[stylist] DBG chapters 2-3 (used to be chapter 3 and 7) Does thenew order help?

[Barbara Hammel]

he doesn't think we'll amount to much.  You wrote thing.
Barbara

If wisdom's ways you wisely seek, five things observe with care:  of whom 
you speak, to whom you speak, and how and when and where.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "helene ryles" <dreamavdb at googlemail.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:45 PM
To: "A private list for authors" <DB-AUTHORS at tr.wou.edu>; "bookel" 
<bookel1 at gmail.com>; "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [stylist] DBG chapters 2-3 (used to be chapter 3 and 7) Does thenew 
order help?

> Chapter 2:
> My life as an honorary Dragon by Liza Bronze
> An essay written by Liza Bronze as part of her Q2 exam (Q2 is the
> second highest school leaving qualification)
> 5/1983 (14 years earlier)
>
> My beloved dragon, Talmon Bronze, bought me soon after birth.  He
> bought me from some poor excuse of a man who didn't care whether
> Talmon reared me or ate me.  Unfortunately the miserable wretch also
> happens to be my father.
> I am also a duman, which is a grey-skinned person who can’t work any
> magic.   Our magic comes from the Daemons, who are immortal superhuman
> beings with very powerful magic.  When humans mate with daemons they
> usually inherit some of that magic, which is how witches are created.
> My great grandmother is a Daemon called Parvi.  My father and both my
> aunts are all powerful witches who have inherited their magic from
> Parvi.  They are disappointed that my sister Monika and I have failed
> to inherit any of that magic at all.
> My mother gave birth to six girls.  Unfortunately three of them did
> not survive past infancy.  My mother takes me to visit their grave
> sometimes.  I remember visiting my parents soon after my sixth sister
> died.  It was chilling how indifferent father was about her death.  He
> was just angry with mother because he had wanted a son who could work
> magic for him.  I felt it totally unfeeling that father should blame
> mother for only producing girls, as if it was something within her
> control.  It was especially heartless since she was so grief stricken
> over the losses.
> Father doesn’t like any of my surviving sisters.  My eldest sister
> Madrella can work magic, but she came with mother as a step daughter.
> Father has always resented bringing up another man’s daughter,
> especially a man that he has had a grudge against.
> As for Monika and I, he simply doesn’t thing will amount to much.   My
> sister Monika was married to some thug who mistreats her, and I was
> sold at birth. I am lucky to be alive today so I can prove my father
> wrong.
> When I leave school I plan to join either the police or the armed
> forces so I have a better chance of rescuing my sister Monika from her
> abusive husband.  After that I hope to have my father arrested and
> thrown into jail.     I will liberate Mother, and we will all live
> happily ever after with Talmon and a house full of dogs.
>
> I first moved in with Talmon when I was eight years old.  I used to
> live in a signing Deaf community called Nassoli in Nazdonia.  I lived
> with Shania who was my Nanny.   Talmon placed me there.  He had the
> good sense to realise that a deaf baby would need a signing deaf
> nanny.
> There are so many deaf people in Nassoli that everybody can converse
> in sign language.  I had lots of friends and I was really happy.   I
> could speak a little and write in Nazdonian, as well as communicating
> fluently in Nazdonian sign language (NSL).
> It was a normal healthy environment, but it wasn’t good enough for Aunt 
> Beria.
> She persuade Talmon to move me to his home in Druzil, so I could be
> educated  orally in ‘the real world’ with lots of ‘real’ learning
> experiences, like having to learn to lip-read in a completely
> different language;  plus the racial attacks I endured for being duman
> and of Nazdonian heritage.
> I spent a lot of time wishing I was back in Nassoli.  If only they
> weren’t so anti-dragon there.  My visits to Nassoli were regularly cut
> short with me getting really annoyed and storming off.  I still miss
> them, but I won’t tolerate anyone criticizing Talmon.
>
>
> First I went to Druzil School for the Deaf and the Blind where they
> taught me orally in Drasp.  My education would have suffered even more
> than it did if it wasn’t for my aunt Arielle.  She can sign fluently
> in NSL.  She taught me Drasp with the help of some really good large
> print text books.  They were all written in Nazdonian on how to read
> and write in Drasp.  Arielle was a great help while she was there. It
> is thanks to her that I am fluent in both Drasp and Nazdonian.
