Children of Gebelaawi (50 page)

squashed it. He looked at it for a while in disgust, then stood

up and went on his way.

7 2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Qaasi m 's house welcomed a new life and the poor people of

the sector joined in the celebrations. The baby was called

lhsaan after Qaasim's mother whom he had never seen. With

her birth the house became used to tears and messes and

sleepless nigh t.s, but she also brought joy and satisfaction. But

why did the baby's father sometimes seem far away, staring into

space as if weighed down by cares? Qamar became deeply

uneasy, and asked him one time:

- Are you worried about your health?

- I'm fi ne.

- But you 're not your usual self.

He lowered his eyes.

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- God knows what's wrong with me.

She hesitated before asking:

- Is there something about me you don 't like?

He denied it firmly.

- No body's dearer to me than you; not even our little girl.

She sighed.

- Perhaps it's the Evil Eye.

H e smiled.

- Perhaps!

She recited a charm and burn t incense for him and prayed

for him in her heart. One night she was wakened by Ihsaan

crying and did not fi nd him beside her. At first she thought he

had not yet come back from the cafe, but when the baby

stopped crying, she noticed a deep silence such as normally

fell on ly some time after the cafes had closed. Doubts assailed

her, and she got up to look out of the win dow. She saw that

complete darkness covered the sleeping Alley. She went back

to the baby, who had started crying again , and fed her. She

wondered what could have kept him till this hour for the first

time in their life together. Ihsaan fell asleep and she left the

bed to go to the window again.

Not hearing a sound, she went to the hall and woke Sakeena.

The maid sat up drowsily then jumped up in alarm. Her

mistress told her why she had come and Sakeena decided at

once to go to Zakaria to enquire about her master. Qamar

asked herself what could have kept him at his uncle's till such

an hour, and she knew at once that the answer left no hope.

Still she did not stop Sakeena from going, perhaps because she

hoped for something unexpected or because she wanted at

least to ask for his uncle's help in her distress. When Sakeena

had gone, Qamar wondered again what had kept him; could

it have anything to do with the change that had come over

him? Might it be connected with his evening walks i n the

desert?

Zakaria and Hassan woke in alarm atSakeena's calls. Hassan

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said Qaasim had not joined him that evening. Zakaria asked

when his nephew had left home, and Sakeena answered that

it had been early in the afternoon. The three of them then set

out; Hassan wen t to the neighboring tenement-house and

came back with Saadiq, who said anxiously:

- It wi ll soon be dawn. Where can he have gone?

Hassan said:

- Perhaps he fell asleep out at the Rock.

Zakaria told the maid to go back to her mistress and tell her

they were setting out to look for him in the most likely places.

The three men made for the desert. They felt the dampness of

the autumn night and wound their turbans more tightly round

their heads. They walked along, guided by the crescent of the

waning moon, which had appeared in a star-studded patch of

sky revealed by a gap in the clouds. Hassan shouted in a

piercing voice: 'Qaasim .. . Qaasi m ! ' , and the cliffs ofMuqattam

threw back the echo. They hurried on to Hind's Rock, round

which they walked searching the ground, but they found no

trace of him. Zakaria asked i n a thick voice:

- Where can he have gone? He isn't a rake, and he doesn ' t

have any enemies.

Hassan murmured in despair:

- And there's nothing else that would make him run away.

Saadiq remembered that there were bandits i n the desert,

and his heart san k, but he said nothing. Zakaria asked without

conviction:

- Could he be with Mr Yahiaa?

The two young men both let out what sounded like a

desperate appeal:

- Mr Yahiaa!

But Zakaria mused un happily:

- What could make him stay there?

They walked in si lence to the edge of the desert, overcome

by dark thoughts. Far away they heard a cock crow, but the sky

grew no lighter because of the thick cloud. Saadiq moaned:

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'Where are you, Qaasim?' The mission seemed hopeless, but

they walked on till they stood in front ofYahiaa's hut which was

sunk i n sleep. Zakaria went up and banged on the door with his

fist, till Yahiaa's voice was heard:

- Who's there?

The door opened and his figure appeared, leaning on his

stick. Zakaria apologized:

- Sorry to disturb you ! We've come to ask about Qaasim.

Yahiaa said calmly:

- I've been expecting you.

Their spirits revived for the first time, but at once they

became anxious again. Zakaria asked:

- Do you have news of him?

- He's inside, asleep.

- Is he all right?

- I hope so. (Then, trying to sound natural:) He's all right

now. Bu t some of my neighbors, coming back from Otouf,

found him at Hind's Rock, unconscious. They carried him to

me and I sp lashed perfume on his face till he came round. But

he seemed exhausted and I left him to rest, and soon he was

fast asleep.

Zakaria said reproachfully:

- If only you'd sent word to us.

He said very gently:

- They came in the middle of the night; there was nobody

I could send.

Saadiq said anxiously:

- He must be ill.

The old man said:

- He' l l be better in the morning.

Hassan said:

- Let's wake him, to be sure about him.

But Yahiaa was firm:

- We must wait till he wakes by himself.

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7 3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He was sitting up i n bed, his back propped against the

pillow, the blanket pulled right up over his chest, and his eyes

were thoughtful. Qamar sat at the foot of the bed, holding

Ihsaan in her arms. The baby was waving her arms and maki ng

strange little noises whose meaning nobody could tell. A fine

thread of smoke rose from the i ncense burning i n the middle

of the room, twirling and breaki ng and spreading, seeming to

divulge a fragran t secret. Qaasim stretched his hand out to the

bedside table, took his cup of caraway infusion, sipped from i t

slowly, and p u t i t back, leaving only the dregs. His wife talked

to the baby and played with her. But the anxious looks she stole

at her husband showed that her attention to the baby was only

to hide her feelings. At last she asked him:

- How are you now?

