Chapter 12

The wives got about half of what the admission was in Kashgar and Samarkand in concessions, but the booth set up to trade the sweets and 'expensive water' over the next few days brought in that much again. Some families traded for a piece of halvah, and carefully divided it into half a dozen tiny bits, allowing a number of people to share the taste. John was reminded of very expensive chocolates or truffles.

John obtained some hemp seeds, thinking about how useful the fibers from the plant's stalk could be for making rope. He could probably grow a crop in the time it took to build a worthy ship, and be able to provide stout cordage for the rigging. In the meanwhile, his troupe could be making wealth entertaining, or working on their shares companies piecework. Perhaps there would be some hulls he could adapt to being a hull for a cat, or a trimaran. That would be a shortcut to give him a boat or ship much sooner. If he made a trimaran, perhaps the animals could be brought in the center hull. It was a lot to consider, but he made a point to remember his ideas for later.

Talus and Sukuli were often seen keeping company, Talus would ask Sukuli "Up!" And she would snake her large head down, he would have to swing his leg over, and she would toss him up in a flip to land on her back. Often as not, he would stand on her back, balancing on bare feet as she roamed around the gathering, following his spoken commands or requests if she felt like it, or going where she wanted to go otherwise. Sometimes Talus would slip from her back and go his own way, if he insisted and she did also.

But, after they each expressed their independence, (and probably they were both sensitive on this point, since they were a camel and a child respectively, ) they got together again, and were soon exploring and adventuring happily together. There was lots of twine, as it was a common activity for all the people of the clans to rub the flax stalks into fibers and twist them into twine, much more so since the introduction of the kites.

John made sure the caravan traded for a good supply of twine, to replace that traded off in Samarkand. Zithrusa wasn't able to find dates or figs, but a certain amount of sesame was obtained, and dried stocks were replaced, legumes and nuts, grains and dried vegetables. The travel garbanzos were secured.

Eventually it was time to go, the gather had to scatter to find fodder and forage. The farewells were said, friendships sworn, troths pledged and families parted as young men and women went with their new family to make a new life. Time enough for reunions the next gathering, a year hence. The caravan packed up, and if there were a few new faces, or a few no longer seen, that was the way of things, and change while keeping the same traditions was what the families of clan were all about.

It was late in the year for caravans, especially going west. John was glad that the only horses left were desert hardened ponies who could go far on little water, and eat forage of branches leaves and scrub the same as the camels. As much weight as possible was traded off, the saddles were given away to the family of Butalus, and the ponies were ridden with the pads once again. Most of the loads of the camels were highly wealth concentrated goods, food, extra water, and bulk raw goods such as wool, raw silk, and John's carving wood.

The habit of traveling in the cool night saved the animals very much, the humans on foot as well. The pace was increased, and sometimes a half day rest during the heat of the day at a wadi with limited water and forage, and an early start that afternoon got them past a bottleneck of limited resources and into a richer stretch, with more water and greenery.

As long as the animals and people were in good shape, John pushed the pace, able to use the night to forge ahead. In the few places where there was no forage for the animals, they got a short ration of dried beans, but the drovers tried to avoid that extremity. John hoped he was the very last caravan for the year, because there wasn't enough left behind them to support two camels.

Suddenly there was more than enough forage. John stopped the caravan, to rest up for a few days, and to send out scouts to find the caravan they must have passed in the night. Tuk led his little nomads out in the night, looking from the high places for the light of camp fires. At around dawn, they found the caravan, it was quite large, and had goats and sheep with them, and many horses, few camels. Also, the goods transported were slaves, there were no crafts, trade items, or raw materials, just slaves and food, guards and animals in poor condition. Tuk and his nomads crept back to the caravan and reported to John and his wives.

John held a meeting of the entire caravan, the subtle language being spoken in the early morning light of dawn. Everyone had a chance to speak, and Tuk summed it up. If they did nothing, the entire lost caravan would die, because they were following a dry riverbed and not the caravan trail anymore. They had no idea of their predicament.