Ahmad walked away from his conversation with Qamar, his emotions a tangled knot. More than anything, he wanted to stay and talk with her, press her about what Qirah had said about him, how she felt, all of it, but too many other, more pressing matters pulled at him. Leaving Qamar in the marketplace, he had spent the remainder of the afternoon in a thorough search for his missing sister, Chani. No one had see her. By the time he had passed back through the marketplace late in the day, Qamar was gone.
Then,in the night, the rebellious faction of young people of his own tribe had departed, leaving the Painted Sand camp in favor of the camp the young Baobab people had formed in the old campsite near the stream. They had taken many arms with them, as well. Ahmad had a sinking feeling that that camp would be where he would find his sister. He hoped they would find her there alive, but he had already begun to doubt. She was a proud girl and not terribly prudent when her ego had been injured. He had always been able to protect her in the past, fight her battles for her as an older brother should, but this time... he only hoped he would be able to find her in time.
Then, runners had arrived announcing that the two camps, Painted Sand and Baobab, would be uniting as one against that the young ones now posed. As the morning stretched on and the Baobab tribesmen began to arrive with their tents, Ahmad went to find Yusef. As Chani's fiance, Yusef was as much bound by duty as Ahmad himself to do everything possible to locate the missing girl, and, if necessary, avenge her.
Ahmad found Yusef hard at work, for a change, assiting a Baobab family who were attempting to pitch a tent with a a pait of broken poles. He called Yusef aside with a gesture.
"What is it?" asked Yusef as he joined Ahmad. "Any word of her?"
"None as yet," answered Ahmad. "I suppose you have heard that many of our young people have left our camp to join the Baobab rebels in the old campsite by the stream."
"I know." Yusef nodded grimly. "So much for our mission of talking to them, turning their minds back to the traditional ways."
"As if we really could have," Ahmad rejoined bitterly. "We shall have to go to there."
Again, Yusef nodded. "I had figured as much. It's the only place we have yet to look for Chani. You know they are well-armed now."
"We shall be as well," answered Ahmad. He told Yusef that he had already spoken with a handful of cousins and other young men, many of them the strongest and most experienced warriors of the Painted Sand tribe. They had agreed to ride out to the rebel encampment together. Although the intent of the visit would be to talk and to search for Chani, all of them knew that they must be prepared to fight.
Taking all of this in, Yusef frowned. "When do we go?" he asked.
"Now," answered Ahmad. "The others await us already."
"Then let us go," agreed Yusef. The two of them walked off to saddle their horses and join the other warriors.
[ July 12, 2003: Message edited by: Ealasaid ]
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