He turned his head involuntarily towards the closed door,

then looked back at her and said quietly:

- What I have is not an ill ness.

She looked bewildered.

- I'm glad to hear it, bu t for God's sake tell me what it is.

He seemed to hesitate for a while, then said:

- I don ' t know. No, that's not what I should say. I know the

whole thing, but. . . The fact is, I'm afraid the easy days are over.

I hsaan suddenly began to cry. Qamar quickly gave her a

nipple, then looked at him, searching anxiously to know more.

- Why?

He sighed and pointed to his heart, sayi ng:

- I have a big secret here, too big for me to bear alone.

She grew still more anxious and said:

- Tell me about it, Qaasim.

l-Ie sal back a little, his eyes serious and determined.

- I ' ll reveal i t for the first time; you're the first to hear it. But

you must believe me; I'm telling nothing but the truth. Yesterday evening something amazing happened out there at the 313

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foot of Hind's Rock when I was alone i n the desert night.

He swallowed hard. She encouraged him with a warm look.

He went on:

- I was sitting watching the crescent moon rise. Soon it was

hidden by cloud and it went so dark that I thought of getting

up when suddenly a voice spoke close to me: 'Good evening,

Qaasim ! ' I trembled at the shock. No noise or movement had

warned of it. I looked up and saw the shape of a man standing

a step away from where I sat. I couldn't make out his face but

I could see his white turban and the cloak wrapped round him.

I hid my confusion and said: 'Good evening. Who are you?' He

answered, and what do you think he said?

Qamar nodded anxiously.

- Tell me; I can't wait to hear.

- He said to me: 'I am Qindeel. ' I was surprised and said:

' I beg your pardon, 1.. . ' but he i nterrupted me: 'I'm Qindeel,

servant of Gebelaawi. '

She exclaimed:

- What did he say?

- He said: ' I' m Qindeel, servant of Gebelaawi. '

S h e was s o amazed that her nipple slipped from Ihsaan's

mouth. The baby's face puckered up ready to cry, but Qamar

gave her back the nipple. She grew pale.

- Qindeel, the Founder's servant?! Nobody knows anything about the Founder's servants. The Trustee himself prepares the things needed at the Great House, and then his

servants leave them to be collected from the garden by the one

of the Founder's servants.

- Yes, this is all the Alley knows. But that's what he said to

me.

- And you believed him?

- I stood up at once, partly out of politeness and partly to

be ready to defend myself if need be. I asked him how I was to

know he was telli ng the truth . He said calmly: 'Follow me if you

like, and watch me go back to the Great House. ' My mind was

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set at rest and I said to myself: 'I'll believe him so that he'll

explai n what he's doing. ' I didn't h ide my delight at meeting

him and I asked him how our Ancestor is and what he does ...

Qamar interrupted him i n astonishment.

- All this passed between you?

- Yes! For God's sake, listen! He told me our Ancestor is

well, but he said no more than that. Then I asked whether he

knows what goes on in the Alley. He answered that he does

know everything and is aware of every event, great or small, and

that because of this he'd sen t him to me.

- To you !

Qaasi m frowned his an noyance.

- That's what he said. It was obvious that I was astounded,

but he took no notice and said: 'Perhaps he chose you because

of your wisdom on the day of the theft and your loyalty to your

family. l-Ie informs you that all the people of the Alley are

equally his children, that the Trust is equally their i nheritance,

that strongmen are an evil to be got rid of and that the Alley

must become an extension of the Great House.' Silence fell,

and I seemed to have lost the power of speech. Looking up at

his head I saw the clouds roll back to reveal the crescent moon

in a clear patch of sky. I asked him politely: 'Why does he

i nform me of this? ' 'So that you yourself can bring it about. '

- You !

He co ntinued in a trembling voice:

-That's what he said. I was goi ng to ask him to explai n, but

he took leave of me and went off. I followed him and thought

I saw him climb to the top of the wall overlooking the desert up

a very long ladder, or somethi ng like that. I stood in amazement. Then I went back to where I had been, meani ng to go to Yahiaa's, but I fainted and only came round i n his hut.

There was silence in the room again, and Qamar did not

take her astonished eyes off his face. Ihsaan fell asleep as she

sucked, and her head rested on her mother's arm. Qamar laid

her gen tly on the bed, then looked again at her husband wi th

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anxious eyes and a pale face. From the Alley came the harsh

voice of Omnibus i nsulting someone, whose cries and groans

announced the blows that fell on him. Then Omnibus's voice

was heard again as he went off uttering warnings and threats.

His victim shouted in a voice of anger and despair: 'Gebelaawi ! '

Qaasim was upset by the way his wife looked a t him, and

wondered: 'What can she thin k of me?' And she said to herself:

'He's a truthfu l man who's never lied to me; and why should

he make up such a story? He's honest and didn ' t want my

money, though it would have been safe to get it; why should he

want the Trust's money, which is so dangerous to get? I wonder

whether the easy days are really over? ' She asked:

- Am I the first person you've told your secret to?

He nodded. She went on:

- Qaasim, our lives are one, and I care for you more than

for myself. This secret of yours is dangerous, and its consequences can't be hidden from you. But try hard to remember; did it really happen or was it a dream?

He said with conviction and some indignation: