Dr. Kumar showed me how to use the phone to call the police or the hospital. I was too embarrassed to tell him I’ve never used a phone. And I certainly didn’t tell him that the police are the last people I would call. Our tribal elders never trusted the authorities, who are quick to push us off our grazing land the moment anyone complains. And, now that the police are under the impression the doctor and I are intimate with each other, they might see me as an easy woman, someone they can bed without much effort.
I’m wondering what to do about the parakeet’s squawking when Rekha jumps off the bed and runs out the door, calling to Madho Singh.
“Rekha!” I yell. I prop pillows around Chullu to make sure he doesn’t fall off the bed while he’s sleeping. Then I scramble after Rekha.
When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Rekha is running around the drawing room, following Madho Singh on his flight from armchair to lamp to fireplace mantel. The only light is from the moon outside. I pull the curtain back to see if anyone is there.
There is. A figure in the shadows, standing on the veranda.
My heart begins to pound. I try to see through the darkness.
It’s the shepherd who’s been looking after my flock!
I take in a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. I call to him through the window. “What is it, bhai?”
He turns to face my window. I can’t see his features. Nor can he see mine.
“What should I do with the flock? They’ve grazed the area I was paid to clear. They were very hungry!” His laugh is high and shaky.
“I’ll pay you to keep them for a few more days. Are there other places they can graze?”
“Theek hai,” he says. “I will take them farther north.” When he turns to go, I remember I still have his shears.
I call out: “Wait!”
I run upstairs to get them, taking another moment to pick up a few coins from my week’s pay. When I get back to the drawing room, it’s quiet. Madho Singh is back in his cage, mumbling. But where is Rekha?
Then I see the open front door, and I hurry out to the veranda. Rekha’s there, talking to the shepherd.
“Why do sheep have tails?” she asks him.
I pull her back behind me. “Silly girl!” I say. I return the shepherd’s shears to him and put the coins in his hand.
He looks confused by the panic that’s so apparent in my voice and my expression. He drops the coins into his vest pocket and turns to go but then he stops and turns around.
“Behenji,” he says, “earlier today, when I was moving the sheep, a man came up to me and asked if they were mine.”
My heart, again, begins to race. Rekha starts to squirm before I realize I’ve dug my fingers into her shoulders. I make an effort to relax them.
“What did you tell him?”
The old man lifts his chin and draws himself up to his full height. “What business is it of his?” he says. “That’s what I told him!”
He grins, and the moonlight glows on the few teeth he still has left.
I nod. “How did you know where to find me?”
He scratches the back of his neck. “Word gets around,” he says.
Then he steps off the veranda and disappears into the darkness.
I close the door and lock it. I pick Rekha up and hug her tightly. “What have I told you? You mustn’t open the door for anybody. Not even old men.”
“I know, Maa, but Madho Singh likes him.”
“Madho Singh doesn’t even know him!”
I feel Rekha’s steady heartbeat, as I’m sure that she feels mine. When I was with my tribe, I never felt unsafe, the way I’m feeling now. If a shepherd can find me so easily, how long will it be before the smugglers find me, too?
* * *
An hour later, I’m huddled with the children on the drawing room sofa. They’re both asleep when I hear Dr. Kumar’s car in the driveway. I open the front door and go out on the veranda to wait for him. When he sees me, he rushes over.
“Kya ho gya?” he asks me. He ushers me inside the house and locks the door.
“It’s just that... I don’t think we’re safe here, either.” I tell him what the shepherd told me, how he’d found me. “If he found me here, then other people can find us.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No. Nothing like that. I want to take the children somewhere, but, unless we’re with my tribe, we won’t be safe. Not even in the mountains. Now that people know I live here with you...” I realize I’m wiping my sweaty palms against my skirt again and try to still them.
He sits down in his armchair, opens his briefcase and takes out a notebook. After he’s turned a few pages, he picks up the phone and dials. It’s ten o’clock at night. Who could he be calling so late?
A minute later, he hangs up.
“Collect your things,” he says. “We’re going to move you tomorrow morning to a place where it will be difficult for anyone to find you or the children. Outside the city.”
“But what about the garden? Who will tend to it? I have to water the young plants—”
Dr. Kumar shakes his head. “For now, your safety has to take priority. Mrs. Kumar will take care of things when she returns. Chinta mat karo.”
Don’t worry? Worrying is all I’ve done since Malik left.
26
LAKSHMI
Jaipur
This morning marks the third day I’ve been away from Jay. Malik comes to the Agarwals’ early to tell me about his visit to the Singhs. Kanta and Niki have already gone out for a walk with Saasuji. Manu has barricaded himself in his study, far from the drawing room where we’re sitting.
Malik says Samir seemed genuinely shocked when he showed him how the gold bar fits into the brick. We agree it’s unlikely that Samir would put his firm in jeopardy for the promise of more money. What he really wants, we decide, is to believe his son has made the honest mistake of accepting damaged goods. But neither Malik nor I believe that Ravi’s error is an innocent one. Based on how smoothly he seduced my sister twelve years ago and shrugged off the consequences, we know how disingenuous Ravi can be.
Malik also summarizes his visit to Hakeem, the facilities accountant.
That puzzles me. “And Hakeem won’t come forward to say that he switched the receipts? Why? Who is he protecting?”
Malik hesitates. He never lies to me, but I know he won’t share things that might hurt me or hurt others. I wait.