Chapter XCVIII
As soon as it was light enough, I rose and dressed and then left the cave, partly to look again for fuel and mainly so that Trudy could dress without shame. In the light it was easy enough to find a place where dry thistles lay beneath wet ones and nearby there was a tree with one branch that seemed to be dead. With difficulty I broke it off and carried it back to the cave and then, using a flint, I managed to light a small fire.
After that I left on foot for Gibran, partly so that I might speak to the steward and mainly because in our haste we had neglected to bring any food with us.
The household was just coming to life when I knocked softly on the gate, ready to run if it was one of the strangers who opened. After a long time I heard footsteps approach the gate and a familiar voice called, "Who is there?"
"Fuad," I called back. "Let me in."
A moment later I head the bolts being drawn and the postern swung open. I stepped through and thanked the serving girl who had opened the gate.
"Are they asleep?" I asked her in a whisper.
"Like pigs," she hissed.
"Did their master come?"
"Yes," she nodded. "May he rot in hell. He is an arrogant son of a dog, ordering us all around and finding fault with everything, even the food that was set before him - and it was his own servants who prepared it!"
"I want a word with the steward," I told her, "but also we need some food. Can you bring me something?"
"Gladly," she replied, "If only to stop those sons of Shaitan eating it."
The girl hurried away to the kitchen and I crossed the courtyard and rapped on the steward's door. He must have been asleep because it took a while before he came and opened the door, but as soon as he saw me he dragged me inside and shut the door.
"By God, Fuad! I thought you were safely away. Why have you come back?"
I grinned ruefully. "We forgot to take any food," I told him.
"Take as much as you want," the steward said. "Take the lot. Those men are rude, discourteous, arrogant. Even if he wants me to continue as steward, I think I will leave and I suspect the other servants will do the same. Better to starve by the roadside than endure that sort of master."
"Of course," I said thoughtfully, "it may be his means of ensuring that you do leave of your own will."
"Whether it is a pretence or his true nature, I will leave within the week and my curse will remain on him and on this estate the Sultan has given him."
The steward sat down in his chair and waved me to a cushion on the floor. "Actually, it is good that you have come back, for otherwise I would have had to search for you. What about Sir Guy's treasure?"
"Some might say that it belongs to the new owner," I teased him.
"By Our Lady!" the steward exploded. "I will bury it myself rather than see a single coin fall into that man's hands."
I grinned. "Then I think that you and I should deal with it," I said. "I am charged to take es-Sitt to her grandmother and for that I will need money. Also she will need money to establish herself in her own country. However we cannot carry a caravan of goods through the land of our enemies, so let us visit the place where this treasure is stored. I will take what can be carried easily and in hiding, the rest I give to you."
"And the Lady Ermintrude?" the steward asked.
"She will agree," I assured him.
Someone knocked on the door then and the steward opened to let the serving girl in. She was carrying a huge bag of food - several chickens, bread, greens, fruit, and many other things. There was so much that I had to beg her to help me carry it. I described where we were to the steward and arranged for him to come there as soon as he could, and then the serving girl and I left to carry the food to Trudy.
Along the way I picked up some more wood, so that I was doubly burdened by the time we got back to the cave, but it was as well that I had done so, for the fire was dying down by the time we got back. The serving girl had included a small bronze cauldron, a piece of thoughtfulness for which I rewarded her with a gold coin and our thanks, and with her help Trudy managed to cook a good hot breakfast for us all, after which the serving girl returned to Gibran and Trudy and I sat and waited for the steward.
He arrived mid-morning carrying an ungainly bundle which he placed on the floor of the cave.
"I thought you might need these," he said, unwrapping the bundle and handing me my Muslim weapons, my shield, helmet and curved sword.
"What will I do with this?" I asked, gesturing towards the straight sword.
"Give it to me," the steward said, frowning darkly. "I may yet have a use for it."
Together he and I went to the hiding place where he had placed Sid Guy's treasure, an abandoned tomb whose walls were decorated with colourful paintings. In the heap on the floor there were things like alabaster vases from Egypt, fine pottery from Byzantium and inlaid furniture, all of which were worth a good deal but which were far too large and heavy for me to carry. There was also a pile of bags containing gold and silver coins and also jewels. These I divided into two piles.
"You choose one of the piles and I will take the other," I told the steward. "The furniture and other things I resign."
The man protested, but I told him that it was only fair that his hard work as steward of Gibran should be rewarded. I also told him that he could, from his half, give gifts to any of the servants who wished to leave and on that he ceased to protest and instead thanked me, for in truth the situation of those cast off in this unsettled time - and in winter - would not be an easy one.
"Have you given thought as to how you will carry this?" the steward asked me as I stuffed the treasure into my saddlebags.
"On the donkeys," I said proudly. "We can put our clothes on one and there are two others."
"And if you are stopped by robbers?" the steward asked.
"Mashallah," I shrugged. "What can we do?"
The steward opened his bag and took two empty waterskins from his saddlebag.
"Put your treasure in these," he said, holding them out to me. "Robbers will search your clothes and your bags but if God is good, they will not look inside a waterskin - particularly as water is heavy and they will not notice the extra heaviness of the gold."
"Wallah!" I said, astonished at the man's wisdom. "You are very clever."
With his help I divided the bags of treasure between the two waterskins and then we rode a short distance to a nearby farm and filled the waterskins at the well and by God, the man was right. Unless you looked carefully, they seemed to be nothing but waterskins and the water deadened the chinking of the coins as the skins were moved.
When we got back to the cave we loaded the waterskins onto two of the donkeys and put our clothes on the other one, then we saddled up our horses and made ready to depart.
"May God go with you," the steward said, raising his hand in farewell.
"May God keep you," I said, mounting my horse.
Trudy, however, led her horse over to the steward. "Is there a priest near here?" she asked.
The steward looked surprised. "There is a church in the next village along this road," he said. "The priest is Father Antonio."
"What's he like?" Trudy asked. "Is he very strict?"
The steward pursed his lips. "Yes, he is very strict. In fact, he is not well liked because of it."
With that Trudy put her arms around his neck and kissed him and thanked him, then she mounted her horse and we rode away from that place.
"Now where are we going?" Trudy asked when we were out of sight of the steward.
"We will go to my father's tents," I said. "I have an idea for taking us safely to wherever you want to go. Why did you ask for a priest?"
"To marry us," she said, smiling at me. "Another night like last night and I fear we might fall into sin." Her face grew serious. "Alas, I doubt that this Father Antonio will do. Someone strict would never marry me to a Muslim."
Actually, we never came to the village, for before we came in sight of it I turned off the road and led the way over the hills, keeping the sun at my back. I had no desire to meet anyone who might covet either my gold or my woman.
