9 Chapter 1.8
Chapter 9
When Alain and Faisal met Djamba the three men held a brief conversation.
“Djamba. It is better if you keep advancing alone. Following without being seen is your specialty and you know all the tricks that a man can make to confuse his pursuers. Faisal and I will follow you at a certain distance and although you will not see us we won´t lose the trail.”
“Understood.” Said the Congolese with his austere style and immediately galloped to shorten the distance with Moustafá. Garnier and Faisal waited a while before following him; the former was safely spotting the traces left by their companion.
On one occasion Djamba could not see his prey in front of him but he immediately realized what was happening. He dismounted and lay on the ground forcing the horse to kneel. He remained a long time in that position until he saw two hundred paces before him a movement in some tall weeds near a large tree. Djamba smiled understanding his opponent maneuver; just as he had imagined Moustafá had been hiding in the weeds waiting for a pursuer to emerge and presumably ambush him.
<So you know all the tricks in the art of persecution. Well, I also know them.> Djamba thought and still waited for the other to mount and continue his way before standing up and riding.
On another occasion Moustafá crossed a thin stream and disappeared from the scene. His follower was forced to carefully examine the stream banks on both sides to determine where the bandit had left and from there follow the trail. The Congolese dropped from time to time pieces of branches cut in a certain way to make sure that Alain, who knew the code, could in turn trace him. The old training obtained by spending many years together was now yielding fruit.
Night fell on the prairie and Moustafá decided to dismount and lay on the ground warmed by a blanket. The Bedouin refrained from lighting any bonfire to prevent betraying his position, even at the risk of being visited by nocturnal beasts lurking in the African night. His follower lay down a shorter distance in order to perceive when his prey got underway. It was still completely dark when he perceived noise that indicated that the Bedouin resumed his way.
Thereafter Moustafá continued marching without so many precautions, no doubt convinced that he had not been followed, or that he had lost an eventual pursuer with his wiles.
They continued riding all day and eventually Djamba noticed that the sparse and dry vegetation gave way to more abundant foliage. Sometime later appeared certain subtle signs that they were entering a zone with obvious signs of human transit including stretches where they could see footprints of men and cattle, dung of cows and areas where vegetation had been cut with different purposes. The Congolese redoubled the precautions due to the possibility of encountering guards or just peasants engaged in rural pursuits. Finally a thin column of smoke rose sharply in the clear sky above the savannah.
Alain and Faisal advanced in silence when they heard a hiss before them. The Arab drew his rifle from its scabbard but Alain stopped him.
“It's Djamba. Let us stop until he shows up.”
Indeed, Djamba appeared behind the bushes with a creeping attitude.
“From now on we must have extreme caution, because we are already near the panther´s den.”
The rhetoric sentence expressed the anger and hatred toward Ahmed and his followers. Alain and Faisal dismounted and all sit on the ground under the broad top of a large and lonely baobab.
“Well, tell us what you have seen.” Said the Frenchman without preamble.
“There is a native village about a kilometer ahead, in a valley between hills that hide it from the view of those who can pass by without knowing its location. I've crawled up a hilltop and from there I saw more than three hundred native kibandas and thirty Bedouin tents. The camp is also a village, possibly the seat of the wren fallen in the aduar. The problem is that the Bedouin troop continues to grow. At the time I was there I saw two caravans arriving accompanied by warriors, coming probably from afar. One of the Arabs had a magnificent figure, with his black tunic embroidered with gold threads flapping in the wind riding a spirited black steed.”
“Well. All this is what we must tell Abdullah and see if he can put some sense in the information.” Replied Alain. “But now the important thing is to carry out what we came to do. Did you see something suggesting in which place inside the village Farrah is kept prisoner?”
“ Not sure, but I do imagine which is the group of tents belonging to the leaders.”
“You think you can guide us at night to assess the situation and outline a plan of action for Farrah´s extraction?”
“This evening there will be waning moon. Surely I can find the way.”
