The Quest

Then, with Fe

and found a clear opening among the reeds. He waded out knee deep, then sat down in the lukewarm water. Fe

'Come,' he called, and she jumped into the pool without hesitation.

He sat her between his knees with her back to him and poured water over her head. The mask of filth began to dissolve and run down her neck and over her shoulders. Gradually patches of pale skin started to show through, speckled with louse bites. When he tried to wash the filth out of her hair, the congealed gum defied his best efforts to dislodge it.

Fe

She bore it stoically, even when the razor nicked her and drew blood.

He had to keep stropping the edge for her matted hair blunted it after only a few strokes. It fell away in clumps, and gradually he exposed her

pale scalp. When at last he had finished he laid aside the razor and studied her. 'What big ears you have!' he exclaimed. Her bald head seemed too large for the thin neck it was balanced upon. In contrast her eyes were even bigger, and her ears stuck out at each side of her head like those of a baby elephant. 'Looked at from every angle and in any light, and giving you the benefit in any area of doubt, you are still an ugly little thing.' She recognized the affection in his tone and smiled at him trustingly with the blackened teeth. He felt tears sting his eyelids, and wondered at himself. 'When did you last find a tear to shed, you old fool?' He turned away from her and reached for the flask that contained his special salve, a blend of oils and herbs, his sovereign cure for all minor cuts, bruises, sores and other ailments. He massaged it into her scalp and she leant her head against him, closing her eyes like a kitten being petted. He kept talking to her softly, and every now and then she opened her eyes, looked up at his face, then closed them again. When he had finished they climbed out of the pool, and sat together. While the sun and the hot breeze dried their bodies, Taita selected a pair of bronze forceps and went over every inch of her. The herbal salve had killed most of the lice and other vermin, but he found many still stuck to her skin. He plucked them off her, and crushed the life out of them. To Fe

'I think we can say that, once again, we know each other well.' Taita gave his considered opinion when she had picked him clean.

'Taita!' He touched his chest. She stared at him solemnly. 'Taita.' He repeated the gesture.

She had understood. 'Taita!' She prodded his chest with a finger, then bubbled with laughter. 'Taita!'

'Fe

She thought that an even better joke. She shook her head vigorously, and slapped her own ski

'No!' Taita argued. 'Fe

'Bak-her! Clever girl, Fe

'Bak-her,' she repeated faithfully, and slapped her chest again. 'Clever girl, Fe

When they returned to the camp Meren and all the men stared at Fe

'Sweet Isis, she is one of us,' Meren cried. 'She is not a savage at all, though she behaves like one. She is an Egyptian.' He hurried to search his saddle-bags and found a spare tunic, which he brought to Taita.

'It is almost clean,' he explained, 'and it will serve to cover her decently.'

Fe

She was accustomed to nakedness and tried to escape as Taita lifted it over her head. It took perseverance but at last he dressed her. The tunic was far too large, and the hem hung almost to her ankles, but the men gathered round her and loudly expressed their admiration and approval.

She perked up a little.

'Woman to the core.' Taita smiled.

'Woman indeed,' Meren agreed, and went back to his saddle-bag. He found a pretty coloured ribbon and brought it to her. Meren, the lover of women, always carried a few such trifles. They facilitated his transient friendships with members of the opposite sex whom he encountered on their travels. He tied the ribbon in a bow round her waist to prevent the hem of the tunic dragging in the dirt. Fe

'Look at her preen.' They smiled. ' 'Tis a great pity she is so ugly.'I 'That will change,' Taita promised, and thought of how beautiful she had been in the other life.

&

By the middle of the next morning the bodies of the dead Luo had rotted and bloated. Even at a distance the stench was so overpowering that they were forced to shift their own encampment.

Before they broke camp Taita sent Nontu back into the papyrus to bring out the men and horses they had left there. Then he and Meren went to inspect the Luo women they had captured. They were still under guard at the centre of the village, roped in strings, huddled together naked and abject.

'We ca

'Let them go,' Taita ordered.

Meren looked shocked. 'That is not wise, Magus. We ca

'Let them go,' Taita repeated.

When the bonds were cut from their wrists and ankles, the women did not attempt to escape. Nakonto had to make a ferocious speech, filled with dire threats, then rush at them shaking his spear and yelling war-cries before they snatched up their infants and fled wailing into the forest.

They loaded the horses and moved two leagues further along the edge of the swamp, then camped again in a grove of shady trees. The insects that rose as soon as darkness fell tormented them mercilessly.

A day later Nontu led the remaining horses and the survivors out of the swamps. Shabako, who was in charge, came to report to Taita and Meren. His news was not good: five more troopers had died since they had parted company, and all the others, including Shabako, were so sick and weak that they could hardly mount their horses unaided. The animals were hardly in better condition. The swamp grass and water plants provided little nourishment, and some had picked up stomach parasites from the stagnant pools. They were passing balls of writhing white worms and botfly larvae.