At first, Masha was going to deny the story. But it seemed to her that mostpeople would think she was lying, and they would be sure that she had kept thejewel. Her life would be miserable from then on. Or ended. There were plenty whowouldn't hesitate to drag her off to some secluded place and torture her untilshe told where the jewel was.
So she described exactly what had happened, omitting how she had tried to brainEevroen. There was no sense in pushing him too hard. If he was humiliatedpublicly, he might get desperate enough to try to beat her up.
She got only one patient that day. As fast as those who'd heard her tale ran offto look for rats, others took their place. And then, inevitably, the governor'ssoldiers came. She was surprised they hadn't appeared sooner. Surely one oftheir informants had sped to the palace as soon as he had heard her story, andthat would have been shortly after she'd come to the bazaar.
The sergeant of the soldiers questioned her first, and then she was marched tothe garrison, where a captain interrogated her. Afterwards, a colonel came in,and she had to repeat her tale. And then, after sitting in a room for at leasttwo hours, she was taken to the governor himself. The handsome youth,surprisingly, didn't detain her long. He seemed to have checked out hermovements, starting with Doctor Nadeesh. He'd worked out a timetable between themoment she left Shoozh's house and the moment she came home. So, her mother hadalso been questioned.
A soldier had seen two of the Raggah running away; their presence was verified.
'Well, Masha,' the governor said. 'You've stirred up a rat's nest,' and he