The Girl in The Green Scarf

F o r t y - t w o

C H A P T E R

42

- S e b a s t i a n -

"You cannot guide those you would like to but God guides those He wills. He has best knowledge of the guided."
-Holy Qur'an/ 28:56.

It's dark outside when I jolt awake.

I blink blearily into the shadows of my room, trying to get my bearings. The Alarm clock on my nightstand reads 8:03.

I don't even remember falling asleep.

My neck is stiff from lying on the sofa; must have dozed off after Alex left. I get up, flexing my arms and shoulders.

My laptop screen casts a dim blue light on the bed and I trail towards it, yawning. I all but forgot about what I was doing before being interrupted earlier.

Picking up the laptop, I click on the completed download and a folder window opens, viewing 117 downloaded files.

I choose one at random-the file description states the name of the Surah is Ar-raHman and that the reciter is called Sheikh Maher Al Mueaqly. I click play.

The voice of the narrator fills the room; it's calm and peaceful, almost harmonic. As if he were singing beautifully.

I slip onto the edge of my mattress in a haze, suddenly overwhelmed. I vaguely recognize some of the words from when Hamsa read them during her prayers, but they are all in an alien language to me.

The man stops reciting and another speaks up, translating the words in English.

'Allah (God) Most Gracious. It is He Who has taught the Qur'an. He has created man. He has taught him speech.'

A loud knock makes me start, breaking the spell. I slap the laptop shut, nearly clipping my fingers off and hop up to my feet, snapping the light switch on. Light washes the room, making up for the missing warmth of the Qur'an.

"What?" I snap, marching to the door.

"It's Theo, Mr. Walsh. Can I come in?" his voice is low, almost hushed.

I quickly reach for the door handle, alarmed by his timbre, but then remember I'm locked in.

"Let him in, guards," I say and step away from the door as it eases open.

It turns out the door is not locked at all and Theo is alone on the other side.

"The guards are downstairs, on their break before they come in for the night shift," Theo says when he notices my confused gaze scanning the empty hallway. "But they won't be long."

"Oh," I say and then more emphatically when the significance of this dawns on me, "Oh!"

Immediately I shrug on my jacket and lace up my trainers.

"Alex is going to distract the guards downstairs as we slip out and then he'll come back to your room and cover for you while you're out."

Alex planned all of this? He is going through all the trouble even though I've been a total wanker.

Theo is breaking the rules again, risking further reprimand from my father?

"I'll turn off the alarms, long enough for you to sneak over the fence." I nod, listening intensely as Theo blurts out his instructions, my brain going a hundred miles per second. "Wait for my signal, and then make a run for it."

"What's the signal?"

"I'll phone you, just two rings and you'll know it's safe to go."

Again I bob my head, and move to get my phone from where I've dumped it on the sofa. I put it in my pocket and step outside, shutting the door behind me.