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punish you. And, they will punish me, for not teaching you properly.”
    “What?” The thought that anyone would punish this delicate beauty turned Brigit’s blood to ice. “What do I need to do to keep that from happening?”
    “Whenever we leave the room, I will tie your hands and fasten the leash around your neck. As you saw when we came here, pulling on the leash causes it to tighten.”
    Brigit rubbed her neck and remembered when she didn’t walk fast enough to keep up with the guard who led them through the maze of hallways.
    Fatima continued. “Because you are new and I had no time with you, the guards were lenient this morning. But if you lag behind and have to be pulled to your duties, we will both be punished. If you follow my lead and do as you are told, we will be fed better and treated better in the hall. So please, Brigit…?”
    “I’ll do my best.”
    She fell back on the bed in despair.
    “How did
you
come to be here?” Fatima asked.
    Brigit snorted in disgust. “I trusted the wrong person.”
    “Does…does anyone know where you are?” Fatima whispered the words tinged with hope.
    Brigit shook her head. “No.” Tears trailed down her cheek. “They think I’m visiting my boyfriend’s family in Islamabad. I found out later he’s from Tajikistan. Is that where we are now?”
    “Yes. Is it he who betrayed you?”
    Brigit didn’t have the heart to answer. “Fatima, how long have you been here?”
    “I am not certain.” She seemed to think. Or maybe she fell to dreaming of a better time and place. “One day is like another, but based on the seasons, I have served about one year.” She hesitated again. “And an untold number of men.”
    That said it all. Brigit’s morale sank. This would be her life, too. Until she died, at any rate, a fate she would gladly embrace. Except now her actions affected someone else. She’d force herself to live rather than bring more suffering to Fatima.
    Footsteps sounded outside the cell. The pass-through in the door slid open. A man gave an order in what Brigit now recognized as Tajiki.
    “What did he say?” Brigit asked when the pass-through closed.
    “It is time for me to prepare you to eat.” Fatima rose and went to the door where rope and a black robe had been pushed on the shelf.
    Fatima came forward. “First your hands.”
    Brigit jerked back. “No.” Tears stung her eyes. She would never make it, never last in this…whatever hell this was.
    “Stand, please. You must be tied until they are sure you will be cooperative.”
    “But, I won’t be able to eat.”
    “I will feed you. It is part of my task.”
    Reluctantly, Brigit stood and held out her hands. With efficiency, Fatima bound them, then wrapped the rope around Brigit’s waist and secured it. “Is that too tight? The object is to restrict movement, not cause pain.”
    “Fine,” Brigit responded bitterly. “I suppose I’ll have to go naked until they’re sure I’ll be cooperative?” With her hands confined to her stomach, she was unable to wipe away the tear trickling down her cheek. Fatima stared at it, but didn’t wipe it away either.
    Silently, she draped the black material over Brigit, leaving only her head visible. Fatima tied the sack under Brigit’s chin. “Sit, so that I can cover your feet.”
    Brigit fell back onto the bed. Fatima slid warm socks over her feet and then assisted Brigit in standing.
    Hands bound and covered from neck to ankles in a black, formless bag, Brigit was as far from the life she’d known last week as it was possible to be. She wanted to cry, to scream, to pound her fists against the wall. She wanted her mother.
    “I can’t believe this,” she said in a strangled voice.
    “I am sorry. Soon, this is all you will believe.” The words rang like a death knell in Brigit’s mind.
    The door squeaked open, and Fatima started forward. Brigit followed, knowing she had no choice.
    A popular phrase from the 1980s filled her mind. “This is the