On the road

South of Fang

Voah and Gonyaul - You fall into the routine of the Atsigani camp and travel for the next few days. The Silent People are cordial, but you feel it's more to do with the payment their leader secured from you than from a sense of innate friendliness.

You help where you are directed. Gonyaul you get sent to gather wood when needed, tending to the horses, feeding them after a days march and brushing them down, before they are put into a makeshift padlock, which is no more that a large rope tied in a circle. You help to keep watch at night also but never alone.

There is no escaping the sense that The Walking People don't fully trust outsiders.

Voah on the other hand, you are dragged into more menial tasks, with the other women. Washing, cleaning, cutting and peeling vegetables, preparing meals and fetching water for the camp. You realise quickly that if you had not paid to accompany the Atsigani your would be having your meals with the women and children away from the main group.

During your days with the travellers, you catch glimpses of other aspects of their life. You see men teaching children how to juggle and tumble. Some perform feats of accuracy with knives and stones. A very large and thin man stands apart from the main camp almost everyday for one hour or two, chanting while he sits and twists and turns his appendages into impossible angles.

One evening Zargani tells you that in two days you will reach Desdem. Time for you to start discussing the next leg of your trip and what preparations you might require.