> I was just getting used to Druzil School for the deaf and the blind
> when in sixth grade; I was transferred to a mainstream middle school.
> I was very isolated there since Druzil is only a small seaside port.
> I was supposed to be given a cued speech interpreter but he often
> failed to show up.  The more sympathetic teachers used to write
> everything down on the blackboard for me to read.  The other children
> resented them doing that.  I used to get into a lot of fights over it.
>
>                  ***  ***  ***
>
> After a day of struggling to decipher lip patterns at school, it was
> always a relief at the end of the day to go home to Talmon. The
> wonderful language of Dramic with its telepathically transmitted
> images is most ideal for the deaf.
> As I got home I would visualise an empty bowl with a question mark.
> "Fish and chips" I would sign.  I couldn’t see Talmon from where I was
> standing at the bottom of a steep climb, but I knew he could see me.
> I visualised a fat and unhealthy looking girl with a spotty face.
> "All right then.  I'll have spicy bean pasties with Salad"
> At that point a rope and harness would land at my feet.  I would slip
> on my safety harness, and scramble up the side of the building, to get
> to the door.   That climb keeps me really fit.  I think such
> challenges are necessary in life.
> When I first came to live here Talmon gave me fish and chips every
> single day for a week.  When my aunts realised this they had a few
> words with Talmon.  So now Talmon has a freezer full of healthy meals
> for me.  He warms them up and serves them to me with plenty of salad.
> At the time I thought my aunts were being really mean to interfere in
> my dietary choices in this way.  As a health conscious vegetarian I
> know better now.  As wonderful and considerate as Talmon is, he has no
> idea what human hatchlings should be eating. I could have asked him
> for all sorts of junk food if my aunts hadn’t put a stop to that.
> Some people don’t share my love of the dragons.  They whine about the
> lack of stairs in Darthrila, but climbing up the side of buildings, is
> a good form of exercise.  People must be really fat and unhealthy in
> other parts of the world that are run by humans.   Human leaders are
> very corrupt.  They make a mess of everything, squandering a lot of
> the world’s resources on unnecessary items such as cars.    Due to all
> these cars the air in human-run countries is thick with smog.  This
> makes people cough and splutter all the time.  I feel very privileged
> to live in a country that is run by a dragon.
>
> My beloved dragon, Talmon saved my life on numerous occasions.   The
> first time was when I was supposed to go out with this boy from school
> called SH (which isn't his real name).   I was really looking forward
> to it, as it was the first time I had a boyfriend. Thick glasses and a
> couple of large bodily-worn hearing aids don’t do too much to enhance
> one's popularity with boys, nor does being a duman.
> I remember with a great deal of pain how I clutched excitedly at the
> straps on Talmon's back as he took me to meet SH.  Then instead of
> taking me to the desired venue, he turned round in mid air and took me
> back home.
> "Talmon, we are going the wrong way!” I shouted.
> I saw SH with a group of boys.   I saw the evil sign next to his head.
> This was Talmon's way of telling me that SH had evil intentions
> towards me.
> "I don't care if he wants to sleep with me, I‘m ready for that."
> Next he made the confused sign.  I visualised an image of a girl and a
> boy alone together, followed by a question mark.
> "Yes, of course it's only the two of us together.”
> Another image filled my head of a group of about 13 or 14 boys. The
> evil sign again. The boys were waiting for me with eager anticipation
> so they could all take it in turns to rape me.   SH did not intend to
> stop them.
> I spent that night weeping into my pillow.   Talmon came to comfort
> me.  I am now very grateful for what Talmon did to protect me from SH.
> When I went back to school SH broke my heart by spreading vile
> rumours about me sleeping around with all his friends.
>
> The second time Talmon saved my life was when my evil half sister
> Madrella and her first husband moved into the area. They moved to a
> village, a few miles out of Druzil.
