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Title: "The Heart of the Medjai" © April 23, 2000 Elizabeth walked down stairs and noticed a few people had already arrived. As soon as she entered the parlor, Clive had come over and put his arm around her waist, taking her around to the various groups and showing her off like some prized possession. She put on a false smile, never letting anyone see the disgust she felt for Clive, as he went on about 'his' adventures in Egypt, and how he'd saved his fiancée from the hands of a desert bandit. The evening went on that way until dinner was announced, and everyone walked into the dining room. Clive helped Elizabeth into her chair and then took his place next to her. Elizabeth listened to the people around the table and suddenly felt numb to all of it. These people were snobs in their wealthy attire and haughty attitudes against anyone who wasn't of the 'proper class'. She could hardly believe that three months ago she had fit right in with them, never giving a thought to anyone who was different than herself. These people had never had to work hard a day in their lives, having been born into money and position. They would never understand how water could be more precious than gold. They would never believe that people could live in tents out in the blazing sun and thrive as a living community. She realized all of this and it sickened her. The soup was served and she looked down into her bowl in panic, as the smell made her stomach turn. She stared at it until Clive spoke to her. "Darling, are you all right? You look a bit pale." Elizabeth turned to him. "I'm...I...need to...get away...," she pushed back her chair, stumbling as she tried to get up. Clive was on his feet instantly, noticing the color leave her face. He grabbed a hold of her as she swayed. "Elizabeth?" he said in alarm. Her eyes rolled upward and she collapsed into his arms, fainting. Clive scooped her up as the people around the table began raising their concerned voices. "It's all right everyone," began Clive as he carried Elizabeth out of the room, "she's just been ill lately, traumatized from her harrowing experience in the desert. Carry on with your dinner," and he walked upstairs to Elizabeth's room. He called for one of the servants to ring for a doctor as he put her down on the bed. She was still unconscious and Clive was at a loss as to what to do for her. He turned around at the voice in the doorway. "What has happened to my girl?" cried Nana. "I don't know," said Clive worriedly as Nana came rushing over to the bed. "She just fainted at the dinner table. Can you help her?" Nana sat on the bed, gently stroking Elizabeth's face. "Go get me a cold, wet cloth," she ordered Clive. He complied, going out to the restroom and bringing back the required item. Nana took it from him. "Now, you need to leave her alone. The illness has weakened her and she needs rest." "But..."began Clive. Nana interrupted him. "There's nothing we can do until the doctor gets here. Go on back to the people downstairs. I will let you know everything as soon as I can." She waved him away and Clive reluctantly left the room. Nana turned her attention back to the pale figure on the bed. "Oh, my poor girl..." she cooed. It was late when the guests finally left. The doctor had finally arrived and was checking Elizabeth as Clive paced down in the parlor, while Elizabeth's parents sat holding each other's hands in nervousness. The doctor came downstairs with his bag in his hand and a smile on the face. Everyone turned to him expectantly. "Well?" thundered Clive. "She's fine. What turned out to be an illness isn't an illness at all, unless you count having children as a sickness." He grinned at his own small joke. "She's ...with child?" asked Clive incredulously. "Yes. I'd say she's a few months along, now, so I would get married as soon as possible so that people don't talk. She'll be able to eat again soon, so I wouldn't worry too much about that right now. Goodnight, and congratulations." He shook Clive's limp hand and walked out, whistling merrily. Elizabeth's mother and father got up and went to Clive. "Clive!" said Elizabeth's mother, "I don't know what to say. You really should have waited until you were married, but I guess this generation of young people are insistent on doing things backwards." She smiled politely as she gave him a quick hug. Elizabeth's father shook his hand. "I think the good doctor is right. Shall we move the wedding up to, oh, how about the end of the month?" The smile faded from his face as he noticed a look of fury on Clive's face. "Clive?" "The wedding will have to be postponed," said Clive through clenched teeth, and he stormed up the stairs to Elizabeth's bedroom. Elizabeth was conscious and resting on the bed under Nana's gentle ministrations. She flinched as her door burst open and Clive came towards her in a rush. "So, nothing happened out on the desert!" he exclaimed heatedly. "Clive..."started Elizabeth. "Shut up! I don't want to hear any pathetic excuses from you!" he raged. A movement registered out of the corner of her eye and Elizabeth saw her parents standing in the doorway, watching. "Clive, what's going on here?" demanded her father sternly. "A dirty trick by a vengeful god!" Clive thought back to the dark bandit's final threat. "'Allah will make me pay', that's what he said to me. He knew! That black devil knew all along that you were with child. His child! I should have demanded the death of that bandit. Prison for life was too lenient," spat Clive. "What bandit?" asked Elizabeth's father. "The one that kidnapped Elizabeth." Clive turned to her parents. "Elizabeth is carrying the child of a desert bandit!" Her parents stood there, aghast. "Are you sure?" asked her mother in a whisper. "Yes," said Clive, looking venomously to Elizabeth. "I never touched her in that way, all though I should have that night," the last said as a whisper for Elizabeth's ears only. "How could this have happened?" asked her mother tearfully. "You don't realize what animals these desert bandits are, Mrs. Walker. They take whatever they want, whenever they want," spoke Clive tersely. "That's not true!" Elizabeth argued. "First of all, he's not a bandit, he is chief of an ancient tribe, descended from the time of the pharaohs. Second of all, he didn't take me against my will...I gave myself to him freely!" The room went silent at her declaration. Finally, Clive spoke in a cold voice. "So you do have feelings for him. I should have guessed by your aloofness to me the past couple of months." "What can we do?" asked Elizabeth's mother. "Nothing," declared Elizabeth. "There will be no marriage now. It's over," Elizabeth said defiantly. "Oh, no you don't," grated Clive. "This marriage WILL take place, after you've had the child. We'll send you away tomorrow, some place far away, where