Chapter 6: Sent Away

It comes as no surprise that I’m being sent away. I’m not told the details of whatever agreement has been reached between Mistress Rachael and a rough looking man whom Phoebe calls Claw. All I’m told is that Claw is to be my new master, and that I’ll be leaving in the morning.

My mental preparations for my departure are disturbed that evening by an unexpected visitor to my cell. Throughout my stay at Wadi Halaf, Mistress Rachael has rarely spoken to me directly. Consequently her arrival in my cell takes me by surprise. Farai accompanies her, presumably as an interpreter to help with any sign language required. My knowledge of the local language has improved to the extent that I can understand simple sentences, but I need to ask for clarification when given more complex instructions.

“Your departure is a poor reward for your loyalty and bravery,” says Mistress Rachael to me. “Unfortunately, we live in difficult times and my options are limited. Ramiro will give you one last task to perform for me, after which your duties to me are complete. However, if you are ever in need of a safe haven, then you will always find shelter at Wadi Halaf while I run the caravanserai.”

Mistress Rachael and Farai leave me bemused by their final words. It’s only when Ramiro enters my cell later that I begin to understand what is happening. What he asks of me is dangerous, but we both know it isn’t beyond my abilities. The very fact that Ramiro trusts me to carry out the task encourages me to agree. As a slave belonging to a new owner, I should only obey my new master. However, I have been treated well at Wadi Halaf, while my new master has the appearance and manner of someone who regards slaves as mere objects to be used and abused.

Early the next morning I’m taken from my cell and helped onto the back of a hay wagon parked in the caravanserai’s courtyard. Two shabbily dressed men are in charge of the wagon. I doubt they are aware of what is going on, nor that Ramiro gave me the key to my shackles. Since I’ve few hiding places open to me, I’ve secreted the key up my arse. Hopefully nobody will be tempted to bugger me before we reach wherever we are going. The men may not even be aware that the foulmouthed merchant who threatened Mistress Rachael lies in a drugged sleep under the hay. Everything is being done in secret, and it strikes me as strange that I’m one of the few people who knows what is going on.

Ramiro’s instructions to me are simple. Claw has offered to dispose of the merchant somewhere far away. Ramiro presumes that Claw intends to sell the merchant in a distant unregistered slave market, much in the same way I was sold into slavery. I’m only surprised that the merchant’s family and friends haven’t been tearing the city apart trying to find him. Perhaps his obnoxious manner has deprived him any true friends. My role on this journey is to observe that Claw and his men carry out their side of the bargain. The captured merchant must be wealthy. He might be able to negotiate an alternative deal with Claw, and induce Claw into betraying Mistress Rachael.

I’m not expected to prevent any betrayal, since that would be well beyond my means. However, at the first sign of trouble, and I’m encouraged to use the hidden key to free myself from my fetters and escape. Ramiro has a man following the wagon at a safe distance, and he will bring me back to Wadi Halaf to raise the alarm.

We leave the city on the south road. Before long we turn off the main road and take a narrow dirt track heading in a southwesterly direction. I suppose this is typical bandit country, and it doesn’t surprise me when Claw and three more of his men intercept the wagon a few hours later. The wagon is driven into the surrounding forest, and hidden among some trees. I’m told to disembark. Only then is the unconscious merchant’s presence under the hay revealed. We rest for an hour or so while the merchant recovers from his stupor. Unsurprisingly, he’s not happy about his treatment. I can’t follow all of the conversation between Claw and the merchant, but it seems that the merchant, who I discover is called Samvel, is making a counteroffer to the agreement Claw made with Mistress Rachael. This is precisely the situation that Ramiro was worried about.