> I had a dog at the time called Briar.  I met Briar on the beach, and
> Talmon let me keep him as a pet.  Talmon got me a long foldable tunnel
> made out of fabric for the dogs to use, to get them to climb up safely
> from one floor to another.  It hooks up at the top of each trapdoor,
> since dog’s can’t climb ladders.  Talmon even allowed me to make a dog
> flap in the ground floor so I didn't have to keep carrying him up the
> steep climb to the front door.    Talmon also gave me several maps of
> the surrounding area and a magnifying glass to read them with.  With
> the help of the maps, we would walk for miles around the surrounding
> area.  Briar and I were best friends until Madrella caught him in
> their garden.
> Earlier that day, I took Briar for a long walk along the beach.  When
> I caught sight of some holiday makers, I went to grab Briar, to put
> him back on the lead.  That's when I realised he was missing.  So I
> went around calling after him.  I looked everywhere.
> "Hey Duman, do you want to know where your dog is?" a grey-skinned
> girl asked me. She said something like that anyway.   I could not hear
> what she said over the sound of crashing waves, so I only had her lip
> movements to go by.   I recognised her as Madrella's sister-in-law,
> Melissa Rickshaw.   She goes to the same high school as me but we
> don‘t get on.  She’s the kind of witch who despises those that can’t
> work magic.
> "Yes, of course I do.  Why else do you think I've been calling for him?"
> "You never know with Dumans what their motives are.  If you will just
> follow me, I'll show you where your dog is," and she set off at top
> speed.
> "Hey, Come back" I yelled after her, "I can't follow you when you move
> so quickly."
> "Oh, I forgot, you’re blind as well as deaf and duman.  I would let
> you grab my arm, but your hands are filthy.   I don't want you to soil
> my nice clean dress."
> I smelt smoke coming from Madrella's garden.  To my horror she had
> some sort of carcass tied up over a fire.  He smelt of cooked meat. I
> didn't realise it was Briar until Madrella threw his collar at me.  I
> kept screaming profanities at her for a long time after that.  I would
> have beaten the living day lights out of her too, if Melissa wasn't
> holding me back.
> "Your dog shat in our garden.  I'm not having that.  Dog dirt is very
> unhygienic.  It might cause my baby to be born a freak like you. So
> I've decided to teach you and Briar a lesson.   He's not quite dead
> yet.  If you really care about him why not get him out of the fire...
> You can let go of her Melissa.  I want to see what she does," Madrella
> had been standing very close to me, holding my head up so I was forced
> to stare into her face.  She moved away quickly after that.
> As soon as Melissa released me, I rushed towards the fire, in order to
> save Briar's life.  At that moment a pair of sharp claws dug into my
> shoulders and I was lifted up into the air.  I had been so intent on
> saving Briar that I hadn't noticed Talmon swoop down on top of me.
> "Let go of me.  I need to get back to Briar," I told Talmon,
> struggling franticly, but Talmon just tightened his grip.
> I suddenly visualized a dead dog.  A clock face with moving hands
> showed me that poor Briar had been dead for over an hour before I
> came.  Madrella had been lying to me when she said he was still alive.
> Talmon was not flying back home. We were flying above the sea.
> We landed on an island.  Talmon licked the tears from my face.  I sat
> clutching him for quite some time.
> "Briar is gone.   I'm going to kill the she devil that did this to my
> dog.   I'll make her sorry, just see if I don't."
> Talmon made no reply to this.  He sat stroking my hair with his scaly
> hands.  We spent a few days on the island.  Talmon caught a wild hare
> for himself but I was too grief stricken over Briar's loss to eat
> anything myself.
> The smell of the meat nauseated me. It reminded me too much of Briar
> after Madrella had set fire to him.  It was at that point in time that
> I first decided to give up eating meat.
>
> A few days later, Talmon sent me an image of myself with a group of
> dragons.   They were all happy to see me.  I was obviously one of
> them.  Talmon was offering me a chance to become an honorary dragon.
> I nodded enthusiastically.  I was so grief stricken right then that I
> hated other human beings.   I wanted to disengage myself from the
> human race entirely.
> So Talmon took me to meet the other Bronze dragons.  They all came
> over to stroke me.  I was given something to drink which made me very
> sleepy.  I wanted more of it to drown out the grief I felt over
> Briar's loss.
