14
REIDA HAD NEVER been keen to talk about his family. Hearing from Deyu that his mother ran some sort of school made me wonder why.
“I need you now,” I said. “I need you to introduce me to some influential people in the clan.”
He looked down. “I don’t know.”
“Your family still lives there, don’t they?”
“They do, but you’re my family now.”
“Could we visit them or someone else you think might be able to talk to us about the clan, land ownership or plans for land use?”
“The Ezmi clan have nothing to do with the valley.” He sounded defensive.
“I know. I want to talk about their visions for the future in general.”
That seemed to surprise him. “But the Ezmi clan doesn’t—”
“I know. It has no leadership. It doesn’t do loyalty networks, people don’t have the sheya instinct. Yet somehow t
