The Horse Healer (12 page)

He covered her mouth and held her tighter. Their bodies were completely united.

When the soldier seemed relaxed, some voices coming from inside the forest made him pause. He hid his face with his own turban, took out his sword, and headed toward the place where Galib, Benazir, and Kabirma were.

“We have to do something,” Fatima whispered to him.

“Let's see what he does first. …”

The Saracen climbed cautiously up to a plain limited to the north by a forest. He listened closely and heard voices again. His muscles tensed when he confirmed that they were Christians. He inspected the terrain up to the beginning of the tree line and decided to go to a grassy area where his steps would be softened.

Making use of all five senses, he hid among some trees until he arrived at the edge of a small clearing; there he found two men and one woman seated with their backs to him. He put his sword aside and crouched. He took out a dagger and crawled until he had made it less than ten feet from Galib.

XVIII.

A
muscular arm surrounded Galib's neck and the point of sharp blade was pressed into his throat.

Everything happened so fast that no one could react.

The aggressor asked them in Arabic what they were doing there and who they were. His uniform led them to think he was a soldier from the frontier. He was filthy and he smelled of the swamp. His hair was disheveled and very long, but what stood out the most was his stare, cold and full of evil.

“We are just two humble tradesmen trying to return to our home in Seville,” Galib answered. “And this is my wife.”

The warrior cast a lascivious glance at Benazir.

“And where are you coming from?”

The man kept his eyes on the man with the red goatee; he looked to be the most dangerous. He felt in Galib's belt and found his knife. He gestured for Kabirma to take his out as well.

“From Toledo,” Kabirma responded. “If you'll allow me, I'll show you our safe conduct …”

He tried to look for it in his clothes.

“If you keep moving …”

He ran the dagger along Galib's neck as a warning, but when he heard a noise behind his back, he turned and could just make out a large piece of wood moving toward his head. It was held by a young man he hadn't seen. The log hit the man and knocked him down. As he fell, the furious soldier jabbed at Galib's neck, opening a large gash. And then he observed in anguish that the stronger of the men was headed toward him.

Without thinking, he slashed his dagger through the air in all directions, screeching like a madman and trying to wound anyone who came close to him. It was thus that he managed to wound Diego in his thigh and Kabirma in the belly. The soldier recovered his strength and tried to get to his knees, but Diego clasped his neck, stopping him. With them on the ground, Kabirma was able to step on his hand, and with it, his weapon, and without thinking twice, he sank his dagger to the hilt in the man's chest. He let loose a high-pitched cry, on the verge of death, but still had enough strength to bite down vengefully on the arm of the boy who held him.

Soon they noticed that his strength was draining from him and that his death would come soon. He began to cough up blood and to choke and soon after he was dead.

Benazir ran to her husband who was stretched out on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood. Kabirma and Diego did the same.

“Don't worry. …” Galib calmed them. “It was close, but he didn't hit the jugular.” Benazir dried the wound with a strip of fabric she'd torn from her skirt. “Help Diego and Kabirma; they're wounded as well. …”

Benazir examined Diego's arm. The teeth had left a mark and there was some bleeding, but nothing that seemed serious. There was a deeper cut on his leg. She tore another strip from her dress and knotted it over the top to stop the bleeding. Kabirma's wound was hardly a scratch.

“All in all, we were lucky,” her husband remarked, relieved. “No one has been gravely injured.”

“We've just entered enemy territory,” said Kabirma, more worried than the rest of them. “We should get out of here as soon as possible. … There could be more like him.” He dragged the body to the base of a tree and began to throw leaves over it. “Go find the horses. …” He pointed to Diego and to Fatima, who had hidden during the assault.

“We didn't see anyone else.”

“That's good, but we can't risk it. If they find us now and see what we've done, we're dead.”

Shortly afterward, they crossed the river at a bend where the current was slow, and from there they drove their horses onward at a mad clip. Galloping intensely, Kabirma's words echoed in their ears: This was enemy territory. Fear made them look over at everything that moved, staring into the shadows, imagining that in any moment more soldiers or more dangers could step out into their path. The five riders were conscious they were crossing one of the riskiest areas, the border. They grabbed onto the necks of their horses to make a single body with them and thereby gain speed.

