Betrayed
Friday, after the midday service at the Mosque, Anwar came down from the altar and motioned Abduljama and Jamaani to stay and talk with him. “I have heard rumors of slavers in the area. Please come upstairs with me.”
Once in the privacy of his apartment, Anwar began. “My brother talks about a special iron cage that has been brought into the area, but he cannot say where it is now. Neither can he say what makes it special, only that its arrival was anticipated." Anwar looked a little embarrassed as he continued. “These men deal mostly in criminals, but it is also said that they deal in young women and girls. It might be a deal with the devil, but we ignore their traffic through our town, and they never take from us. They come through about twice a year.
Since none of us can afford what they sell, these men are rarely seen in the market except when buying what they need. Jamaani, it's probably nothing.” Anwar was struggling with this. He didn't want to believe slavery could touch his village, but deep down, he knew better. “Jamaani, I think it would be wise for you and Zalika to move into town for the time being, at least until the slavers move on. Abduljama, can you take Jamaani and his wife into your home?”
“Of course, these are my friends.” Then, with a grin and a look at Jamaani, “I have been looking for an excuse to get them into town ever since I met them.”
Jamaani looked worried. He could pick out only a word here and there of Anwar’s Arabic, but the tone was clear, and with Abduljama’s translation, he could follow the conversation. “Zalika will take this hard. Dutch slavers destroyed her village, killed her mother, and carried her friend away. She will want to leave and hide in the woods.”
I know nothing of these Dutch, but I do know slavers. They will take anything that isn’t watched carefully. Your camp is not in town. If they take you from there, they will insist they have kept to the agreement.
“Thank you, and peace be upon you. My friend will heed your advice, or I will knock him in the head until he does." Abduljama got to his feet and waited for Jamaani to follow.
Jamaani brightened as he stood up. “This will work out. Just you wait and see.” Then he and Abduljama left to meet the women.
“So, there you are. Tell me what was so important that you had to stay and discuss it with Anwar?” Wema’s tone was far more teasing than accusatory.
Jamaani shot Abduljama a look and moved to stand behind Zalika. He could see her body tense, indicating she knew something was wrong.
Abduljama waited for Jamaani to get to Zalika before speaking. “Anwar has heard rumors of slavers in the area. There must be something different this time to cause him concern. They come through about twice every year, but this time he sounded worried.
The thought of slavers led Zalika to think of the Dutch. Thinking of the Dutch hit Zalika like a physical blow. She was out the door and running before she realized she was moving. She ran to the far side of the market before she regained control enough to stop and think. The zebra part of her soul still desperately wanted to run, but the human intellect knew that she must have a plan, because without one, she was powerless against this threat.
By the time Jamaani found her, she was covered in sweat and trembling, but she was walking back to Abduljama’s house. This was a good sign. Jamaani was quite sure he couldn’t have caught her if she hadn’t stopped on her own. Before today, he had never fully appreciated just how quick the zebra made her. When she spooked, he reached for her but came up empty-handed and off balance. He avoided falling on his face by chasing after her.
Back at Abduljama’s house, it took the three of them to calm Zalika down, but that was more an illusion than reality. Zalika felt her world descending into darkness, like it had when she watched her father lose his mind. They needed a plan, but she didn’t know what the slavers would do, leaving her to relive her fears. The sights, sounds, and smells of the attack that killed her mother, her father’s descent into madness, lions leaping from cover, and captivity with the Maasai dominated her thoughts. The zebra part of her soul was screaming to run, back to the herd.
For the next several days, Zalika remained inside Abduljama’s house. She spent most of her time mindlessly weaving simple baskets. As soon as one was finished, she would start another, each just like the one before. When she wasn’t weaving, she ate, drank, and sweated constantly. She never slept unless someone else was awake and watching. She constantly struggled with the zebra part of her soul’s need to run.
Delilah, what should I do? I have asked Allah for guidance in this, but if He has told me what to do, I am too foolish to understand. We should protect them from these men. I am sure it is the right thing to do. If we do that, these men will destroy our town and take our children, and I am just as sure I must protect the town and our children.
Can you sneak them out of town and to safety?
Anwar took a deep breath before answering, “I could send them to my brother. He could hide them for a little while, but who would guide them? Men, I do not know, follow me whenever I am outside the house.” Anwar looked at his wife. “I was asked by a man unknown to me, ‘What did I think a zebra was worth?’ I said I did not know. He said, ‘In the right market, more than all the children in a small town like this.’ I am frightened by these men and what they might do.”
Abida, who had been listening to the conversation from the kitchen, entered the room. “I will lead them. I am happy to be rid of the jinn, and I would be glad to see the slavers move on. They watch you, but they do not watch a woman. I can go where you cannot.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Don’t be a fool, child, this is not some game. These are dangerous men.” Anwar was much harsher with his words than he meant to be, but the thought of his children being harmed was too great a risk. The two of them argued, or rather, he argued while Abida calmly answered his arguments until he had enough and firmly told her no. That was meant to end the discussion, but his daughter knew better. She would have her way on this, as she did with most things she really wanted.
After her parents went to bed, Abida dressed herself and quietly slipped outside. The thought of talking to a strange man felt very wrong, but here was an opportunity to get rid of the jinn. For that, she was willing to speak to anyone she needed to. If someone was watching the house, she knew exactly where they would be. As a small child, she had hidden among the tables and stalls at the market many times, while her brother Cadi looked for her, only to scamper across the street and slip back into the house as soon as he moved away from the door. It didn’t take her long to spot a man watching the house. “Do you seek the zebra woman?”
“Return to your house, woman. It is improper for you to be here.”
