 'I do not trust him, for he is too pretty by a long way.'

'You may trust him with your life,' Meren said. 'The truth is that you already know him well. I will explain later, though it is not likely you will believe me when I do.'

'You vouch for him, Colonel Meren?'

'With all my heart,' said Meren.

'And with all of mine,' said Fenn.

'And mine,' said Sidudu.

'Mine also,' said Hilto.

That shrugged and frowned. 'I find myself in the minority, yet still I reserve my final judgement.'

'Once again I am grateful to you, Colonel That,' Taita said quietly.

'As I was at Tamafupa when you rescued us from the Basmara.'

'You were not among those I found at Tamafupa,' said That.

'Ah, you have forgotten.' Taita shook his head. 'Then surely you recall escorting Meren and me down from the Cloud Gardens after his eye surgery. That was the first time you revealed your true loyalty and your longing to return to our very Egypt. Do you recall how we discussed Eos and her powers?'

That stared at Taita, and his stern expression crumbled. 'Lord Taita!

Magus! Did you not perish on the mountain in the Cloud Gardens?

Surely this cannot be you!'

'Most surely it can and is,' Taita smiled, 'although I admit to certain changes in my appearance.'

'You have become a young man! It is a miracle that defies belief, yet your voice and eyes convince me that it is true.' He ran forward and took Taita's hand in a powerful grip. 'What has become of Eos and her oligarchs?'

'The oligarchs are dead, and Eos no longer threatens us. That is enough for now. How stand your present circumstances?'

'We surprised the Jarrian garrison here. There were only twenty men and none escaped. We threw their corpses into the gorge. See? The vultures have already found them.' That pointed up at the carrion

birds circling in the sky above. 'I have sent a hundred men to seize the boatyard at the headwaters of the Kitangule river, and to secure the vessels lying there.”

'You have done good work,' Taita commended him. 'Now you must go down to the boatyard and take command there. Assemble the vessels, and as our people arrive embark them and send them down the river, with a good pilot to guide them. The whole flotilla will muster again on the shores of Lake Nalubaale, at the place where we disembarked to hunt the beast with the nose horn.'

'I remember it well.'

'On your way down the mountain, leave a gang of twenty good axemen at the bridge over the gorge. They will cut down the bridge and let it drop into the gorge after the last of our people have passed over.'

'What will you do?'

'Meren and I will wait here at the fort with some of the men you sent with Hilto. We will delay the Jarrian pursuit until the bridge is down.'

'As you command, Lord Taita.' That hurried away, shouting for his captains.

Taita turned back to Meren. 'Send Hilto, the two Shilluk and as many men as we can spare back down the path to give assistance to our refugees. They must hurry them. Look! The main Jarrian army is not far behind us.' He pointed back down the mountain the way they had come up. In the distance, far out on the plain, they could see the dustclouds, as red as spilt blood in the setting sun, that the Jarrian chariots and the marching legions had raised.