Rebels of the Kasbah by Joe O'Neill

Author:Joe O'Neill [O’Neill, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780990546900
Publisher: Black Ship Publishing
Published: 2014-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

— 10 —

THE DAY OF THE RACE

Tariq slept fitfully, awakening almost every hour. He was fully awake by five o’clock in the morning. He stared through the jail bars and could just barely make out the sun as it slid up in the sky. He felt the warmth on his face and closed his eyes. Would this be the last time he felt the sun? Would this be his last sunrise? He was placing his life, his fate, in the hands of total strangers. His plan had all seemed so impossible. How was it possible that Zahir did not suspect him? Any moment, he expected Zahir to bust through the dungeon door and drag him off to the gallows. But Zahir never showed his face. The rest of the prisoners slept peacefully.

Water dripped from the dungeon ceiling, smacking Tariq on the cheekbone. He did not move. The cool water felt good on his skin. He stuck out his tongue and felt the cool drips wet his mouth.

He stared out onto the sand and felt scared. Who was he? Just a simple orphan boy. He was worthless in the eyes of most. He was nothing. He had no real family. He had nobody that believed in him. Why was he even trying to escape? Maybe being a slave was the best thing for him, like Jawad. He looked at the sleeping boys. Maybe this was his place on the earth, maybe he was destined to be a poor and starving camel jockey and die an early death.

Sighing, he sat down and felt the weight of his troubles on his small shoulders. He did not understand his emotions. He should have been overjoyed with the thought of escaping this place. But what did he have to escape to? Where would he go? His future was entirely uncertain. Worse, he had dragged Fez and Aseem into this mess. What if he got them killed as well? He was no leader.

He thought about calling off the plan, but that was impossible. If he did not escape, Zahir would kill him for sure, once he figured out Tariq could not ride well. He had to go through with it. But maybe he didn’t need to get his friends involved. Maybe they could go about with their lives and he could simply die in the desert?

He decided to leave his friends out of it. That was his plan. He would tell Aseem and Fez that things had changed and to ride hard as usual rather than stay back with him. He would face this danger alone. And suddenly, he felt alone. All the adrenaline of the past month had subsided and he now felt terribly alone in the world.

In the harem quarters, Margaret also lay awake. But her thoughts were not of self-doubt, they were of her family. She could not stop thinking of them. How she missed their smiling faces. She saw her father’s face in her mind. His blond hair flowing in the sea breeze.

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