‘Forget that stupid dream,’ said Cabbar.
Numan looked up.
‘A delusion like this can do a man in,’ Cabbar continued. ‘And anyway, if you really believed that what you saw in your dream were true, you’d realise that you had to give up on this girl at once. Don’t you see? When as far as I can see, you still haven’t given up on her. You can’t stop thinking of her, and you need to come up with a reason why she won’t have you, and when you can’t find one, then, well, that mind of yours invents one for you. That’s why you need to put this dream right out of your mind, do you understand? Nefise is a virgin with no stains on her reputation.’
‘All right, then,’ said Numan, and now he looked ashamed.
Then suddenly he noticed the piece of string in his hands; he cast it to the ground as if it were a worm.
‘Listen,’ he said then, turning back to Cabbar. ‘I’ve just thought of something. There may be one more thing we need to try.’
‘Don’t you go saying we should kidnap her or anything. I won’t stand for it.’
‘No,’ said Cabbar. ‘I’m not saying we should kidnap her.’
‘Then what are you proposing?’
‘What I’m thinking is that if anyone can solve this problem for us, it’s Ziya Bey. Nefise and the rest of them consider him a member of the family. They have a great deal of respect for him. You know this. If he can speak for us, they won’t turn us down. Don’t you agree?’
Cupping his hands, Cabbar fell silent. As he let his thoughts wander, he looked out over the wall, almost as if he thought he might see the edge of the village, and the vineyards, and Ziya in his barn.
‘They wouldn’t turn us down,’ Numan said again. ‘There’s no way they would go against it, if we had him speaking for us. If Ziya Bey sat down with Nefise and Kenan and their mother and spoke to them for just a few minutes, we’d have an agreement. I’m sure of it. Who knows? Maybe it was fate who sent Ziya to us. I think we should go out there and tell him the whole story in detail — how it all started, and what happened next, and on from there. We can ask him to help us, and if necessary, we can beg him.’
Cabbar gave him an odd look.
‘Don’t get me wrong,’ Numan pleaded. ‘When I said we could beg him, I meant me, not you. I’d whine like a dog for Nefise if I had to. And I’d beg everyone I met, not just Ziya Bey. But one thing is clear: fate sent this man to us, to resolve this matter that’s been left hanging for so many years now.’
Cabbar went and sat back down next to Numan. He looked tired, and he was breathing heavily.
‘You’ve convinced me,’ he said slowly. ‘It’s true — they really do consider him a member of the family. Let’s hope he’s a man of compassion.’
‘He’s a good person,’ said Numan, in a voice that had more confidence than he did. ‘If we tell our story in a way that does us justice, he’ll understand, I think. Please, big brother. Could we go right now and speak with this man? Hey. What do you say?’
‘All right,’ said Cabbar. ‘There’s nothing else we can do, so let’s go out there and talk to him.’
With that, the two brothers stood up. Lit up by hope, and puffing on their cigarettes, they set off for the barn. They had hardly passed through the courtyard gate, though, before Cabbar started in on his warnings. ‘Whatever you do, don’t go telling him about that dream of yours.’ Numan, who kept adjusting his collar as if they were on their way to pick up Nefise herself, promised not to breathe a word of it. He had come out of his funk and turned into a big, smiling child. He kept walking too fast and then, when he noticed it, slowing down, and every time he did that, he’d give his brother another sidelong look. Every once in a while an urge came over him to skip over a branch, or a cowpat, or a bramble or a tuft of grass, but his brother’s presence made him shy, and he held himself back. He skipped over them in his mind, instead, as an imagined breeze pushed him forward, lightening his step, and sending him ahead of his brother yet again.
Ziya was sitting outside the barn, staring at the mountains. His eyes were fixed on a blurry shadow that seemed to have come out of nowhere; he had, at least, never seen it there before. One side of it looked like a jutting cliff, and the other like a crooked old roof. If he looked at it too long, it became a slowly expanding clump of dark earth. He couldn’t tell if it was near or very far away, because the shivering brown mass hovering above the oak forest might have been just beyond it or many kilometres further on, rising from the mists of the red-pine forests. It seemed to be moving, but too slowly for the eye to apprehend. And every time it moved, it drew closer, only to recede.
