Her rules were strict and no one would marry her, until she met dad and both of them continued their rule.
Dad rebuilt the Palace and she named it Sunset Palace, on all her headed paper Manaos Kingdom is printed in bold letters.
Now it is in the hands of Prince Hanif Latchman and later on his nephew Prince Hasan Latchman and their future generations.
He giggled as he said, “I hope their reign will be of great success and please my cousin, when you take your place do not be like Mohamed the second.
Be more like mum and dad; remember that you are the head of a Kingdom and its people,” he reiterated “and I am proud to be a member of this family.”
“Thank you for your advice, cousin Alam.” I answered.
I was beginning to panic a little that if I did not treat these people with kindness and respect, on the day or Judgement I would have to answer for it.
I had studied the laws of the Quran and I would implement it into the Kingdom and be fair to my people when that time came.
We continued our journey to the ranch house where we were going to spend the night.
When we arrived a group of men were roasting two animals by the side of the house on an open fire.
Habib had slaughtered two bulls and the men took over and were engaged in doing the roast.
One man was playing a flute which was made from the bamboo tree and another had a string instrument which he made himself.
The music was soothing and relaxing to the mind as well as the body after that long and difficult ride on a hard saddle through the vast expanse of a beautiful and panoramic landscape.
Alam interrupted my thoughts when he said, that there was going to be some entertainment for me tonight and that his dad would do this when ever a special guest arrived.
“But you are family he said, “And this is a welcoming home party for you tonight,” he remarked.
Then we all went for a cold dip in the river that ran at the back of the ranch house, and changed into something more comfortable.
While the men were busy cooking and singing in their native language I counted thirty five people and then I asked uncle if there were any more men to come.
He answered, “This is only half the amount.”
He had on his books twenty ranchers, twelve vets, and twelve rangers. The vets were English speaking and local.
When I sat down he called everyone together and told them that he was retiring and handing over his job to me, his nephew.
I would be here in about six month’s time and he hoped that they would continue to work with me in peace, like they have done with him.
Their jobs were safe but if anyone became difficult to manage that person would be fired.
“Now go and enjoy yourselves,” he told them.
Afterwards we all began to enjoy ourselves eating roast beef, cassava bread, roasted sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob and drank pure fruit juices as no alcohol was permitted in the Kingdom.
It was a moon-lit night and the big round moon was out in its full glory, the Arawak men were singing and dancing in the moon-light.
Alam and I joined in the chorus of their songs and then we danced along with them to blend in together.
After a while the men on night shift left and another group arrived and we continued partying until dawn was breaking and then they all left and took the remaining food with them.
We went to bed after sun-rise; then suddenly we were woken with a heavy down pour of rain, thunder and lighting. That storm lasted for a few hours and then we saw the sun again.
In that region the weather can change at any time, sometimes four seasons in one day.
We quickly loaded our bags into the Land Rover and I drove back to Sunset Palace.
Uncle and I spent the day together looking at his books; the income and expenditure of the estate.
In the evening I told him that I would like to go around at night to see what was going on in the streets.
He told me to take Habib with me and he informed Habib that he and I would be going out on night patrol.
We were leaving the following day for the West Coast and Habib and Alam were coming with us. Uncle wanted to visit his dead ancestors and to mark his burial spot.
I rang Muna and told her how many of us were coming and to get Imran to pick us up at the air base.
That night I took the Jeep and Habib, and went out at 2.30am. The village streets were deserted and I had noticed that some doors and windows were left opened while the people slept.
It surprised me I have never seen that before in other parts of the world during my travels, and where I was born, people would steal from under your nose.
When I told Habib he was laughing which he rarely did since I had met him.
I stopped by the Mosque and we went inside and prayed, after we finished praying we sat together and I asked Habib how often he came to pray here.
He told me that every Friday he and Master Hanif would either go to the Mosque in town or come here to pray.
Then we heard footsteps and two men appeared and greeted us and introduced themselves. One was the Imam [Priest] and the other was the care-taker.
The Imam told us that he heard a car pull up and when he looked out he thought that the Master had come to pray so they came out to meet him.
Habib introduced us and I shook hands with both men and then we left. I drove into the city which was calm and peaceful with all the street-lights on and working.
Then we saw a man and a woman walking quickly on the side walk. I stopped and told Habib to find out what they were doing out so late.
The man said that their daughter had just given birth and they were with her and now they were going home to get some sleep to start work in the morning.
I told them to get in and I drove them back to the village where they lived and then drove back to the palace.
Next morning we left after breakfast, our journey would take us four hours, from the South by plane and then by road to the West Coast.
