Chapter 2

Misdirection

Part-2

The sun has risen in the horizon and the darkness of the night had disappeared. Tamina’s fear increased as the day became more clear. The battleground ground of Restum was so huge that crossing it to the next village seemed like an eternity to her. In the darkness of night, Tamina had surpassed a greater distance and she was no longer chased by Owais and his men. Tamina slowly reduced her pace to conserve her energy, as she walked along the battleground. The sun shone brightly and the air had started heating up as well as the sand. Arham started to cry as the heat rose and Tamina decided to stop for a little while to take rest.

As she reached a huge, rusted barrel which lied horizontally on the sand, she sat down to feed Arham in its shade. The shadow of the barrel gave her a momentary relief from the scorching heat of the sun. Arham fell asleep as soon as he was fed and Tamina sighed in relief. It was true that she was exhausted, but her son too was tired of the constant running. It was thier second day after she had escaped from her home.

‘ Is his whole body aching too? ‘ Tamina thought and it pained her heart.

‘ I am so sorry, my son. I am trying my best to keep you safe. I am sorry for making you suffer like this. I am an incompetent mother, but I will keep you safe, no matter what. ‘ Tamina silently said these words to a sleeping Arham.

‘ How many more days would I need to reach Bayadar, the next village? Will Owais find me before that? These thoughts haunted Tamina every time she looked at Arham. Lack of proper sleep, the heat and the exhaustion had really took a toll on her.

‘ I wouldn’t last, if I am being chased like this and if I go on like this, being chased by Owais, Arham will be in danger for sure.’ Tamina thought to herself. She knew that running with Arham in her current state will only slow her down, so she has to come up with a plan.

‘ Oh god, help me, please.’ Tamina silently prayed. She was a mother, alone and scared, tired to the core, starving to death, but still pushing herself forward to keep her son safe. Maybe all these have polished her wits and sharpened her survival instincts. A vague idea started to form in her head but it was not easy for her to execute it. She needed immense strength and will power for that.

Tamina silently sat there looking forward, at the horizon in front of her. She didn’t have the courage to look at Arham’s face because she knew, if she did, she will breakdown now. Silently praying to her God to toughen her heart, Tamina looked at the sky.

‘This is the only way'. She said to herself and without further thinking, she got up and ran with all her might that was left in her. When Tamina reached so far from the barrel where she was initially sitting, she looked around her to find another rusty barrel. She reached near an empty rusted one, half submerged horizontally in the sand. It’s inside was half filled with sand and was cool compared to the outside. Tamina was in a hurry, frequently glancing around her, looking for anyone chasing her. Her chapped lips and worn out hands trembled, but she prayed, to give her the strength to do what she was supposed to do. She wrapped Arham properly, except his face and placed him inside the barrel and then covered him with the cool sand inside it, as a blanket. Tears rolled down her eyes and she wiped them furiously, cursing her fate. Without sparing a glance at sleeping Arham, she went further searching for anything to wrap in her clothes to mistook Owais, for a baby bundle. Tamina found a pair of soldier’s boots among the remains. She tore a large piece of cloth from her overcoat and then wrapped it around the boots and made a dummy which resembled a baby bundle. She was about to turn back to where she came, but her feet refused to move.

‘ Just one look at him. Just one look’. She told herself and went near the barrel where she had hid Arham. Arham was sleeping and seeing her son’s face who was about to be abandoned by her, made her fall on her knees. It was hard for her to leave him like this. She couldn’t promise Arham that she would return to him because after she misdirect Owais away from Arham and when he finds out that she had tricked him, the chances of her being alive was very thin. Owais was a man who would never forgive treachery or insult, especially from a woman.

