Chapter 5

"Have you finished thinking yet, darling! You don't have all the time in the world, you know!" The two girls were preparing to sleep on the open air straw mattresses where they rested for such a brief time under the stars every night.

Lilly had been working with Angelina for three weeks now and, apart from the first time, she had not raised the subject of her friend's agreeing to go back to her life as a female gladiator. She knew she should keep pressing her new friend and lover, but the pleasure of Angelina's company made her reluctant to lose her too soon. When the older woman had gone, Lilly would be alone for the rest of her life. Finally she saw that a reminder might be timely.

"Yes, Lilly. I have finished thinking. We can't have Marina joining us here! She's not tough like we are, Lilly. A month of this would kill her. I'll try and catch a guard's attention. I hate to leave you here, though! I really hate that! I've come to love you like a sister... No - not a sister - a lover - a wife! A part of me will be left behind when I go."

"Remember Martha! Remember the girl I killed to save my own worthless hide, Angelina! Remember that I killed her! I belong here paying my debt. And you belong in the free world. All I ask is that you do not forget me. As long as I know there is even a tiny corner of your mind where my memory lingers, I shall be content."

"You can rest assured about that last point, darling."

Then they were taken to the latest dig. In the first week Lilly had asked Angelina why the members of the chain gang wore no chains!

"It seems a bit odd, being on a chain gang and unchained! Don't get me wrong, Angelina! I'm not complaining!"

"Chains are to stop people running away. But you can see for yourself there is nowhere to run. No need to chain us, my sweet! And a piece of advice! Don't talk to me when you're working, Lilly! It's dangerous. The guards don't like it and more importantly, you need to concentrate on your work every second of the day. We're stark naked Lilly. Remember that! If you hit any part of your sweet body, especially a foot or a shin, with that pickaxe, you'll get no treatment and may never recover. There are lots of little bones in the feet, Lilly. That's why I ignored you yesterday. I wasn't being unfriendly, darling. It was for your own good."

Lilly might have managed not to damage herself with the pickaxe. She was a quick witted and extremely nimble girl with lightning reflexes that had made her unbeatable in the ring. But she had suffered the impact of countless flying chips. In no time at all she had as many tiny little scars on the front of her body as she had big ugly ones on her back. Early on she had appreciated how important it was not to get any chips in the eye and kept hers narrowed to tiny slits.

In any sensibly run outfit all the women would be wearing goggles and heavy reinforced footwear. But there was nothing sensible about the situation she was in and would be in for ever. The idea behind all this was clearly to punish and humiliate. There were hundreds of more efficient ways of getting at the ore. The brain behind this was one that hated women, especially white women. And she thought she knew who he was!

She was amazed at how calmly she had come to accept her fate. It was even enjoyable thus far. The hard work was certainly doing her muscles no harm, although the lack of running and skipping practice would mean that her legs would be going downhill from a boxing standpoint. Unhappily, though, she would never box again. Unlike Angelina, this was a part of her life she would always miss terribly. It was the one thing that made her hope that maybe she might be brought back to the prison - and to Karl. She'd fight whenever they asked her - just as long as she wasn't asked to kill again. But Hargreaves would never let her be released from the slave camp. Never. Not after she had spat in his face and sworn at him. She had seen that look of sheer hatred cross his face. She would be here for ever alright!

"I don't like it, Mr Marcelinus! There's been plenty of time for Angelina to be brought back. Even if she was a bit out of practice, she'd surely be in fighting trim by this time. I'm going to hand myself in soon. One way or another, I want to see her again!"

"Be patient, Marina! Your friend can't be having an easy time making up her mind. She loathed that bloody fighting business. She swore many times that she would never raise her fists in anger again and she meant it! That much I have learnt! They whipped that girl many times and she still defied them. It will take many weeks before she finally caves in, even when she knows you are here and that there are friends to help her escape... Give her time, Marina!"

"Did they whip her in public? Like poor Lilly?"

"Yes. And before you ask, I saw her. She was as brave as Lilly the other week. They will make a fine pair, the two of them. I wonder if Angelina will be able to part from Lilly after working side by side in the blistering heat for this long? If Angelina is not back in town inside another six months, she is never coming back, and in that case you must go home, Marina. If your friend decides to stay where she is, she will not thank you for joining her. And you would not survive long, as Lilly and Angelina certainly will!"

"Don't underestimate me, Mr Marcelinus! I am not quite as fragile as I look!"

But Marina knew she could not hope to last too long on those dreadful desert work details. All her talk of joining Angelina was mere bravado! Even so, she would not leave this country without her! She knew she had to stay.

Every day she went to the market in the hope of seeing her friend in action and every day she was disappointed. She saw snake charmers, she saw exotic dancers and near naked female wrestlers who seemed to be making wild passionate love rather than to be wrestling. The crowd loved the wrestlers! But no lady boxers and certainly no white ones for seven weeks after Lilly's horrible departure.