Читать книгу Rayan - Son of the Desert - Indira Jackson - Страница 13

The group of young people were gathered tightly together, all around Rayan. He had been so brave. But what for? He was in a terrible condition. They had been given water and a blanket. Sachra managed to force small amounts of water into him. She was the only woman in the group, small, petite and with her hair cut short like the men. She considered herself a warrior as well.

"If he gets a fever, he will not make it through the night. I really do not understand how his own father … what a monster!“ Tears were shimmering in her brown eyes. Her boyfriend Ibrahim replied softly: "Maybe it is for the best like that. I mean, not waking up again. Think of the pain that he would suffer. And he would not have to live through the spectacle tomorrow.“ Sachra just stared at him without a word, what could she say anyway?

About an hour before midnight she woke up because Ibrahim was gently touching her arm and said: “Believe it or not, I have found an open gate … This could be our last hope to get away.“ Sachra thought for a moment: "But it could be a trap as well, which is more likely.“ However, Ibrahim had already woken the others: "Quiet! We have to be absolutely silent.“ And to Sachra he said: "So what? if it is a trap – do I care? Tomorrow we will be dead anyway. I’d prefer to struggle with a trap, because at least then we will all die fighting.“

Their next concern was about Rayan. What could they do with him? To leave him here was not an option. “I know what we can do”, said Sachra, “his grandparents do not live far from here. We will take him to them. There he has a better chance to survive. Even if they find him there, hopefully his grandmother can save him from the Sheikh. After all, His Excellency was once her son-in-law.“ Ibrahim just needed some time to think this over, then he nodded in agreement. “It’s a good idea.“

Quietly the friends were sneaking out of the corral in which they had been put – one by one. They succeeded in quietly knocking out one of the guards.

After that they split up: three of them crept off to the north in order to make their way up to the rebel settlement. Ibrahim, Sachra and another guy in the group carried the still unconscious Rayan in the direction of his grandmother’s place. Of course the heaviest part of his body was carried by the two men.

Two hard hours later they arrived at grandmother Eleonora’s place, where she lived together with her husband Youssef. They knocked on the door and got her out of bed.

Eleonora was the reason why Rayan had blue eyes, in spite of his Arabian lineage. She had passed them onto her daughter Miriam, Rayan’s mother. Eleonora came from Germany and had stayed in Arabia because of her love for Youssef. In the same hut they still lived in, their only daughter Miriam had been born.

In spite of Eleonora being at least 60 at the time, she was agile and quick and everyone that knew about her temper was careful not to aggravate her.

After a brief explanation, the friends left the severely wounded Rayan with the elderly woman and continued onwards, in order to get themselves to safety somewhere else.

Eleonora was horror-struck by the sheer number of bloody wounds on Rayan’s back. When she began to clean them with gentle movements, tears were streaming down her cheeks. Even in the unlikely event that Rayan was physically strong enough to survive this torture, he would be blemished and severely scarred for the rest of his life, not to mention any of the mental consequences.