What could it hurt? He owed precious little loyalty to Fuad. Plus he knew Rosanna would never tell anyone. Salim settled more comfortably, his back against the stall wall.
‘I was given a pup for my fifth birthday. I loved dogs and my parents thought it would be a good way to learn responsibility. Unfortunately that made my elder brother jealous. He’d never been given a dog.’
He saw Rosanna frown. He knew it sounded like favouritism, and Fuad used to accuse him of being their mother’s favourite because she’d sometimes sit with him when he had nightmares. ‘He hated dogs so it would have been pointless giving him one as a pet.’
‘That’s sad. Had he been bitten by one?’
‘Not that I know of.’ Salim scratched the belly of the pup now lying on its back before him. ‘He didn’t like animals of any sort and they didn’t like him.’
Salim remembered horses shying when Fuad approached and dogs barking aggressively or cringing away. As if they sensed the cruel streak that he seldom bothered to hide when he was alone with his little brother.
‘My dog went missing and was eventually found at the bottom of an old well in the courtyard.’ He met Rosanna’s stare. ‘No one could understand how he fell in when there was wire mesh over the top. Until a stablehand came forward to say he’d seen Fuad drop the dog in.’
‘Oh, Salim!’ Her eyes rounded and she leaned forward, grabbing his hand with hers. She looked aghast. ‘That’s horrible! Was it true?’
‘Fuad denied it but he was never allowed alone in the kennels or stables after that. Not that he minded.’
But their father had found other punishments for him. Fuad had blamed Salim for that, taking out his anger on his younger brother whenever he could, knowing Salim wouldn’t run crying to their parents. Even as a child Salim had had more pride and foolhardy obstinacy than to admit weakness before his brother.
‘I’m so sorry.’ Her remarkable eyes glittered in sympathy. ‘It must have been tough growing up with a brother like that.’
‘We weren’t close,’ he said eventually.
But Rosanna wasn’t finished. He should have realised she’d guess. ‘You said your father’s dogs needed saving. Because of your brother?’
He looked at her, sitting cross-legged with a now sleepy dog in her lap. Its pale grey pelt reminded him of the prize hounds of which his father had been so proud. Anger stirred at Fuad’s petty vengefulness.
Finally he nodded. ‘When our father’s terminal illness worsened Fuad assumed control, acting on his behalf. I was abroad getting investors for some development schemes in Dhalkur and didn’t realise how ill my father had become. Neither he nor Fuad mentioned it whenever I rang home.’
Salim still felt guilty over that.
‘And something happened while you were away.’
He released a slow breath. ‘Fuad ordered the stables and kennels emptied. The horses were sold but the dogs... He gave instructions that they simply be got rid of.’
‘You mean killed?’
Salim nodded. ‘I knew most of them somehow escaped but not what happened to them.’
Her fingers squeezed his. ‘Your friend Murad is a good man. No wonder you like him so much.’
‘I’m lucky to have him in my life.’
Salim paused, thinking of how he’d resisted the urge to quiz Rosanna aboutherpast, trying to keep some distance in their relationship.
Distance! What a laugh. He felt closer to Rosanna than to anyone he knew.
That realisation rocked him.
He had friends and people he’d known all his life, but no one close enough to talk with like this.
‘Salim? What is it?’
‘Nothing important. Tell me more about the menagerie at home and all your siblings. Are you still close?’
It turned out they were and Rosanna didn’t mind talking about her family in the least. She described her three brothers and her childhood in suburban Sydney. She spoke of backyard games and netball competitions. Of swimming lessons and holidays on the coast. Of her beloved border collie who’d finally died just as she left home for university.
Salim sat, relaxed, stroking the dog beside him, and felt transported to a world that felt exotic and appealing. Because of the warmth and charm Rosanna exuded as she reminisced. He wanted to see the old apple tree where they’d built a treehouse and taste her mother’s best ever roast and apple crumble. Hear more about the compassion and common-sense values instilled by her social worker father and school librarian mother.