no one knows who you are and you will stay there until this baby comes. Then you will give it up, come home, and marry me. I'm sure an orphanage will take it, or we could possibly send Nana to Egypt with the baby and she can get rid of it there, or she can give it back to its own people." "Never!" whispered Elizabeth in horror at the thought of giving up Ardeth's child. She put her hands over her belly protectively. "I will never give up this child!" "Elizabeth, be reasonable," said her mother. "We can't have a child that's not of pure blood running around in this family." "Mother! How dare you say that? This is my child and I'm keeping it!" cried Elizabeth. "No you aren't. I won't have some bastard half-breed for a grandchild. I just won't have it Elizabeth," joined in her father. Clive leaned down towards her menacingly. "You see? You have no choice. You and that bandit have humiliated me for the last time. Terrence," he said, turning to Elizabeth's father, "how does my plan sound to you?" "Perfect," said her father, looking at her with disapproval. "I'll go make arrangements right away." He escorted his wife out of the room. Clive stood up straight. "I'll leave you and Nana to your packing." He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Nana came over and sat on Elizabeth's bed, holding her tight. The tears rushed down Elizabeth's face as great sobs racked her body. "Nana," she cried, "what am I going to do? This is mine and Ardeth's child! I want to keep it! It's all I have left of him!" Nana stroked her hair as she tried to soothe the distraught young mother-to-be. "Hush, Elie, hush now. This isn't good for you or the baby, being so upset like this. Calm down now, and we'll think of something." Elizabeth held on to the old nurse as Nana slowly rocked her. The next morning, Nana awakened Elizabeth and helped her dress for the trip. They worked quickly and quietly as they gathered a few necessities into a small satchel, along with her handbag, which Elizabeth would carry herself. The rest of her clothes were packed into trunks, waiting for the servants to come and get them. Elizabeth was nervous about the plan that she and Nana had come up with. They would both get on a boat bound for America, for her father had arranged for them to stay with a distant cousin in Massachusetts, but it had to stop in Ireland first to drop off and take on extra passengers. Elizabeth would then disembark and flee to Rachel's summer estate, where she was currently residing. Nana had made some surreptitious telephone calls the night before and had everything set up. Nana would continue on to Massachusetts and either remain with the distant cousin or take employment somewhere else. Rachel would help her figure out where to go once Elizabeth got there. She was the only other person, besides Nana, that Elizabeth could trust. She sighed heavily as she thought about it. A thousand things could go wrong but it was the only way she could finally be free of Clive and her family. The remarkable thing was, Clive hadn't bothered to send anyone else along on the trip. Elizabeth and Nana would have an escort up until the moment the boat left, and her cousin would be there to meet them when it pulled into America, but it would just be the two of them on board the ship. Elizabeth looked around her room, knowing she would never see it again, then looked over at Nana. "Nana, I'm frightened." Nana took Elizabeth's hands in her own and gave her an encouraging smile. "Elie, I know it's a scary thing to be striking out on your own. But right now you need some of your English backbone, to carry you and your baby through all of this. When you're finally settled and all of this nightmare is past, then you can break down, but not now." Elizabeth gave Nana a big hug. "Thank you Nana, I needed that." A knock at the door interrupted their quiet moment and the servants came in to cart out her cases and trunks. "Well, I guess it's time for us to go." Elizabeth grabbed her satchel and they walked out of her room. They both followed the servants down stairs and walked outside. Elizabeth walked by her mother and father, not even acknowledging their presence, as she stepped into the morning light. Clive was outside, still scowling at the entire situation, as he directed the servants while they packed up the automobile. He turned to look at Elizabeth and Nana. "I'm glad to see you're on time," he said coldly. Elizabeth didn't say anything to him as he escorted her to the automobile. He opened the door and she got in, settling herself back against the cushions. Clive leaned in through the open doorway, contemplating her as she purposefully looked away from him. "I hope you use this time wisely to think about the recent past and the mistakes you've made," he said condescendingly. "You know, you still haven't apologized to me yet." Elizabeth didn't bat an eye as she stared straight ahead of her. "I have nothing to apologize for, Clive" she said stonily. Clive's face turned red as he backed out of the automobile and slammed the door. The last of the trunks and cases were loaded as Nana climbed into the seat next to Elizabeth. Carter started up the automobile and they slowly pulled away from the manor. Elizabeth didn't once look back. They drove through the countryside and Elizabeth looked at the familiar territory she would never see again without regret. Winding through London towards the docks, she was struck by how similar it was to Cairo. Both cities had their masses of drudges, begging a living in the streets, while workers called to each other from across alleyways. Her eyebrows drew together as she thought of how Ardeth said their two cultures were so different, but were they really? A different language, a different geographical location, but the people were still the same. All of them did their best to get by, one day at a time. That's what she would have to do now. Just live her life day by day. They pulled up to the ship and Carter had the handymen take care of their luggage, while he saw them to their cabin. He escorted them all the way inside, made sure they had everything with them, and then disembarked the ship, to stand on the dock until it finally pulled away. Nana unpacked a couple of the trunks while Elizabeth stared out the tiny porthole that served as a window, watching the coast of England grow smaller and smaller. Nana finished putting things away and walked over to Elizabeth. "Elie, you haven't eaten since yesterday. Please, come with me and let's try to get something in you." "I'm not hungry, Nana," replied Elizabeth softly. Nana took a hold of her arm and turned her around so that they were eye to eye. "It's not good for your baby, your not eating. Please." Elizabeth gave a wistful smile and acquiesced. They walked out of the cabin and towards the dining room.
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