Harold Saves Her Husband Pt. 03

"So you're going to walk around the outside of the Lord Sanji's zenana shouting "Rover!"? Won't that be too obvious?" Serena suggested.

"I won't start near the zenana. I'll start where Hasit said he came out, see if that passageway is at all practicable for an adult, and then work my way around all the buildings, leaving the zenana basement until early morning when the guards will be at their lowest ebb."

"Hasit said?" Queen Serena seemed to be thinking hard. "Did we mention Hasit when Manika was here? Did we?"

Lisa, George and I thought.

"No, Serena, I don't think we did," Lisa said finally. George and I nodded agreement.

"Pushpa should be told," Serena said. "She would like to know that her young cousin Hasit has escaped. But it's not urgent now. It can wait until morning, or I'll tell Manika if she returns with more information."

...

I'll let Jane recount her adventures with the Archers when they went to Lord Mohan's zenana. It will give me time to think how to confess and play down my own abject failure as a searcher for the Colonel's mythical dog Rover. Over to Jane.

...

JANE

We, the Archers and I, were slightly late leaving for the zenana. George thought it important that we should know about Hasit, and the information he had given.

By driving the carriages hard with a fast escort of light cavalry we were only about ten minutes after the due time when we walked through the zenana entrance. The two armed men outside the doorway presented arms in a sloppy fashion. If they had been Company soldiers they would have been on a charge sheet for their lack of precision.

Facing the open door was a screen so that no one could see inside even when the door was open. We walked round the screen and we were met by Lord Mohan's mother, Sadhna. She welcomed us in the local dialect, to which I responded, thanking her for the invitation. She bowed to us. We curtseyed back to her, spreading our crinolines and hoping that our concealed armaments wouldn't clank or rattle. They didn't.

Lady Sadhna led us through to a large chamber. We were relieved to see that there was a row of European style chairs facing the clear dance floor. Beside each chair was a pile of cushions on which the zenana ladies would sit. The numbers were exactly equal, one zenana lady for each Englishwoman. Lady Sadhna and I were in the centre on a small platform raised a couple of inches above the main floor.

Once we were seated we were offered drinks, which we declined. We responded with our flasks of gin. Our offer was declined too. That is the custom when first offered. We would be expected to accept when the drinks were offered again, but we knew better than to drink what we would be given.

Lady Sadhna clapped her hands. Music started in an adjoining room, clearly heard where we were. Two dancing women entered, stood facing us, bowed before standing erect and still. Slowly they began to swap their hips in time to the music. Their navels and midriff were just visible under a translucent fabric. Heavily sequinned blouses covered their breasts and upper body. Their bright blue skirts shimmered with tiny mirrors as their hip movements made the skirts twitch slightly.

The dancers began to sway from side to side, their skirts sweeping the floor. Two more dancers joined them as the rhythm of the music quickened. At that point the drinks were offered again. We accepted and Lord Mohan's ladies accepted our gin. Some of them spluttered at the first taste. As the Archers had pre-arranged, we held the drinks as if we were too engrossed in the dancing. Lady Sadhna seemed irritated by our lack of thirst.

One by one, as an opportunity arose, we emptied the drinks beside us, behind us, or anywhere we could. Some of us had not managed it when Marie, who had volunteered to be our test subject and had actually drunk some of what had been offered, showed signs of collapse. We took our lead from her and all of us began to slump, deliberately abandoning our gin flasks.

Lady Sadhna clapped her hands twice. The dancers and music stopped abruptly. Each zenana woman inexpertly produced a knife and waved it at her English partner.

Lady Sadhna spoke slowly and clearly in accented English.

"You English have expressed too much interest in Lord Sanji's zenana. You will be taken there to see what you couldn't discover by your spies. Now!"

We pretended to find it difficult to walk and leant heavily on the zenana women who struggled to support our much heavier bodies. Most had to put their knives away and use two hands. We appeared incapable of resistance, taking our cues from Marie.

We had to be pushed and part carried up a flight of stairs and along a corridor. Lord Sanji's zenana was above Lord Mohan's, nowhere near the reported location. Once inside we were faced by a few women wearing knives who looked far more competent than the exhausted zenana ladies who had been dragging us along. We were dumped inside and Lord Mohan's ladies staggered away, some sipping at our abandoned gin flasks.

