Rhoda's meeting with Omah and her Mother hadn't gone as well as Hassan had hoped, once her former boss admitted he had married Katrina before Rhoda was born and had always considered her his daughter, not a step-daughter. That he had kept the truth from her and forced a lonely life on her; thinking herself orphaned without family; taunted for her deafness as a child without mercy at the hands of the Merchant's children, forced to learn Marshal Arts to protect herself when there was no one else she could turn to for protection, while Lin Tai was busy cooking for the traveller's servants and the boss's employees. Letting them go when her mother supposedly died; giving truth to the rumours, when he sold her with Lin Tai the day after the funeral.
Rhoda was angry at the decision Omah had made, despite his doing it for her protection. Leaving her to feel unwanted and unloved except for Lin Tai; who had shown her love and affection; but so obviously without any family of her own and not knowing anything except hospital life prior to Lin Tai taking her away from it. She had often wondered what had happened to her parents and always denied fiercely when taunted, that her parents had just dumped her at the hospital and left her, telling herself they must have died in the terrible accident that had hurt her head and ears.
Although she hadn't gone back to visit the camel train whenever it arrived in Alif and Miskah after being sold, she had met the dancers children; her real friends; in the market place and caught up with their news and friendships, always allowed to take a picnic basket full of goodies to share with them, as long as she was accompanied by the twins, Abdul and Akmed.
Jame's cursed; hitting a bump in the unsealed road, hearing Rhoda's groan and realized she had awoken. From her grimace he guessed her head was throbbing. Rhoda would have agreed with him as bright lights flashed across her eyes under her closed lids. Her hands lifted to her face and searched for her blanket, feeling a the warmth of a small body wriggling beside her, and sighed, realizing Rocky had been disturbed too from sleeping curled in a ball between her and the partition separating them from James and Brad. Realizing too, she had her back towards Hassan and Mohamed Jahar who sat on the back seat. Her hands found the light fleece covering herself and Rocky, pulling it up to cover her face. She wasn't aware of the air-conditioner at work keeping the desert-heat from the car, but she could hear the swish of the moving sand beneath the wheels and gave a satisfied sigh at being home again.
Rhoda didn't dare open her gritty eyes too far, despite wanting to alert the two men that she was awake and able to see their silent hand-signing conversation; all-be-it a back to front reflection in the reinforced glass of the partition. She couldn't watch for long, despite her need to learn the truth was absolute around her family; hearing even their heart beats and breathing, told her they were agitated. She could sense the fear in Mohamed's's quick finger-movements, though probably not for himself, most possibly for his brother.
'If we could get him out of there and to your summer home, he would be safe! He has to be innocent, Hassan! I can't believe he would get embroiled in the Rajistani affairs!' Mohamed was signing earnestly to Hassan, trying to convince him and perhaps himself too, that his brother was innocent of the bombing charges being brought against him. 'There has to be something they are forcing his hand with!' He frowned in frustration.
'If he is innocent we will find out. Try not to worry; Rhoda protects the innocent. You can have faith in her judgment. Does he have close family other than yourself?" Hassan was watching Rhoda while he signed, hoping she wasn't going to wake up and disturb Mohamed's's concerns. He needed to know more, so that he could help his friends brother.
'He has a son. His wife died last year in a car accident. The boy is looked after by a nanny. They went away a few weeks ago, so I assumed they had taken a holiday somewhere. Now though, I think the boy and his nanny were kidnapped and Jared was forced to go along with the bombing to get them back?' Mohamed gave his opinion; the more he thought of it the more he believed it to be true.
