Tiger Sky, page 9
Selina gave a little laugh and shrugged into the jacket. It fitted reasonably well and was soft and snug. 'It's a bit smelly!' Her nose twitched against the animal skin as she tugged the neckline.
'Wait till it gets wet with a drop of rain,' Luke
warned, amused. They don't cure the skins any too well.' He peeled it off her shoulders. 'It'll keep your natural central-heating going in the cold, so don't be too finicky, Miss Roxley.'
'I'm too thankful to be finicky,' she said sincerely, looking into the humorous twinkle in his eyes. Suddenly she knew that the relief she had felt hadn't come from reassurance about his intentions towards her in this charade they had to play, but from reconciliation. He had been so very angry with her, not just annoyed or irritable or sarcastic, but in a rage which had made her shrink with distress. She needed the verbal cut and thrust to enliven her without wounding. And the spontaneous comradeship which had been growing between them was now becoming the breath of life to her; if it had all been destroyed so soon in the withering flame of Luke's anger she would have been lost.
Averting her gaze and holding up the jodhpurs, she began an enthusiastic inspection of the rest of the clothes. Luke told her the fawn-coloured breeches belonged to the schoolboy son of one of his friends, but the other garments were his own. The breeches looked a surprisingly good size for her, but when Selina dragged a V-necked pullover over her head the baggy result threw her into such a fit of the giggles that tears started in her eyes.
'It's good to hear you laugh,' Luke chuckled. He shook his head. 'I keep forgetting how young you are, but don't get hysterical, liefje!'
She sobered, brushing the moisture from her cheekbones. 'Please don't think because I was laughing that I'm ungrateful,' she said earnestly. 'I have a needle-and-thread case among my things and I'll
put in some tucks and seams so that they don't look too obviously borrowed makeshifts.'
'A resourceful needlewoman?' came the familiar mockery.
'Quite good really,' she replied meekly, refusing provocation.
'Right.' He was brisk once more, tossing the clothes back into the box. 'I'll take you over to your private corner among the rocks, the men won't disturb you there. Put on the riding breeches, you'll be up on the pony when we hit the trail.' Then a quick afterthought: 'You do ride?'
'Not for a long time, but I've had lessons.' He moved to the tent flap, nodding as if satisfied, and she asked hastily: 'Can I rinse out some of my own bits and pieces, will there be time for them to dry?'
'Sure. When you're ready we'll have a good breakfast, and then do the sorting out and loading. I want to leave as soon as we can make it, but it will be an hour or two yet.'
Selina hurried her washing and dressing, thinking wryly that she was not very fastidious these days. Well, a trek in the wilds was hardly conducive to being particular, and as long as she kept her body clean she could forget any fancy notions of good grooming. She pulled on the breeches, finding them a trifle loose but comfortable, added her own ranch shirt and Luke's old cardigan, belting it at the waist to make it blouse out and folding the sleeves neatly to make chunky cuffs on her forearms. She tied her mane of silky chestnut hair back on her neck with a silk handkerchief, slid on her sun-glasses to disguise her bruised eye and joined Luke and Narayan at the camp fire with mixed feelings of
happy expectation and a vague apprehension about the so-called policemen making enquiries.
It was the most substantial breakfast they had yet had, prepared and served by Kunwar with smiling efficiency. He had somehow contrived tasty herb omelettes, had brought a loaf with him to make toast, and had bought milk from a herdsman along the way which made the strong coffee much more palatable to Selina.
Afterwards, she went into the tent to pack up and carried her case and the clothes box outside, but, with so many .men around, there was nothing else for her to do. For a while she walked about restlessly with Patch at her heels, watching Luke and Narayan superintend the arrangement of the loads the mules had brought in, then drifted over to make friends with the toffee brown hill-tat she was going to have to ride. The pony tossed his head and blew suspiciously at her through distended nostrils, but eventually permitted Selina to stroke and pat him, and when she had fed him some small lumps of sweet Or from the palm of her hand he seemed to accept her, nudging her greedily for more until she laughed -and pushed him off.
