Free Princess Play by Barbara Ismail

Rubiah cried, ‘I’m on my way.’ She hurried down the stairs, followed by a frightened Aliza. As they hurried past Aziz’s house, Zaiton called to her from the top of the stairs.
    â€˜Liza! Where are you going?’
    â€˜Something’s happened to my mother,’ Aliza told her, calling from over her shoulder as she ran home.
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜I think she was hit with something. Over the head.’
    â€˜No!’ Zaiton ran down the stairs and clasped Aliza’s hand, pulling her towards the house. ‘Tell me what happened!’ she demanded.
    Aliza pulled her hand away. ‘I don’t know yet, I have to go back home!’
    â€˜Wait!’ Zaiton tugged at her harder, pulling her off her feet.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ Aliza was becoming frightened, this girl no longer seemed like the one she knew.
    â€˜Aliza?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Come with me.’
    â€˜Let me get up,’ she said slowly. ‘Wait a minute.’ She got up gingerly, feeling her knees, testing them, to see if they had been hurt. It appeared they had not. She limped a few steps toward Zaiton. ‘What do you want?’
    â€˜Nothing.’ The two girls stared at each other. ‘Just come with me to my house.’
    Aliza shook her head. ‘Why?’
    â€˜Just so we can talk.’ Zaiton tried to smile and take Aliza’s hand again. Before she could grasp it, Aliza whirled away and ran as fast as she could towards her own house.
    â€˜ Ayah !’ she screamed as she ran, ‘ Ayah ! Help me!’ She tripped on a large rock, and was flung headfirst onto the path, hitting her head as she fell.
    As she passed, neighbours poked their heads out the windows and started down off their porches. Aliza lay dazed in the dust, her head seeming to pour blood on the ground. Zaiton, in hot pursuit, almost fell on top of her, but was seized in the unyielding grasp of one of their neighbours.
    Three women pulled Aliza to her feet and started walking her home; she was barely conscious. They half-walked, half-dragged her into her own yard, where her sister Ashikin was already running towards her. When she reached Aliza, she folded her into her arms.
    â€˜ Adik !’ Aliza pitched forward in a dead faint, bringing both of them to the ground.
    Daud, Ashikin’s husband, was there immediately, standing in front of them both to protect them, while Ashikin called for help. Zaiton was soon frog-marched in, held in the unsympathetic grasp of two of their burlier neighbours.
    â€˜What’s this?’ Daud demanded of Zaiton.
    She stared up at him, her eyes wide, unable to speak. Aziz now burst into the yard, stopping short before he tripped over his daughter. He looked wildly from Daud to Zaiton, taking in Ashikin and Aliza sheltered behind him. ‘Why?’ he finally asked Zaiton. She burst into tears.
    â€˜We saw Aliza fall,’ one of the burly men said sternly. ‘Zaiton was chasing her, and she tripped on a rock.’ He then turned to Daud and spoke kindly to him.
    â€˜These head wounds bleed a lot,’ he explained, ‘but she still needs a doctor.’
    Daud and the neighbours were now in animated discussion with Aziz while Zaiton crouched behind her father, wailing. The men ignored her, while the women went inside for cloth and water.
    â€˜I don’t know what she’s doing or why,’ Aziz insisted heatedly to Daud. ‘I only heard someone fall, so I went out to look.’
    Daud turned his most threatening face to Zaiton. Had she not been beside herself, she would probably have remained serenely unthreatened. But she was now caught up in her own hysteria and beginning to choke on her sobs. ‘Where’s Rahim?’ she babbled. ‘Is he inside?’
    â€˜Rahim?’ Aziz looked momentarily mystified, and then horrified. ‘Is he here? Did you see him tonight?’
    Zaiton continued crying, and in towering