as an assistant and confident during the War of Liberation, managed to get him a rehabilitation posting to a place that no other person in the military would ever have been sent, unless of course, their predicament had been similarly precarious.
Three years previously Capitain Kaleb, using only the files that had been made available to him, had worked out that in his regiment, twenty of the men were guilty of murder, fifteen of rape, sixty of armed robbery and countless others of theft, fraud, desertion and petty crime. These statistics, he had quickly realised, meant that he would have to draw on every drop of his experience and employ every ounce of shrewdness and brute force that he possessed in order to stay on top.
The respect he inspired was second only to the fear that the men there felt for his right-hand man, Sargeant Malik-el-Haideri. He was a thin, small man who looked weak and ill, but who was so cruel, shrewd and brave that he had managed to control that gang of beasts and survived five attempts on his life and two knife fights. Malik was, more often than not, behind the deaths labelled “natural causes,” while two of the men who had committed suicide, had blown their brains out just to get away from him.
Now, seated on the peak of the highest dune that looked over the eastern side of the oasis, which was more than one hundred meters high and gilded with age, its core hard, the sand inside it having almost turned to stone, Sergeant Malik watched his men disinterestedly as they shovelled sand off the smaller dunes, which were threatening to engulf the furthest of the wells. Through his binoculars his eyes suddenly came to rest on a solitary rider who had just appeared on a white mehari and who seemed to be approaching the post, in no apparent hurry. He wondered what a Targui was doing in that godforsaken place since they had stopped using the Adoras wells about six years ago and had not made any contact with them since. The Bedouin caravans arrived less and less frequently and when they did, they would make a watering hole, rest for a few days on the furthest side of the oasis, keeping their women hidden and ensuring that they had absolutely no contact with the soldiers there. Then they would get on their way quickly, relieved that there had not been any trouble during their stay. But the Tuaregs were different. When the Tuaregs stopped to use the wells they would walk around with their heads held high, almost defiantly, allowing their woman to walk around freely, their faces uncovered and their legs and arms exposed to the air, despite the fact that the men living there had not enjoyed a woman for many years. They were also quick to reach for their rifles or sharp, curved daggers if anyone dared to cross them.
But after two warriors and three soldiers died once during a brawl, the sons of the wind had preferred to put a distance between themselves and the military post. But this solitary rider was coming resolutely towards them, approaching the last crest, silhouetted against the afternoon sun and his clothes billowing in the wind. Finally, he entered the palm grove and stopped next to the northern well, some one hundred meters from the first of the camp’s huts.
He slid down the dune unhurriedly, crossed the camp and went over to the Targui who was giving water to his camel, this animal that was capable of drinking one hundred litres of water in one sitting alone.
‘Aselam, aleikum!’
‘Metulem, metulem,’ Gazel replied.
‘That is a fine beast you have there. And very thirsty.’
‘We’ve come a long way.’
‘Where from?’
‘From the north.’
Sargeant Malik-el-Haideri hated the Targui veil because he took pride in being able to judge from a man’s expression whether or not he was lying. This was never possible with a Targui as you could only see their eyes and they were only ever partially exposed and usually became smaller whenever they began to talk. Their voices were also distorted by it, which meant that he no choice but to believe him, since he had seen him arrive from the north and had no reason to suspect that Gazel would have made a huge diversion in order to make it appear that he was coming from any other direction.
‘Where are you going?’
‘South.’
He left his camel sprawled out, his belly full to bursting with water, satisfied and bloated, and started collecting wood with which to make himself a small fire.
‘You can eat with the soldiers,’ he told him.
Gazel pulled back a piece of cloth revealing the still succulent antelope, covered in dry blood.
‘You can eat with me if you want. In exchange for your water.’
Sargeant Malik’s stomach cried out. It had been more than fifteen days since the hunters had caught any prey. Over the years the animals had moved away from the surrounding area and there was not one true Bedouin among them, so their knowledge of the desert and its inhabitants was very limited.
‘The water is for everyone,’ he replied. ‘But I would very much like to take you up on your offer. Where did you catch it?’
Gazel laughed inwardly at the clumsiness of his deception.
‘In the north,’ he replied.
He had gathered all the wood he now needed and taking a seat on the saddle blanket, he took out some flint and a wick, but Malik offered him some matches.
‘Use these,’ he said. ‘They’re easier.’
Once the fire was lit, he refused to take them back.
‘Keep them. We’ve got lots more in the store.’
He sat down opposite him and watched as he hooked the antelope’s legs over the ramrod of his rifle and prepared it for a slow roast over a gentle fire.
‘Are you looking for work in the south?’
‘I’m looking for a caravan.’
‘Caravans don’t pass by here much at this time of year. The last one came through about a month ago.’
‘Mine awaits me,’ came his enigmatic reply. The sergeant stared at him blankly.
‘It has been waiting for me for over fifty years,’ he added.
‘The “great caravan?”’ he finally exclaimed. ‘You’re in search of the legendary “great caravan?” Are you mad?’
‘It’s not a legend. My uncle was in it and I am not mad. But my cousin Suleiman, who spends his miserable days lugging bricks back and forth, he is, however, mad.’
‘Nobody comes back alive when they go off in search of that caravan.’
Gazel gestured with his head to the stone graves that could just be made out between a few palm trees at the end of the oasis.
‘They are no more dead than they are over there. And if they’d found it they’d be rich forever.’
‘But these “lost lands” are unforgiving: there’s no water or vegetation for your camel to eat, shade for shelter or any point of reference to help guide you. It’s hell!’
‘I know,’ the Targui conceded. ‘I’ve crossed one twice’
‘You’ve crossed a “lost land?”’ he repeated, aghast.
‘Twice.’
