Read Online Double Danger by Margaret Thomson Davis - Free Book Online

definitely not happy.’
    ‘There you are then.’
    Yes, there she was, having to leave the flat, the Calton, Glasgow and Scotland, and travel far away to a strange land.

11
    As they passed through King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, Jessica was astonished. There was a call to prayer and the Saudis converged on a huge carpet in the airport concourse where they all stood in a line, as though they were in a mosque, in full view of all the other passengers. All the non-Muslim travellers just continued going about their business.
    Brian smiled and nudged her. ‘That’s a sure sign you’re in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By the way, the Kingdom is sometimes called “The Land of the Two Holy Mosques” – that’s referring to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest places in Islam. It’s just in English it’s most commonly referred to as Saudi Arabia.’
    The children were trotting along in silence between them, obviously overawed by the strangeness of the place.
    ‘Did you know,’ Brian went on enthusiastically, ‘that Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest petroleum exporter? Oil accounts for more than ninety per cent of exports and nearly seventy-five per cent of government revenues, which has made them able to create a welfare state.’
    ‘A welfare state?’ Jessica echoed incredulously.
    ‘Oh yes, it’s a marvellous place to live, darling. You’ll love it once you get to know it.You and the children will be happy here. I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I hadn’t been sure of that.’
    Suddenly Tommy spoke up. ‘The men are wearing dresses.’
    Brian laughed. ‘It’s called a dishdasha or a thoub. It’s nice and loose and allows the air to circulate and cool their bodies in the hot summer days. It’s white too because white reflects sunlight. That scarf-like thing covering their heads is called a shumagg. There’s another thing they wear underneath it to hold their hair in place and the black band around the top of the head holds all the head gear in place. The head cover is always white in summer and heavy red and white checked in winter.’
    Fiona asked, ‘Do ladies wear the same?’
    ‘No, they wear black coverings called abayas.’
    ‘Oh right.’ Jessica raised a sarcastic eyebrow. ‘So it doesn’t matter about them being cool and having sunlight deflected.’
    ‘It’s just the custom in public.’ Brian’s voice acquired a slight edge. ‘It’s to do with modesty. But they can wear smart clothes underneath and at home in private. Look at some of them over there with their designer handbags and gold bracelets. They’re all right, believe me.’
    He used to laugh at her, Jessica thought, and say she wouldn’t hear a word against Scotland, especially Glasgow and the Calton. Now it was obvious that he didn’t like one hint of criticism of Saudi Arabia and any of its customs.
    ‘And by the way,’ Brian went on, ‘women have a great deal under Islam compared with what they had before. Nobody wanted a daughter because for one thing she could be an economic burden, so they used to kill them. In some places, they buried them alive.’
    ‘Oh!’ Fiona squealed in distress, and Jessica protested angrily, ‘Brian, for pity’s sake!’
    ‘Sorry, sorry.’ He bent down and kissed Fiona. ‘I shouldn’t have mentioned that, darling. I’m sorry. It was long, long ago and would never, never happen now. I just mentioned it to show what a marvellous difference and happy change the Muslim religion and the Arab rule have made to this country.’
    They found their connecting flight and eventually arrived in Tabuk Airport. It was quite small – probably something like the size of Inverness Airport, Jessica guessed.
    It was decided that they should have a look around the town of Tabuk before making their way by car to the compound. Brian had left his car in the airport car park.
    This was where, Brian told her, she would have to do most of her shopping. She soon realised the reason why Brian sometimes felt