The car was jumping around a lot less than when Ahmed was driving it but it was still unpleasant to say the least. They had to keep the windows most of the way up to stop dust getting and in the mid-day heat the temperature inside the car must have reached well over 100; she was dreading the rest of the journey it was only going to get worse.
"How long will the drive to Masyaf take?"
Malik rolled his head on the rest to look back at her, "Should only take a couple of hours but we are taking back roads and detours so it may be as long as six hours." She was spread out on the back seat with her back against the door, "Are you comfortable enough back there? Perhaps you would like to me to fluff some cushions for you!"
Maria's head dipped to the side, "Do you have any cushions?"
He chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"You know if you want the back seat you only have to say, I'd swap with you." He shook his head but Maria was already packing away her gadgets, "There's no connection out here anyway, I might as well enjoy the view."
"I'm not stopping for you to change seats, you are not children." Altair's tone invited no discussion.
She stuck out her tongue behind his head, "I have to pee."
He sighed, "We have been driving for less than an hour could you not have used the toilet back there?"
She sat up between the two front seats and leaned forward to make sure he could see how appalled she was. "Do you think I'm going to pee in a place full of rapists and God knows what?"
Malik was utterly bewildered, "What rapists?"
She hitched her thumb gesturing behind them, "That village was full of rebels who would do pretty much what they wanted. You're lucky you slept most of the time; some of them were fairly sordid characters."
Malik was exhausted and still whiter than a sheet but he was not too weak to muster an incredulous expression, "What did you do?"
Altair coughed, "She wouldn't listen to me I had to say something she could relate to."
"I see."
She leaned towards Malik, "What do you mean "You see"?" then to Altair, "What does he see?"
"Syria in general is a dangerous place to be Maria; you don't seem to comprehend that. I simply put it in terms you would better understand."
"So there were no rapists?"
He smirked, "I would hardly think so."
She grabbed his sleeve, "I slept in a chair in his room so I wasn't alone. I wouldn't change out of these bloody clothes or shower because I was terrified and you were making it up!"
"The possible dangers were real enough; I... embellished them for emphasis."
"You're a wanker" slamming her fist into his ribcage, "Pull this fucking car over now!"
She had the door open and was halfway out of the car before it came to a complete halt. "Making a woman think there is a real possibility of rape might be what passes for humour around here but it's not funny, you should have your tongue ripped out you lying dog." She stormed off behind them.
"I can't go after her." Pointing to his sling, "And we can't leave her here but try not to bring her back to the car unconscious, reason with her first brother, apologise even..."
Altair threw the door open and put a leg outside the car, "We don't have time for this shit!"
Maria stuck her head up from the back of the car, "Get back inside you pervert!"
In the same fluid movement he was using to exit the vehicle he spun around and sat back behind the wheel.
Malik looked at him questioningly.
"She hasn't gone far."
They had been driving for about an hour, passing a few scattered desert dwellings and not much else. Malik was now lying in the back sweating worse than before, Altair decided to make the last part of the drive via the fastest route possible, they no longer had the luxury of the safe and quiet roads.
He had been tempted to take him to the hospital at Homs but that would be suicide since they reported any and all gunshot wounds to the police.
As they passed Aqrab he saw pillars of smoke billowing into the early afternoon sky. Maria had seen them too and she looked at him with real concern.
"What if there has been fighting there? We can't hope to get past road blocks Altair can't you just go off road and go round this?"
"We will drive closer to see what help is required."
Malik struggled into a sitting position, "It looks like they have been raided but why, this is a small family settlement?"
Altair shrugged it was pointless to guess.
So far as he could see there were no soldiers or police when they got there, only women walking around looking dazed. Some of them had children in their arms and most of them were covered in ash and soot.
There were no more than ten small houses but they had all been set alight. Maria turned to Malik, "They must have been harbouring rebels Malik."
He was too hot, too tired and the pain killers were wearing off but still he attempted to keep the impatience from his voice, it was unfair to expect her to know any better. "There need only be the rumour of support Maria, I doubt they found anything linking these people to the rebels. It could be a member of the armed forces has land bordering theirs and he has his eye on expanding his property."
