Chapter Six
The cooling desert night is settling around the circle of tents. A cluster of perhaps two-dozen men, women, and children are sitting on their haunches in a wide ring around a blazing fire, nibbling on the bones of an antelope. However, their meal is suddenly interrupted. Anxious eyes look up from the fire’s glow to see a man gasping for breath. He waves his hands in exasperation.
A large man stands up. “When?” he asks. “Where?”
“When the sun was high, Ketbel” the man says, catching his breath while gesturing into the distance. “We were stalking an antelope in the hills. Jurbel walked one way. I another. I fled when I saw them.”
“Is he dead?” asks Ketbel.
“Surely he is.”
“Surely?”
“Yes.”
“Did they follow you?”
“I can not say.”
A young girl jumps to her feet. She shakes her fists in the air and stammers loudly, “We should -uh- find them and -uh- kill them all!”
“Silence, Inni! There are too many! They have metal blades!”
She shakes her head wildly, tosses back her black hair, and yells, “HE WAS YOUR -UH- BROTHER!”
Ketbel flexes his thick arms and gestures toward her with command in his voice. “Be quiet, Inni! You are young!”
Inni swipes her thumb against her nose. She flashes her teeth and turns and storms away, shaking her hips fiercely.
Ketbel watches her walk away. He shrugs his shoulders. “Tomorrow morning we must move on,” he says. The others sadly nod.
* * *
Nut hears voices but he can barely open his eyes. A hand shoos the flies away from his face.
“Does he live?” a girl’s voice asks.
“See, -uh- he -uh- breathes.” says another girl. “Go -uh- get Ketbel. I will stay -uh- here.”
She brushes back her black, matted hair. She reaches into her pouch and takes out a thick root. She breaks it open and squeezes the juice into his mouth.
* * *
​