Part 72 (1/2)

rAttlesnAke teAm

Four days ago . . .

The town was barely that-just a desperate cl.u.s.ter of a few tents, mud buildings, and the open mouth of a cave inside of which was the local bazaar. Finn O'Leary barely remembered coming here.There were tattered memories of a goatherd and his wife taking him in, cleaning him, was.h.i.+ng his body, forcing mutton stew down his throat. Praying over him. Or maybe near him; Finn couldn't be sure.

When he could speak-sometime during the second day-Finn croaked, ”Where am I?”

They told him. A place called Haykal. He'd never heard of it.

”My sons found you walking on the road,” said the father, then he hesitated. He was a stick of a man with light brown eyes filled with shadows. Living as a simple farmer in a country that hadn't known peace in his lifetime probably aged him beyond his years. He said,”You were in a fight, yes? A battle?”

Finn didn't ask how the man knew. Finn was aware enough to remember that his clothes had been covered in blood.

Even so, he didn't answer. Soldiers don't answer those questions, and the little farmer didn't push it.

”You are not injured,” the farmer said.

”Yes,” said Finn,”I am.”

He opened his s.h.i.+rt to show this old man the hand-shaped burn on his chest.

The man did not look at it. He turned his head, closed his eyes, and began to pray very quickly and fervently.

Finn pulled his s.h.i.+rt closed.

”I'm sorry,” he said, though he didn't quite understand what he was apologizing for.

Without turning to face him, the old man said,”The person you need to talk to is here.”

”What person? What are you talking about?”

”He is a black marketer,” said the man, still not looking at him.”A criminal. A bad man who has forgotten the name of G.o.d.”

Finn said nothing.

”His name is Aziz. He knows about such things.”The old man stood up. ”When you are well, I will take you to him. He can be found in a very bad place, a place where criminals meet. I cannot ask such a man into this house. I am poor and worthless, but we live according to the teachings of the Prophet, and we cannot have such a person here.”