[Previous session]

Darra stayed outside much of the night, brooding and praying to her god for help finding her father. When she finally went to bed, she dreamed of a canyon, but remembered few details.

Ruqayyah returned to camp when she smelled Alastair's breakfast cooking. Naima saw the caracal there, and Laylah went over to see if this was her friend. Alastair guessed that it was, but was too much of a specialist to tell if the cat was magical. Laylah took the cat back to her tent, and discussed with the others how to take Ruqayyah with them now. Darra suggested that she could take horse form, but Naima advised against this, as Darra might be taken for a Horse tribesman. Laylah asked Alastair for help. He gave her a small packet of uncooked meat, preserved with spices. Rationing this out to Ruqayyah made Laylah the cat's new best friend.

When a guard noticed the caracal in camp, he summoned the caravan-master. Laylah explained the problem, and Tashfin grudgingly allowed them to keep the cat with them. He ordered them to travel at the tail end of the caravan, to keep from spooking the camels, and held Laylah responsible. The attention they receiving moving to their new place mortified Laylah, but Ruqayyah basked in it.

During the morning, Afla approached the semi-exiles. She spoke briefly to Ruqayyah in her own dialect, telling her to see Qutaibah soon. (Qutaibah was Ruqayyah's teacher, who had reversed the spell the other times she was trapped in animal form. She had not told Afla this name.) Afla noticed Laylah's depressed state, and offered to help watch the cat.

At the midday break, the guards noticed riders in the distance and alerted the rest of the caravan. After a while, the travelers were informed that the riders were bandits, who did not approach because the caravan outnumbered them. The women could not make out what animals they rode, but Naima had heard stories of people who rode large boars. The caravan resumed its journey, and the bandits eventually faded back into the desert.

After the caravan stood down from the alert, Laylah was suddenly reminded of her vision of an unconscious man in the desert. She saw a glint of light in the distance, and pointed it out top the others. Ruqayyah ran off to investigate. When the cat stopped, Laylah found Afla, explained her vision of the man, and being afraid of causing more trouble, asked advice about what to do. Afla gave some orders to the guards, and asked Laylah to lead the way. Ruqayyah had found a man lying in the sand; a mirror beside him reflected the light Laylah saw. They managed to get some water into him, and took him back to the caravan. Afla made explanations to Tashfin while Laylah salved the unconscious man's sunburned face.

The caravan reached Tel Talib, a Cat Tribe trading post, about an hour later. When Afla asked their plans, Laylah told her of the other visions involving the desert. Afla planned to help the injured man, and offered to share lodgings in town with the younger women. They took their leave of the caravan master, who said he would return this way in several weeks. They reached the adobe house Afla procured, got the sick man to bed, and sent for a healer. Ruqayyah managed to hint at seeing her teacher, and Afla promised to send him word in the morning.

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Copyright 1999 Timothy E. Emrick. | This page last revised 10/7/99. | time@neu.edu

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