Through His Fingers

The man and his wagon of goods reached the southern gate in the late afternoon. He was stopped by the guards who were suddenly posted there, though surprised the man kept an amicable smile on his face, chatting happily about going home after a long day to one of the guards. They gave him only a cursory glance and sent him on his way after seeing only dry goods in the top several sacks.

It wasn't until evening that he started to approach his home. Some light whimpering started to come from the bottom of his cart, the sound buried under all the sacks. He ignored the faint sounds as he was alone in a remote area and brought his wagon of goods into his storehouse. He unloaded the sacks roughly especially the last two which he threw to the ground.

The two sacks cried out faintly through the thick material only to receive a couple of swift kicks.

"Quiet or there will be more." He barked out harshly after delivering swift punishment. A very quiet crying sound came from the one on the right which earned more punishment until silence fell. He then left to prepare for his guests.

After darkness fell in the shed Chang groggily could hear the quiet voice lightly crying again muffled by something through the darkness. Her head swirled and felt like it weighed ten times more than it usually did, the several hits on her back and ribs hadn't really done her any favors either. Her tongue felt thick and dry in her mouth almost fuzzy.

Chang wanted to say something or comfort them but she was trapped, unable to move. She was stuck in the darkness with the pain until the swirling in her head took all her senses away again. She felt like she was being sucked into a long pit, devoid of anything.

----

After searching through the market area himself with a few guards, Liang Jian Amal came across a disturbing piece of news.

As he and the men were going through the stalls questioning people giving Chang's description, an elderly couple came up to him crying out. Their daughter had gone missing the day before in the market bazaar, she had gone to get some things for the evening meal, and had never returned. The lady held a picture of her daughter up to Liang Jian Amal.

"Please effendi find, our Tülay, our daughter please, she is all we have." The woman cried as her green eyes spilt a river of tears down her cheeks. Her husband held her silently pleading with him as well.

The girl in the picture was in her mid-twenties or so, fair skinned with black hair and green eyes; and looked faintly like Chang in her chin and nose.

' This is no coincidence, someone has been trying to get her for awhile.' He clenched the picture tightly and promised to do whatever he could.

"Start looking for the girl in the photo as well." He passed the photo to his men. "She may be in the hands of the same people who took my wife. Where we find one we may find the other.

"Search all the storehouses along the bazaar, be as respectful as you can but be firm. We need to find these missing women and where they are disappearing to to, and whomever is responsible for their disappearances. After that if we find nothing we will need to broaden our search through the city. There has to be something or someone who saw something. Leave no stone unturned."

Along with his men he went through the bazaar talking to shopkeepers and inspecting the interiors of those who had storehouses.

Most people were very cooperative seeing the palace was putting forth a lot of effort to find the missing women. They also didnt know that one of them was his wife.

As the sun set lower in the sky Liang Jian Amal could feel his apprehension growing. He could almost feel like time was ticking away as the sun crossed the sky lengthening the shadows. He came to an empty stall with a storehouse behind it but no one operating it. There was a fruit stand a few feet away where a bored man sat lazily fanning away flies.

"Sir do you know who owns that storehouse there."

The man squinted up at him before recognition of who was speaking to him dawned on him. He straightened and spoke clearly.

"Eh why that belongs to Old Man Nazr."

"Do you know where he might be at this time?"

"He probably went home for a few days. He lives several hours away with his son. He was just here earlier today, he seemed to have a good day, lots of sales. He does this when he has a good week, he should be back in three to four days."

Liang Jian Amal's eyes dimmed hearing that the man was no longer there. He did not wish to abuse his power and open the place up without the owners permission. Three to four days would be a long time, and he didnt want to miss anything in his search. He deliberated for a moment considering until he heard his next words.

"It sounded like he almost got himself a daughter-in-law today too. A really pretty young lady too dressed in a beautiful red. Too bad though the lady turned him down saying she was happily married."

"Can you describe this young lady to me." Liang Jian Amal felt himself snap to hearing the man's words. She had been wearing crimson today, one of the outfits he had made for her.

The man described a fairly tall beautiful young woman who wore her long hair in one one long plait down her back wearing a tunic and trouser set with a hijab.

"Where did she go. Where did you last see this woman?"

"Eh I guess she left after that, I didnt see where she went after I was fairly busy."

'It could be nothing but I need to check.' Liang Jian Amal went to the storehouse after hearing the man's story, this was around the area that Chang and the other young woman had disappeared in. Checking the handle he felt that it was locked. He took a step back a kicked open the door and stopped inside the low entryway.