In the last stretch they had crawled through the tall grass until they finally reached the hilltop. They had left the horses almost a kilometer back, under a grove that kept them away from the sight. Peering over the top of the hill the large and unsuspected valley opened up before their eyes and in its bottom they glimpsed under the elusive light of the late afternoon the boma composed of huts or kibandas and the tents of the Arabs; the general appearance was that of a human anthill in full swing. The magnitude of the site shocked Alain who said.
“ There must be a couple of thousand people down there. I wonder how many of them warriors are.”
“Perhaps half of them.” Guessed Djamba.
“The other question is what are the Bedouins doing there and why are they concentrating there.”
“It surely is for nothing good for us.” Answered Faisal.
“Who do you mean by "we"?”
“Sheik Abdullah and all members of my clan.”
“You think this troop deployment is threatening the aduar where you live?”
“I certainly have no doubts. Abdullah has been for long a factor of balance and stability in this area. He controls elephant hunting and restricts the slave trade but for that very reason there are many who want to dethrone him. They are greedy Bedouin Sheikhs from the north, from the Horn of Africa and Arabia who have bartering relations with native wrens to whom they buy slaves and ivory in exchange for trinkets, weapons, cows and gold.”
“If these people prevail East Africa will be a very dangerous place.” Concluded Alain.
“No doubt.”
“But at this moment we must stick to our task. We need to determine where Farrah is kept imprisoned.”
The Frenchman moved to a solitary rock emerging a hundred paces ahead, in a lower position on the hillside leading down to the boma, therefore closer and with a better view of the center of the village. Sheltered behind the rock from the sight of possible sentries Alain took his binoculars from the case and after checking the direction of the rays of the remaining light at that late hour of the afternoon to avoid reflections in the field glasses he began to carefully and systematically observe the camp, drawing a mental crosslink reticule and sweeping strip by strip the observation field. He had brought his usual notebook and pen, and every so often stopped to complete and annotate a map of the valley he was drawing. Faisal and Djamba watched him from higher ground, the first with the knowledge of the processes of his boss and the second with a certain admiration.
Night had already fallen when two young men heard a slip on the grass from the hill side in front of them. As a caution measure they readied their weapons but after a moment the men heard a soft whistle.
“It's Garnier.” Said Djamba
Soon after Alain emerged indeed from the darkness a few meters ahead always crawling on the ground.
“What have you seen?” Asked Faisal.
“Let's go first to a farther point where we can eat in the dark. Then we´ll sleep a few hours and tomorrow with daylight I'll show you what I have planned.”
“This is our current position.”Explained Alain. Taking advantage of the first rays of the sun the three men had receded about five hundred steps to settle downhill among some rocks that protected them both the sun and potential hostile glances. Using a piece of dry twig the Frenchman had drawn a small map on the soil depicting the valley he had mapped.
“The arrival of the caravans is from the north and that side of the valley, opposite to us, is heavily guarded by Bedouin guards. East there are some pretty steep cliffs, which can be dangerous if we move in the dark and especially if we are carrying Farrah.”As he spoke Alain showed the location of the valley entrances in the map.
“On the west there are some high hills.” Added. “But I have seen a small path through them that reaches the bottom of the valley. It´s through this place we can go in and out. In order to do what we came to do our actions must be stealthy. Should we find opposition we cannot use guns but knives and daggers.”
Garnier made then some marks on the map showing the kibandas and tents areas and made three crosses in the center of the valley.
“This is definitely the main hut, which presumably belonged to the king Walaka and his wives, and these two tents have been added recently on the site, which is the most guarded and secure spot. Both have Bedouin armed guards. I'm sure one is Ahmed ben Assaff´s lair and the other is probably where Farrah is held prisoner so they she would not be seen by the remaining Bedouin Sheikhs that are coming to camp. As we approach we´ll try to determine which one is our goal.”
Alain stood up and said grimly.
“We are going down tonight.”
