Read Online Pushing Up Daisies by Melanie Thompson - Free Book Online Page B

and in Israel. When they were in places like Japan and Turkey, she still found somewhere to ride.
    The rider in front of her was a young man. He made rude comments about her and Daisy to a companion in Sudanese Arabic. Sarah could easily follow it. She considered making an equally rude comment about the young man’s family and decided not to let them know she understood what they were saying.
    The camel Daisy rode on was led by her young Bedouin’s companion. She glanced over at Daisy and saw they’d secured her by tying her hands in front of her. This was apparently so she could hang on. Poor Daisy’s face was bruised and her lip swollen. She’d tried to protect Sarah and received a beating as a result. The Bedouins recognized Daisy as a warrior. They hadn’t tied up Sarah so she figured they didn’t consider her a threat which was classic Muslim behavior; little respect for women. Well they’d underestimated her.
    The ride wore on until dawn. Sarah fell asleep with her arms around her captor and her face against his smelly robe. He reeked of goat and sweat. When the horse abruptly stopped, she woke up. Her entire body was stiff and the insides of her legs badly chafed. Why had she worn the dress?
    They’d arrived at the nomads’ camp. Tents sprouted out of the arid plain. Behind the tents, hundreds of camels moaned, groaned and grazed off the sparse vegetation. They were a noisy and constantly moving sea of creatures. As soon as Sarah saw the camels, she realized who these people were. They were the Rizeigat, a group of Sudanese nomads disenfranchised by war and their own government. They raised camels.
    This seemed pretty far east for them to wander. But Bedouins knew no boundaries or borders. They’d traveled freely through different countries for centuries.
    She fell off the horse when the Bedouin in front of her dismounted. Her legs were so stiff and sore, she couldn’t hang on. From her position on the ground beside the tired horse, she searched for House and Daisy. She spotted House being dragged out of the only vehicle they seemed to possess, and a Bedouin warrior pushing Daisy into one of the tents.
    Her Bedouin, she now knew his name was Gadim, lifted her up and assisted her to the same tent into which Daisy had disappeared. Once inside, he pushed her and left. She fell onto a thin carpet. Daisy lifted her up, dragged her to a corner and pulled her close. Daisy’s hands were free. They sat together and watched as the Bedouin women went in and out of the tent into a rear area as they prepared a meal for the returning men.
    When they left, carrying huge trays of rice, flat bread and some kind of meat, Sarah hugged Daisy. “They will feed House,” she said. “But not us. At least not until everyone else has eaten.”
    â€œWhat?” Daisy said. “Why?”
    â€œThese people are Sudanese nomads. They’ve been fighting a war amongst themselves for over twenty years. The Sudanese government actually armed them to help roust rebel insurgents. But that fell apart and now they use the weapons against each other.”
    Daisy shook her head. “What’s that got to do with us not being fed?”
    Sarah smiled. “These people are Muslims and we are women. Women eat last and we’re captives which makes it even worse.”
    â€œSo they’ll feed House even before the women of the tribe get to eat?”
    Sarah nodded. “Of course. I can speak their language. The one leading your camel said you had very nice breasts and he’d like to make you one of his wives.”
    Daisy snorted. “Good luck with that. I’d whack off his protruding parts and feed them to him.”
    â€œWe need to get out of here. I’m not sure what they have planned for us, but these are not Somali pirates. They don’t ransom captives.”
    â€œI saw them looting the bird. They grabbed everything that didn’t burn. We might be