4. Punishment

Samed grabs Rebecca's and my hair in each hand and frog marches us back to the pools.

"You were told to stay in here. I will not have any disobedience in the harem, so you must be punished," he growls.

These are the first words he's spoken to us and both Rebecca and I are more than a little afraid. Rebecca is near to tears. The noise has woken several of the girls who come to investigate. Clarissa and Dolley are about to run to our side but Samed commands them to stay where they are. Wisely they do as they're told. Samed pulls out a thin cane from under his robe and clearly intends to use it on us.

"The punishment for disobedience in the harem is six strokes of the cane. However, since you have still to complete your formal entry into the harem, your punishment will be reduced to only one stroke each."

Tears are now flowing down Rebecca's face but she bravely stands up straight to hear her punishment.

"Please don't punish Rebecca", I plead. "She's our youngest and doesn't fully understand our situation. She'll promise to behave in future."

Rebecca quickly takes the hint and nods several times. Samed looks at us both and thinks for a moment.

"Under the rules of the harem you may offer to take another's punishment. If you agree to take Rebecca's punishment for her, then she will not suffer this time."

I agree and he signals to Clarissa and Dolley to take Rebecca aside.

Having pronounced my sentence, Samed doesn't keep me waiting. He orders me to lie on my back with my feet together and in the air. Thwack … thwack … punishment delivered. Before he leaves, Samed orders the girls to leave me to suffer alone. Bbut that doesn't stop several of the girls from making silent gestures to check on my condition. I've endured much much worse and I reassure them I'll be fine. That is, once the soles of my feet stop stinging like hell.

I don't feel like breakfast this morning and I stay in the pool while the others eat. The warm water helps ease the pain. After breakfast A'isha starts the process of taking our names and bringing us formally into the harem. Each girl is picked at random and taken to a side room where A'isha is waiting. After 10 minutes or so the next girl is called. Once taken into the room the girl doesn't return so we have no idea what happens in the room or afterwards. Apparently I'm to be last, which suits me fine since I'm not looking forward to trying to walk.

Around lunchtime a halt is called for a while. There are still a dozen of us left by the pools. A'isha doesn't return, but Samed brings in food for us. He walks over to me and gently lifts me from the pool, hands me a towel, and places me on a cushion by a table.

"I trust you have learned your lesson and I will never need to cane you again", he says in a surprisingly kind voice. I nod quickly and sincerely hope that that will be true.

It is mid afternoon and I'm the last one by the pools. I've put on my clothes for the first time since daybreak. I've tried walking around and I can now manage a slow walk unaided, although my feet still sting. At last I'm called through to the side room where I find A'isha sitting at a desk busy writing notes. Two older women are standing to one side and Mustafa is waiting by a curtained archway. That must be the exit through which the other girls have left this room.

"We will make this as quick as we can and then you can join the rest of your friends," says A'isha. "I shall ask you a few questions and Abal and Jamilah will give you a physical examination. Then I will explain the rules of this house and tell you what is to become of you. You may ask questions at any time if you wish. Firstly, your name and age?"

"Jacky Faber. I'm 15."

"Who are your parents and where do they live?"

"I'm an orphan. I was taken in by the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston, America". Not the complete truth but I'm wary of giving too much away.

"What skills do you have? Can you read and write?"

"Only what I've been taught at school. I can read and write reasonably well. I've done some singing and dancing to earn a few coppers."

"Anything else?"

"No, ma'am," I say in my best your-humble-servant tone of voice.

"Let's try that again, Jacky", she sighs.

She reaches over her desk and hands me a copy of the English Admiralty's notice of a reward for my hide. Those damn things must be everywhere. It describes my features right down to my distinctive blue tattoo, which is currently in plain view through the translucent top of my harem trousers.

"So you're going to sell me to those bastards and get your reward?" I snap.

A'isha finds my outburst amusing.