“Very well,” Abida was quite frightened by this point. She was speaking to a man she believed to be a slaver in the dark, and no one knew she was here. She meant to do exactly what he told her to do and return to her house. She was surprised to hear herself say, “My father will ask me to guide the Jinn to his brother south of town. I will do just that, and the jinn will be out of my life.”
Trembling as she returned to her bed, Abida had broken trust with her father and was about to betray the jinn. But the jinn had to go. Her father would realize this as soon as he was free from their magic. He would thank her for saving him from them. She had also spoken to a man who did things she couldn’t even imagine, and on a level that had thrilled her.
Ten days after the first warning, Cadi and Abida came to the house. Cadi spoke with Abduljama, “My father bids you well, but he must send sad news. The slavers have come for the jinn. They threaten to search every house if the jinn do not come out. My father says that they delay only because they do not know which house the jinn are in.”
At this news, Zalika’s compulsion to run was threatening to overwhelm every other thought. It took almost all her willpower to pace and let the boy finish talking.
Cadi continued, “My father says he will delay the slavers as long as he can, but Jamaani and Zalika must leave. Abida can lead you to my uncle, and he will delay them if he can while you escape. My father apologizes for not coming himself, but they watch him constantly. He says you should leave as soon as it is dark.” Cadi left without his sister and returned home.
With a defined threat and a plan, even if it's a poor one, Zalika’s mind had something to work on other than the vague fear of what might happen. Now she could work on the details of what to do next, and once out of town, she could relax and calm the panic felt by the zebra part of her soul. Once in the forest, they could disappear, but where would they go? Worry about that when they are away from here. In the meantime, with a plan and nothing else to do but wait until dark, she could finally sleep.
Just before dark, Abida woke Zalika. “Come, it is time for me to lead you out of my life. Here, wear this. The night will be cold.” Abida handed Zalika a black woolen dress and a black headscarf. Zalika started to say something about not wearing a scarf, but Abida cut her off. “It will mask the shape of your head. Even without your stripes, you are too easily recognized.” Abida tied the scarf in place, holding Zalika’s ears and mane down. It was not exactly comfortable, but Abida’s warning made sense.
Abduljama and Wema left first. They were to walk from shadow to shadow back to Anwar’s home behind the mosque. A few minutes later, Abida led Zalika and Jamaani to the west side of town and out onto the open grassland. The path did not look heavily used, but was easy enough to follow. Soon, the town and the creek would be behind them. The openness of the land around them reassured the zebra part of Zalika’s soul. Threats could be seen from a great distance, and to the zebra, anything that could be seen in time could be outrun.
“We will follow this trail until we reach a line of trees. The path will turn south, and we will follow it to my uncle’s town. We should be there by morning.” Abida was not looking at either of them when she spoke. Instead, she was alternately looking back towards her home and at a stand of trees just south of the path they were on.
The light wind coming from the north smelled of dust and not much else. Jamaani would have felt more comfortable if the wind had come from the south, where it might carry a warning of a possible threat from the trees. This open grassland left him feeling quite exposed.
Zalika heard the soft, quiet noises of horses. Sounds of a herd spoke to the mare of safety. To Zalika’s human intellect, this was out of place. What are horses doing out here, and why weren’t they grazing? When she heard the creak of leather, she perceived the trap they were headed into. “Abida, run home now!”
“They are for you, not me. I had to do this to save my home from your magic. It was your magic that brought these men here to our village, and the threat of them will leave when they take you.” Abida stood with her back to the trees, as a handful of mounted men rode out of cover.
“I hope to have time for this conversation later, but right now, ladies, we must run. Abida, go home. Zalika and I will run for the trees. If you make it home, send help.” Jamaani grabbed Zalika’s hand, planning to lead her toward the trees, but was again surprised by her speed, as he found himself pulled along by her as they ran.
When Zalika looked back with a slight tilt of her head, Abida was still standing where they had parted. Four riders chased Jamaani and Zalika, while one approached Abida. Her scream told Zalika she had been taken. It quickly became clear to Zalika that they couldn't outrun these men on horses any better than she could outrun the herd. At least in the short run, over a great enough distance, she could run anything to exhaustion, including Jamaani, and that was the problem. If they both reached the woods, they could escape, but Jamaani was getting winded. She would soon outpace him, and so would the horses. Can I carry him? Not the whole distance, but part of it, if he can run just another half minute… Her thoughts were interrupted by Jamaani’s winded voice. “Run like you have never run before. This will work out, just you wait and see.” As he let go of her hand.
Along with his voice, Zalika could hear from the sound of hoofbeats that at least one of the riders was very close. She dared a glance over her shoulder to see Jamaani veer to his right, directly into the path of the lead horse and rider. The sounds that followed would stay with her: Jamaani’s roar, the rider’s curses, the horse’s scream, and the crash. Zalika’s wide-set eyes made it all too easy to see the terrible crash unfold. She could do nothing about the sounds, but she could close her eyes and run until only the noise of pounding feet remained.
When she looked again, two of the three remaining riders had veered hard to the right and left of the tangle that had been their companion and her first love. For the very first time, the human part of her soul needed to run more than the mare. Zalika ran as fast as she could make herself go. Later, she would cry, but for now she would indeed ‘run like she had never run before.’
The woods were close now, and the horses chasing her were beginning to tire. Jamaani had given her the edge she needed to reach the safety of the woods ahead of the riders. Once in the woods, she could lose them quickly. At the first line of trees, she dared another look back to see her pursuers falling behind. She couldn’t stop running yet, but it was only a matter of time before their horses gave out. By morning, she would be long gone, and alone.
Zalika’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a flash of movement, a great pain in her chest, and the sensation of tumbling through space into oblivion.