When he heard Cabbar and Numan coming through the vineyard, Ziya turned his head.
‘Selamünaleykum,’ said Cabbar, as he struggled to catch his breath. ‘Would you mind if we came to visit?’
‘You’re very welcome,’ said Ziya. ‘Please, sit down.’
When the introductions were over, they all sat down on the bench that ran along the wall. Cabbar crossed his legs. Numan shrank into himself, as if to protect himself from the cold. He put his hands between his knees.
‘Thanks so much for coming,’ said Ziya. ‘Until now only Kenan and Besim have been out here. So you’re my first visitors.’
Embarrassed, Cabbar smiled faintly.
Then, for a time, they chatted about nothing and everything. When this interlude came to an end, Ziya got up to brew them some tea, but Cabbar put his hand on his arm and stopped him.
Then he said, ‘Ziya Bey, we have a problem, and we’ve come here to talk it through with you, if you permit.’
Ziya looked at him in surprise.
‘Yes,’ said Cabbar. ‘We came to talk it through with you, because only you can help us solve it. To tell the truth, we see no other way forward. And so we have come to take refuge in your mercy and wisdom. I’m not sure quite how to put it now. . except to say that my brother Numan here has been head over heels in love with Kenan’s sister Nefise since he was this high. Isn’t that true, boy?’
‘It’s true,’ said Numan, as he nodded.
‘So there you have it. Since he was this high, my brother has been singing for Nefise, going to sleep for Nefise, and getting up in the morning for Nefise. There’s no need to beat around the bush. They grew up, these two, and they blossomed, and at last they reached the marrying age. And we got up and consulted with a few wise old men, and then, with God’s blessing, we went over to Kenan’s house with our offer. We went, but we got nowhere. Whatever we did, whatever we said, whatever brook we drew from, we were refused. Let’s throw in some gold coins, we said, and a dozen plaited bracelets, but still the answer was no. We offered to cover all the wedding costs, and buy all the furniture. No, they said. We offered to sign over five dönüms of marshland to Nefise. Again, they said no. And on top of all this, I swear to God, we offered to build a two-storey house at the very top of the village, for the couple to live in, once they were married, but still they refused us. Every time we came with a new offer, they found some way to turn us down. And then, after all that, they upped and said that the girl didn’t want it. The girl had no feelings for my brother. And shut the door! We were dumbstruck, just dumbstruck. We were at our wit’s end, Ziya Bey. We had nowhere to turn, and it was driving us to distraction. This boy here was close to losing his mind, even. He’d just sit there, arms limp, staring across at Nefise’s house. Like a little bird stranded in its nest. His eyes looked like boiled eggs that had just been peeled, and when we saw that we said to ourselves, dear God, we’ve lost him. What I’m trying to say is that the whole family was in tatters. But in the end, we decided to keep trying, of course. We kept going back. Sometimes we sent other men in to argue our case, and each time we did so, we offered them more. But in time, the whole thing went sour. What I mean to say is that we pressed too hard, and the day came when Nefise’s family cut off relations entirely. There we were, trying to join our families, and suddenly we were on the brink of becoming enemies. And so that’s where our two families have been now for quite some time, Kenan especially. If he sees us coming, he hangs his head and changes direction. If he sees us inside a coffeehouse, he won’t come in. He just peers inside and if he sees us, he rushes right off. As I just said, we’ve been teetering on that bitter brink for some time now — we are this far from becoming outright enemies. And meanwhile, the children are getting older. Soon they’ll be too old. And so, in conclusion, we have come here to ask you to take on the delicate task of acting as our ambassador. If you agree, if you were willing to go to the family and recommend this union, you would bring us great happiness, Ziya Bey. Be aware that without your help, it will never come to be. Things will stay as they are. And as you know, there is no task more sacred than this. But that’s all I have to say. The rest lies with your conscience.’