That will hold them for a few hours until the flames burn down.'
'And then?'
'We will keep the horses saddled, and wait for our chance to break out of the town and escape.'
'To where?'
'I will tell you when I know,' Taita promised, and stood up stiffly.
'Make sure the men holding the stockade have fire-pots. I am going to Fenn.'
She was asleep when he entered the hut. He did not want to wake her to examine her leg, but when he touched her cheek it was cool, not flushed or feverish. The wound has not mortified, he reassured himself.
He sent Lala away, and lay down at Fenn's side. Before he had taken more than three breaths, he had dropped into a deep, dark sleep.
Hi
I”?“ TT e awoke in the uncertain light of dawn. Fenn was sitting over him anxiously. 'I thought you were dead,' she exclaimed, as he . opened his eyes.
'So did I.' Taita sat up. 'Let me see your leg.' He unwrapped the bandage and found the wound only slightly inflamed, but no hotter than his own hand. He leant close and sniffed at the stitches. There were no putrescent odours. 'You must get dressed. We may have to move quickly.' While he helped her into her tunic and loincloth, he told her, 'I am going to make a crutch for you, but you will have little opportunity to learn to use it. The Basmara will certainly attack again at sunrise.' Quickly he fashioned it from a light staff and a carved crosspiece, which he padded with bark cloth. She leant on it heavily as he helped her hobble out to the horse lines. Between them, they put the bridle and saddle on Whirlwind. There was a warning shout from the outer stockade.
'Stay with Whirlwind,' Taita told her. 'I will come back to find you.'
He hurried to the stockade, where Meren was waiting for him.
'Fenn - how is she?' were his first words.
'She will be able to ride and is waiting with the horses,' Taita told him. 'What is happening here?'
Meren pointed across the open ground. Two hundred paces away, the Basmara regiments were mustering at the edge of the forest.
'So few,' Taita observed. 'Half as many as there were last evening.'
'Look to the south wall,' Meren told him.
Taita swivelled around to gaze in the direction of the great lake.
'So! They are doing what they should have done yesterday,' he remarked drily. 'They will make a double- pronged assault.' He pondered a moment, then asked, 'How many men are fit enough to hold a weapon this morning?'
I WILBUR SMITH
'Three died during the night, and four of our troopers took their Shilluk whores and brats and deserted in the darkness. I doubt they will get far before the Basmara find them. That leaves sixteen of us, including Nakonto, Imbali and her tribe-sister, Aoka.'
'We have fifteen horses strong enough to carry a man and his baggage,'
Taita said.
'Do we stand to meet another Basmara charge or set fire to the outer stockade and try to escape on the horses in the smoke?'
Taita did not take long to decide. 'To stay here will only delay the inevitable,' he said. 'We will take our chance on the horses and make a run for it. Warn the men of what we intend.'
Meren went down the line with the order and returned swiftly. 'They all know what to do, Magus. The fire-pots are ready. The dice of hazard are in the cup and ready for the throw.' Taita was silent, watching the enemy regiments. They heard the familiar war chant begin, the drumming of the shields and the stamp of hundreds of bare feet.
'They are coming,' said Meren softly.
'Fire the stockade,' Taita ordered. The men at the piles of dry kindling dashed on to them the smouldering contents of the fire-pots and fanned them with their sleeping mats. The flames leapt up instantly.
'Fall back!' Meren bellowed, and the survivors jumped down from the burning parapet. Some ran, while others hobbled or limped, supporting each other painfully. Watching them go, Taita felt suddenly tired, frail and old. Was it all to end here in this remote, wild corner of the earth?
Was so much endeavour, suffering and death to be of no consequence?
Meren was watching him. He straightened his shoulders and stood to his full height. He could not falter now: he had his duty to Meren and the remaining men, but even more so to Fenn.
'It is time to go, Magus,' Meren said gently, and took his arm to help him down the ladder. By the time they reached the horses the entire length of the outer stockade was enveloped in a roaring, leaping wall of flame. They shrank away from the fierce, blistering heat.
The troopers led out the horses. Meren went down the column assigning the mounts. Of course, Fenn would ride Whirlwind and take Imbali on her stirrup to guard her. Taita would have Windsmoke, with Nakonto hanging on to his stirrup ropes. Meren would be on his bay with Aoka covering his blind side. All the other troopers would ride their own mounts. Now that no mules were left alive the two spare horses were loaded with food and baggage. Hilto and Shabako took them on lead reins.
240 I
Under cover of the flaming stockade they mounted, facing the outer gateway. Taita raised high the golden Periapt of Lostris, and cast the spell of concealment over them, shielding them from the eyes of the enemy. He was