"That's horrible, those poor people."
She looked back to the people and saw a woman sitting in the middle of the dirt road cradling a man to her chest; she was rocking back and forth and repeating the same words over and over. It sounded like Ibni but she was crying it was hard to make out.
"What is she saying Malik?"
"She keeps saying "my son, my son" over and over."
Altair came back to the car and leaned in the window, "I've told them we will send help from Masyaf as soon as we arrive. They have taken the men into custody but they swear there were no weapons here." He looked at Maria, "They have small children and we need to get them out of the sun, does your camping gear include a tent?"
Together they inspected the boot of the car. There was a good sized tent and a few bottles of water. She thought of the food and water they had wasted, she had fed scraps to a dog and now in the back of this car she had more than this whole family had between them. "Give them anything they need."
She watched while Altair built the tent and saw he would have it up in no time. She took her bag from the front seat and approached one of the women on the edge of the group, "I have some things that may help a little." Her tone was apologetic as she handed her belongings over, not much more than some water and baby wipes.
The woman's daughter came out from behind the skirts of her mother's dress and tried to peer into the bag. Maria knelt down and held the bag open, "See anything you like?"
With the gadgets and even her wallet in there the only thing she showed any interest in was a small silver tin of lip balm. She took it out and held it up to the child, "It helps to keep your lips soft."
She popped off the lid and dipped her little finger in and smudged it across her lips, "It makes you nicer to kiss." She puffed up her lips and blew her a kiss.
The girl mimicked Maria's actions, smearing her mouth with the stuff but instead of kissing the air she kissed her mother's hand. Her mother turned to Maria smiling, "Lateef."
Maria replied,"Ana ma ba'aref ahkee Arabee." One of the few Arabic phrases she had mastered.
"She says it is nice. We have to go Maria we will send them help, don't worry."
She handed the child the lid for the tin, "You keep it you are much prettier than I am."
Altair translated and the girl blushed, "Shukran."
He was about to speak when Maria grinned, "Ahlan wa sahlan."
Masyaf was on Altair's left and Maria was straining trying to see the place but they had skirted round the edge of the city on their way to the hospital, "I'll show you around later, the castles mostly ruins now but it is still impressive."
Maria nodded, "I was just trying to get a feel for the place." It looked like a dump but it might be unfair to judge she could barely see anything because of all the satellite dishes.
They pulled into a bay in front of the hospital and the porters seemed utterly disinterested, that is until they saw who came out of the car. Altair's appearance immediately energised the men and they rushed to find a gurney then ran to the car with it.
Malik was taken inside and Altair stayed with him, Maria followed until they went through some double doors that looked like they led somewhere important. She looked around and found what appeared to be a waiting area and sat down.
Maria was on her second cigarette when a man who had been going to the hospital changed direction to approach her and spoke in Arabic, his tone was angry but she had no idea what he was saying. He grabbed he wrist and snatched the cigarette from her hand crushing it under foot.
"Do not smoke here!"
She looked around for signs and saw none, "Sorry, I came out to the car park so it would be okay."
Ignoring her apology he spat, "This is not the West you cannot do as you please, show some respect woman."
"Fine I said sorry, I didn't see any signs."
"You shouldn't need signs to tell you how to behave."
She had to make a concerted effort not to recoil from the contempt clearly displayed in his face and as directed by Ahmed she tried not to confront him. "My mistake, it won't happen again."
He circled her looking at her from head to toe, and for the first time since she had arrived in Syria Maria felt truly unwelcome. "You have wandered a long way from your comfortable home. I studied in London for three years and I know your type, Daddy's money got you everything you want from life and you feel guilty for it. Are you here to do a little humanitarian work perhaps to have a nice story to tell your Oxford friends at your next dinner party?"
Neither of them had noticed Altair standing a few feet away from them and Maria wouldn't have cared either way. "I'm a journalist and I'm not here to help, I'm here to report the news."
He sneered putting his face inches from hers but she stood her ground, "You think we care about the West's approval for our actions?"