> About a week later, they performed the initiation ceromony.  I am
> forbidden from saying what exactly happened, but it was a very
> beautiful experience.     I am so proud to be accepted into the Bronze
> family group as an honorary dragon.   They don't always accept humans
> in their private quarters.   They even alowed me to use their family
> name instead of Slyrake which is the witch clan I was born into.   I
> never liked being a Slyrake.   Bronze is a much nicer name.
>
> Chapter 3:
> Why I rescued Nadia, by Liza Bronze.
> 1986
>
> I was leaving Druzil general infirmary, when I first met Nadia Murat
> (my niece) and her father.   Not that I realised who he was at the
> time.  I just noticed a small timid man with a tiny malnourished
> infant on his lap.
> I spent a lot of time at Druzil hospital at that time.  The year
> before I had my cochlear implant inserted.  After much intense speech
> therapy I found the cochlear implant provided me with more
> environmental noises then my hearing aid, but I still needed to
> lip-read.
> Today I had just come back from having a lens implant for my left eye
> inserted.  The eye was still covered by a bandage, but I was hoping
> that it would be as successful as the implant on my right eye had been
> several months previously.
>
> I was looking about with my right eye when I saw a grey skinned man
> with the same brown eyes as his baby.  The infant’s eyes were
> magnified with a pair of Aphakic glasses that were attached to her
> head with elastic.  They were the sort of glasses that I used to wear
> before my latest operations.   That alone drew my interest.  I was
> also curious because it is not too often that you see men taking care
> of their own children.
> I could tell by their long tunics and matching trousers that they were
> of Nazdonian heritage.   They both looked quite battered and their
> clothes were in much need of repair.    They were sitting just outside
> the hospital on a rough camel haired blanket, and were surrounded by
> their luggage.
> I mistook them for homeless people so I reached out for some change to
> give them.
> “No thank you.  We’re just here while my wife gives birth to the
> triplets.  I meant to book a hotel but there was no room.  I have to
> stay here tonight.  I’ll try again tomorrow.”
> “I wouldn’t bother with that.  We’re in the middle of the tourist
> season so you have to book well in advance if you hope to get
> accommodation here.”
>     “Oh dear, we didn’t think of that. This was just meant to be a
> holiday before my wife was due, but the triplets have decided to come
> very early.  We hadn’t even booked into a hotel when my wife’s
> contractions started.  We’ve been spending most of today locating the
> nearest maternity ward.”
> “I don’t live far.  You can come and stay at mine,” I offered.  I was
> very curious to find out more about this pair.
> “God bless you! That would be much appreciated.  I was very worried
> about my son Nadir staying out doors tonight, as I’ve heard nights out
> here are quite chilly. I don’t want Nadir to catch anything. We’ve
> already lost one child.  I would hate to lose another.”
> My heart warmed to him after he said that.  I was remembering how
> distressed mother had been when several of my sisters died in infancy.
> She had never fully recovered from all the losses.
> After that, one thing led to another.  I let them stay for as long as
> they wanted.  I even volunteered to baby sit for him.  Mr Murat was
> very grateful for that offer, as he wanted to spend as much time as he
> could with his wife.
> It was while I was changing Nadia’s diaper that I discovered Nadia to
> be female.
>
> “Why do you call her Nadir?  That‘s a male name,” I asked when Mr
> Murat next came round to check on his daughter.
> “Well, it’s a male child,” he blandly replied.
> “No she is not male.   You can check her bits if you don’t believe me.”
> “I will do nothing of the sort.   What kind of man do you take me for?”
> “An idiot, all you need to do is…”
> “Shut up!” he interrupted.
> I tried to finish my sentence but found I could not speak a word.   I
> hadn’t realised Mr Murat was a witch.
> I asked him for my voice back using sign language, but he obviously
> didn‘t understand how to communicate that way, despite the fact that
> his child was profoundly deaf.
> Mr Murat left while I was getting pen and paper out, so I could repeat
> my request that way.
> In the end I had to send Talmon to find him.  Talmon came back in the
> early hours of the morning, without Mr Murat.
> “Where is he?” I signed.
> I visualized the image of a drunken Mr Murat, asleep next to the high
> wire fence that surrounded our garden.