On arrival we were tired and exhausted. After I introduced Muna to every one we all went upstairs to have a few hours rest.
In the evening all the Baccus’s family came to meet uncle, they were all saying that we have some resemblance and what took him so long to find me.
He told Maymun that it was better late than never, but he did not disclose anything else to them.
While everyone was chatting and laughing I noticed that there was some tension between Muna and Asma.
I later found out that Asma had said to Muna that she should not trust her husband; that he was out having a good time with other women.
Muna got upset and took Husain and left Cotton Tree crying. She went to her mother and was staying there every night.
The next morning, I hired a local taxi to take us to the cemetery, which was nearly half a mile to walk.
The mud dam was full of cracks and pot holes and it would be a hard struggle for uncle with his poor health.
We went first to the second reef where his parents and mine were laid to rest.
He became overwhelmed and was shedding tears as he looked at the markings on each grave with the names and years our people had passed away.
Uncle then sat beneath the shade of a wild berry bush while Alam, Habib, and I were removing the weeds from the top of the graves.
And then he told us the exact spot where we should put his body next to his mother, Alam and I marked that place with some large stones until that time came.
Then we left and went to the first reef and Alam noticed the cinnamon tree and he asked me whether he could pick some of its bark for making tea and to flavour cakes and puddings.
I told him to take as much as he wanted and then uncle said to me, “These two people have changed our lives, yours and mine, Hasan.
Grand-father came here to work and to better himself; and grand-mother was running away from being taken as a prisoner of war and here is where their journey ended.”
He brushed away the tears from his eyes as he looked around at the other plots of land that had graves on them.
A few graves had fences around them, while others were left bare with only the grass holding the sand together from eroding away.
In the evening I took them to the beach at the back of my house, the tide was out and we all sat on the log of wood where I used to sit and day dream of going to far away places.
I told them that I would talk to my two friends the Manatees while swimming with them.
I would tell them what I like to do and where I would like to go, but I would always come back and swim with them.
I kept my promise each time I came back home, but I heard from a local fisherman that there was a small calf and the mother gets aggressive if anyone comes close to her young.
As the tide was slowly come in uncle got up and dipped his feet into the sea water and then he started walking along the white sandy beach.
He was deep in his own thoughts but he would not confide in any one of us.
His life was ebbing away slowly and there was nothing that anyone could do to prolong it.
All the wealth he possessed could not buy him time and his medical team had given up on him.
He had made some preparations for his next life; he opened an orphanage on the main-land and was taking care of twenty orphans.
He provided free education for all the children in the Kingdom and a free bus for them.
He went twice for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca; once with his wife and another time with his orphan son Alam.
He was strict with the rules and laws governing the Kingdom but his people loved him for being a ‘Just Ruler’.
Nine years he had been searching for me to continue his legacy and work that he was leaving behind.
He had some trust in me and I intended to carry out his work diligently and tried to be as good as he was if not better.
I joined him as he strolled along the beach and then he told me that he was going to redesign and rebuild my house with a concrete foundation.
He would get all the trees removed so that when I looked out I would see the ocean clearly and that he would get that done before I returned home.
He also said that he would like to come and stay here on the West Coast for some time to sit on the beach and to walk on the warm sand.
I thought that he could afford it, and then I told him that he was welcome, to come and stay as long as he wished.
Afterwards we joined the others still sitting on the log of wood and watching the swell of the ocean with the sea gulls flying over head.
Then uncle wanted to find out how I became friendly with the Manatee.
I told them that one afternoon I was out fishing and some-one had opened the sluice gates.
And the water from the savannah came rushing down with such speed it took me further into the ocean.
I could not swim against it and I kept going down and coming up, shouting for help even though I could not see anyone.
Then these two big creatures came; one picked me up with its head and tossed me up in the air and away from the fast flowing current.
When I landed the other one was moving me slowly with its head towards the shore.
I was exhausted and I got on its back and it swam with me as far as the sand-bank.
When I got off its back I was frightened and disoriented and then I crawled onto the beach and lay there for sometime.
When I looked they were gone and everyday after that I would come here and look for them.
I thought that they were dolphins and then a local fisherman told me that they were a pair of sea cows and if I whistled they would come.
Then I began to whistle and when I saw them again I swam out to meet them. I felt safe and would swim between the two of them.
By then the cold sea breeze was blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean and uncle was feeling cold and then we decided to return home.
The next day uncle with his son and carer left us after lunch, and Muna and I began to make preparations to leave for Kuwait that coming Saturday.
That same day I decided to break the news to Muna about our future. I took her for a walk along the beach and then we sat on the warm sand.
I told her to listen carefully to what I was going to say to her. Then I told her that we were going to leave our jobs in Kuwait and return home, but not here.
