Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 22
‘So,’ Maha said, ‘I knew that I must carefully devise a plan. But first I hurried to my room and put on jeans and climbing boots. Then I went outside and assessed the surroundings. I almost instantly decided on the spot where I would wait for the thief to appear.’ Maha chuckled. ‘I am glad I took that rock-climbing course in Italy last year. I was fit and prepared for catching a thief. I climbed that beautiful tree with white flowers – you know, the one that is not so tall but has lots of limbs, leaves and blooming flowers to hide someone who does not want to be seen.’
‘Maha!’ I said, covering my mouth with my hand, trying to imagine my daughter climbing trees in the dark.
‘Let her continue, darling,’ Kareem said, as he gently rubbed my shoulder with his hand.
‘Well, Mother, all I had to do was wait. I had a great view in that tree. No one could reach either gate without my seeing them.’
‘And?’
‘Well, I remained very still until daylight, and what I lived to see was nothing that I had expected.’ Maha smiled at the memory. ‘Suddenly I heard a sound that startled me. This ninja girl was very smart. She had obviously walked the grounds to find the transportation she felt would not be questioned. Thinking like the thief she is, I am sure she was hoping that the guards would assume she was of our family.’
‘What did you see, sweetie?’ I asked, eager to know the end of this exciting story.
‘Mother, you will find this hard to accept as the truth, but I was alerted by the clatter of horses’ hooves striking the stone drive. I could not believe what I was seeing when I saw that the thief had released our horses from the stables. She was making a low but shrill noise like I have never heard before. That bizarre sound caused the horses to stampede.
‘Staring in shock, I saw her swinging around on that large cream-coloured mare that is slower than the other horses and tame. Even so, ninja girl was brave to attempt the ride because it was clear she had no experience and was barely clinging to the horse. She had not saddled it, but had put on a harness. She was straight on target to pass through the back gates.
‘I remained calm. I thought about making a bold leap to land on the back of the mare as they passed beneath, but quickly realized that if I missed my target I would have no time to recover and would fail in catching her. Therefore, I took a few deep breaths and calmly jumped from the tree’s lower limb a few strides before the mare passed me. Luckily, I stayed on my feet and with the help of God was able to leap on the mare’s back and catch it by the bridle. How I managed to convince her to slow I will never know. I was in a struggle to stay on the mare because the girl tried to fight, but, truthfully, she was so stunned by my attack that she was useless in battle.’
Maha glanced at her father. ‘Thank you for insisting that all your children become skilled riders. All those lessons cured my dread of the big animals, and when I needed to know what to do, it was automatic. All those long hours of training to jump on and off the backs of horses was of great benefit in this case.’
Kareem could not suppress his laughter. ‘You are most welcome, Maha.’
My husband and I had parented our young children differently. While I protected them from any potential harm, he prepared them for the challenges of life. Together we accomplished much, providing our children with a sense of protection and unconditional love from their mother, while their father imbued in them an intellectual determination and independence that would serve them well for unexpected life events.
Maha carried on. ‘About then I heard excited shouts from the guard gate. The horses were running so fast, but were trapped with nowhere to go because the gates were closed.’
‘Maha,’ I said more than once. ‘Maha! Thanks be to God that you were not injured.’
‘Not a chance, Mother.’
Kareem pressed for more detail. ‘What happened then?’
‘Ninja screamed, as she struggled to get away, but she was so slight in size that I grabbed her almost the same time I stopped the mare. I was not gentle, I admit. As I leapt from the mare, I pulled her off and on to the drive. The fall knocked the breath out of her lungs and I had to beat her on the back to start her breathing normally.
‘She attempted to run away the moment she steadied her balance, but I yanked off her head covering and seized her by the hair. She was not going anywhere unless she was willing to forfeit every hair on her head.
‘She was begging to be released. She pulled the drawstring bag out of her pocket and babbled that she had plans to stop at the guard gate and return the jewels, which was a huge lie. She and I both knew that she was hoping to startle the guards and gallop through an open gate. How she would have manipulated riding a horse from our palace to Uncle Ali’s without being questioned, I do not know. The police would have captured her immediately.’
‘True, daughter,’ I said. For women in Saudi Arabia at this time are not allowed to trot through the city streets atop any animal, whether horse, camel or cow. She would have been arrested – that is a great certainty.
‘She pleaded that I take the jewels and let her go, which I would not consider,’ Maha continued. ‘I could barely look at her because the urge was so strong to beat her up,