The Parched Sea Read Online Free PDF Page B

the warrior’s age. The el a’sarad was a solitary camel raid undertaken as a rite of passage-after a boy killed his first man.
    The youth continued, “I had not heard that my brother had taken a wife:’
    “Brother!” Ruha gasped.
    The youth nodded. “Sons of the same .mother.”
    In her weakened state, the shock was too much for Ruha. She began to wail.. uncontrollably, half sobbing and half laughing at her fate. A man was obligated to care for a dead brother’s wife for two years, after which time he had the choice of sending her away or marrying her himself. Ruha found it pathetically ironic that her new protector and potential husband was a thirteen-year-old boy. Dropping the skin, the widow collapsed to her knees and buried her face in her palms.
    The youth quickly picked up the waterskin, then took Ruha’s arm and helped her to his camels. He sat her in the shade beneath one of the beast’s musky udders, then said, “I am called Kadumi:’
    As the camel stamped its fleshy feet on the ground, he poured water on the only exposed parts of Ruha’s face, her cheeks and her brow. The water evaporated as soon as it touched her skin, without cooling her at all.
    Regaining control of her spent emotions, Ruha put her hand over the spout. “Save the water. I’ll be fine:’ Kadumi closed the skin and placed it beside her. Turning in the direction of the unseen oasis, he asked, “Where are the other women? How badly is the tribe hurt?”
    The young widow touched the ground in front of her. “Sit.”
    Kadumi shook his head. “I’ll stand;’ he declared, as if hearing the report on his feet made him more of a man. “Kadumi, this was no camel raid;” Ruha began.
    “Tell me what happened,” he replied, still refusing the seat she offered.
    Ruha shrugged, then began. “It was after dark. Ajaman had the night watch, and he wanted me to bring him some apricots and milk:’
    “Ajaman wouldn’t ask his wife to leave their tent during the purdah:’ Kadumi interrupted, frowning.
    “He did ask it,” Ruha snapped, irritated that the youth had noticed her misrepresentation. “Do you question the honor of your brother’s wife?”
    Startled at the terse reply, Kadumi turned his gaze aside. “Let’s say he asked you to come to him. Then what?” Trying not to sound defensive, she continued, “Before I reached him, a caravan of men and fork-tongued monsters came out of the sands:’
    “Fork-tongued monsters?”
    “Yes; Ruha replied. “With a lizard’s skin and a snake’s eyes. Where there should have been nose and ears, the beasts had only gashes. There were hundreds, maybe thousands. Behind them came caravan drivers in black burnooses:’
    Ruha paused, smelling once again the scent of singed camelhair and scorched flesh as the strange caravan attacked. Over the dunes rolled the mournful howls of anguished mothers, the terrified screams of dying children. Peering over a dune crest, Ruha saw a thousand silhouettes marching through the oasis, setting fire to anything that stood, cutting down anything that walked.
    “What do they want?” she asked. “How can I stop them?”
    “Drink;’ Kadumi said, offering her the open waterskin as his face replaced the dark images from the previous night: “You’re seeing mirages:’
    Ruha pushed the skin aside. “There were too many strangers;” she replied. “I couldn’t save anyone:’
    “I understand;’ Kadumi answered, sealing the skin. “What of the others who escaped? Where are they?” “Others?” Ruha yelled. The camel beneath which she sat brayed and stepped forward, brushing Ruha’s head with its udders. She ignored the beast. “Haven’t you been listening? There are no others!”
    Kadumi’s face went pale and the waterskiir slipped from his hand. An expression of disbelief and bewilderment overcame the boy, and Ruha immediately regretted her sharp tone.
    Before she could comfort the boy, he set his smoothskinned jaw. “Who did this to my tribe?”