We were going to live and work in Manaos. Husain would be joining Nizam in England at the same boarding school.
We would be going to Birmingham, England to visit her friend and stay there until Husain settled into his new school.
And then she and I would take some time off to an exotic Island for two weeks.
“I want you to choose the location that you want us to go, where the sea is blue and the sand is golden.” I remarked.
I did not mention anything about the Palace and the luxurious living I had encountered and the sum of money that I was about to receive.
She was staring at me and her mouth fell open, “I think you have gone crazy,” she remarked, “What have those men done to you for you to come up with such weird ideas?
Manaos does not exist, that place was destroyed in the twelfth century and how are we going to afford two sets of school fees for both our sons in a private school and a holiday as well?”
I giggled and picked up both of her hands and held them in mine and said, “Trust me Muna, there is another Manaos and I have been there and seen it, and do not ask too many questions. Keep to yourself what I have just told you.”
But I knew that she was not going to keep quiet about it. I rang Edwin and made an appointment to see him that Friday at 2pm and I booked two rooms at the Lotus hotel for one night only.
That Friday morning we left West Coast and travelled to the capital and booked in at the hotel and after lunch I went to see Edwin.
I decided to take half of my inheritance and had it transferred into my bank in Kuwait and I took the paper-work with me.
With the rest of the money I would make some investments or secure it for my children when they were much older.
I had noticed that the Lotus Hotel was up for sale and I told Edwin that I was interested in buying it and whether he could do some investigation into its profit margin.
I have never handled that much money before and I was going to be careful how I spent it.
Ruby invited us to her home that evening. She wanted to meet Muna. The two women got on well they were both secretaries and they had a lot in common.
Muna worked as a school secretary in an American run school and she was telling Ruby that she was going to miss her friends when she left and that I had decided to return home.
It had something to do with my uncle but I would not tell her the full story and she did not know what to think.
Ruby reassured her and said, “Your husband has got you and his son’s best interests at heart, so you should not worry too much.”
The following day we flew back to Kuwait and two months later we left the city and went to England.
We rented a house in Birmingham and stayed there until Husain was ready to enrol and start school.
Then we flew on to Antigua a small Island in the Caribbean with its turquoise sea and white sandy beach.
Our all inclusive accommodation was next to the sea front amongst the beautiful green and colourful gardens.
The beach stretched for many miles. It was a place to unwind and take in the scenery of an Island life.
There were all types of water sports in which Muna and I joined in with the other tourists.
Our last evening on that beautiful Island Muna and I sat on the warm sand and watched the sun going down.
Then I finally told her that we were going to live in a place called Sunset Palace in Manaos Kingdom.
“My uncle is dying I said and he is leaving his entire fortune to me, his only surviving relative, to carry on his legacy.
When we get there I w
ant you to be polite and to show him respect and to every one of his staff that worked for him, and try not to ask too many questions.”
“I am always polite to people,” she answered, “Except that Asma she said bad things about you and I hate her for it.”
“Just ignore her, Muna, she is not worth it,” I reassured her.
A few days later we flew back to Georgetown and drove down to the West Coast.
Uncle had rebuilt the house like he had promised, with five bedrooms on the second floor and one on the third floor.
He had all the trees removed that were blocking the ocean view and the garden was replanted with dwarf coconut trees and some citrus fruits.
The transformation was magnificent and we could now look at the ocean from the bottom floor.
Muna remarked, “I think I am going to love uncle Hanif.”
“And me,” I answered.
Two weeks after we returned home Muna fell ill and was constantly vomiting. I began to get worried and took her to a private doctor in New Amsterdam.
The doctor told her that she was going to have a baby that news came as a shock for both of us.
She started crying and told the doctor that her last child was almost ten years old and he could be wrong.
The doctor was looking at me and then he said to her, “Madam there are two hearts beating, you are going to have twins, and I am always right.”
That was even more shocking for both of us to take in, but there was no room for argument from either of us.
She started speaking in Arabic, and the doctor with his nurse was both looking at us.
She said, “What am I going to do, Hasan?”
“Nothing, I answered you going to have these babies and I am going to be there for you every step of the way.”
When the news had sunk in and she was feeling much better I took a trip to Blairmont Estate to look for the family that lived in the logy, that I had once visited before I went to America.
I found the place but there was no one at home, in the court-yard I saw an elderly man sitting under the shade of a large Chinese tamarind tree knitting a fishing net.
I greeted him and asked about the family in logy number six and he told me that the woman still lived there by herself.
Her husband had died and her two sons have moved away and she worked for someone in the market place.
Ravi the Unknown Prince Page 15