Slowly she wrote 20 on the paper and folded it. Could she really suffer that? It would be worse now; somehow, after you had a rest, the pain was greater. Perhaps, while the beating lasted, the excitement enabled you to endure, but later, if it was resumed, some of that excitement was diminished. The old woman took the pieces of paper back to the Emir. He looked at them and smiled his enigmatic smile. Then he looked at Caroline, and pointed towards the bench. Caroline took a deep breath and stood up. The other two girls looked more relieved than crestfallen. More training later, they clearly felt, was preferable to suffering further distress at this moment.
The guard bound her once more to the wooden bench. She felt the leather straps tighten, holding her securely in place. Caroline sudden