> “Could you fetch him for me?”
> I visualized Talmon attempting to pick Mr Murat up in his claws, but
> being blocked by a shielding charm.
>
> At dawn I abseiled down the side of the house.  I was feeling
> particularly irritable since I’d not been able to sleep at all that
> night.  I’d been agitated by the spell, and my agitation rubbed off on
> Nadia.  I couldn’t stop her crying.
> I soon found Mr Murat asleep near the gate, where Talmon had found him
> last night. I roughly shook him awake.
> “I want my voice back!” I wrote.
> “What has this got to do with me?” he asked when I finally got him up.
> “You put a spell on me.  I want my voice back,” I wrote with shaking
> hands.  I was incensed with rage by his response.  I hadn’t spent all
> that time in speech therapy, just to have some witch deprive me of
> speech altogether.
> “I couldn’t have, I’m a duman.”
> “Yesterday you put a curse on me, to deprive me of my voice, and then
> you prevented Talmon from picking you up by means of a shielding
> charm.  If that’s not magic, what is?  So could you kindly give me
> back my voice?”
> “I’m not a witch!”
> I had enough of this.  I’m not normally a violent person, but I was
> incensed with rage by this point.  I rushed at Mr Murat meaning to
> whack him with the note pad I was carrying, but I found my way barred
> by a shielding charm.  It was like trying to throw myself at a rubbery
> mass; I simply bounced off and landed a few feet away.
> “Are you alright?” Mr Murat asked me in some concern.
> I pointed to my throat.
> “You should be able to speak now.  I’m sorry about that.  If only you
> would understand.  I never wanted to be born a witch.  Mother used to
> get so upset whenever I worked magic, so I vowed never to do it
> again…”
> “You disgust me, you repellent creep! If only I could work magic, I
> would be delighted.  What kind of man are you?  You were born with
> this wonderful gift, and now you don‘t even want it.   Get lost!  I
> never want to see you again!” I shouted.
> “What about Nadir?”
> “I’ll take care of your daughter for you, as she is only a baby and
> can’t help having such lousy parents, but you can find accommodations
> elsewhere.”
>
>                ***  ***  ***
>
> I soon discovered to my shock and dismay that Nadia’s mother was my
> dreaded half sister Madrella.  One morning she paid me an unpleasant
> visit.  She came storming over on her flying carpet as soon as the
> triplets were out and she had taken time to recuperate sufficiently.
> “How dare you seduce my husband, as soon as my back is turned,”
> Madrella screamed.
> “You got to be kidding! Your husband is the last man I’d sleep with…” I 
> said.
> “Don’t lie to me, you miserable duman. The neighbours heard you
> arguing and I sense his guilt. Now go and fetch my child,” She hissed.
> “If your husband feels guilty, it’s probably because he put a spell on
> me, causing me to lose my voice…” I said.
> “You will lose it again permanently if you don’t fetch Nadir, right
> now,” She threatened.
> “Why did you give a female child a male name and lie to your husband
> about it,” I demanded.
> “There, I knew you were up to something. How dare you stir things up
> in this way? You’ve slept with my husband haven‘t you. Why else would
> you invite him to stay?” She yelled.
> “No, I only invited them as they had nowhere else to go, and I was
> curious as to why they were both covered in bruises…”I said,
> defensively.
> “Why don’t you just mind your own business? A parent has a right to
> use corporal punishment when their child misbehaves.” She snarled at
> me.
> “I suppose you extend that right to your husband too? How do you get
> past his shielding charm?” I asked.
> “Has he been whining to you then?” she sneered, “As to his paltry
> little shielding charms, I have a little spell of my own to prevent
> him from putting that up. My magic is a lot stronger then his. Now you
> better fetch Nadir or I‘ll…”
> “Do you really think I’d return a child to an evil murderer like you?”
> I replied, angrily.
> It was after I said that, that she punched me in the face.
> While I lay clutching my eye, she pushed roughly past me. I can only
> assume that she went into fetch Nadia, since she was nowhere to be
> found when I recovered sufficiently from the blow.
> Madrella had punched me so hard that my left retina got detached. I
> had only just had that eye operated on, so it was extremely delicate
> at the time.  Madrella should have noticed that since the eye was
> still covered with a bandage. I lost the sight in that eye.