‘ Arham, my son. I don’t know if I would make it alive and return to you. The chances are very slim, but if it keeps you safe, I will be happy to die protecting you. Baby, I don’t really know what will happen to you after I leave you here in this vast junkyard, I had no choice but to abandon you. It’s so sure that if I keep you with me, you will get killed and I will be dragged away to my village. I cannot see you getting murdered before my eyes, son. That is a mother's selfishness.There is no possible ways for you to live if we are together, but if I leave you here, maybe, maybe someone will find you here. I will pray to God, to keep you safe. I may be a sinner in his eyes, but the God I believes in cannot avoid a desperate wish from anyone in need. Stay strong , my boy. I am sure, you will be safe from those monsters and I will make sure of it.’ Tamina said taking her time to look at Arham. She was engraving his little, red face in her memories. Sparing a last glance at him, biting her lips to stop her from crying, Tamina ran back to the former barrel with the dummy baby bundle.

Tamina sat there, waiting for Owais to come. Knowing that she still had time left, Tamina took a little bit of it to pray. This maybe her last prayer, so she decided to say everything that she had buried in her heart.

‘ I have loved a man who believed in a different God, who practiced different tradition and who spoke a different tongue. I don’t regret falling in love with him or carrying his child, because, I truly loved him, breaking all the barriers around us. He too had loved me as I have loved him and I don’t doubt that fact even a bit. He was different from everyone around me, in appearance as well as in his way of thinking too. He was a soldier, and a true human being with a good heart full of love and respect and I loved him for that. But he had abandoned me just like my father and that made me lose my trust in everything and everyone, except you. When I was shattered, I looked up to you, and it was my prayers that gave me peace even though they were all futile wishes. I wanted my father to acknowledge my love for Arham’s father, I wanted him to return to me, and I wanted to avoid Owais from finding Arham. I begged you for all these, but you turned a blind eye towards me. I am not complaining, I may be a sinner in your accord, so punish me, not my innocent son. Punish me by taking my life, but instead protect my son. Let him be found by someone who would take him away from Owais. Save him. This is my most desperate wish and you will grant me that. I. beg. You. ‘ Tamina’s prayer echoed through the battleground and she wept like a wounded lioness. Her words were more like a declaration of war towards her unfair life than a prayer to the Almighty.

Tamina’s prayer was disrupted by noises of men shouting behind her. She knew that Owais had at last came and that was what she wanted too. Taking the dummy bundle in her arms and sparing a last look at the direction where she hid Arham, Tamina stepped into the heat so that Owais could see her.

‘She is there, we found her'. One of Owais's men yelled as he spotted her near the barrel. A cruel smile decorated Owais's face as he soon as he saw Tamina.

‘ Time to return to where you belong, wench'. Owais said and with his men , headed towards her. Tamina, with the last drop of energy left on her, ran towards her right, way from the direction where she had hid Arham . She ran fast, her only goal was to take Owais away from her son. Even she didn’t know that she had stepped into the unmarked territories on her run. She ran without looking behind her as far away as she can. Her slippers were long lost and the skin on her feet started to burn.

She ran and ran, for how many minutes, she don’t know. When she couldn’t afford to take another step, Tamina decided to end the run and accept her fate which was now in Owais’s hands. The strength had left her legs and she fell on her knees in the sand. She looked around for Owais and his men, but there was nobody around her. It was all sand again. She was confused where she had needed up and sitting there, waited for Owais to chase her again. Two days in a desert, without a drop of water, was too much for her. Her mind had started to get foggy and her eyes blurred due to the heat. She lied down on the sand, under the merciless sun, wondering how a nineteen year old girl like her had ended up like this, all alone and lost in the desert. Tamina’s story was the story of every girl in a war stricken, military ruled, isolated area. Adding to their misery was the infrequent terrorist attacks. Laying there, she thought of her childhood, when Belgarath was on its golden days, where everything was peaceful and calm, and when everyone was happy and content. She imagined her village, nine years back, before the terrorist attacks happened, before the foreigners came and before her brother died. Happy, smiling faces of her family, her father, mother and brother, flashed through her mind. Laying on the sand, at the verge of loosing consciousness, she thought about everything that happened to her till that moment because her intuition told her that this was the last moments of her life.