Trip to the mountains to see a Sufi

Helena, goes up to a man standing under the awning of a carpet shop in an Istanbul market. As she approaches the man is laughing at something the shopkeeper next to him has said. He is thick set. He has two day stubble on his chin and when he laughs Helena can see he's missing a tooth.

She thinks:"I've made a mistake."

The shopkeeper glances up: "How can I help you? Would you like a carpet?" He grabs the woman's wrist and pulls her inside through the archway.

"I haven't come about carpets."

"100 dollars for this," he unfolds a closely woven rug, "is a very good price. The best. Where are you from? Serbia? Germany? Italy?

Helena wrenches her hand away. The grip of the man leaves a hot painful, band on her wrist.

"A taxi driver told me to come here." She thinks again: "I've been stupid. I've made a mistake."

"He brought you to buy my carpets. Naturally. They are very good carpets. The best."

"He said that you know about real Sufis. That you could take me to see an important Sufi."

"Of course, of course. This one is perfect for you, it's a Sufi carpet. Look!" he unfolds another rug, purple and red this time, with the Kaaba in the background and the head of a turbaned saint.

"150 Euros is a very good price."

The woman walks towards the doorway. But the shopkeeper blocks her way.

"Don't you like my carpets. Take another look, please."

"No. I tell you. You Let me go now or I'll call the police."

And she takes out her blackberry, which, in preparation for just such an event as this, is on emergency speed dial. She holds it out and her finger hovers over the button.

The shopkeeper, seems to reconsider:

"Do say you wanted to learn about Sufis?"

"You know nothing about them. You sell carpets. Step aside."

"Listen to me. For a price, I'll take you some Sufis. In the mountains. Very important Sufis. You pay the price, and I'll take you."

He steps aside and Helena pushes past him quickly, stepping back into the market building. She's free. She pockets her Blackberry with relief.

Outside, now she is in the open, she turns to look at the shopkeeper. He is unaware of her, conversing with his friend again. They both laugh.

"They are laughing about me." Helena thinks. "I am a complete idiot. I'm a romantic idiot."

_____________________________________

In her hotel, at breakfast the next morning, the breakfast room is nearly empty. The tables and chairs are made from a dark wood. The ceiling is high and ornate. The floor is polished and from the window she can just about make out the dome of the Hagia Sofia.

Helena reflects: "I only have two more days."

After visiting the antique shops and jewellery shops she drifts towards in the direction of the market again, walks past the shop and looks to see if the carpet seller is still there.

The shopkeeper's friend looks her up and down coldly.

"Where's the man. The man who tried to sell me the carpet yesterday?"

"You mean Bensu. That's his name, Bensu" Says the man. He sounds curt.

He turns and walks into the shop.

Minutes pass. Helena is about to leave when Bensu appears brushing aside the ribbons hanging over the doorway.

He looks at Helena and says nothing. Unsmiling.

Helena stumbles. "You said you could take me to see Sufis, says Helena, for a price. I'll pay you. In the mountains."

Bensu looks at his friend, then at Helena and says. "OK. In the mountains. But you will pay my price."

"200 Euros, is that enough," says Helena.

"It will do." Says Bensu. "And you will drive. I am a terrible driver. Can you drive?"

"Yes." Helena thinks of her S Class Mercedes parked in the drive of the house in Obilicev Venac.

"Alright." And then she thinks. "Well this is an adventure."

It takes them 20 minutes to find his Jeep.

It takes them 1 hour to get out of Istanbul.

Helena tries to make conversation, but Bensu doesn't want to converse. He seems to doze for most of the time.

"Where are we going?" she asks.

"That way," Bensu gestures vaguely.

"How long will it take?"

"Just drive," we arrive tonight.

"This is a wild goose chase." Helena thinks to herself over and over. "What am I doing? I am taking a risk. What am I doing?"

After driving for about six hours they reach the foothills of the mountains and a forest of pines and firs.

It starts to get very cold and the sky darkens slowly. The Jeep is not heated. It starts to rain hard and Helena slows down. "Continue." says Bensu.

They start to climb in rain which doesn't stop. Suddenly Bensu pulls at the wheel and they swerve right. Helena slams on the brakes.

Just in time. The headlights of a truck blind them for a few seconds. It misses them, just, horns blaring.

Bensu looks very angry. "Can't you drive?" He shouts. "Turn that way."

"I want to go home." She thinks of her mother serving a warm piece of slightly salty bread on a plate. Of dipping it into sweet milky coffee. Biting into it. Of sitting by the kitchen table. Both of them silent, gazing together out of the large window overlooking the communal garden.

"мајка ћу вас опет видјети?" she thinks.

"Shut up!" roars Bensu. "Concentrate. You'll kill us. Focus on the road."

They come to a point in the road where half the track seems to have has fallen away down the side of the mountain.

"Forwards." Says Bensu.

"No, I am frightened. I can't do this. I'm going back."

"We can't reverse back down. We have to go on" Bensu says firmly. "We can't turn around and reverse back down the track."

Helena calms down. "Goodbye." she thinks, perhaps this is what I wanted. "Goodbye." She thinks of her boyfriend Goran, laughing. His hands on her cheek. Of her brothers, her friends everyone.

The Jeep inches forward. inches forward. Now it tips to the left, "This is it. Goodbye." thinks Helena.

But after teetering for a few seconds, the Jeep slowly rights itself again.

Forwards. They reach the other side.

Helena starts banging the wheel and screaming in excitement: "We made it." she shouts. "We made it. We're alive."

Bensu looks back at her. "You really are an idiot." he says.

Angrily, she drives forwards, revving the engine.

After a while the rain starts to die down. It is the cusp of dawn and in the faint light Helena can make out a large wooden house in a clearing at the end of the road.

They drive up.

When she stops the car and douses the headlights she can see more. She gets out of the car, stretching her legs and slaps at her thighs to get the circulation moving.

A light flickers in one of the windows. On the right, Helena can see the slopes of a mountain coloured in first light. On the left there is a paddock with two horses in it and a foal. Beyond the paddock a hillside falls smoothly away.

"This is beautiful," thinks Helena. "Really beautiful." The place feels oddly familiar.

"Wait here," says Bensu, "I'll go and see if your famous Sufis are in."

She leans on the bonnet of the car which is warm, but slowly cooling, ticking.

While Helena waits the sun brightens further. Raw, new light catches in the grass and sparks.

Lights in the cabin turn on. Smoke starts from the chimney. Helena hears the faint sound of a prayer. Laughing. Murmering. Then the door opens.

Bensu appears. He comes towards her with a glass in his hands; vapour rising from it. It is Turkish tea. He gives it to her. The glass warms her hands, and she takes a small sip.

"I have told them you are nothing but an idiot, and that you can't drive, but since you have come all this way, they invite you to breakfast. Come in."