Under the threat of drawn knives we were forced up another staircase. We pretended to find it very difficult to mount. Marie had to be carried because her legs were not working at all.

This staircase was narrow and circular. I thought it would be easy to defend against attackers from below. At the top was a small landing about ten feet square and a heavy locked door. One of the knife wielding women pushed past the crowd of us and unlocked the door, throwing it wide open. Like Lord Mohan's zenana, there was a partition facing the door but a much larger space. We were all pushed inside and the door slammed shut behind us. We heard it being locked. Marie slumped down, leaning against the partition.

I signalled to Anne, one the Archers, to go to the right of the partition. I pulled my revolver out of its hiding place but kept it concealed in the folds of my skirt as I cautiously peered around the end of the partition. I hadn't expected what I saw.

A line of women were sprawled on cushions to one side of the large chamber. All looked tired and drawn. In the dim light I began to recognise some of them as the missing noblewomen. I saw Bhavini. She recognised me. I put my finger to my lips.

"There's no need for silence, Jane," Bhavini said. "We captives are alone in here. Our guards come once a day to bring food and water but we aren't going anywhere."

She stood up. Only then did I see that she had a wide leather belt or corset around her waist. It was about a foot deep, ending just below her breasts. Fixed to the back of it was a chain, and that chain was attached to a long rail on the floor. Bhavini walked towards me. She had to stop about a yard from the partition, chained like a guard dog.

"Can't you get that off?" I asked stupidly. Anne and the others had joined me.

"Of course we've tried," Bhavini said tiredly, "but we have no tools except our fingernails, and they aren't enough."

She held up her hands. Her nails, which would normally have been carefully manicured, were broken and torn. Bhavini turned round to show the back of the corset. It was wired together, possibly using pliers.

"Archers!" I said loudly. "Use whatever you have to get these ladies freed."

Some of us had very sharp knives or daggers. It wasn't easy but in a few minutes they had sliced through all the heavy leather corsets. The noblewomen started walking around freely.

"Bhavini," I said. "Your younger brother Hasit escaped. How?"

I couldn't see how Hasit could have got out of this chamber. The stone walls seemed solid except for a ten foot high partition marking off a corner.

"Hasit!" Bhavini exclaimed. "I haven't got a younger brother Hasit. I haven't got any younger brothers. My brothers are older than me."

"Oh blast!" I exclaimed. "He must be a plant to lead us into a trap. Or rather not us. We walked into this one willingly. But it must be a trap for Pushpa or Harold."

I explained to Bhavini what her fake brother Hasit had said.

"There were no children with us when we were kidnapped." She said. "It was a women-only event, and we were given drugged drinks. The next thing we knew we were in here, chained up, and feeling very unwell. We know we are somewhere in Lord Mohan's palace, but not where in it."

"This is supposed to be Lord Sanji's zenana," I said.

"Lord Sanji? I suppose it is. He's through there with his ladies." Bhavini said, pointing at the wooden partition. "We can talk to them, pass food and water to one of them who has the longest chain, but they can't get out, nor could we get in. They are imprisoned too."

"So he's not part of a plot to replace Queen Serena?" I asked.

"Sanji?" Bhavini snorted. "Sanji is led by his lingam and nothing else. Whoever holds that in her yoni controls him. His ladies have been amusing themselves with him while we've been in here. We can hear them, and him. Sometimes I've felt sorry for him. He is ruled by his women and they can be demanding..."

"He's not ambitious?"

"Ambitious? I think Sanji's only desire at present is a couple of nights alone in bed. He's worn out by trying to satisfy too many women. But when he's recovered, they'll be welcome back. All he wants is sex."

"Thank you, Bhavini. We'll go in and release Sanji and his ladies."

"While you do, we're going to use that well."

Bhavini pointed to a windlass on the far wall, which had been beyond the length of their chains. One of the women started hauling water up and they stripped to wash themselves thoroughly.

