But it was too late. As one, the four boys turned to stare at him.
They all looked very alike, with dark hair and thick, bushy eyebrows. They each had their own distinguishing characteristics, however. One had a large, hooked nose; another wore a gold-coloured chain around his neck; the third had a bruise on the side of his face; and the fourth wore an embroidered but dirty hat. The lad with the hook nose looked like the leader and he spat something out in a harsh-sounding language. The others laughed. It wasn’t a good sound.
Ben wasn’t going to be intimidated. He pushed past them and approached Aarya. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she replied. She didn’t look like she was very pleased to see Ben. Suddenly she shouted in alarm. Ben felt hands grabbing him on either side. He struggled, but they were too strong for him. All he could do was watch as the hook-nosed boy strode up to Aarya and with a forceful yank pulled her school bag from her shoulder. Aarya shouted out again. She tried to grab it back, but he just pushed her away then turned to Ben. His dark eyes were full of contempt. The boy smiled an ugly smile and then, without any warning, punched Ben hard in the stomach.
Ben gasped for breath. He tried to double over, but the others were still holding him upright. Until, that is, they threw him onto the ground and the four of them walked away, laughing harshly.
Aarya bent down and placed one hand lightly on his shoulder. ‘Ben, are you all right?’
‘On top of the world,’ Ben replied in a hoarse whisper as he pushed himself back up to his feet. ‘Who were the ugly brothers, then?’
He noticed that there were tears welling up in Aarya’s eyes. ‘They are thugs,’ she said. ‘Just thugs. They do not think I should be allowed in the school.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I am a girl.’
Ben frowned. ‘Well, we have to get your books back.’
‘No, Ben. Just leave it. It’s best to stay away from them, all right?’
‘No,’ Ben replied. ‘It’s not all right. What’s so great about that lot that makes them untouchable?’
‘There’s nothing great about them, OK, Ben?’ Aarya said waspishly. ‘They’re just not very nice and they come from bad families.’
Ben blinked. ‘You said they didn’t think you should be allowed to come to school because you’re a girl,’ he said. ‘They’re not, you know, Taliban…?’
‘Of course they’re not Taliban.’ The way she spoke, Ben wondered if she had forgotten he’d just tried to help her out. ‘The Taliban are not strong in Kampur. They’re just…’ She looked like she was struggling to find the word.
‘What?’ Ben demanded. ‘Sympathizers?’
Aarya shrugged. ‘Maybe. Something like that.’ She scowled. ‘I have never seen them at the mosque, though.’
Ben felt angry. ‘Do you know where they live?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘On the outskirts of the village. Away from other people.’
‘Come on, then.’
‘What?’
‘We’re going to get your bag back.’
Aarya shook her head. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said, turning and starting to walk away.
‘It does matter,’ Ben called after her. As he spoke, he saw Ed, watching him from a distance, that unpleasant sneer still on his face.
‘Hey, Aarya,’ Ben shouted. ‘I thought you told me earlier today that you weren’t going to be bullied.’
That got her attention. She spun round and there was a fire in her eyes. ‘I won’t,’ she stated fiercely.
‘Well, in that case,’ Ben said, walking up to her and trying to pretend that his stomach didn’t still hurt from the punch, ‘let’s go and get your books back.’
Aarya led Ben to the outskirts of the village. It was different here. Quieter. Less bustling. Ben supposed that most people were sheltering from the midday heat.
‘My mother will be expecting me at home,’ Aarya said.
‘We won’t be long,’ Ben told her. ‘Come on, Aarya. If you don’t stand up to these people, they’ll only keep on doing it.’ Aarya looked down, and with a flash of insight Ben sensed that this had been going on for a long time.
They turned a corner and found themselves at one end of a long street. There were a handful of beaten-up old vans parked on either side, and a thin dog sat in the middle of the road, its tongue lolling from the side of its mouth. Along each side of the road were wooden shacks, all of them closed up with rolling metal shutters and big locks. At the end of the street was a high, sand-coloured wall with an iron gate; and beyond that Ben could just make out the top of a house.
Aarya pointed down the road. ‘Raheem lives there,’ she said.
‘Raheem?’ Ben asked. ‘Is he the one that took your bag? The one with the big nose?’
She giggled, despite herself. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘The one with the big nose.’
Ben looked at the building. It was imposing, somehow. ‘You think he’s at home now?’
‘It is midday. Most people are.’ And then, looking around nervously: ‘We should be.’
He chewed on his lower lip. ‘All right, then,’ he said. ‘Let’s just go and knock on the door. He won’t want his parents to find out what he did, will he?’
Aarya snorted. ‘His parents are worse than him.’
‘What do you mean?’
The girl scowled. ‘There are rumours, that is all.’
‘What kind of rumours?’
‘People visit them. People who are not from here. Just passing through.’ She seemed reluctant to speak.
‘They’re allowed to have visitors, aren’t they?’
But Aarya avoided his question. ‘I think we should go home,’ she muttered. ‘I do not want anything to do with this family.’
‘No,’ Ben insisted. ‘Come on — it’ll be all right. What’s the worst they can do?’ He winked at her. ‘Anyway, I’m supposed to be seeing the sights, aren’t I?’
He strode forward. Aarya followed a few paces behind.
As they approached, the dog that had been sitting in the middle of the road scampered away, as though the approach of humans was something to fear. It seemed to Ben that it took a long time to walk the length of the road. His shirt stuck to his back from the sweat and the sun pounded on his head.
They were perhaps twenty metres from the gate when they stopped. A vehicle had suddenly appeared, pulling up outside Raheem’s house after having turned into the road from the opposite end. Ben didn’t know what it was that made him want to hide. Perhaps Aarya’s nervousness had put him on edge; perhaps it was the vehicle itself. It was ordinary enough in its way — just a beige-coloured Land Rover — but it stuck out in this town where most of the vehicles were rusty and dented. It also stood out because there was a man hanging from the side, wearing black robes and with a rifle strapped across his back.
More by instinct than anything else, Ben pulled Aarya by the wrist and dragged her towards the cover of one of the vans by the side of the road. Once they were out of sight, they peered round the vehicle and watched.
‘What is it?’ Aarya whispered.
‘I don’t know,’ Ben said. ‘Let’s just say I’ve just got a bit of a thing about men with guns. A few bad experiences in the past.’
Aarya nodded emphatically and they went back to watching.
The Land Rover stopped to one side of Raheem’s gate and the man jumped down. Immediately two others spilled out. They were identically dressed and both carried weapons. One of them barked an instruction and the other two began looking around. The robed man Ben had seen first started walking down the road towards them, looking left and right as if checking that there was no one foolish enough to be out in the midday sun.
As if checking that there was no one out on the streets to see them.