zareeba Fenn poked her with a toe behind the shoulder and Windsmoke opened into a smooth, high-stepping trot. When they were in the golden fields of savannah grass Fenn asked the mare again, and she extended into a canter. Fenn was seated close up behind her withers, weight well forward, knees clamped firmly so that she was perfectly in h tune with Windsmoke's every stride. Then, more in hope than expectation of the animal's co-operation, Fenn seized a handful of mane and cried, 'Come, my darling, let us away.' Under her, Windsmoke smoothly released all her speed and power, Whirlwind following closely. They swept away joyfully across the basin of open grassland.
Taita was woken by the shouts of the men: 'Run, Windsmoke, run!'
And 'Ride, Fenn, ride!'
He ran to the gate just in time to see the distant trio disappear over the skyline. He was uncertain on whom he should first vent his fury.
Meren chose that moment to cry, 'By the thunderous peals of Seth's farts, she rides like a trooper!' so nominating himself the target.
Taita was still haranguing him when Windsmoke tore back across the basin with Fenn shrieking with excitement upon her back and Whirlwind at her heels. She stopped in front of Taita, and Fenn slid down and ran to him. 'Oh, Taita, did you see us? Wasn't it wonderful? Were you not proud of me?'
He glared at her. 'You are never to do something as dangerous and foolish as that again, not in all your life.' She was crestfallen. Her shoulders drooped and her eyes swam with tears. He relented stiffly: 'But you rode well enough. I am proud of you.'
'The magus means that you rode like a trooper, but we were all afraid for your safety,' Meren explained, 'but there was no cause for us to worry.'
Fenn brightened immediately, and dashed away the tears with the back of her hand.
'Is that what you really meant, Taita?' she demanded.
'I suppose it was,' he admitted gruffly.
That evening Fenn sat cross-legged upon her sleeping mat and, by the light of the oil lamp, regarded Taita solemnly as he lay on his back with his beard brushed out and his hands folded on his chest, composing himself for sleep. 'You will never go away and leave me, but will always be with me, won't you, Taita?'
'Yes.' He smiled up at her. 'I will always be with you.'i 'I am so glad.' She bent forward and buried her face in his silver beard.
'It is so soft,' she whispered, 'like a cloud.' Then the excitement of the day overwhelmed her and she fell asleep, sprawled across his chest.
Taita lay for a while, listening to her breathing. Such happiness cannot last, he thought. It is too intense.
They were up early the next morning. As soon as they had had breakfast, of dhurra porridge and mare's milk, they went out into the forest for herbs. When the foraging baskets were filled Taita led the way to their favourite pool in the river. They sat together on the high bank, their reflections mirrored on the surface of the pool below them.
'Look at yourself, Fenn,' he said. 'See how beautiful you have become.'
She glanced down without interest, and was immediately riveted by the face that looked back at her. She knelt up, leant far out over the water, then stared and stared. At last she whispered, 'Are not my ears too large?'
'Your ears are like the petals of a flower,' he replied.
'One of my teeth is crooked.'
'Only a very little, and it makes your smile all the more intriguing.'
'My nose?'
'Is the most perfect little nose I have ever seen.'
'Really?'
'Really!'
She turned to smile at him, and he told her, 'Your smile lights the forest.'
She hugged him and her body was warm, but suddenly he felt a cold wind on his cheek although the leaves of the tree that hung over them had not stirred. He shivered, and, softly, the pulse began to beat in his eardrums. They were no longer alone.
Protectively, he held her closer, and looked over her shoulder into the pool.
There was a disturbance beneath the surface, as though a giant catfish had stirred in the depths. But the pulse in his ears beat stronger and he knew it was no fish. He concentrated his gaze and made out a tenuous shadow that seemed to undulate like the leaves of a water-lily in some deep eddy of the river. Slowly the shadow coalesced into human form, an insubstantial image of a cloaked figure, its head swathed in a
voluminous cowl. He tried to see beneath the folds, but there was only shadow.
Fenn felt him stiffen and looked up into his face, then turned her head to follow the direction of his gaze. She stared down into the pool, and whispered fearfully, 'Something is there.' As she spoke the image faded, and the surface of the pool was unruffled and serene once more.
'What was it, Taita?' she asked.
'What did you see?'
'Someone was in the pool under the water.'
Taita was not surprised: he had known all along that she had the gift.
It was not the first time she had given him proof.
