A Right Hand Woman

Who said you can't con a conner

We sat huddled around each other for what seemed an age. We didn’t talk, we didn’t move, we could barely even think. When the tension was so think you could have cut it with a knife, the canvas flaps on the back of the wagon were undone, pulled aside, and we were faced with four sneering men, swords in hand. We all scrambled back as fast as we could but there was no escape for us. Quickly, two for the men jumped in and grabbed the first woman in reach. Kicking and screaming, they dragged her out to face the waiting men who were standing around laughing and jeering each other. Next they got the woman who I had not known the name of. She went calmly but the moment her feet hit the ground, she spun around and tore a sword free from the man standing closest to her. “Drop the sword before you hurt yourself girly’ came an unseen voice. She turned on the spot, still holding the weapon in front of her. Seeing the colour drain from her face turned my blood cold. ‘None of you will have this body again’ she said quietly, right before reversing the blade and throwing herself forwards onto it. With the pressure of her weight upon it, the blade drove straight through her torso, spilling her blood to the dirt and staining the back of her tattered dress. With one last effort, she wriggled a little more to drive it deeper and went still. None of us could move, the shock was so great. One of the men that had helped drag her out shrugged his shoulders and moving back towards the wagon ‘Oh well, another one will have to do then’ he laughed.

He climbed in and went straight for Susanna. Hooking her by the ankle, he dragged her out to the awaiting men. I locked eyes with her, the plea from her going unsaid. What was I meant to do? I couldn’t just lunge myself at them and kill them all like I wanted to. Instead I sent a single prayer, that she be strong and lock herself inside her own mind. Three more women they took, three more women that I had known. Is it wrong that I thanked the stars I wasn’t one of them? After they had taken their pick, the canvas was retied, and we were left to sit out the night and wait. All any of us could hear was the repeated screams of the taken women , the grunting of the rapists and the laughter of the men waiting their turns. Never before had I feared to sleep like I feared that night. Some hours later, the women were returned to the wagon, where we were left to patch them up, and hope they wouldn’t die from their tears and abrasions. Susanna didn’t say a word upon her return, she just crawled across the floor to me, an lay her head in my lap. I gently stroked her hair and hugged her to me till at last she stopped shaking and slept.

After a night of no sleep, I felt the sun start to warm the canvas behind my back. Movement could be heard from outside and I knew that we would start moving soon. If my plan was to work, I had to time it perfectly. A few whistles could be heard in the distance and Rocha informed me, that we would start moving at any moment. I felt the wagon sway from side to side as someone climbed up front. That’s when I started screaming. ‘ Noooo! No, you can’t die on me. Someone help me! You there’ I pointed to a woman who knew what was expected, ‘Give me that damn blanket. If she bleeds to death, I swear to god, I’ll make sure you die with her!’. The wagon shifted again as a men yelled ‘What the bloody hell is going on back there? Stefan, Jacob, get your arses back there and see what all the bitching’s about!’ I continued to scream and make a fuss. Susanna still had her head resting in my lap, smiling cheekily up at me. With a quick wink we both wiped the smiles from our faces, ready for the men to climb in. Using our finger nails, we had ripped up the skin at the very tops of her thighs, making it look as though she were bleeding to death from the raping. ‘For crying out loud, sort that shit out would you. You can catch up with us, just chuck the whore out and leave her’ came the voice of a man before the sound of galloping hooves could be heard. The flaps were pulled back, and the two men climbed in.

Looking around they saw the blood coming from Susanna’s womanly parts and turned their noses up in disgust. ‘Well come on then, lets shift her out. She’ll be dead weight before long’ one of the men said as he moved towards Susanna. ‘NO’ I hollered. ‘I’ll take care of her, please. She’s my sister and all I have left in the world. Please! I promise I’ll keep her alive and we’ll keep quiet’. I saw the hesitation on the mans face. I needed to seal the deal. ‘Please, we need to get moving. The faster we get to where we’re going the more chance she has, then maybe you can sell us together’ That did it. The men looked at each other and must have silently agreed to let me have her. As they climbed back out, I saw there was no one behind the wagon, just empty road. ‘Oy, move over and make room, we’ll need to hitch a ride with you till we catch up’ Said one man, as the wagon swayed hard with them climbing up front. The women and I looked at each other with huge smiles on our faces. The first part of the plan was sorted and now it was time to get out of here.