Beyond the partition, which I and Anne had entered cautiously, there were eight chained women, a very large bed, and on it Lord Sanji was naked except for the leather corset around his waist. His lingam was standing proudly. Unlike the others, his wrists and elbows were cuffed to the sides of his corset with leather bands. His chain didn't allow him to leave the bed. There were a couple of bedpans close to the bed, but he couldn't have used them without help.

Sanji tried to roll over to conceal his erection. His fetters impeded him but one of his ladies spread the pallu of her sari to protect his modesty. It wasn't very successful because the material was tented by his upright lingam.

"Ladies, and Lord Sanji," I announced, "We have come to remove your fetters. We are all still imprisoned for the moment, but we can make you more comfortable."

Anne brought several of the knife-carrying Archers into the room. They cut through the ladies leather corsets to free them. I took one knife, and working with the lady who was protecting Sanji's modesty, I cut the bands holding his wrist and elbow on one side, moved to the other side, and released that arm too. Sanji rolled to be face down as I cut through the back of the corset beside the wired lacing. His waist was reddened and sore from the chafing.

Another Archer and one of Sanji's ladies had cut a length from a spare sari, one of many in a heap beside the bed, to make a makeshift dhoti for Lord Sanji. Once dressed, he wanted to go through to the well. I stopped him, and sent Anne to check that the noblewomen were fully clothed again. They might have been said to be some of Sanji's numerous zenana women, but they weren't. It would have been very improper for him to see them naked.

I let his ladies go to the well first, and then he washed his upper body.

The Archers cut up some of the spare saris into long strips, having checked with Lord Sanji's ladies that they weren't special. The ladies assured us they weren't. They were old saris that had been tossed in to them when they were first imprisoned.

"Ladies, and Lord Sanji!" I called quietly but forcefully. "We are now, all of us, going to get out. Before we do, please go into Lord Sanji's room until we come to get you. You will hear a loud noise. Don't worry. You'll be safe."

It sounded like a gaggle of geese calling as they all moved into the inner room with most of the Archers. Anne produced some small silk bags of gunpowder from inside her crinoline. Many of the Archers had similar bags.

She pushed one bag as far as she could into the keyhole of the outer door, and two others into the small gap between the door and the frame. She made a hole in each bag and pushed a short length of quick match into each. She signalled for us to withdraw, produced a tinderbox and lit a small candle. With the candle she lit the quick match and ran to join us.

Seconds later there were three loud bangs in fast succession. It would have been better if they had been simultaneous, but quick match burns erratically. The Archers armed with guns rushed to the doorway. The door had been shattered and blown outwards. The two women outside had been knocked down the stairs and were lying there groaning.

There was a rush of the knife-armed women from below. They stopped suddenly when faced by a number of levelled guns. All of them were brought into the chamber, past the partition which was now lying on the ground, and into Lord Sanji's inner room. There the Archers, the noblewomen and Lord Sanji's women tied them up with the strips of sari. They were tied cruelly tight and effectively gagged. The women wanted revenge for their incarceration.

We shut the door to the inner room and secured it as best we could with the chains formerly attached to the leather corsets. It wouldn't hold them in for long, but first the women guards would have to free themselves from their sari bondage. Working together it would be possible. All we wanted was sufficient time to leave the building before the alarm was raised, hoping that the explosions hadn't done that already.

We were fortunate. The sound of the gunpowder hadn't travelled beyond the lower room. In silence we carefully followed one of Lord Sanji's women who had been in these zenana buildings before. Within five minutes the whole crowd of us were in the open air and had met George's cavalry. We crammed everyone into our carriages and drove the overloaded vehicles slowly and carefully back to the encampment. Once there it was as if we had upset an ants' nest. Soldiers were rushing around erecting tents and building a fence to provide a protected area for the large number of rescued women.

I went to report the successful rescue to Queen Serena and Lisa. They were delighted until I mentioned Bhavini's fake brother Hasit.

"Oh shit!" Lisa said. "Harold has been gone a couple of hours already, checking Hasit's story. He must have walked straight into a trap."

"Ambika might be able to find out what has happened to him," Serena suggested.

She called Manika, who had been hugging her married sister, one of the rescued noblewomen, and asked her to fetch Ambika from the guard room.

