Hawksworth was already peeling off his jerkin. He'd seen
enough fires on the gun deck to know the man whose clothes caught always panicked.
If I can reach her in time I can smother the robe before she's burned and maimed. Her legs . . .
Before he could move, the woman suddenly turned and poised herself at the edge of the roaring pit. She emitted one long intense wail, then threw herself directly into the fire. At that moment the robes of a second woman caught, and she too turned and plunged head-first into the flames.
Merciful God! What are they doing!
The three remaining women paused for a moment. Then they clasped hands, and, as though on a private signal, plunged over the edge into the inferno, their hair and robes igniting like dry tinder in a furnace. The women all clung together as the flames enveloped them.
Hawksworth tried to look again into the pit, but turned away in revulsion.
"What in hell is happening?"
Vasant Rao's eyes were flooded with disbelief.
"They must have been his concubines. Or his other wives. Only his first wife was allowed to have the place of honor beside his body. I've. . ." The Rajput struggled for composure. "I've never seen so many women die in a sati. It's . . ." He seemed unable to find words. "It's almost too much."