The Chase Page 0,48

answer," and solve all their problems for them.

Aba did none of these things. Instead, after several minutes of quiet sitting, she said, "You know, last light I dreamed a Hausa story my mother used to tell me, It's been a long, long time since I thought of that story. I wonder if I didn't dream it for you."

"For us?"

"Yes. Maybe I was meant to tell it to you." She sat back and thought for a moment, then began, "The story is about a boy and a girl who were in love. But one day, as they were sitting on their mat together, Iblis came along and cut off the boy's head and killed him."

"Iblis?" The name sounded vaguely familiar to Jenny. "Who's that?"

"Ms," Aba said gravely, "is the prince of darkness, the prince of the aljunnu- "

"The genies," Dee said, her eyes flashing at Jenny.

"Yes," Aba said. "But in our folklore the aljunnu were not kind genies. They were powerful and evil pits, and Iblis was their leader. My mother never told me why he cut the boy's head off-but then Iblis always liked to do evil and mischief; maybe he had to particular reason. In any case, Iblis killed the boy, and the girl could do nothing but sit on the mat and

cry. After a while the boy's parents came along, and when they saw what had happened, they began to cry, too.

"Then Iblis came back. He waved his hand, and the ground rocked. In front of the boy there appeared a river of fire, a river of water, and a river of cobras. And Iblis turned to the boy's mother and said, "If you would like to bring your son back to life, all you have to do is swim through the three rivers to get him."

"Yeah, right," Michael muttered almost inaudibly. Aba smiled at him and went on.

"But," she said, "the boy's mother was afraid. She turned to her husband, but he was just as frightened.

"Then the girl jumped up. 'I'll do it,' she said. Naturally, she was terribly afraid, but her love for the boy was stronger than her fear. Without another word the girl dived into the river of fire. The ire burned her, of course-my mother always said 'the fire burned her like fire'-but she swam through it and leaped into the river of water. And the water choked her-like water-but the girl struggled through it and fell into the river of snakes. And the snakes struck at her-"

"-like snakes-" Dee put in, grinning.

"-but the girl managed to stumble through them, and the next thing she knew she had reached the boy.

"As soon as she touched him, the boy's head flew to his shoulders and he jumped up, alive and well. Iblis left, cursing, to do his mischief in some other part of the world. And I suppose the boy and the girl got married, although I don't really remember what my mother said about that.

"Well," Aba said, looking around at them. "That's the story as my mother told it to me. I don't know what meaning it has for you-maybe none. But you've heard it now."

"Maybe it just means that love can be stronger than fear," Jenny said softly.

"Maybe it means you can't trust your parents," Michael said, absolutely deadpan, and Aba laughed.

"I like Jenny's interpretation better. But as I said, there may be no meaning. Or possibly it's just a story about the relative powers of good and evil."

Jenny looked up quickly. "Do you believe in good and evil?"

"Oh, yes. Very strongly. And I believe that evil sometimes has to be fought-personally. Hand to hand. If you care enough to do it."

Michael stirred. "You know what they say about kids our age. That we don't care about right or wrong or anything. That we don't even care about the future."

"Yeah, like the Baby Busters," Dee said, grinning.

"Naw, we're too young even to be Baby Busters. We're the Busted Babies."

Jenny spoke seriously. "It's not true. We do care. You care, Michael, more than just about anybody I've ever known. You pretend you don't, but you do. And that's why Audrey loves-" She stopped because Michael was looking away, his sarcastic spaniel eyes filmed over. "We're going to find Audrey," she said, her own throat tight.

"I know," Michael said and rubbed at the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"I wish I could help," Aba said. "But I'm an old woman. My fighting days are over."

"Well, mine aren't," Dee said, raising a slim arm