Free Allure of Deceit by Susan Froetschel Page A

bedroom. I fear she has picked up dangerous ideas.”
    â€œShe would abduct a child?” he asked.
    Komal chortled from the corner of the room. The little girl tossed her rag and squirmed to escape the cover. Smiling, Sofi retrieved the toddler and returned to Parsaa’s side. Time alone with her husband was rare with five children in the house and so much work.
    Sofi tucked Komal between the two adults and placed her hand so the child could bend and play with the fingers. “I’m not sure she wanted just any child.”
    They quietly played with the youngest sister of Leila. Parsaa worried about his wife’s attachment to the little girl for many reasons. Komal’s mother and her older sister, Leila, were serving prison sentences for trafficking, and after the arrests, Leila’s sisters were divided among village families. The years would pass quickly. The child’s mother could leave prison and retrieve her daughters. Raising another woman’s child was like tending a neighbor’s garden, and love did not ensure control.
    Early on, Sofi and Parsaa had tried keeping a distance, but the child seemed so cheerful and content to be away from her sisters that it was unthinkable that evil pulsed through her veins. Perhaps Shaitan had overlooked the little one. Baby Komal was easy, watching Sofi as she worked in the fields, laughing and trying to keep up with the boys during the evening. The child did not complain or demand attention. If left alone, she fingered strands of grass or folded and refolded the edge of her perahaan , her eyes wide as if listening intently to conversations she could not understand.
    Parsaa had warned his wife that the family had no claim over Komal. Sofi had little to say other than insisting that was not a reason to deny her love.
    Other villagers would not approve. Parents wanted their children to know that Leila’s crimes had shamed an entire family. Ostracizing the girls was the best hope for preventing a repeat of wrongdoings in the small village. Parsaa, Sofi, and the boys engaged in playful activities with Komal in the privacy of their own home. Parsaa often wondered if Sofi would love Komal as much when the girl was older.
    Sofi interrupted his thoughts. “Najwa might not be a problem in a place with few families, a small home with no children,” she mused.
    An idea slipped into his head. Or, perhaps that was his wife’s intention.
    He could take Najwa to Zahira’s compound, he explained. The place was too much work for Aza and Mohan, who were getting older and should have had help long ago, and Najwa would be in a remote location with no children or young adults. Four adults could give her assignments and monitor her work. What trouble could she get into? “But only if I can assure Zahira that the girl won’t steal or cause other problems.”
    His wife cast a long look at her husband. None of the women of Laashekoh, including Sofi, liked Zahira well. They never offered to include her in village celebrations or activities.
    â€œMixing two troubles does not make a problem go away,” she said. “Najwa could drive someone mad.”
    â€œWhat other options do we have?” Parsaa said. “The compound is far enough away. That would satisfy women here. Yet it’s close enough for us to provide guidance and Zahira to reach out for help.”
    Sofi was not convinced.
    â€œShe could leave today,” he added. “And I could still search for another home.”
    There was no other option, and Sofi agreed to pack meals and Najwa’s meager belongings that morning. Zahira could check the girl’s burns.
    â€œIt’s the best an orphan girl could hope for.” Parsaa was impatient for Laashekoh to return to normal routines.

PART 2
    And spend in the way of Allah and cast not yourselves to perdition with your own hands, and do good [to others]; surely Allah loves the doers of good.
    â€”Koran