Blink of an Eye Read Online Free PDF Page B

the mutawa’s, Nizari or not. Surely it would be merciful.
    Miriam forced her feet forward. Those gathered watched her in silence. Although Miriam couldn’t see Sita’s eyes, she could feel Sita’s gaze like razors on her skin. They came to the edge of the pool, across the span of water from Sita and her father, and stopped.
    For a moment no one spoke. Miriam looked at Musa. Deep lines carved the stone of his hard face. It wasn’t yet hot, but sweat glistened on his brow. The religious man shifted on his feet, and his sandals scraped the concrete.
    â€œThese are all the witnesses?” he asked quietly. Miriam wanted to scream at his bony and dark face, wake him from his terrifying apathy. But she stood still next to the suited man, who nodded once.
    A soft whimper floated across the pool. Sita or her mother, Miriam could not tell. She ached to say something, to beg for leniency on behalf of her friend. It will be all right. If they beat her, her wounds will heal. If they cut off her hand for refusing to touch her husband, she will still live free of him. Surely the man had divorced her already. He would never live with this stain on his name.
    Neither would Sita’s father.
    â€œThere is no god but God,” the religious man said, “and Muhammad is the Prophet of God. No man shall escape his wrath. It is for our love of God and his Prophet and all that is written that we have gathered, lest we become a people who defile God.”
    Sita stood motionless, unlike the fiery girl Miriam knew. Nausea spread through her stomach. She had heard that those who administered severe punishment drugged the accused on occasion, to prevent a struggle. If they were going to beat her . . .
    â€œLet it be known that this woman has defied her husband’s rights and injured him bodily in a manner no different from murder. She has made a mockery of God and of Islam and must be punished in accordance with the laws of the Nizari, servants of God. So be it.”
    Musa’s upper lip trembled. Still no one moved. Miriam had seen a beating once, a horrid occasion. But it was filled with anger and yelling, not this silence.
    The whimper came again—Sita’s mother—and this time it lingered, then grew to a soft, quivering wail.
    The religious man lifted his chin and muttered something Miriam couldn’t understand. He closed his eyes. “You have heard from God. Do what you must do.”
    Eyes still fixed directly ahead, Musa took his daughter’s arm. The wail turned guttural and shredded the air. Sita’s mother grabbed her daughter’s other arm.
    â€œNo!” she moaned. “She is my daughter!” Terror ripped through Miriam’s chest, electrifying her heart.
    Sita’s mother pulled at her daughter and dropped to her knees. Sita looked like a rag doll about to be pulled apart. Her head lolled on her shoulders.
    â€œTake me, I beg—”
    The religious man’s hand cracked against her face, stilling the cry and sending her reeling backward. Miriam cried out involuntarily. She took a step to the side, but the man beside her gripped her elbow and squeezed it like a vise.
    â€œSita!” Miriam cried.
    â€œShut up!” Miriam’s guardian jerked her arm. She felt pain spread down to her elbow.
    Sita turned her head toward Miriam.
    Oh, dear Sita! What are they doing to you!
    Sita’s father was trembling from head to foot now. The religious man gave him a nudge toward the steps. Musa blinked, then stiffly led his daughter to the steps and into the water. Sita followed like a lamb, veiled and submissive, waiting for her fatal baptism. The clear blue water soaked Sita’s abaaya pitch black.
    It occurred to Miriam that she had stopped breathing. The unearthly silence returned, punctuated only by the blood pounding through her ears. Long fingers of horror snaked over her nose and mouth, smothering her. What happened next unfolded without fanfare,