Chapter XXXVIII
The first day we rode along the coast with the blue sea on our right hand and yellow sand and brown rocks on our left. We stayed the night at a beduin camp, sleeping in the black tent with our host. The second day we turned inland through a rocky mountain range, climbing up to the village of al-Bada, where we were received into the house of the sheikh of the village.
On the third day we came to the sea at al-Khuraybah and then followed the beach to ash-Sharmah where there were three fishing boats and a dhow drawn up on the sand. Harun spoke to the owner of the dhow, but he was not willing to venture on the sea until Reynauld and his men were defeated and so we went on again.
At al-Muwaylih we halted for our mid-day meal and spoke to another dhow owner, but he had only newly arrived from Egypt and was not willing to leave for at least a week. Late at night we reached Duba and in the morning Harun found a reis who was willing to take him across the sea to Egypt. We bade each other farewell and I watched him sail away in a dhow crowded with pilgrims and a few traders.
In the afternoon Saleh bin Hussein and I mounted the camels and set out for Wej, which we reached in three days, for now that Harun was gone there was no urgency and we could ride easier stages. Every person we met along the way was full of talk of Reynauld and his attacks on the coast, but no one had certain news; all were repeating what they had heard from others who, in all probability, were also repeating tales they had heard.
In Wej, however, I was able to speak to a reis who had seen the ships of Reynauld in the distance but had been able to escape into the port for safety. He reported that there were only five ships, but they were crowded with sailors and fighting men. There was also a merchant from al-Qusayr on the other side of the sea who had lost all his goods when he was waylaid by some of the beduin fighting with Reynauld, for there was a man with white skin and yellow hair with them and directing them in their attacks.
"It so happened," he told me, "that I fell into the hands of Abdullah ibn Bekr, one of the great ones among the beduin and he was content to take my goods and spare my life because, he said, we were Muslims and brothers. All those who fell into the hands of the Frank were slain without mercy and I myself saw him kill five men."
"But he spared you?" I asked.
"By then all my belongings had been taken from me and I was dressed in the rags which ibn Bekr had forsaken for my clothing. How would this Frank know that I was not just another bedu?"
"May God recompense you for your losses," I told him.
"Amin," he replied, "but more than that, may God curse Abdullah ibn Bekr and all his tribe for keeping company with Unbelievers and Franks."
We stayed two days in Wej to rest the camels, then travelled slowly on to Umm Lujj, where we found only ruins and ashes, for Reynauld and his men had attacked the place and destroyed it. From there on most of the towns and villages we passed were battered or destroyed and we had great difficulty in finding enough food for ourselves.
After seven days we reached Yanbo al-Bahr where the whole town was in a ferment for only two days before the fleet of Reynauld de Chatillon had come to the port and landed men who marched around the town, setting fire to all the huts in the fields and burning such crops and trees as were dry enough.
"Did you not go out against them?" I asked the inn keeper.
He shuddered violently. "By the Prophet's beard, no!"
"But you are many," I pointed out.
"Even if we were ten times as many as those Franks, still we would not have dared to attack them. By God, they are ghazis, each man as tall as a tree, with gleaming weapons and fierce faces, and they ride on horses as big as camels. We stayed within our walls and gave thanks to God when they went away again without doing us more harm."
I perceived that he was nothing more than a town Arab and that his fear spoke rather than his head, therefore I left him and went out to the fields to inspect the ruins which still smelled of smoke and burning, partly from curiosity and partly in the hope that I might learn something of the numbers, for nothing that man said could be believed - Franks as tall as trees, hah! The sand on the beach and in the fields bore the marks of many men and at least four horses. However as well as the marks of Frankish boots and sandals there were also many bare feet.
I circled carefully round the town, following the direction of the tracks but when I came to the wadi that runs past the town I noticed two pairs of bare footprints that left the others and headed off up the wadi towards the hills. After considering the matter I went back into the town and summoned Salah.
"We must ride at once," I told him quietly. "I have found something that interests me."
Salah was most reluctant to come, for ever since Wej he had been complaining of his long absence from his home and family, claiming that his date palms and his fields needed care.
"If we find what I think we are going to find," I told him, "then our journey is over and we can return to Aqaba."
We rode out of the town, telling the inn-keeper that we were going to look for grazing for our camels and would return at nightfall. I quickly found the footprints again and we rode swiftly up the wadi, for the prints were easy to follow in the sand. After less than an hour and with the sun still high in the sky the footprints turned towards the side of the wadi where a small valley entered and I feared that the men we were following had turned into the desert and we should lose them among the stones.
