“But definitely bad-tempered.” He turned to Korgan. “It would probably be better if I talked to you. You might be bad-tempered, but I don’t have to worry about damaging your ego by accusing you of being fragile.” He was walking toward them. “And I really don’t have time for all this at the moment. I have to get back on the road.” He was pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolding it. “And no, this isn’t a map to Jubaldar. Even I’m not that good.” He pointed to two X’s on the map that appeared to be some distance apart. “Samlir and Kabada. Two villages that looked most promising to the elders. They’re both high in the mountains and cut off from the other Berber villages for most of the year. That’s why they didn’t know much about them.” He paused. “Except my contact, Roj Cazvar, whom I dealt with when I was up here before searching for Masenak. He’s a trader who travels through the mountains and brings supplies and goods to the tribes. At that time he said he didn’t know anything about Masenak, but I paid him to be on the lookout for anything I might find interesting and let me know. He might have come through for me this time. Again, no word about Masenak, but Cazvar says that both those villages are clearly barely able to eke out a living. Yet lately they seem to have a decent enough income to purchase his goods with practically no bargaining. But they’re very vague about where those funds come from. And nervous, very nervous. You’d think that they’d be bragging about any sudden influx of wealth.”

“Unless they were told they’d get their throats cut if they talked too much,” Korgan said. “You think it’s worth exploring?”

“I thought I’d head for Samlir after I leave you tonight. Cazvar is going to take me to meet a few friends he made among those villagers thanks to your extreme generosity. One or two of them are on the village council. With a few more bribes, you can never tell where it will lead me.”

Alisa was gazing at the map. “I’m going to go with you.”

“Not possible,” Gilroy said. “You’d blow it for me. If you want to help, go check out the other village, Kabada, and see if it pans out.”

Samlir seemed a much better prospect, but there was no way she’d chance blowing his mission. “Okay, as soon as Margaret gets here, we’ll head for this Kabada and see what we can find out.”

“You’ll have to leave the Land Rover and be on foot for the last fifteen miles of the trip.”

“What a terrible fate for someone as fragile as I am,” she said ironically. “Perhaps if I ask nicely, Korgan can help me make it through.”