Tel Hesani had bought trousers for Jebel in Abu Aineh and made him wear them now. He’d also purchased thick boots for both of them, which covered their legs up to their knees, protecting the areas most prone to attacks.
Jebel hated the trousers and boots — he’d worn a tunic and sandals all his life, which were much more comfortable. But when he studied his boots at the end of the first day and found gouges where snakes had struck unknown to him, he stopped complaining and even slept with them on.
Tel Hesani told Jebel the names of many of the snakes. He also told the boy about their habits and life span. Jebel wasn’t particularly interested, but it helped the time pass a bit quicker, so he let Tel Hesani babble on and listened with one ear while keeping both eyes on the ground ahead of him.
Several days after sighting their first alligator, as Tel Hesani was telling him about a giant snake that could swallow a person whole, they chanced upon a small village nestled in a clump of trees and reeds. They’d seen a few settlements before, in the distance, surrounded by large fences. The questers had avoided them, since it was common knowledge that people crazy enough to live in these swamps were hostile to strangers and routinely speared passersby.
But this was different. The village stood in the open, apparently unprotected. Tel Hesani assumed there must be a pit around the perimeter, filled with tinder that could be quickly ignited in case of an attack. But he saw no such pit as he studied the village, nor nets, nor traps. It looked like it was open to the elements, at the mercy of the cold-blooded reptiles of the swamp.
The huts were small, with reeds for roofs, and most were built around the stunted trees that were common here. The doorways were unbarred. Children played and chased each other. Several women were baking in a clearing at the center. Others swept out huts or sat talking. They all wore long skirts and no blouses. They had short hair, no longer than a man’s. Many had what looked like scarves wrapped around their necks, but when Jebel saw one of the “scarves” move, he realized they were actually live snakes.
Jebel nudged Tel Hesani and pointed at the snakes, but the slave had already seen them. He was more interested in the men. One was working on the roof of a hut, but the others were gathered around a fire at the end of the village. They were sitting on what seemed to be logs, but Tel Hesani had spent enough time in the swamp to know the difference between a log and a reptile. The men were in fact sitting on alligators. As he watched, he saw some of them pick bits of food from between the alligators’ teeth, polish their scales, and check their claws and limbs.
“I don’t like this,” Jebel whispered. “Let’s move on.”
“Wait,” Tel Hesani said. “These people are strange. I want to study them.”
“Well, I don’t,” Jebel growled. “If they see us, we’re dead. Let’s back off nice and slowly before…” He drew to a halt, eyes bulging out of their swollen sockets. A huge snake was gliding towards them. It looked like it could swallow both man and boy at the same time. Jebel went into a blind panic and fell backwards with a scream. Tel Hesani also lost control and retreated hastily.
The snake slid closer. Jebel fumbled at his scabbard for his sword, but his fingers missed the hilt. Tel Hesani reached for a pair of knives, knowing he’d stand a better chance fighting at close quarters when he was within stabbing range of the snake’s eyes. But before either had a chance to strike, a girl darted ahead of them and threw herself on the snake’s head. Jebel turned and ran, but Tel Hesani lunged after the girl, his fatherly instincts kicking in. Then he felt arms encircle him.
Tel Hesani struggled, but the man holding him muttered in his ear, “Be with peace. We do not harm you.”
The Um Kheshabah paused. The snake was raising its head so that the girl could crawl beneath and tickle its lower jaw. Tel Hesani relaxed, and the man holding him let go. When Tel Hesani turned, he saw that the man was smiling. “We do not harm you,” he said again, then pointed at Jebel, who was still running. “He afraid,” the man laughed.
“He’s only a boy,” Tel Hesani said, returning the man’s smile. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled sharply. Jebel didn’t hear, so Tel Hesani whistled again, then a third time. The final whistle penetrated, and Jebel glanced over his shoulder. When he saw Tel Hesani standing with the villager, and the child playing with the snake, he made a face and stomped back to the slave’s side.
As Jebel reached Tel Hesani, he put his hands together and bowed to the man from the village, then at those who’d followed him — most of the villagers now stood close by. “Greetings,” Jebel said stiffly.
The man nodded. “Peace,” he said, then pointed at the snake. “You need not be afraid. She would not harm you.”
Jebel forced a shaky smile, then told the villager their names.
“I Moharrag,” the man replied, tapping his throat. “I welcome you. No need to fear here. Safe.” Then he led them into the village, clapping at the women and barking an order in his own language, telling them to prepare a meal for their guests and to keep the larger snakes and alligators away from the young one — he looked like a chick that had hatched to find a cat standing over it!
The village was called Khathib. The um Khathib didn’t record time as other tribes did, so they couldn’t say how long the village had been here, but they told Jebel and Tel Hesani that it had been going strong for eight generations. They didn’t have much to do with outsiders but had forged links with some river traders who’d docked close to the village by chance. It was from the traders that Moharrag and a few others had picked up the language of the civilized countries. Moharrag couldn’t communicate fluently, but they could make sense of most of what he said.
The um Khathib lived in harmony with the alligators and snakes. Unlike the rest of the swamp’s human inhabitants, they chose not to fight the natural order but instead embraced it. Over many years they’d learned the ways of the fierce reptiles and formed a bond with them. It had been hard — many um Khathib had died — but they’d persevered and eventually come to be accepted by the animals. They helped the alligators and snakes find food, nursed their young, and patched up their wounds. Occasionally an irritated alligator bit someone, or a hungry snake made off with a baby, but such assaults were rare.
“I don’t understand,” Jebel said, biting into a strip of fishlike meat. “Why live here at all? Abu Nekhele is huge. There’s plenty of safe land elsewhere.”
“This our home,” Moharrag explained. “We part of swamp. We become animals when we die.”
“Do you know what he’s talking about?” Jebel asked Tel Hesani.
“I think so,” the slave answered. “Certain people believe that the world holds a limited number of spirits, which die and are reborn, some as humans, others as animals. The life you lead influences how you return. Good people come back as revered animals, while evil people return, for instance, as insects.”
“Nonsense,” Jebel snorted, but quietly, so as not to offend his hosts. “People can’t be reborn. We perish away to nothing or serve the gods in the heavens when we die.”
“So
“Does your god let the dead return to Makhras?” Jebel asked.
“No,” Tel Hesani said.
“Then you agree with me — it’s madness.”
Tel Hesani shrugged. “I do not mock the beliefs of others. This world is large enough for a thousand religions. Every race has the right to its own.”
“But don’t you want to correct them?” Jebel asked. “If you believe your god is the only god, don’t you want others to recognize that?”
“God doesn’t need
Jebel shook his head scornfully, then pointed at a snake wrapped around an um Khathib woman’s neck. “Maybe that’s your father!”
“Perhaps,” Tel Hesani smiled. “Or maybe it’s one of
“Take care, slave,” Jebel growled, and bit into another chunk of the fishy meat. But when Tel Hesani wasn’t looking, he cast a worried eye over the snake, just in case there were any family resemblances.
Jebel and Tel Hesani spent the next day resting in Khathib. The mosquitoes were less active there, and the um Khathib had oils and plant extracts to deter the flying pests. They smeared Jebel and Tel Hesani with the lotions and taught them how to search for replacements. They also showed them how to capture a rare type of fish. It left a foul taste in your mouth when you ate it, but the juices protected you from diseases spread by the mosquitoes.