Satisfied that she would be able to manage him, and feeling that she ought to be busy too, she collected her sewing things, a blue shirt and one of the pullovers Luke had donated to her wardrobe, and sat in the sunshine on a flat rock, near where she had spread out her own washing to dry. For an hour she soaked up the sun while she worked to give the garments a more wearable shape and fit. Her tiny pair of scissors were barely adequate and her fingers were pricked and rather sore, but the
results were not bad, she thought smugly, not bad at all.
The camp had been dismantled and the gear now lay around in a sort of orderly chaos, being divided and reallocated into separate heaps. Selina could see Luke's towering figure moving cans of petrol, which must have arrived in one of the mule packs, over to the two parked vehicles, and she wondered what Luke was planning to do with the little car and the jeep. Feeling slightly disgruntled at being left out of the preparations, she came down from the rock and packed her handiwork and flimsy underwear, now dry, into her case. She wanted to ask Luke what was going on, but he seemed too occupied to be interrupted just to satisfy her curiosity. At the moment she might as well not exist for all he cared! she mused crossly.
She sauntered away from the noisy discussions and activity of the camp site, snapping her fingers in a game with Patch, then stopped and stared at the sight of an elephant lumbering through the trees by the cattle trail. As it came down to the river bank she noticed a man and a small child perched high on its shoulders behind the large grey head. Patch started to bark and the ears lifted like fans, the trunk swinging from side to side, then coming up restively against its head in what could have been an intimidating gesture. The mahout scolded and prodded it between the ears.
Patch would have darted forward, but Selina swooped on him, catching him in time, falling down and tipping sideways against a boulder.
'Selina! ' Luke roared, scrunching the look shale in his haste to reach her. 'What the hell are you
doing? Are you hurt?' He bent over her.
For all his harshness, her heart leapt; he had been keeping an eye on her after all! 'No, just a bump,' she said lightly, and he straightened.
'Yes, well....' Hands on hips, he watched the elephant moving slowly away along the riverside Co a wider, quiet stretch. 'Don't go near them,' he slanted a stern glance down at her, 'and keep that damned dog under control.'
'What do you think I'm trying to do ! ' she protested, tightening her arm around Patch. But she couldn't work up any indignation about his peremptory trine because, in spite of all his other preoccupations, he had been genuinely, heart-warmingly concerned.
Luke stayed at her side for a few minutes. Selina was about to speak, but all his concentration was on the elephant, now wading into shallow water. Words which sounded like `Dutt Dutt!' floated across to them above the sound of the river. At this staccato command the great beast halted. Other indistinguishable words brought the elephant down to its knees. The Indian dismounted and put his child and a bundle of possessions higher up the bank in a safe place under a shady tree, then turned to stand and survey the, camp. Luke walked a short way the better to watch him.
Patch had subsided in the crook of Selina's arm, his muzzle resting on his forepaws, but his ears were twitching eloquently and every now and again his body quivered at the enforced restraint. The little brown child squatting under the tree couldn't have been more than two or three years old, wearing only a rag of shirt; the man, presumably his father, was
stunted, bow-legged, yet his dark limbs protruding from a loincloth and stringy singlet must have been strong to be able to control his huge mount, and Selina was as captivated by this unusual trio as the man himself appeared to be by the bustle of the camp. Luke's interest seemed less cordial.
As she heard Luke call out to Narayan, the mahout turned away, spoke to the child and took what looked like a scrubbing brush from his bundle. Then he encouraged the elephant to roll on to its side in the shallows and proceeded to scoop up water and scrub its thick, wrinkled hide. Selina pushed up her sun-glasses and settled more comfortably against the boulder, fascinated, until she became aware that Narayan had joined Luke, and although she couldn't hear their quiet dialogue she felt a stirring of uneasiness. Was it possible that this man had been sent to spy on them? Hardly credible! And yet ... a frisson ran down her back ... it might be a simple if outlandish method of obtaining information....
