Water - Flash Fiction Part I

Chuck Wendig's blog has a challenge this week (200 Words at a Time, Part One), where you write the beginning to a story, 200 words or less, and then next week, everyone chooses another's work to continue with another 200 words, and then the week after we round-robin again, and so on until the usual 1,000-word total is written.  I decided to try it - here's my start at 200 words even!
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The sandcat softly chuffed as it crouched, its dun coat speckled with black blending into the sandy floor.  The black tip of its twitching tail could be seen from the watering hole where antelope drank their fill, their white tails glowing in the dawn.  He tensed, and the beasts galloped off, to bells tinkling and soft hoofbeats as the caravan approached.  The big cat coughed in disgust as it stalked off, ignoring the approaching dust and ruckus. 

A swarthy man hustled a young woman down from a horse, pushed her to her knees, and addressed the older man who approached them both, “See, wiseman, as promised, the girl can sense water on the wind...”

“Silence!” he interrupted, before turning to the girl in a burnoose covering her from head to toe.  He peered above the veil, “Well, girl, you seem to be talented enough.  How do you sense the water?” 

Sana raised her head.  “I close my eyes until I see the sun blazing behind my lids.  Then I wait to see where darkness covers the sun.  It is in that direction.”  She bowed her head, staring at her bound hands. 

“Well, Hanara, she has magic.  Let’s deal.”