CHAPTER FIVE

Angelina Decides



"Have you finished thinking yet, darling! You don‘t have all the time in the world, you know!" The two girls were preparing to sleep on the open air straw mattresses where they rested for such a brief time under the stars every night.

Lilly had been working with Angelina for three weeks now and, apart from the first time, she had not raised the subject of her friend's agreeing to go back to her life as a female gladiator. She knew she should keep pressing her new friend and lover, but the pleasure of Angelina's company made her reluctant to lose her too soon. When the older woman had gone, Lilly would be alone for the rest of her life. Finally she saw that a reminder might be timely.

"Yes, Lilly. I have finished thinking. We can't have Marina joining us here! She's not tough like we are, Lilly. A month of this would kill her. I'll try and catch a guard's attention. I hate to leave you here, though! I really hate that! I‘ve come to love you like a sister………No - not a sister - a lover -  a wife! A part of me will be left behind when I go."

"Remember Martha! Remember the girl I killed to save my own worthless hide, Angelina! Remember that I killed her! I belong here paying my debt. And you belong in the free world. All I ask is that you do not forget me. As long as I know there is even a tiny corner of your mind where my memory lingers, I shall be content."

“You can rest assured about that last point, darling.”

Then they were taken to the latest dig. In the first week Lilly had asked Angelina why the members of the chain gang wore no chains!

"It seems a bit odd, being on a chain gang and unchained! Don‘t get me wrong, Angelina! I‘m not complaining!"

"Chains are to stop people running away. But you can see for yourself there is nowhere to run. No need to chain us, my sweet! And a piece of advice! Don't talk to me when you're working, Lilly! It's dangerous. The guards don't like it and more importantly, you need to concentrate on your work every second of the day . We’re stark naked Lilly. Remember that! If you hit any part of your sweet body, especially a foot or a shin, with that pickaxe, you’ll get no treatment and may never recover. There are lots of little bones in the feet, Lilly. That's why I ignored you yesterday. I wasn't being unfriendly, darling. It was for your own good."

Lilly might  have managed  not  to damage herself with the pickaxe. She was a quick witted and extremely nimble girl with lightning reflexes that had made her unbeatable in the ring. But she had suffered the impact of countless flying chips. In no time at all she had as many tiny little scars on the front of her body as she had big ugly ones on her back. Early on she had appreciated how important it was not to get any chips in the eye and kept hers narrowed to tiny slits.

 In any sensibly run outfit all the women would be wearing goggles and heavy reinforced footwear. But there was nothing sensible about the situation she was in and would be in for ever. The idea behind all this was clearly to punish and humiliate. There were hundreds of more efficient ways of getting at the ore. The brain behind this was one that hated women, especially white women. And she thought she knew who he was!

She was amazed at how calmly she had come to accept her fate. It was even enjoyable thus far. The hard work was certainly doing her muscles no harm, although the lack of running and skipping practice would mean that her legs would be going downhill from a boxing standpoint. Unhappily, though, she would never box again. Unlike Angelina, this was a part of her life she would always miss terribly. It was the one thing that made her hope that maybe she might be brought back to the prison - and to Karl. She’d fight whenever they asked her - just as long as she wasn’t asked to kill again. But Hargreaves would never let her be released from the slave camp. Never. Not after she had spat in his face and sworn at him. She had seen that look of sheer hatred cross his face. She would be here for ever alright!

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"I don't like it, Mr Marcelinus! There's been plenty of time for Angelina to be brought back. Even if she was a bit out of practice, she'd surely be in fighting trim by this time. I'm going to hand myself in soon. One way or another, I want to see her again!"

"Be patient, Marina! Your friend can't be having an easy time making up her mind. She loathed that bloody fighting business. She swore many times that she would never raise her fists in anger again and she meant it! That much I have learnt! They whipped that girl many times and she still defied them. It will take many weeks before she finally caves in, even when she knows you are here and that there are friends to help her escape.. Give her time, Marina!"

"Did they whip her in public? Like poor Lilly?"

"Yes. And before you ask, I saw her. She was as brave as Lilly the other week. They will make a fine pair, the two of them. I wonder if Angelina will be able to part from Lilly after working side by side in the blistering heat for this long? If Angelina is not back in town inside another six months, she is never coming back, and in that case you must go home, Marina. If  your friend decides to stay where she is, she will not thank you for joining her. And you would not survive long, as Lilly and Angelina certainly will!"

"Don't underestimate me, Mr Marcelinus! I am not quite as fragile as I look!"

But Marina knew she could not hope to last too long on those dreadful desert work details. All her talk of joining Angelina was mere bravado! Even so, she would not leave this country without her! She knew she had to stay.

Every day she went to the market in the hope of seeing her friend in action and every day she was disappointed. She saw snake charmers, she saw exotic dancers and near naked female wrestlers who seemed to be making wild passionate love rather than to be wrestling. The crowd loved the wrestlers! But no lady boxers and certainly no white ones for seven weeks after Lilly’s horrible departure.