Instead, just as we came to the edge of the wadi I saw two men lying in the shade of the cliff, their cloaks over their faces. We turned and rode towards them and as we approached one of the men sat up, saw us and called to his companion. Instantly both men were on their feet with drawn swords in their hands, for we were too close for them to escape by running. We halted about a stone's throw from them.
"Salaam aleikum," I called.
"Aleikum as-salaam," the men replied.
"Kif hak?" I asked.
"Al-hamdu-lillah," they replied.
I tapped my camel's neck with my stick so that it settled down on the sand, then I slid down from its back and stood on the sand. The men stared at me, silent and unmoving. I reached behind me and unhooked the water skin from its place on my saddle.
"I have brought you water," I said, holding out the skin.
There was a moment longer of silence and then the nearest man said, "We are your guests?"
"You are my guests," I said.
At once they put their swords away and each man came forward to touch my right hand with his right hand. Only then did they eagerly hold out their hands and bend their heads while I poured a thin stream of water from the mouth of the waterskin into the hand.
When they were satisfied I gave the skin to the first man and held out my hand and he poured so that I could drink. At that Salah dismounted from his camel and came and drank also.
"Al-hamdu-lillah!" the man exclaimed with feeling. "This is a very dry place."
"Indeed it is," I said, taking the waterskin from him and replacing it on my camel. I sat down and gestured to them to do the same and they did so. I turned my head. "Ya Salah, our guests may be hungry. See if you can find wood for a fire."
When he had gone I leaned forward and smiled at the two men.
"Why did you leave the Lord Reynauld?" I asked.
There was a moment of silence while the men stared at me in astonishment and then the first man shrugged.
"How do you know that we were in service with the Franks?" he asked.
"I followed your tracks," I said.
The man turned to his companion. "You said that there were none but town Arabs here." He turned back to me. "We are your guests; we claim your protection, O host."
"I am not of Yanbo," I said. "I am from al-Quds and I seek nothing but news of Reynauld and his men."
"By God!" the man exclaimed. "We can give you that. We are from Wadi Musa. We took service with the Lord Reynauld because we are poor and hoped to win great riches."
"And have you?" I asked.
The man turned his head and spat. "Huh! We fought to capture many ships and also on the land we fought to capture villages and caravans, but though we suffered the same dangers and hardships, those pigs of Nasranis did not give us our share of the riches. They called us dogs and treated us like dogs, keeping the best food for themselves and taking also all the spoils of our battles. At last we had enough and when opportunity offered we slipped away."
"You are a long way from Wadi Musa," I remarked.
The man nodded. "We intend to wait here for a day or two and then walk into Yanbo, pretending to be pilgrims returning from the haj and seeking charity to help us on our way."
"We have camels," I said, pointing to our beasts with my chin, "and we are going back to Aqaba in the morning. If you will come with me to al-Quds and speak to my master there about what you have seen and heard, we will take you with us and my master will reward you. It will not be great riches, but at least you will not return to your homes with empty hands."
Without hesitation the first man said, "We will come."
The second asked, "Who is your master?"
"He is a Frank called Guy d'Orleans, but he is of the party of those who seek peace. He is no friend to Reynauld and will not hand you over to them, if that is what you fear."
"Bismillah," the second man said. "I am content."
I stood up and looked around for Salah, who was some distance away searching the ground for anything that would burn.
"Ohe! Salah!" I screeched and when he looked at me I waved my hand so that he abandoned his search and came back to us.
"Ya Salah," I said when he was close enough for speech. "Our search is over. Tomorrow we will return to Aqaba."
"Al-hamdu-lillah," Salah replied.
"These men will come also," I told him.
He said nothing, but I was not surprised when later, in the inn, he came to me privately.
"Ya sid," he began, "I agreed with you and with that Syrian for a price, but now there are two extra. My camels are tired and now they cannot rest as they should and perhaps they will die."
"How much?" I asked him.
"Sid, at least two dinars more, two for each man," he said.
It took nearly an hour of bargaining and before we were finished the innkeeper, the two men I had found and the three other guests in the inn were all involved on one side or another. In the end Salah accepted half a dinar for each man over and above the price that had been agreed for Harun and I, but in addition if any of the camels died on the way back to Aqaba I was to recompense him for them.
