Uru’s Secret

A lazy river meandered through the farmland of Kommos at the end of its long journey from the mountains to the sea. Amaal, Hannu, and Uru joined the other travelers on the hike to the water’s edge. Along the way, as the city streets turned into dirt pathways through the bean fields, Hannu recounted, word-for-word, his conversations with the sailors and Elishat and her advisors. Amaal congratulated him on his new assignment on the Phoenix. Uru only smiled wanly and kept walking. Hannu glanced questioningly at Amaal who just shook her head and shrugged.

Up and down the river, laughter echoed from the passengers enjoying their first fresh water bath in many days. Newly smitten couples reclined on the banks and indulged in the endless stream of conversation that comes effortlessly in the early days of courting. The Oarswoman and her servant companion rested downriver in the scant shade of a tamarisk tree. The three friends set their things down and waded into the shallow river, watching the schools of minnows laboring ceaselessly upstream over a bed of smooth stones and sweet water grasses. Uru said that there was something she wanted to tell Amaal, but since Amaal couldn’t read her hands, she asked for Hannu’s help. She explained that it was a private matter, and that Hannu would not like what she had to say. She apologized for having to communicate through him. Hannu said sure, fine, and, assuming it was a complaint about him, prepared for criticism.

“Amaal,” Uru began, “when I came off the ship, you and Hannu asked me if I was okay, and I said yes, but I wasn’t. Something bad happened. Someone did something…” Hannu waited for the next sign, but Uru’s hands didn’t move.

“Did what?” he signed.

“Hurt people.”

“Hurt who? Hurt people how?”

“I need to tell Amaal,” Uru said.

Amaal reached out to take Uru’s hand, but the younger girl pulled it away to speak.

“After we boarded in Tyre, we could see the danger we were in, so the women got together and tried to stay out of the way. That night I woke up. I don’t know why.”

“And?” Hannu signed.

“And I saw…a man on top of the woman who had been sleeping next to me.”

“Oh, Uru, they were just having each other,” Hannu signed. “Like dogs and goats and pigeons and everything. It’s nothing.”

“No, they weren’t!” she insisted. “The man had her pinned down. She couldn’t move. He kissed her hard. She tried to scream, but he covered her mouth with his hand. I tried to cry for help, but…”

“But what?” Hannu insisted. “Uru! Did he hurt you?”

“He threatened me.”

“How?”

Uru’s hands were shaking. “He saw me looking at him. He grabbed me by my hair and shook me so hard I thought my neck would break. His eyes bulged and the veins popped out in his neck. He was saying something, I don’t know what. Then he threw me down hard on the deck, and got up and walked away.”

“You should have told me!”

“I didn’t want to make you angry. I didn’t want you to get hurt. They are dangerous men, Hannu.”

“We should tell Barca,” Amaal said.

Uru shook her head vehemently. “No, no, please. It’s hard enough to forget about it without everyone else knowing.”

Amaal didn’t know what to say. She felt torn between warning the others and keeping Uru’s secret.

Hannu reached into the water and picked up a handful of river stones. He hurled one hard across the river, then another, and another. When he turned back to the girls, they could see that tears were streaming down his face.

Uru started crying, too. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.

“You have nothing to be sorry for! You didn’t do anything wrong, that monster did! I’m angry, and you should be, too. If I find out who it was, I’ll slit his throat, by Ba’al I will!”

“No, please, Hannu, those men, they’ll kill you.”

“Not if I kill them first!”

“Hannu,” Amaal said quietly.

“I’m sorry, it’s just—I should have been there to protect you.”

Uru wiped her eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s like I’m holding snakes in my fists. If I let them go, they’ll bite me. And if I don’t let them go, well, I have to go around holding snakes in my fists.”

The image hit Amaal hard. She understood now why Uru had been unable to talk about it.

“Who was that guy, Uru? What did he look like?” Hannu asked.

“I don’t know. It was dark. He had a beard. But they all do, so, I don’t know.”

“And the woman? Who was she?” Amaal asked.

“I don’t know her. We landed at Kition and I swam ashore. I haven’t seen her since.”

Uru hid her face in her hands. Amaal put an arm across her shoulders and pulled her into a gentle hug, but Uru pulled away. She made Amaal and Hannu promise again to tell no one, and they swore to it. Uru waded deeper into the river and lay in the cool water. The others followed, and when Uru let go, all three allowed themselves to be carried downstream with the slow-moving current. They floated under the sad blue sky until they reached the tamarisk tree where the Oarswoman sat. There, they stood up.

“Now you have to walk all the way back,” the Oarswoman said. “The river only flows one way.”

The three friends waded to shore but said nothing.

“Are you kids okay? It looked like a serious conversation you were having, throwing stones and yelling and all. Is everything alright?”

Hannu looked at Uru. Amaal looked at Hannu, thinking that it would be the perfect opportunity to tell an adult what had happened, and that the Oarswoman would be a formidable advocate.

“We’re okay, thanks,” he replied.

“It’s good you have each other,” the Oarswoman said, “but remember, you can always ask for help.”

They thanked her and walked back to where they’d left their things. Amaal couldn’t stop thinking about the scene that Uru had described and the terror she must have felt. She wanted to make it all go away so Uru could go back to feeling like a normal girl again. She thought carefully about what to say and asked Hannu to sign for her.

“At least now you don’t have to keep the secret to yourself,” she said.

Uru admitted she felt a little better having told them.

“And those snakes? Why don’t you just throw them into the river?” Amaal thrust two invisible snakes into the water and shouted, “Where they belong!” Hannu and Uru did the same and then exploded, shouting, screaming, pelting the river with rocks. Hannu picked up a huge stone and heaved it in a final, gigantic splash.

On the walk through the bean fields and back into town, Uru seemed a bit less troubled, but they all knew she would never be the same.

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