She was no longer watching the elephant-man but Luke and Narayan, and a moment or two later saw Narayan go down to the river for a chat. The mahout continued splashing and scrubbing, grinning up at Narayan, gesticulating now and then as they talked. He waded round to the bank, his manner became visibly more respectful. The chat went on and looked quite amicable and Selina relaxed a little. When Narayan started to walk back the mahout directed another staccato flow of commands at his elephant; the great grey bulk heaved itself up obediently and rolled over to be scrubbed on
the other side, and Selina heard the child begin wailing plaintively.
'I think he is an honest peasant,' Narayan explained as he strolled towards Luke. 'Inquisitive, as they all are, for there is little to interest and cheer them in their hard lives. But no more than that. His wife has died and he has been to his village to fetch his son before returning to work on the plains. I have informed him that you two are wealthy Americans !'
Compassion welled up in Selina for the misery of the small, ragged infant, bereft of his mother, crying as he squatted patiently under the tree. All her instincts were to go and mop up his tears and comfort him for a while, if the dog could be safely tied up out of the way. 'Luke,' she began impulsively, 'could I..
`No,' he said tersely, and she objected fiercely: 'You don't even know what I was going to say!'
'The answer is still, no. I can read your face like a book, liefje. Fussing over the child will embarrass them.' He looked at Narayan. 'But I guess we could spare some rice from our stores for them?'
'Much more practical kind of help,' Narayan agreed, and the two men went back to the camp site, leaving Selina sitting on the stony ground by the boulder feeling thoroughly snubbed.
However, her vexation didn't last long, for she was soon engrossed in another extraordinary sight. Having completed his task the mahout left his charge lying stretched out like a stranded whale at the water's edge, went up the bank to pick up his son and carried him to the elephant. He stood talking to the creature, in an almost confidential way,
and then, to Selina's astonishment, put the tiny mite down firmly between the elephant's trunk and extended forelegs.
And there he stayed while his father kindled a fire under the tree and began to prepare some food. He had stopped crying and seemed to be playing quite happily with twigs and pebbles, and whenever his little half naked figure ventured away the elephant's trunk moved round him and drew him back with unbelievable gentleness. Selina was entranced. Where else in the world, she thought, could one see an animal as vast and powerful as a tank acting as nursemaid to a human infant? She had no doubt that if anyone had attempted to remove the child, that the gentle giant would have become a relentless adversary. The whole scene impressed itself on Selina's mind as another wonderful memory to treasure in the nebulous future.
'Selina?' Luke spoke softly beside her, breaking into her reverie. She looked up at him, her eyes still round and shining with pleasure, and said: 'Would you believe—an elephant as a baby-sitter?' and laughed with delight.
Luke scanned her face with an indefinable expression which had gone before she could take it in; he stooped and removed Patch from her grasp, tucking the dog under one arm as he held out his hand to pull her to her feet. She was still puzzling over his intent look when he said in the indulgent tone he used to comment or explain things to her: 'A mahout and his elephant are twin souls, dependent on each other and inseparable. Once they've been matched up they live and work together all their lives.'
She dusted her breeches. 'I can't visualise an elephant as a member of the household!' her voice lilted joyously at the idea. 'Family pets, dogs and cats, yes—but an elephant?'
He threw back his head, laughing. 'Sure, why not?' His arm came about her shoulders as they turned towards the camp 'Elephants are social creatures. Very family-minded, even in the wild, very patient and caring with their young, not only their own particular babies but any calf in the herd. Every cow elephant functions as a protective "aunty" to all the youngsters if the need arises. I reckon the mahout's son rates as "family" now.'
The clasp of his arm was not possessive, yet she was very conscious of it and there was a brief silence before she remarked stiltedly: 'It was wonderful to watch. I'm glad the elephant-man wasn't sent to spy on us.'
He quirked an enquiring brow at her change of tone, then said: `No, Narayan's satisfied about that.' Kunwar Singh passed them on his way down to the mahout, carrying a -paper bag. 'That'll be the rice we're giving him, and if he's questioned he'll tell them about the generous Americans he saw camping by the river!'