Once Manika had left I said quietly:

"Hasit's story shows that there is a spy in our camp. His story wouldn't have been plausible if Pushpa had been with us. They must have known that Pushpa was busy escorting or interrogating Kali on Earth's four priestesses. Pushpa would have disowned Hasit immediately."

"We ought to ask Hasit to explain himself," Lisa said. "Is George about?"

"He is still with the cavalry," I said. "I'll ask him to come."

George came back with me.

"Hasit? The boy? I checked just before we left. He was asleep in my tent."

"Can you wake him and bring him to us?" Serena asked.

"Is that fair?" George protested. "The lad was worn out."

"Please," Serena said. "This is important."

"Very well, Queen Serena," George said ponderously. "I'll obey, even if I have to carry a sleeping Hasit."

George was back within minutes looking sheepish.

"I fell for it," he said. "The old trick of a bundle of blankets in a bed. He's been gone for hours."

I explained to George that Hasit was a fraud intended to lead us into a trap, and Harold had probably fallen into it.

"I wondered slightly," George said. "Hasit's insistence on seeing an officer was odd. I suppose they thought an officer would be more gullible than a cynical sergeant. They were right. I accepted Hasit's story too readily."

Ambika arrived. Queen Serena explained about Hasit's deception and our worries that Harold had become a victim again.

Ambika agreed to try to discover, from the new map showing more passages that she had known, what, if anything, had happened to Prince Harold. She would disguise herself as a servant woman. With all the visitors to Lord Mohan's palace, another servant woman would not be unusual, or noticed.

...

That's the end of my account so far. Harold will continue with his story, and I'll try not to giggle too much.

Jane.

...

HAROLD

Ambika was right. No one takes much notice of women and even less of servant women. That had been the downfall of the native conspirators in the first foiled plot that led to the deaths of the Rajah and his Ranee. I should have been more careful.

My intention was to approach the steps described by Hasit openly. It might be after dark, but it wasn't unusually late. I had climbed those steps several times when visiting the palace, so the only unusual thing I would have to do was to look underneath them.

If queried, or challenged, I could use the story of looking for the Colonel's mythical dog, Rover.

Searching around the basement of the zenana would not be so readily accepted. I intended to conceal myself until the early hours before going anywhere near the basement of Lord Sanji's zenana. One thing began to puzzle me. The building suggested by Hasit wasn't where I thought the main zenana complex was. I had an impression that the zenana was entered from an inside courtyard and had no walls to the outside of the building complex, unlike the one Hasit described as Lord Sanji's which was a projecting wing connected to the main palace by one wall only.

Hasit's description matched what was general knowledge about the whereabouts of Lord Sanji's zenana. Perhaps it was in a different part of the palace because Sanji had brought many more women than a usual zenana complement? I might find out, later.

But first, I had to look under the steps.

I passed under a gateway into a courtyard lit by flaming torches on all four walls. A line of a dozen servant women were systematically sweeping the flagstones. Near the steps there was a light handcart piled with what looked like old clothes. Cleaning rags, perhaps?

That handcart would shield me partially while I checked under the steps with the dark lantern I was carrying. I walked boldly towards the steps. The servant women parted, and bowed as I passed, before resuming their sweeping. The women were close to the steps but the steps were behind them. If they continued in the direction they were sweeping I would have ample time to duck under the steps and be out again before they turned round.

I checked before jumping quietly down beside the steps. My dark lantern jammed slightly before opening. I couldn't see where Hanit had come out. There had been a doorway there. I moved closer.

The servant women piled on to me from both sides of the steps. My lantern fell as many bodies flattened me. A cloth was stuffed deep into my mouth and many hands restrained me. Within seconds my arms and legs were tied with long scarves. Another scarf was wrapped several times around my lower face, holding the gag in place. I was lifted out from under the steps and lowered to the handcart. They tied me to it, the last strip of material across my forehead. My eyes were still uncovered, and in the light of the torches a woman's face appeared in front of me.

"Greetings, Prince Harold," she said in a surprisingly cultured voice. "We had hoped to catch someone in Hasit's trap, but thought it might be Pushpa, or Ambika, or another of Serena's women. We hadn't expected such a prize as you. Lady Sadhna will be pleased with us. She will offer you her hospitality for a while, and you are in no position to refuse her kind invitation, are you?"