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

'Nobody returns from the lands beyond the swamps. I believe implicitly that they lead to the end of the earth and those who go there are swept over the edge into the abyss.' Then, hastily, he adopted a more optimistic tone: these men bore the royal Hawk Seal and he should encourage them in their duty. 'Of course, there is no reason why you should not be the

I

first to reach the end of the earth and return safely. Your men are tough and you have the magus with you.' He bowed to Taita. 'What more can I do to assist you? You know you have only to ask.'

'Do you have native scouts to guide us?' Taita asked.

'Oh, yes,' Nara assured him. 'I have men who come from somewhere out there.'

'Do you know what tribe they belong to?'

'No, but they are tall, very black and tattooed with strange designs.'

'Then they are probably Shilluk,' Taita said, pleased. 'During the exodus General Lord Tanus recruited several regiments of the Shilluk.

They are intelligent men and readily instructed. Although they are of cheerful disposition, they are fearsome fighters.'

'That would describe them well enough,' Governor Nara agreed.

'Whatever their tribe, they seem to know the country well. The two men I have in mind have worked with the army for some years, and have learnt a little of the Egyptian language. I will send them to you in the morning.'

In the dawn when Taita and Meren left their quarters they found two Nubians squatting against the wall of the courtyard. When they rose to their feet they towered even over Meren. Their lean frames were sheathed in flat, hard muscle, decorated with intricate patterns of ritual scarring, and their skin shone with oil or fat. They wore short skirts of animal skin, and carried long spears with barbed heads carved from bone.

'I see you. Men!' Taita greeted them in Shilluk. Men was a term of approbation, used only between warriors, and their handsome Nilotic faces lit with delight.

'I see you, ancient and wise one,' the taller man replied. Those also were terms of reverence and respect. Taita's silver beard had made a deep impression on them. 'But how is it that you speak our tongue so well?'

'Have you heard of Lion Liver?' Taita asked. The Shilluk considered the liver to be the seat of a man's courage.

'Hau! Haul' They were astonished. It was the name that their tribe had given Lord Tanus when they served under him. 'Our grandfather spoke of Lion Liver, for we are cousins. He fought for that man in the cold mountains of the east. He told us that Lion Liver was the father of all warriors.'

'Lion Liver was my brother and my friend,' Taita told them.

'Then you are truly old, older even than our grandfather.' They were even more impressed.

'Come, let us sit in the shade and converse.' Taita led them to the enormous fig tree in the centre of the courtyard.; They squatted in the council circle, facing each other, arid Taita questioned them closely. The elder cousin was their spokesman. His name was Nakonto, the Shilluk word for the short stabbing spear. 'For in battle I have slain many.' He was not boasting, but stating a fact.

'My cousin is Nontu for he is short.'

'All things are relative.' Taita smiled to himself: Nontu stood a full head taller than Meren.

'Where do you come from, Nakonto?'

'From beyond the swamps.' He indicated the south with his chin.

'Then you know the southern lands well?'

'They are our home.' For a moment he seemed wistful and nostalgic.

'Will you lead me to your home?'

'I dream every night of standing by the graves of my father and grandfather,' Nakonto said softly.

'Their spirits are calling you,' said Taita.

'You understand, old one.' Nakonto looked at him with deepening respect. 'When you leave Qebui, Nontu and I will go with you to show you the way.'

Two more full moons had shone down upon the pools of the Nile before the horses and their riders were fit to travel. On the night before their departure Taita dreamed of fishes in vast shoals, of every colour, shape and size.

You will find me hiding among the other fishes. Fenn's sweet, childish voice echoed through the dream. I will be waiting for you.

He woke in the dawn with feelings of happiness and soaring expectations.

I

When they called on him to take their leave, Governor Nara told Taita, 'I am sad to see you go, Magus. Your company has done much to lighten the monotony of my duties here at Qebui. I hope it is not long before I have the pleasure of welcoming you back. I have a parting gift for you that I think you will find most useful.'

He took Taita's arm and led him out into the bright sunlight of the courtyard. There he presented him with five pack mules. Each carried two heavy sacks filled with glass beads. 'These baubles are much sought after by the primitive tribes of the interior. The men will sell their favourite wives for a handful.' He smiled. 'Although I cannot think of any reason why you would want to waste good beads on such unappealing goods as those women.'

When the column rode out from Qebui, the two Shilluk loped ahead, easily matching their speed to that of the trotting horses. They were tireless, keeping up the same pace for hour after hour. During the first two nights the men rode over wide scorched plains on the east bank of the wide dry riverbed. In the early morning of the third day when the column halted to make camp, Meren stood in his stirrups and gazed ahead. In the slanting sunlight he made out a low green wall that stretched unbroken across their horizon.

When Taita called Nakonto, he came to stand beside Windsmoke's head.

'What you see, old one, are the first papyrus beds.'

'They are green,' Taita said.

'The swamps of the Great Sud never dry. The pools are too deep and screened from the sun by the reeds.'

'Will they block our way?'

Nakonto shrugged. 'We will reach the reed banks after one more night's march. Then we shall see if the waters have shrunk enough to let the horses pass, or if we must make a wide circle out towards the eastern hills.' He shook his head. 'That will make the way to the south much longer.'

As Nakonto had predicted, they reached the papyrus the next night.

From the reed beds the men cut bundles of dried stalks and built low thatched shelters to protect themselves from the sun. Nakonto and Nontu vanished into the papyrus, and were gone for the next two days.

'Will we see them again,' Meren fretted, 'or have they run off to their village, like the wild animals they are?'

'They will return,' Taita assured him. “I know these people well. They are loyal and trustworthy.'

In the middle of the second night Taita was roused by the challenge of the sentries, and heard Nakonto reply from the papyrus stands. Then the two Shilluk materialized out of the darkness into which they had blended so perfectly.

'The way through the swamps is open,' Nakonto reported.

In the dawn the two guides led them into the papyrus. From there onwards it was no longer possible for even Nakonto to find the way in darkness, so they were forced to travel by day. The swamps were an alien, forbidding world. Even from horseback they could not see over the tops of the fluffy seedheads of the papyrus. They had to stand in the stirrups to view the undulating green ocean that stretched away before them to the infinite horizon. Over it hovered flocks of water-fowl, and the air was filled with the sound of their wings and their plaintive calls. Occasionally large beasts crashed away unseen, rippling the tops of the reeds. They could not guess at their species. The Shilluk glanced at the tracks they left in the mud, and Taita translated their descriptions. 'That was a herd of buffalo, great black wild cattle,' or 'That was a water goat. A strange brown creature with spiral horns that lives in the water. It has long hoofs to help it swim like a water rat.'