| "Don't be afraid," said the first man, feigning a smile. Then turning to
Bakhita continued,"Could you please fetch me my bundle? I left it under that
tree." He pointed to a large tree beyond the field.
Bakhita immediately rushed off. As she was going round and round the tree, looking in
vain for the parcel, she was brutally caught by the shoulders. Frightened almost to death,
she cried, "Mother, O Mother dear."
"If you scream, we'll kill you," threatened the two ruffians, one brandishing
his knife and the other covering her mouth with his hands. With that, they made off with
their prisoner, along a path in the opposite direction to Bakhita's village.
Then we kept on walking for ages until we reached their
village...and I don't know how long they kept me locked up there...I was all alone, in the
dark, crying for my mummy...But there was no one who could help me.
When Bakhita woke in the morning, the first of her life as a
slave, bewildered, she looked around.
At that, a gentle little hand caressed her tearful face. Bakhita
rubbed her eyes to see better. It was a small girl of about her age, Binah by name. She
was crying too. Had she been stolen and was she a prisoner like herself?
She was. Heavy chains fettered her too. Yet now they did not feel
lonely. They consoled each other, or wept together over their great misfortune.
The prison was dark, but the two girls brightened it with their
imagination.
|