> Madrella was not even prosecuted for doing that to me.
> To add insult to injury Madrella made false claims that she had caught
> me and her husband in bed together, and for some reason Mr Murat never
> contradicted her story. So whenever I did complain about what Madrella
> did to me, I was just told I was ‘asking for it’.
>
>
>                   ***  *** ***
>
> Four months later, Mr Murat came to see me again.  Talmon asked me if
> he should allow him to come up, but I didn’t want to see him again so
> we just left him there.
> He was still hanging round when I went out with my dogs, the following 
> morning.
> “I’m sorry!” He cried wringing his hands in a truly dejected manner.
> “So you should be.  After all the trouble you got me into, when we last 
> met.”
> “Please Liza, I’ve made a big mistake, but I’m really sorry about
> that.    I want to know if you will agree to take Nadir in.  My wife
> doesn‘t understand his needs.”
> “Oh really, and you‘ve only just noticed!”
> “Please! My wife gets so angry you see.  I had to rush my daughter
> Zakia to the hospital today, but she died before we got there…” Mr
> Murat told me, wiping away a tear.
> “Oh… I see… What happened to the other two triplets?” I asked, my
> voice softening. Despite all that had happened I couldn’t stay mad at
> the wretch at a time like this.
> “They are with a relative of my wife, called Arielle Parvesh.  She
> offered to take care of all three triplets because my wife wasn’t
> interested in them.  She was told they were going to be boys, but the
> doctor obviously made a mistake.”
> “Why didn’t you let Arielle look after all of them for you?”
> “They are my daughters.  I was hoping if I introduced them to Madrella
> one at a time, she would feel as much warmth for them as I do…  I made
> a terrible mistake, and now one of them has died,” and with that Mr
> Murat put his head in his hands and burst into tears.
> In the end I invited him in.  When he calmed down he told me what had
> happened two days before.
>
> It was during an argument over how the money for Nadia’s cochlear
> implant was to be raised, that little Zakia died.
> Mr Murat sat bottle feeding Zakia.  Ever so often he glanced anxiously
> at his wife Madrella, who sat painting her toenails.  She dressed in
> gaudy see-through clothes that Mr Murat never approved of, but his
> wife obviously had the upper hand in their relationship.
> Just then little Nadia tottered towards them.  She mimicked being fed.
> Madrella sprang to her feet, boxing Nadia’s ears.  Mr Murat put Zakia
> into her cot and picked little Nadia up, so he could comfort her.
> “He’s supposed to say food.  Not make those dreadful signs.  The
> sooner the money is raised to make the dratted brat hear again the
> better,” Madrella hissed.
> “He is asking for food in his own way.  You should accept the way he is.”
> “Definitely not,   I must say I’m really disappointed that you wasted
> good money on all those eye operations for the triplets, when they are
> only girls.  We are already in dept for that and we haven’t even
> started raising money for Nadir’s cochlear implant yet. Don‘t you dare
> pull out, because if you do...”
> "Don’t worry dear; we will get the money together for Nadir's cochlear
> implant.  Your aunt Beria's offered to help me get the money together
> in exchange for one of my legs. She wants it for her dragon to eat.”
> "No, you foolish man, I'm not having you sacrifice your leg.  The 
> triplets..."
> "I've thought of the triplets too.  I have an aunt who lives near a
> school for the Deaf in Nassoli.    She is happy to take care of the
> triplets while they are at school, in exchange for some gold jewellery
> and electronic goods.  The school fees will be low as the school is
> funded by a charitable organisation for the Deaf overseas..."
> "Ah, but will they get an oral education there? I want them to get
> lots of speech therapy. None of that signing that I see the deaf in
> Nassoli make."
> "Dearest Madrella, we must not interfere in the will of god. If god
> wants them to sign, we have to accept that.”
> "God doesn't come into this, you religious idiot.  I don't want
> anything to do with Deafblind triplets.  My sisters Monika and Liza
> were bad enough.  I had mother all to me before Monika came along and
> spoilt it all."
> "But Madrella, the triplets are gods gift to us," Mr Murat exclaimed in 
> horror.
