The Witch Woman's Prophecy

18 | The Greater Harn |

Days later we approached Polemmy, and the number of travellers on the road grew. The noise hurt my ears after so many days of travelling in near silence, goats bleated, donkeys brayed, camels and cows bellowed. To the experienced travellers on the road, I must have looked like the country boy I was; eyes wide at each new sight, mouth gaping most of the time. There were traders with strange animals to sell, vendors with goods strapped onto the backs of their beasts, and some of the people chattered away in a language that I did not understand.

The dust flung up by many feet, both human and animal, stung my eyes and made me cough. As I choked and spat out sand, I realised this was one reason why Soni wore her scarf wrapped across her mouth and nose. I dug out a scrap of cloth and did the same which made travelling in the crowd more pleasant. I still had difficulty in thinking of Soni as a girl. She had been a boy to me for so much longer that my mind occasionally slipped. I hoped that I would soon see her face without its protective scarf, and I spent long hours dreaming of what she might look like as my camel continued to plod towards Polemmy.

Most of the other travellers had dark hair and skin like me, but a few had lighter skin. They reminded me a little of the people I'd seen in my dreams of the silver-haired woman, although their robes were made of ordinary linen or cotton, not the brightly-coloured, shimmering fabric I had dreamed of.

There was a new tang in the air which grew stronger as we trekked along the road; a smell of decay that swept over me, distinct from that of dung, both human and animal, and the general stink of too many unwashed bodies close together. The road twisted around a rocky headland and I saw the source of the smell.

'The Greater Harn,' said Soni, sweeping her arm towards the river.

I blinked in surprise. I had expected a wide stretch of water but instead saw an expanse of dried mud which stretched off towards the horizon. In the distance I could just glimpse a brown flow of water, though it was almost hidden by the reeds and other plants that grew beside it. A few wispy clouds, like drifts of white feathers, floated in the blueness of the afternoon sky, but they were too high and thin to deposit their burden of water here.

'It's not what I expected,' I told her. 'I thought it would be much bigger.'

'It should be. Before the drought began, it was wide and blue, sparkling under the sun. Now it is as you see it. Many years ago, in my grandmother's time, the Harn used to come almost to the walls of Polemmy, and ships came from other lands to trade for Polemmy's goods. But there have been no ships for as long as I can remember.' I could tell from her downcast eyes that she was sad and I did not ask her what a ship was.

Two large birds with white bodies, black heads and long black legs flew over us, their wings clapped as though they were applauding themselves on their own appearance.

'I've never seen birds like those before,' I said, pointing at them, wanting to lighten her mood.

'Those are ibises.'

The word was unfamiliar in my mouth and I had to say it a few times before I felt as though I was saying a real word. Soni's eyes crinkled up at the corners; she was smiling at me from beneath her blue scarf and I was glad I had taken her mind from her troubles.

'They are going to delve in the soft mud near at the edge of the water with their long beaks to find food. But I must warn you that not all of the animals that live in the Greater Harn are as beautiful and harmless as the ibises. There are also monsters we call crocodiles. They lay in wait for animals who are foolish enough to venture out to the river, and they have long jaws full of sharp teeth which never let go of their prey. They grab the animal and drag it down into the water where they eat it. People are sometimes taken, so it is dangerous to collect water from the river where they lurk.'