But Rosie ruled with wariness and wisdom, custom matriarchal and shrewd, careful and lenient yet unmoved by injustice not her business, and sniffed the air in the seventh month, when the great voice of Heat unleashed ten thousand devils from Hell’s mouth to roam the earth. And though Mother Wu let it be known that she was witch strong enough to repel the infernal assaults, Rosie knew better.

*  *  *

Besides the English teacher, a Chinese teacher was now appointed to teach the rehabilitees:

Little dog, big dog,
Little dog jumps, big dog jumps,
Little dog barks, big dog barks

chanted the women, yawning between the dogs. Neo Saw wept quietly, opening her mouth, and Grandmother interrupted everybody from time to time loudly demanding to be sent to the death house, to await her dissolution.

It was during the mothers’ class that the children in a huddled bevy gathered behind the hut, a pinched crowd staring: and nothing was known of it in the stifling afternoon until the shouting and screaming began, and Fong Kiap’s voice loud above the others: ‘Save life, save life.’

Rosie seized her gun and rushed to the hut, shouting to the policewomen to follow. She pounded sweat-stained backs, hit and flung arms, and pushed heads aside to maul a way to the heart of the pack where Neo Saw lay on the earth, torn coat unbaring bosom, while Mother Wu stamped on her with bare feet, and clawed her face with all her nails.

Rosie hit Mother Wu’s nape, tripped her, caught her hair and dragged her away from Neo Saw’s body. Mother Wu then threw a fit, foaming at the mouth and twitching her body and jerking; the women cried with terror and prostrated themselves, and a Malay policewoman ran out to avoid being possessed by the devils out of Mother Wu. Neo Saw lay as dead with Fong Kiap rubbing Tiger Balm on her forehead and stuffing her nostrils thick with the green salve, while another detainee ran to the kitchen for ashes and crushed garlic to rub upon her head, and Grandmother sat unperturbed, belching and calling for the death house.

The ambulance removed Neo Saw and Mother Wu to hospital.

At the interrogation later no one knew anything until the hospital doctor rang up to ask Rosie where was the child who had been raped?

‘Amitofo? groaned Rosie, fingering her jade pendant, body protector, and cooler of the humours, and went to tell Commandant Hinchcliffe.

‘Sir, two children were fighting, and …’

‘Oh,’ said Hinchcliffe, who had not understood Rosie’s twisted innuendoes, ‘so long as it isn’t a communist-inspired riot, wardress, we don’t have to write a report.’

Rosie smothered her knowledge and held her peace, aware that trouble had begun.

*  *  *

And now the women of the camp truly were constrained by devils out of hell.