"For the measly sum they are offering? Oh no, my dear, the value your skills are worth far more than that."

I shrug in resignation and give A'isha a quick breakdown of my various talents and skills. She writes them all in her book.

"Now, Jacky, go over to Abal and Jamilah there and let them examine you. I'm afraid they must check whether or not you are a virgin, but they will do it as gently as possible."

The examination takes only a couple of minutes and the women seem satisfied.

"Please sit down over there Jacky and listen carefully. If anything I say is unclear you may ask

any question you like. Once you leave this room, however, you formally enter the harem under your new name, Zakiyah. Your status will be that of a slave in my brother's household. You will be bound by the rules I'm about to describe."

So I'm not even allowed to keep my own name. I nod and pay attention.

"Firstly, this building is the harem and it is the sleeping quarters for all the women living in the house, both slave and free. Most of the rules of the household are for your protection and well-being and apply to everyone here, including me.

"You may now go anywhere within the harem and the private gardens in the atrium, dressed, or not, as you like. However you must never ever go into the courtyard and beyond without wearing the djellaba you'll be given shortly. For the time being, you must let Samed or Mustafa know if you need to leave the harem and for how long. You must return by the stated time or send word if you are likely to be delayed.

"You may enter the building opposite which are the kitchens and living rooms, but the soldiers' barracks at the rear are strictly out of bounds. You may only enter the central building, which are the men's sleeping quarters, and where my brother conducts business, if ordered, and even then only in the company of Samed or Mustafa. Similarly, all women in this household may only go outside the main walls of Wadi Halaf with my brother's permission, and with an escort."

A'isha quickly tells me the rest of the household rules which cover routine matters such as cleanliness, work and meal times and a code of conduct within the harem. Any transgression will result in six strokes of the cane for minor infractions, and death for more serious crimes such as trying to escape.

To my surprise she details my legal rights as well. I hadn't for a moment imagined I had any rights, but it seems that Hassan is required to ensure I am fed and clothed, and he must provide any medical attention I might need. A'isha also details the circumstances under which I may be granted my freedom, although none of those seem likely to happen any-time soon. I didn't think until afterwards A'isha hadn't told me how, in the event of my rights being abused, I will be able to complain to anyone who would care.

Finally A'isha gives me some paper and a pen and tells me that I must write a letter to whomever I wish saying that my freedom may be gained by paying a ransom in gold equivalent to eight hundred English pounds within six months from today. The intermediary who would arrange negotiations for payment of the ransom would be a certain Harold Fotherington, a marginally respectable businessman engaged in such work, and who I briefly saw on the Bloodhound escorting Elspeth to freedom.

It doesn't surprise me that Hassan has no need for the 30 American schoolgirls his half-brother acquired, but I'm relieved he's decided to try and ransom us, rather than sell us in the slave markets straight away. If nothing else, it will keep us together for a while longer.

"Why can't I keep my own name? I don't like being given a slave name?"

"The name Zakiyah isn't given to you because you are a slave," replies A'isha. "It's to protect your real identity from those outside the harem. The English Admiralty's reward notice means people will be hunting for you in these parts. This harem is a good hiding place, but its security isn't foolproof."

"Hmm … You have a point. What duties am I to perform?" I ask.

"That is for my brother to decide and you'll be told in the next few days."

I have no further questions for the moment and A'isha signals Mustafa to escort me to my quarters where Rebecca, Sally and I are apparently to share a room with an insatiable concubine named Miri.

The door takes me into the main part of the harem which is built around a square garden about twenty yards on each side. There are rooms along each side and I discover eight of them are dormitories; each capable of housing up to eight girls. Several of the dormitories have been reopened to accommodate the Lawson Peabody girls.

Each dormitory opens out onto a verandah which forms the boundary of the garden. Internal doors link each dormitory to its neighbours, via a small room containing basins and toilets in between each dormitory. Other rooms open off the verandah like the one I have just left.