[piosenniel]

Ealasaid's post

Ahmad and around a dozen of the men of the Painted Sand tribe rode out of the combined Painted Sand/Baobab camp toward the location where the young ones had chosen to place their own encampment. All seasoned warriors, the men were heavily armed, some with swords, others with bows. Even so, they rode warily, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Conversation was kept to a minimum. None of them were sure what they expected to find at the young ones' camp, but whatever it was, they knew better than to take the children lightly.

As the warriors approached the camp, the archers remained to the rear where they could cover the others, while maintaining a wider perspective of the scene. Ahmad and Yusef rode in the front of the remainder of the delegation. They noticed sentries posted around the perimeters. Backed by the archers, five of the Painted Sand men rode directly into the camp, where they were intercepted by two young girls and a boy of about fifteen. One of the girls stepped forward, raising her hand for them to stop. The men reined in their horses, waiting for her to speak. Ahmad's hand rested on the hilt of his sword. Behind him, the archers all had arrows notched to their bowstrings.

"Halt!" ordered the girl, Jasara. "Who are you and why do you enter our camp under arm?"

Ahmad looked at her with interest. So, this was the leader of the Baobab rebels. "We are merely a search party," he told her calmly. "I am Ahmad bin Ishak. We come in search of my sister, Chani, who has gone missing." As he spoke, three of the warriors behind him broke rank and began to ride between the tents. They all carried their swords drawn, but casually placed across their laps or saddle horns. "Have you seen her?"

The two girls cast a fast glance between them, which answered Ahmad's question without words. For an instant, they seemed to be weighing their chances, their options, whether they should lie or be truthful, let the search continue or attack. A distant look came over Jasara's face as she seemed to listen to a voice, inaudible to anyone but her. Abruptly, she came to a decision.

"We have seen her," Jasara answered, finally. "She came upon us by surprise."

"And?"

"She is here," the second girl, Khasia, broke in, a small smile playing around the corners of her lips. The smile gave Ahmad the creeps, as though he had just seen a spider walk over his sister's grave. He noticed the way she stroked the hilt of her dagger as she spoke, and tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. If this girl had slain his sister, she would be the first to die, he promised himself that.

"Here!" a voice cried off to his right. It belonged to his kinsman, Adhem. Ahmad could see the crown of a tree in the direction from whence the voice had come. Rising in his stirrups, Ahmad turned his horse in that direction.

"Have you found her?" he shouted back.

"You'd better come!" Adhem answered.

With a nod to Yusef, who had remained at his right hand, Ahmad gave his horse a kick with his heel. He and Yusef rode in the direction of the tree. The two girls and the boy simply stepped out of the way, letting them pass. Once they had gotten out of earshot, Yusef muttered under his breath, "Watch your back around this place."

Ahmad nodded, his attention already concentrated on the scene at the base of the tree. Chani lay in a heap on the ground where Adhem had apparently just laid her down after cutting her loose from the tree. Rope bindings still hung from her wrists, bloody from her torn fingertips. Adhem said nothing, but stepped back as Ahmad dismounted and went to her, gathering her slender form in his arms. Yusef followed close behind.

"Chani?" Ahmad whispered, cradling his sister's head gently against his bicep. Her face was badly bruised and a bloodstained rag protruded from between her lips. When he tried to remove the rag from her mouth, she cried out in pain. Her eyes flickered open, then closed again, as tears streamed from the corners of her lowered lashes. Her hand found Ahmad's and squeezed it. A flash of fury raced through Ahmad's body as he realized what they had done to her. They had cut her tongue out.

Rising, with Chani still in his arms, he turned and thrust her toward Yusef. "Take her!" he ordered, handing her over to him, bodily. Yusef took her, but Chani struggled against Yusef, refusing to let go of Ahmad's hand. Unable to form the words anymore, she cried out inarticulately, trying to say "No!"

A tussle ensued between the three of them as Ahmad tried to break away, his only thought being to exact revenge against the person who had done this to his sister, but she refused to let him go. Chani's one hand held his in a deathgrip, while her other arm wrapped around his neck. She kicked at Yusef. Finally, Yusef released her and backed away. Ahmad took her back, and, holding her, his eyes scanned the small crowd of young ones who had assembled around them.

"WHO DID THIS?" he thundered at them. For an instant, there was no response at all, just silence and wide, watching eyes. Then, from somewhere in the rear, he heard a thin, watery chuckle. He turned to Yusef, his face black with rage. "Kill them. Kill them all."

Yusef shook his head. "No, cousin," he said softly, turning his head so that the assembled young ones could not hear his voice. "We mustn't. Not yet. Take her home first. She needs you now. We come back later."

Ahmad looked down at Chani, at the blood and tears drying on her face, then over at Adhem, who nodded grimly. "This won't go unpunished, Ahmad," Adhem said quietly. "Take her home."

Finally, Ahmad nodded. With the help of Adhem and Yusef, he remounted his horse and set Chani on the saddle in front of him. They would go. For now.

[ July 15, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]