In the dead of night, they reached a plain where they could speed up the pace of the horses. The animals sweated and seemed exhausted, but their owners' panic did not allow them any rest.

Benazir saw how Fatima shook, suffering from cold. The wind turned her soaked clothes into a coat of pure pain. With their hasty escape, no one had asked why she showed up wet in her underwear with Diego. The girl saw Benazir's glance and understood the meaning of her coldness.

Many leagues later, when the day had dawned, they reached the bank of the river that Kabirma recognized as the Zújar. If they followed its course, the water would mark their route almost all the way to the Sierra Norte.

They stopped a moment to let the horses drink and Kabirma spoke alone with Galib.

“We have to follow the direction of the river until we arrive at the bottom of the mountains. Once there, we'll look for a town called Castella, and there, I'm hoping we can take refuge in the house of a friend. But before that, we have to cross a ravine that leads to a populous village, around a day and a half from here, where we might well come across some armed patrols. If we keep this same rhythm, we'll get there at night, which will help us avoid them. Now we have to push our horses a little more so they don't stop until we're well into the night.”

Galib scratched his beard nervously.

“Why do you want to stop in Castella? It seems less risky if we don't let ourselves be seen, don't you think?”

“We've been traveling too many days and we're all showing signs of weariness. I think we would all appreciate being able to stop one night under a roof and sleep in a bed. It could also help us, being able to talk with our contact; he's an influential man and can tell us how to enter Seville without running more risks than necessary. But until that moment comes, we can't let down our guard. We still have to cross through that village that I mentioned before. Once that's done, I have faith that everything will be easier.”

“And why are you so afraid of that territory?”

“It's full of Turks.”

“Turks? Here?” Galib couldn't help but show the dread on his face. He knew the kind of excesses they were accustomed to.

“The caliph ceded them a few towns and those lands for cultivation, in return for some favor in war, I assume. We have to be careful, believe me; those troops are very violent. They're crazy.”

In the middle of the night, without resting the entire day, Kabirma headed toward a leafy forest that they would have to cross. One by one, he explained to them very quietly what they needed to know.

“Don't talk and try to keep your animal as quiet as possible. If it makes a noise, quiet it down fast. We are going to enter into a high-risk area.”

They went on in the darkness under the cover of the trees, nearly unable to see anything. The horses, exhausted, walked heavily, sniffing everything in search of a little grass they could eat.

Along with the strong scent of wood and rotten leaves, with the silence of the night as their only company, they passed through the grim forest in silence until they arrived at a clearing free of vegetation and illuminated by the moon. But as soon as they entered …

“Turks!” Kabirma was the first to see them. “On the other end of the plain!”

They assumed there was nothing they could do, since the Turks had seen them too.

Kabirma quickly said, “Let me talk and stay quiet. … It's important that they see us relaxed at all times. I imagine they'll want to see my safe-conduct paper. When they find out it's signed by the vizier, I don't think they'll give us too many problems, and they'll let us go on our way.”

“I hope you're right.” Galib swallowed and looked at his wife. Benazir and Fatima covered their faces, and Diego found his dagger and moved it to where it was easier to grab.

A half-dozen men soon surrounded them and glared at them mistrustfully. One of them was first to speak. He turned to Galib.

“Where are you going tonight? I don't know you. … Show me your pass.”

Kabirma answered.

“We are relatives of Altair ibn Ghazi. Do you know him?” He took out his safe conduct from his tunic and passed it to them. “He governs in Castella. That's our destination.”

The man held up the parchment and read it thoroughly. When he reached the vizier's seal, he paid special attention, noting something strange in the signature.

“Who gave you this?” He shook the parchment with an irritated expression. The rest of his soldiers, their eyes squeezed like slits and their skin dark brown, took out their swords and lost no time in coming over.

