6 Chapter 1.5
Chapter 6
Alima entered the area where her husband slept, located in the tent they shared. Her face was altered.
“What's wrong woman?” Abdullah looked startled at his wife.
“Ahmed is crazy. You must come to see this.”
The Sheikh dressed hurriedly and left his tent. He immediately realized what had alarmed his wife. Ahmed ben Assaff made his entry into the aduar preceding a long, sad caravan. He came riding his spirited Arabian horse, followed by about ten of his Bedouin followers and a large group of Kamba Warriors -who Abdullah considered the dregs of the Bantu people for their savagery and brutality- who paraded led by a chieftain wearing a leopard fur. Behind them marched to the tumbles a grieving crowd of men, women and children of ethnicities unknown to the Sheikh, tied together in an obvious situation of captivity. Closing the long column walked a large squad of Kamba warriors, certainly the rest of the men of the wren´s tribe.
The Arabian warriors guarding the aduar looked nervously this parade of fierce black warriors and their helpless victims without knowing what to do, partly because Ahmed was until then the clan military chief although he now looked like an invader. Abdullah´s men constantly arrived from their tents, half dressed but carrying their carbines, muskets and daggers. Disorientation at the site was complete and the Sheikh realized that he needed to personally take charge of the situation. He walked towards the intruders until he stayed in front of the Ahmed´s horse, who led the march putting him into the dilemma to run him over with his steed or stopping. The rider looked around; a signal given by Abdullah had been very clear and Faisal was aiming at Ahmed's chest with his rifle; his gesture was imitated by most of the Sheik´s men who turned their weapons to the rest of the Bedouins following Ahmed, the head of the Kambas and other warriors. The situation was extremely volatile and just one nervous man could unleash a bloodbath.
“Old man, stay away from my way and let me set up on the site for caravans as appropriate.” Roared Ahmed.
“Get out of here you miserable traitor, and take this rabble off this place, but before that release these unfortunates.”
“Useless rag, this is no longer your time. Mine has arrived.”
“If you do not leave immediately the only time that has come to you will be to die.”
Ahmed's face became livid; certainly he had foreseen a kind of arrogant parade in front of the aduar subduing the will of the Sheikh and performing a coup d'État without any dangers for him, but now he had Faisal´s gun pointed at him and many more carbines aiming at his heart, at a distance at which they could not fail. On the other hand, if he retreated Ahmed knew he would lose the respect of Walaka and his fierce warriors who only appreciated violence.
Ahmed resolved the dilemma quickly and brutally. He turned his horse giving orders to his Bedouins to follow him and passing by the ranks of the Kambas launched his steed on the defenseless captives who being tied could not disperse and fell under the hooves of the horses; the rest of the caravan began the retreat leaving a bloody trail behind.
“Miserable!” Roared Abdullah.”I swear by Allah that you will pay with your life this outrage and this slaughter.”
The formidable challenge was launched. The days would witness its tremendous development.
Ahmed led the caravan during a forced march of eight hours up to a high ridge crowned of a thick forest and decided to set up camp there. Walaka and his men followed him without questioning but as they arrived the chieftain faced him.
“I've followed you this far but no further. I will return to my boma with my people and the remaining slaves. You're just a Bedouin with high pretensions but no power. Facing the old man you behaved like a coward.”
“Do not talk like that! Listen Walaka. It was only a retreat to avoid a slaughter. We´ll return and attack them in our own times and with our conditions.”
“You're not the real boss; you do not have what the old man showed in the aduar.”
“There were many guns pointed at me and at you.”
“The old man would also have died but did not flinch.” Answered provocatively the chieftain.
The astute Ahmed realized that in this way he would not achieve the collaboration of his wild partner, so he decided to change the axis of the discussion by appealing to a feeling that he knew was irresistible: Walaka´s ambition.
“Listen Walaka. I can make you a powerful man, the richest king east of Lake Tanganyika.”
“You're lying. These are just empty promises.”
“I do not lie. Listen, Abdullah al Shamoun is a very rich man, one of the richest merchants in East Africa. He has buried in his aduar over four hundred selected elephant tusks, and a real treasure in gold, as a result of his trade in Zanzibar. We will raze their camp, kill the old man and those of his followers who choose not to pass to my ranks, I'll take his daughter as a concubine and rape her before his people. I'll let you keep all the ivory and I'll take the gold.”
The wren's eyes sparkled by greed so that Ahmed knew at the time that he had caught his attention. He would need Walaka´s and his Kamba warriors support for the hard struggle that would ensue; once the fighting phase was over Ahmed would find a way to eliminate him; Walaka was no match for his cunning.
