Chapter 11: Cellar Struggle

Anch struggled helplessly, sprawled on the sacks in the spice store. Each attempt to dislodge the ropes that held her wrists and ankles sent a cloud of dust into the air leaving her choking, unable to catch her breath because of the mouth filling maoungf that had been strapped around her head.

The scent of turmeric, cumin and coriander filled the air. Anch wriggled herself around until she was sitting up. In her efforts to free herself she had torn her skirt and stained her blouse with the deep yellow of turmeric. Her head covering and veil lay beside her on the floor where her attackers had tossed it down the chute after her.

As she wriggled her arms once more she became aware that she could feel a little give in the ropes. She looked around. On the far side of the cellar, a hook held ropes from the cellar's hoist. Anch felt sure that if she could get to it, the combination of her struggles and the sharp hook could free her. Slowly she started to move herself across the floor of the cellar. Eventually she managed to shuffle herself close to the foot of the wall beneath the hook. Turning around, she levered herself up against the wall and finally managed to snare the loops of the ropes around her wrists onto the hook. Tugging against the hook and flexing her wrists she slowly felt the ropes begin to give.

Her efforts were interrupted by the sound of voices in the room above. She threw herself back onto the floor just as the trap door at the top of the ramp was pulled up. The veiled faces of two women stared down at her.

"She's moved," one of the women said.

"Not far," said the other, her American accent revealing her as one of Anch's assailants. "And she won't get out of there for a while."

"How is the banker?"

"Oh fine. He's busy with Victoria."

Anch was furious. It seemed that Henry was in league with these women; that he had staged the whole thing so that the Koresh file could be stolen. She had to escape and try to discover what he was planning. Perhaps he intended some fraud on the bank? He had seemed like a reasonable man but you could never tell with these westerners. And the text message that had brought her to the Spice Market had come from Henry's phone.

The cellar hatch cover was dropped back into place by the women. Anch listened quietly as slamming doors in the rooms above announced the departure of her attackers again. She worked her way back to the hook and started once more to try to free herself.

It seemed to take forever but eventually she managed to work a loop of rope free. With the freedom that gave her, she wrenched at the ropes with renewed vigour. From that moment she soon worked the remainder of the rope loose and with effort she got her wrists free.

Wasting no time she freed the ropes from around her ankles and unbuckled the strap of the mouth filling moaungf, pulling the plug free with a gasp of relief. She stood up, brushed as much of the mess from her clothes as she could and looked around hoping to find a way out.

The door into the cellar was locked but eventually she managed to pile up spice sacks into a sort of pyramid that let her climb out of the cellar and up into the room above. Listening all the while in case her attackers returned she pulled on her veil and slipped out into the street. One thing was certain, if Mr Henry was involved in trying to defraud the bank she would have to try to talk to Mr Kerrish but for now the best thing would be to go back to her own household.