“What do you mean, who? It was the vizier himself who gave it to me. … And that can't have been more than a few months back. You have his signature right there.” He pointed with his finger. “And here above it my name, the person this was written for: Kabirma from Jerez. I'm a horse trader and I've taken this same route many other times. I don't know why we haven't met before, but I do know others of your companions. … Today I'm traveling in the company of my family.” He remained calm. “These are my children…”—he pointed at Fatima and Diego—“and this is my brother, with his wife.” Galib and Benazir saluted respectfully.

The Turk looked back at the document, trying to confirm the truth of the signature. Two weeks before, he had been with the vizier and he remembered how his sign was. He turned the safe conduct in various directions to better catch the reflection of the moon, but the darkness of night didn't allow him to be completely sure.

“I think you're lying!” he suddenly shouted.

“Don't think that. … It's not true.”

“You are going to come with me into town; I need to confirm something. The rest can wait here. We won't take long.”

He made a sign to two of the soldiers to stay back with them.

Kabirma obeyed him, but before doing so, he had his horse approach Galib so he could speak with him. No one noticed but the albéitar.

“Flee without me. …” he thought he heard. “It's false. … I'll meet back up with you.”

Galib was paralyzed with fear when he understood the gravity of the situation before them. While he watched Kabirma go, surrounded by four of the soldiers, he was afraid, for him and for everyone else as well.

Calmly, he told everyone to dismount and asked Benazir to make some food to eat during the wait. The two Turks got down as well, without looking away from them even for a moment, though they had begun to think those people presented little danger.

Fatima helped Benazir make everything. They looked for some rolls that they had kept wrapped in cotton cloth and opened them to fill them with cheese and quince. From time to time, they looked over at Galib without knowing what his intentions were, attentive to his every movement. Little by little, Diego came closer to his master and was able to ask him in a low voice what was happening. Galib answered, almost without moving his lips.

“Look in my medicines and find one of the bottles of poppy extract. And when you can, give it to me.”

“What are you talking about?” One of the Turks approached. “Until they come back, I want to see you all calm and silent. Understood?”

They accepted his orders and stood right in front of them. Diego asked permission to look for a waterskin; meanwhile, Benazir prepared the rolls so that everyone could eat. The soldiers were hungry and watched them enviously, but without speaking.

Diego found the flask that Galib wanted and hid it up his sleeve. The soldier at his side did not see it, even though he was watching the whole time. Diego sat back down between Benazir and Galib and listened to what he should do next.

“Soak a few of the rolls in that liquid.”

Benazir heard her husband and understood what he was trying to do. She stood in front of Diego when the moment came to soak the bread and when that was done, she took one and held it up.

“We haven't offered you anything. Would you like to try a bit?”

The Turks looked at each other without knowing what to do. In their orders it was laid out that they should never accept anything from an enemy, but in this case, it couldn't be said that these people wished any ill on them. They looked at the bread doubtfully. It looked tasty …

“Bring it.” One stood up and snatched it from her hand. He broke it in half and passed some to his compatriot. Before they bit into it, they watched the others eating without any fear, and they decided.

“Take another, we have too many. I imagine it's been hours since you've eaten.” Benazir approached them, giving them the bread and a captivating smile.

They ate it as fast as lightning, and two more that Diego prepared in the same way. Afterward they helped themselves to a long swig of water that they had Galib bring them.

Shortly afterward, they were sleeping tranquilly, one leaning against the other. The effect of the narcotic had fulfilled its mission, and now Galib and Diego helped the women mount as quickly as possible.

“Let's get out of here fast.”

“And my father?” Fatima looked nervously in the same direction they had taken him. “We are going to leave him alone? I can't go, no. I'm staying to wait for him.”

“Are you mad?” Diego interrupted. “Do you want to see how they'll react when they wake up and see you here?”

“Your father will find us on the way. Relax. He told me that when they were taking him away.” As Galib reassured Fatima, he made a sign to Diego to tell him to grab her reins.

They spurred the animals on with encouraging words, trying to reach the path at top speed. It was urgent to make it out of the clearing as quickly as possible.

Galib directed, trying to find the path in the darkness. Once they had made it out of the dense forest, they found an enormous plain, completely empty. Galib didn't know which was the best way to pass unseen, but finally, he decided the best thing was to follow the riverbed to his left.