Aliyyah by Chris Dolan
Author:Chris Dolan [Chris Dolan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781908251497
Publisher: Vagabond Voices
Published: 2015-08-28T04:00:00+00:00
That evening, having walked Aliyyah to the old main door, Haldane strolled a little longer by himself through the dusk. He heard voices that at first he assumed came from the great chamber. But passing it, a few lamps and tapers still flickering, he saw there was no one there. The voices were somewhere outside, beyond the old wall that concealed the shower fountain. He ventured further in that direction, quickly picking up a path that he calculated must branch off from the dust road that led back to the porch and main door. The voices were further from the house, however, and Haldane followed the sound. He assumed he was hearing Duban and Ma’ahaba, discussing something happily.
Night falling fast now, he tripped once or twice on roots and stones and scratched his finger on a thorn. To one side the wall loomed darkly behind bushes and trees and this new path followed its contour. Turning a gradual bend he saw a light emerging from an opening in the centre of a copse of trees. At first he thought it must be a campfire. Closer still he could make out the silhouette of a man, lit but not by flames. The light didn’t flicker but still came from the ground around the man’s feet. Little glowing oblong pools, like fairy lights. The man was sitting, but even so Haldane could see he was much bulkier than Duban. The soldier’s protective instincts kicked in and he crouched low, studying the terrain in front of him, picking a line of least resistance to get nearer without being seen or heard.
The stranger was dressed in the outfit that many of the subjects of the portraits wore: a round cap, khaki shirt with gun belt and some kind of tabard over his shoulders. Next to him, at the edge of the faint but steady light given out by those strange little rectangles, Haldane thought he could make out a rifle, lying against the bench or rock the man was sitting on.
He was talking calmly, telling a story, but to whom, Haldane couldn’t see. The story didn’t seem particularly important or serious, the man at ease and comfortable in his surroundings. Haldane decided not to risk getting any closer – whether there was any danger or not he couldn’t be certain – but moved to one side trying to see who the stranger was talking to. And just as he saw her, as she leaned into the mysterious gloaming and he glimpsed her covered face, thinking at once she was Aliyyah, the woman and the soldier burst into loud laughter. Ma’ahaba – for it was she – immediately put her finger to her face to subdue the man’s guffaws, but still chuckling herself.
There was an easy familiarity about them. As if all she wanted was not to disturb anyone trying to sleep rather than keeping their meeting clandestine. When their laughter subsided Ma’ahaba spoke in her language to the visitor and she made no attempt to keep her voice low.
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