> "Well god can have them back then.  Why don't you let me sell the
> little freaks instead of selling your leg?”
> “No, I would rather lose a leg or two then sell any of my precious
> children.  Besides there is no way a set of deafblind triplets will
> make much money…”
> “They might fetch a good price at a freak show.  They would have done
> even better if you hadn't removed the cataracts.”
> "No!"
> "Well in that case we could just kill them all and sell their organs 
> abroad."
> “Oh Lord! What kind of monster have I married?”
> Before Mr Murat could stop it happening, Madrella grabbed hold of
> Zakia and began to shake her.
> Mr Murat snatched the unconscious baby out of Madrella's hands.  He
> tucked her in a baby sling, before hurriedly saddling and mounting his
> camel.
> The air outside was thick with sand that was blowing everywhere.  He
> struggled through the lethal weather conditions, to get to the nearest
> hospital in Keraina, which is half a day’s ride by camel.   Due to the
> shaking,  the long journey and unfortunate weather conditions, Zakia
> died several hours before getting anywhere near the hospital.
> Mr Murat took Zakia’s body to my father’s house in Keraina, and then
> crossed the borders into Darthrila.   He waited at Keraina railway
> station, so as to catch the first morning train into Druzil.
>
> Of course I just had to take Nadia after he told me all this.   We
> hatched plans as to how to smuggle Nadia out.  Only he never went
> through with the plans.  I waited for days to no avail.   He simply
> never brought her to me.
>
> The next time we met, it was by chance at the local hospital again. I
> had just had another appointment at my eye specialist.  The doctors
> had not been able to reattach my retina.  Now my sight in the other
> eye was giving me problems too.  This was very concerning.   As a deaf
> person I depend heavily on my sight.
> Now, I was due for appointment at the same hospital.  This one was
> with the audiologist, for a check up with my cochlear implant.  The
> two appointments would take all day. It was while I made my way to my
> next appointment that I met Mr Murat.
> I nearly didn't recognise Mr Murat as he only had one leg and was
> struggling down the corridor on a pair of crutches.
> "What happened?" I asked in concern.
> "It's all right; everything has been sorted out now.  I've had my leg
> amputated and Nadia's just had her cochlear implant put in."
> I had to ask him to repeat himself several times since I was having
> problems taking all this in.  I peered in his face in order to
> Lip-read and turned up my speech processor as far as it would go.
> "I don’t understand. We arranged for me to take care of Nadia.  I
> already told you that I won't implant her yet..." I replied, after a
> stunned silence.
> "That was rather silly of me.  My wife is so sorry about Zakia's
> death. It was all a tragic accident.  She didn't mean to hurt
> Zakia..."
> "That's not what you told me before."
> "I was upset, and may have exaggerated things a little in my grief.
> Everything is as it should be.  My wife would never dream of hurting
> Nadir.  She is desperately keen to keep him with her.    Now I must
> dash, I'm on my way to see Madrella at the local police station."
> "So she's been arrested.  Thank goodness for that."
> "Only for the night, Beria assured me that she should be out today..."
> "What happened?"
> "My wife was a little put out when the cochlear implant failed to
> work, so she started being a little silly with the staff that works
> here.  They called the police and they took her away in one of their
> electro-pedal driven vans.  Now a nice doctor has explained to me that
> the cochlear implant doesn't work immediately after it‘s put in.  You
> have to wait until it's been activated before Nadir can hear anything
> at all.  Unfortunately little Nadir will never be able to hear
> normally.  They don‘t even know how well it will work since cochlear
> implants are still considered an experimental procedure as far as
> children are concerned.  The doctor is hopeful though, that he should
> manage speech after we've sorted all the speech therapy out.  Now I
> must dash.  Come tomorrow.  I'll discuss things with you then."
> And with that he was gone.  He left me quite speechless by his idiotic
> behaviour.
> I felt too disgusted with Mr Murat to meet him the following day.   I
> made other plans to rescue Nadia with the hospital staff.  I found
> them very accommodating since they had their own grievances as far as
> Madrella was concerned.  I only hoped Talmon Bronze would be able to
> protect me when Madrella had discovered Nadia‘s absence.
>
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