Then one day a white girl, naked, and a native girl dressed in shorts and singlet did appear in the ring. The native girl was bigger than her opponent and Marina guessed that the white woman was in for a thrashing. Her guess was right up to a point - the point being that the larger girl received a slightly worse thrashing. It was a very brutal contest with both women standing toe to toe and slugging it out with no idea of proper boxing technique at all. It was hugely exciting for Marina and the crowd but needlessly painful for both fighters.

The fight lasted for four rounds and the local woman, clearly out pointed, was declared the winner. The white girl was forced to lie on her back and let the woman she had defeated stand on her stomach and raise her arms in triumph. Marina wanted to boo loudly at this flagrant unfairness. But she had no need to!

There was a cacophony of jeers and boos. The crowd had spontaneously erupted with anger and the “winner” stepped off her opponent and helped her to her feet. She raised the white girl’s arm in acknowledgment of the fact that this was the true winner. Both women were hustled away, the naked white woman being treated especially roughly and the crowd became even uglier at this brutality. Marina hurried away. The police would be out in force at any minute and she mustn’t be picked up. That would be fatal. Her papers wouldn’t stand up to too much examination!

When she met Mr Marcelinus later on he asked her if there had been any sign of her friend.

“No. There was a fight between a good looking white girl and a native woman. I’d say the girl was my age and the other one a few years older. They hadn’t much idea about boxing. None at all in fact!  Just traded blows. And the white girl was stronger - just - and was the winner on points. But of course the verdict was given against her. The crowd were really ugly! They could see who the winner was. It was close, Mr Marcelinus, but obvious to anyone, not just to an expert like me!”

“I’m sure the idea was to have a white woman thrashed in public” continued Marina. “But it didn’t quite work out that way, although both girls did go through it! They’ll both be feeling pretty sore right now!”

“They’ll put that white woman up against another of our women tomorrow, Marina! And this time there’ll be no doubt about the winner. The poor girl will get her thrashing alright. Will you go and watch?”

“Yes. I’ll go every day until I see Angelina there!”

Next day the nude white woman, still bearing the marks from yesterday was led into the ring and an even larger clothed  local prisoner put up against her. Once again things didn’t go quite according to plan and for nearly three rounds the white girl gave at least as good as she got. Then her tiredness from the previous day began to tell and she became increasingly on the receiving end. In the last few moments of the third round she was little better than a punching bag.

“In the fourth round she was knocked out  - quite spectacularly! The poor girl literally flew across the ring from the impact of that last killer punch and she was spraying blood everywhere!” said Marina later to her protector. “There was no dispute as to who was the winner this time. She did incredibly well, though! That girl can really soak up some punishment and she can dish it out! But she has had no proper training. Even I could show her how to box better than that!”

Seven weeks later, Marina came to see Mr Marcelinus with excitement on her face. She had been getting increasingly despondent this last few weeks and despair had been setting in. Today she looked jubilant.

“Marina! Have you news?”

“Sort of! That white girl was in the ring again. The one they had to take two goes at to beat! They had her up against the woman who knocked her out last time. She was a different girl today. Someone has been taking her in hand! She will be a fine boxer if she carries on learning at this rate. She knocked the other girl out this time and took hardly any punishment herself. Someone must be coaching her. And who else but Angelina!”

“Who else indeed. All we need to do now is get her out. It’s been done once, my dear. Never fear! It will be done again!”

That night Marina dreamt she was in the market square and waiting for the contestants to be brought from the prison. The truck arrived, belching out black exhaust fumes as usual. Then the guards led the two fighters, both naked because they were both white, into the ring. Their hands were already bound with tape and they started on each other without being told.

Marina gasped at the skill these two were showing. They probed, circled, jabbed and feinted and neither seemed able to find an opening. But soon blows did start to land and they were good solid punches. Red marks started to appear on both bodies and both faces. And the faces were very familiar. One naked girl was Angelina and the other was Lilly. After eleven rounds Lilly suddenly spotted an opening to Angelina’s jaw. She was incredibly sharp was Lilly! And Angelina sagged to the canvas, out cold!

Then Marina woke up.

Two days after this dream Marina was at the market again. Two fighters appeared at the usual hour, one was dressed modestly in shorts and sleeveless vest. The other was naked and white. With a sinking feeling, Marina recognised her right way. It was Lilly!

Marina could scarcely bear to watch as the fight got under way. Lilly was magnificent! It took her thirty seconds to lay her opponent out with a beauty of a right cross that would give the poor victim a headache that would last for days. Something had gone wrong! Then Lilly caught her eye and winked.

They brought Lilly back for three whole days, each time against a bigger opponent and each time she showed her superb class by knocking them out. After the last of these spectacularly brief contests a man she had never seen before touched Marina on the shoulder. She almost fainted with fear. Had she been caught at last?