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With his left arm he pinned her shoulders to the ground. With his right hand he took his penis and guided it into her vagina, sighing as he penetrated into the depths of her body. Nandzi continued to scream abuse at him and struggle. But now he had two hands free to pin her wrists to the ground. Nandzi twisted her head and snapped her teeth over his fat index finger. She felt the bone and the warm spurt of blood in her mouth before she heard his cry.
    â€œYou bitch. You filthy, verminous bitch
    He spat out the words as he dragged his hand from her.
    â€œI will teach you to trifle with Abdulai.”
    He moved her wrists out of range and put the weight of his elbows on her arms. Then he began to drive into her. In and out he drove, just as he had often driven his spear repeatedly into the body of a prone victim, relishing the fountain of blood, thrusting the spear in again and again long after his adversary was dead.
    He moved her hands onto the back of her head and forced her face into the polished dung floor.
    â€œI will teach you. I will teach you. I will teach you. Remember me. My name is Abdulai. Abdulai the famous general of Dagbon.”
    Deeper and harder he drove. Nandzi could not control her sobs. Suddenly, as he plumbed her depths, she felt a surge of pain unlike anything she had ever before experienced. It was as if he had mounted the sharp iron head of his assegai onto the end of his penis. Each time he plunged into her, the pain rose to a crescendo. She screamed in agony but he paid no heed. Once, twice, three times. She summoned up all her strength in a superhuman effort to throw him off, but he was too strong and too heavy. Then she lost consciousness.
    Abdulai completed his business inside her and rested on her prone body. As his penis shrunk, he became aware of the pain in his finger and placed it in his mouth to stem the flow of blood. Then he rose to his feet and drew up his pantaloons with his free hand. Nandzi's cotton cloth lay where it had fallen on the ground. He picked it up and with his teeth tore off a strip to use as a bandage.
    â€œDamba, Issaka,” he called, dropping the cloth on Nandzi's still body. The two warriors had been watching Abdulai's performance discreetly from a distance hoping perhaps that their commander would reward them for their discovery by allowing them to exercise their own erections, but they were to be disappointed.
    â€œTake this hussy and put her on a horse,” he ordered. “Tie her well. Then collect the cloth and skins and let’s get out of here. This place gives me the spooks.”
    He hid his bleeding finger from them. The blood had soaked through the bandage.

CHAPTER 2

    When Nandzi came to, she was lying face-down on the back of a horse, securely trussed.
    Her cloth had been wrapped around her and her arms bound to her body with leather thongs. Her legs hung down on one side and her head on the other. Alongside the tethered horse stood another, piled high with the family's chattels.
    Her body ached from head to foot. When she moved, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.
    Damba emerged from the compound, carrying two hoes.
    â€œAh, the lady has awakened,” he said, threading the shafts of the hoes through the ropes which bound the plundered goods to the pack horse.
    There was no sign of the other members of his party.
    â€œWater,” Nandzi whispered, but Damba did not understand.
    He untied the horses, put boot to stirrup and hoisted himself onto his saddle. Nandzi felt the animal move beneath her. She had never before been on a horse. For a moment she was overcome by terror so stark that it transcended her pain. Then she heard Nowu's wail.
    â€œNowu. Nowu,” she cried.
    She struggled to free herself but there was no escape.
    â€œThe Asante have no use for small children,” Damba said, flicking his whip on the horse's withers, “and, as for you, you will have plenty of time to get down and walk, once we are clear of