"I think you better care because "the West" is very unwilling to come to the aid of another group of Islamic insurgents because after what happened last time they are being incredibly cautious and I think you need all the support you can get."
His breath fanned her face in short angry bursts; she felt his eyes piercing her skull. She had definitely crossed a line Ahmed had told her not to but this man had attacked her for no reason and Maria Thorpe was nobody's whipping boy.
"Farim, where is Kadar?" His head snapped to his left and Maria was amused to notice a hint of anxiety in his face when he saw Altair. "I told you to bring him here."
"He was at his studies; Rauf has gone to get him. I came to see if I could be of any assistance."
Altair stood between them both, "Wait for them here and tell them I will return soon, I will take our guest to her quarters."
He watched Farim go inside before turning his attention to Maria. For the first time he had taken his hood down and she was seeing his entire face -not that it did her any good- his expression was unreadable, but damn he was good looking!
He never spoke and Maria felt the colour rise in her cheeks as he continued to regard her. His gaze unlike Farim's was not threatening but somehow it felt more dangerous. She dropped her eyes from his, "I was smoking and he was offended by it and well... by me in general..."
And still he made no reply.
She forced herself to look at him, "Are you offended by what I said?"
"Farim had no right to judge you, he forced you into a corner and you defended yourself."
When his tongue flicked out to wet his lips, her eyes were drawn to the scar which ran across the right side of his mouth and her own lips suddenly felt incredibly dry. 'What would it be like to kiss him?' His head tilted a fraction and Maria panicked, 'God he can read my mind!'
She took as step back and looked toward the city, anything was better than standing there with him staring at her.
"Those are the ruins of Masyaf castle; the city grew up around the borders of its walls."
"If it's okay I might take wander over there and have a look around."
He walked to the car, "I'll take you inside the ruins later today. For now you need to wash and rest."
She tagged along behind taking full advantage of the opportunity to admire him unnoticed. 'That man has some serious hip action going on and he knows it!'
The only conversation they had in the car was about Malik. When she asked after him Altair told her the doctors were doing all they could but that he had been advised it was unlikely the arm could be saved. She had made no reply; there was nothing she could say.
The drive was thankfully short and Maria was pleased to see the place looked a lot better from street level. Mostly 2 or 3 storey pale stone buildings and all of them seemed to have children playing outside them.
He turned into a small side street and stopped in front of one of the apartment blocks.
Putting her case on the cold tiled floor he gave her a quick tour of the place. Although tour was pushing it somewhat; there was a bed and a couch and a tiny kitchenette area in the corner. He pulled a sliding door open and showed her a small bathtub with a shower over it. "It's basic but clean and should serve your needs for now."
She nodded, "Thank you, I've slept in far worse places." The place was clean and the bed looked very welcoming to her tired bones.
"If you need anything go next door on your left there is a man there called Felix, he will help you but otherwise please stay here until I return."
She chuckled, "Relax, it's not as though I had planned to go door to door proselytising." But he didn't seem to catch the humour in her tone, "I'll shower and sleep, nothing more."
"I'll return as soon as I can with food and if you still wish to we will go to the castle."
Her uncertain smile caused him to pause as he was about to leave. She was standing the middle of the room nervously fiddling with the hem of her shirt, "Farim is not the norm for the men around here you were unlucky to encounter him first. Don't worry you are in a safe place among friends."
She showered and put on the cleanest clothes she could find in her case before lying on top of the bed. The sounds of the city outside drifted in, car horns and people calling out to each other in a strange tongue she had no knowledge of but these things were comforting to her. Syria was a country full of warm and friendly people; every village they entered had shown her that and she liked to hear their chatter.
Then the melodic chanting of the call to prayer began and as usual most of the other city sounds quieted. She drifted off to sleep, her nerves soothed by the beautiful sounds from the Muazzin.
A/N Arabic is so hard to translate so I found a decent source and went with it, sorry for any errors.
Lateef: Nice
Ana ma ba'aref ahkee Arabee; I don't speak Arabic
Shukran: Thank you
Ahlan wa sahlan: You are welcome
