25
It was more than an hour before Bintang was released from the barracks. Jasmine was grateful to Barbara Appleton for waiting with her on the shore, even though she was late for her rendezvous with her own driver.
When Bintang eventually emerged from behind the wire fencing, he looked dishevelled, his shirt pulled out from the back of his trousers and a nasty bruise forming under his left eye.
‘They’ve hurt you!’ Jasmine rushed to greet him.
The driver looked away, avoiding her gaze.
‘We need to make a complaint. They can’t be allowed to get away with that. You did nothing. They’ve hit you. Tell me exactly what happened, Bintang.
The syce looked down, ‘Nothing happen, Missee. We go back to estate now.’
Jasmine turned to appeal to Barbara, but her new friend was uncharacteristicall
