Muezzinland by Stephen Palmer Read Free Book Online

chuckled. Looking south she tried to spot the glow of Ashanti City, but all was dark.
    There was a silhouette moving towards her. Immediately alert she drew her weapons, laying the dart gun on the ground. This could be an accomplice of Msavitar's; though, on reflection, such a person would be unlikely to approach so openly.
    Then she recognised the walk, the figure. Gmoulaye.
    She ran down to greet her friend.
    "Gmoulaye! I'm here."
    "Shhh!" came the reply. "You will have something onto us."
    Nshalla hugged her friend. "It's you!"
    "I thought about what I said, and I realised I could not let you walk on alone. It is not what I wanted, but…"
    "I'm glad you followed me."
    "You both, " Gmoulaye said.
    Nshalla nodded. "You saw his tracks. Msavitar is his name. I don't know much about him, but I had no choice but to take him on."
    "You did right choosing a companion," Gmoulaye said, "but only time will tell what sort of a man he is."
    "We could dump him right now."
    Gmoulaye shook her head. "He cannot overpower us. I will search his belongings when he sleeps tonight to check for aether devices. We may need him, for I know where you are going."
    "Timbuktu. It's at least two month's walk to the north. You'll come all the way?"
    "If the spirits allow it."
    Nshalla laughed, greatly relieved. "Then you'd better come and meet Msavitar the guide."

Chapter 4
    Ejura, the nearest town to Ashanti City, lay two days off. Nshalla expended considerable effort trying to rid herself of the obsequious Msavitar, but he clung like a leech, despite his obvious dislike for Gmoulaye. In turn Gmoulaye thought little of him. They walked north, speaking little, Nshalla's mind boiling with plots to distance herself from the little man.
    For herself, she felt no enmity towards Msavitar, but Gmoulaye's appearance rendered him superfluous; and he was restricting chatter with her friend. When a goatherd girl asked her who her friend was, she replied, "He's no friend, just a guide." Gmoulaye chuckled.
    From Ejura they made north through hilly, dessicated terrain towards Kintampo, a stretch they estimated would take four days. Msavitar earned his cowrie guiding them with transputers through a maze of dried riverbeds, crevasses, and hillocks. Gmoulaye, apparently stung by his display of worth, though she said nothing outright, made extra efforts collecting food, dislodging animals from trees and locating campsites.
    On the third night out from Ejura a disagreement arose. Nshalla decided to tell Msavitar that they would not require his services once they had made Kintampo, an unsubtle attempt that made him laugh.
    "How will you pass through Volta Blanc?" he asked.
    "Where?" they chorused.
    "You see, you don't know where it is. Oh, it would be an outrage if I were to leave you in the clutches of the men of that country."
    "What is it?" Nshalla asked.
    "I, Msavitar, shall take you through that terrible land, and maybe earn an extra cowrie for my trouble. Volta Blanc is the country of men. All the male criminals for many kilometres around go there, to live a purely male existence. Women are banned. They have no children. The men there are all fantastically ugly and they are afraid of mothers. They fear water. I myself, brave heart that I am, have been through Volta Blanc, for the only way to pass through is on the riverboat. I shall escort you there, have no worries, and you will be safe."
    Never having heard of Volta Blanc, Nshalla had no answer to this. It could be true; there were thousands of countries in Aphrica. Or Msavitar could be lying for his own purposes.
    "Fair enough," she said. "We'll keep you for the riverboat ride at least."
    "And somewhat further," he replied, grinning, "for there are many difficulties ahead, many, oh so many."
    Kintampo was deserted except for nomadic goatherds sheltering in tumbledown huts, so they began the six day march towards Daboya, where they hoped to board a riverboat.
    Woodland was now becoming dry savanna with only