As they came into the camp site Luke's arm tightened for a minute or two, rather than releasing her, and Selina realised that it was intended as husband and-wife behaviour for the benefit of their audience. Everything from the site and the roof rack of the car had been loaded ready for departure, the camping equipment on one mule, stores and cases on the other, and the men were waiting for orders. Narayan approached with the keys to the car and jeep. The
weight of Luke's arm was removed from Selina's back as he set the dog down and, perversely, she felt forsaken as he and Narayan and two of the men went over to the empty vehicles.
The jeep left first, disappearing swiftly through the trees with one of the new men at the wheel. Selina wondered vaguely what would become of it, then shrugged the thought aside; Luke and Narayan would dispose of it discreetly somehow, in their own interests as much as hers. The little car made a more dignified exit and Selina sighed to think she would no longer be travelling in such close contact with Luke. Well ... why should that affect her? she upbraided herself impatiently. He would be around, larger than life. He would exhibit their matrimonial status—as he had just now—whenever he thought it necessary. And that would keep him close enough.
Luke brought her an old, rather battered khaki slouch hat with a hackle of faded feathers on one side of the band, obviously his own, and much too big for her head, but she contrived to wedge it on at a jaunty angle by tucking up her thick hair at the back. He put her up on the pony himself and as she settled herself in the saddle and stirrups, he shrugged into a light haversack and hung a camera ostentatiously around his neck.
'Part of the camouflage!' he said sardonically, adjusting the camera straps.
The party was moving off upstream with Narayan and his servant who was acting as guide taking the lead, followed by the hill men with the mules. Kunwar Singh grasped a leading string on the pony.
`Are you comfortable?' Luke asked Selina, 'All set?'
`Yes,' she smiled at him from her perch, a renewed sense of excitement and anticipation sweeping over her. Luke whistled and clicked his fingers at Patch and they set off after the ethers.
They forded the river, showered with spray and deafened by the roar of the waterfall, and took a steep track through forests to the crest of the hill. Selina gave the valley a last, lingering glance. The trek had begun in earnest.
CHAPTER SEVEN
FOR interminable days Selina was almost too tired most of the time to be able to think straight, and practically fell into Luke's arms when he came to lift her off the pony for rest halts on the march and camp at sunset.
Muscles she had never used before ached dully and insistently as her delicate body adjusted to the hill-tat's gait. Climbing steep ascents she had to crouch forward over the pony's withers, clutching the pommel of the saddle, jolted with every clambering step up the trail. Her ears often popped and buzzed alarmingly with changes in air pressure and an unguarded glance at a precipice could make her head spin with vertigo. The sound of dislodged stones clattering away behind them like miniature landslides made her heart pound, although on one occasion a small rock-fall saved her. Disturbed by the passage of the mules, a venomous hamadryad reared up on the track, scales glittering black with pale chevrons, tongue flickering and hood dilated, poised to strike, when a shower of stones hurtled down and killed it—a chance in a thousand not even Luke could have anticipated.
Selina was considerably shaken and it took every ounce of spirit she could muster to keep going. Riding downhill again for long stretches put a different kind Of strain on her body, feet braced and waist arched achingly to counteract the motion of the
pony. Tough, mountain-bred Toffee could take all this literally in his stride, but after the episode of the snake Luke emptied his haversack for Patch and the little mongrel was carried on his back.
Up hill and down dale ... up hill and down dale ... the childish chant beat round Selina's mind as she rode along doggedly for mile after weary mile. Each day the guide and muleteers forged ahead to set up camp. Luke would join Narayan for short periods of the trek, but for the most part he and Kunwar Singh escorted the pony, keeping up the pace and making sure that Selina came to no harm. Kunwar Singh seemed as tireless as the paharis, the hill men, and would soon have a fire going and a meal ready for the sahibs and memsahib, although he shared the food and separate camp of the other men.
