It is as though she would rather fly to heaven than be buried in the ground, thought André. He clutched the knob of the walking stick Frédéric had carved for him from the trunk of a young cedar tree. The strong scent of the wood made him feel nauseated despite the ginger-root tea Malika had brewed. In addition, he was afflicted by vertigo and a dreadful headache.
“Typical symptoms of a concussion,” Thomas had explained. “They will subside soon. But only if you get sufficient bed rest.”
Sibylla’s physician son had been categorically opposed to his attending Tamra’s funeral, but André knew how deeply his wife mourned the old servant and wanted to be by her side at this difficult hour. Tamra had been a mother to her, unconditionally devoted, had known her better and longer than any other human being.
He reached for Aynur’s hand. Her fingers were like ice. She stood motionless next to him, never taking her eyes off Tamra’s body as it was lowered into its narrow grave next to her children, Thiyya and Izza.
Frédéric, Christian, and André Jr. stood on Aynur’s other side. Malika gently supported André’s back. Very slowly, so as not to lose his balance, he turned and looked over at Emily and Sibylla. They hung back next to Thomas and Sabri bin Abdul under the arched adobe gateway leading to the garden. The Ait Zelten were also paying their last respects and had assembled in a silent semicircle around the holly oak.
Before the funeral, their sheikh had paid André a visit. “I am deeply ashamed that men from my tribe have brought death and destruction upon you and yours,” he had said and bowed his head as a sign of his shame. “Today, my sons rode off into the mountains. I have ordered them not to return until they have killed every last one of those cowardly jackals!”
Qaid Samir’s soldiers had already searched for the attackers without finding even the slightest trace. That did not surprise André. He was familiar with the mountains around Qasr el Bahia and knew there were many inaccessible caverns and hidden gorges. Had he been in better condition, he would have ridden off to confront the gang himself. But, he thought, the sheikh’s sons might be able to succeed where Qaid Samir’s men had failed.
André was startled when something fell on his left shoulder. A locust. He shrugged off the insect in disgust and stepped on it. The locust plague had prevented the worst from happening, but looking at the damage to his land made him want to weep. The saffron not yet harvested was lost. Blue-green stumps were all that was left of the plants. The pomegranate, orange, and olive trees were bare. The proud holly oak looked as though it had been plucked.
“When the wind blows through the leaves, that means the tree is singing,” Aynur had always said of this old oak she loved so much. But now its constant, soft song had been silenced.
Aynur shuddered when some of the men began shoveling dirt on Tamra’s body. Her body was racked by shivers. She moaned and began to sway. André thought that she was overcome by grief until he saw her face, covered in sweat.
“You’re not well. Why don’t you go and lie down again? I’ll send Dr. Hopkins to you,” he urged her, trying to support her even though he could hardly stand upright himself.
“Leave me be!” She resisted when he put his arm around her waist. “I just have a little headache.”
“Baba is right, Imma, you belong in bed!” Malika insisted, but Aynur shook her off too. Only when the Ait Zelten had covered Tamra’s body completely did she turn away.
Sibylla had been watching jealously. “I’m a little cold. I think I’ll fetch a shawl from the house,” she said, hurrying off before Emily or Thomas had a chance to react.
“When will you finally understand that Aynur is the most important woman in his life?” she scolded herself with clenched teeth. She pushed open the door to her bedroom and angrily shooed a cat off the bed. She would return to Mogador first thing tomorrow. And Emily must come with her. She had been at Qasr el Bahia long enough!
Sabri and Thomas also had noticed that Aynur was not well. “I’m concerned about you, Madame Rouston,” said Thomas when they reached the arched gate. “I would like to examine you once more.”
Aynur did not answer, but leaned against the mud wall, gasping and exhausted. Although she felt cold, sweat was running down her face and body. Her head pounded and she seemed to have lost control over the cramps making her back muscles shudder.
“Madame Rouston? Can you hear me?” Thomas was extremely worried. As André was slowly regaining his vigor, Aynur seemed to be losing hers.
“I just need to rest a little,” she replied with a forced smile. “You may examine me again after midday prayers.”
“Hakim, please, you must examine her now!” Malika whispered to Thomas.
Thomas watched Aynur stumbling toward the house and nodded. “I’ll run and fetch my bag.”
Sabri frowned. “Do you want me to come along?”
Thomas shook his head. “You go and take care of your patients.”
Sibylla found André standing at the edge of his destroyed saffron field. She had been determined to tell him that she was leaving Qasr el Bahia, but seeing him so crestfallen, she did not have the heart.
“I am so very sorry,” was all she could say and, after briefly hesitating, she placed her hand on his arm.
He turned his face, swollen and bruised, toward her. Dark stubble grew on his chin and a thick bandage circled his head. “Three days ago, there was a purple carpet of flowers blooming in this field. Now everything is destroyed. The locusts did not spare even one single plant.”
“Don’t forget that you have brought in most of the harvest already. And soon saffron crocuses will grow again.”
“There is no certainty of that.” André loosened some of the soil with the tip of his cane and kneeled down with great difficulty. “As I suspected, those pests have laid their eggs here.”
He showed Sibylla the palm of his hand. A little perplexed, she peered at the whitish foam swimming among the pieces of dirt.
“Next spring, the larvae will hatch,” André explained. “And the whole thing may happen again.”
He threw the soil back on the field and struggled to get back to his feet. Sibylla quickly came to his aid.
“Thomas says that you must rest. Please listen to him, André. He is a good doctor.”
André looked ruefully over his ruined saffron field. Finally, he sighed. “I must accept my fate. It was only a few plants. My family is alive. If I believed in a god, I would pray every day for Him to punish those criminals with all His wrath!”
Sibylla cleared her throat. “I’ll be returning to Mogador tomorrow.”
He spun around and tried to suppress a painful groan. His face showed surprise and, much to Sibylla’s delight, regret.
“I’m strongly against it,” he declared firmly. “As long as the attackers are still at large, the area around Qasr el Bahia is not safe.”