A Garland of Marigolds (9 page)

CHAPTER F
IVE

Camilla decided to join me on an inspection of the fields. She couldn
’
t pretend an interest in either wheat or maize, but she was set on avoiding her brother for the rest of the morning.

“
Shall we go on with our tour?
”
I asked him in a funny tight voice I scarcely recognized as my own.

“
Gideon is different out here,
”
she complained.
“
He hasn
’
t time to talk or anything.
”

“
He was on holiday in England,
”
I reminded her.

“
And Julie is part of his work, I suppose!
”
she retorted tartly. I had no answer to that! My own burning feeling of injustice was too much with me for that.

“
Perhaps we won
’
t see very much of her,
”
I said hopefully, instead.

Camilla snorted sulkily.
“
Would you care to bet on that?
”

I pretended I hadn
’
t heard her. I pulled my white overall out of
my
suitcase and put it on, thrusting my hands into the starched
pockets and
wriggling my shoulders to make it more comfortable.

“
Good heavens,
”
said Camilla,
“
you look more like
a
doctor than an
agriculturist.
”

“
A plant
doctor,
”
I
suggested with a grin.

She smiled
back.
“
Something very
impressive! I wish Gideon could see you
now!
”

“
I don
’
t suppose he
’
ll be
taken in by my
exterior,
”
I said wearily.
“
He will be looking for
results.
”

Camilla gave me a worried look.

“
But Gideon is always fair!
”
she exclaimed.
“
Unless Julie has put a spell on his judgment as well,
”
she added.

“
He
’
s a grown man,
”
I said carelessly.
“
He wouldn
’
t let anyone interfere with his work.
”

Camilla looked young and very tragic.
“
Other men have,
”
she said.

We went out through the laboratory. Gideon was standing by the window studying a stick of sugarcane. He was plainly surprised to see Camilla, but he said nothing, much to my relief, because Camilla was in
a
mood to argue.

“
I suppose you know where your fields are?
”
he asked me. I shook my head.
“
I
’
m on the verge of finding out,
”
I replied cheerfully.
“
I thought I
’
d have a look around before I did anything else.
”

He nodded.
“
I
’
ll point you in the right direction and let you find your own way. Has Joe arranged any transportation for you?
”

“
Not that I know of.
”

He made a quick gesture of disapproval and went to the door.
“
Joseph! Have you laid on a jeep for Miss King?
”

Joseph appeared in the doorway, a piece of toast in one hand.
“
Look here,
”
he began,
“
I haven
’
t even finished breakfast yet!
”

“
The rest of us have,
”
Gideon informed him coldly.
“
Go and get a jeep ready now. And snap to it!
”

I threw Joseph a quick look of sympathy. He might be slow
getting
up, but at least he hadn
’
t been out until three in the morning.

“
And come straight
back here,
”
Gideon ordered.

“
Yes,
sir!
”
said Joseph.

I grabbed
my notebook and prepared to
follow him. One
glance
at Camilla
’
s
sulky face was enough to know that her sympathies
were all with
the young American.

“
Come on,
”
I said hastily.
“
We have a lot to do.
”

Her eyes flashed, but she said nothing.

“
It isn
’
t fair!
”
she said under her breath as we
walked to the
garage.
“
What has Joseph done?
”

One thing Joseph hadn
’
t done was to get our jeep ready.
“
Gosh, Suki,
”
he exclaimed,
“
I
’
m frightfully sorry. I
forgot all
about it.
”

I surveyed the four flat tires and the generally depressed
look of
the dusty jeep.

“
Can we walk?
”
I
asked hopefully.

Camilla jumped into the jeep and pressed the starter. There
was
a soggy squeal, telling that the battery was flat too.

“
Surely there must be some way of making it go?
”
she
said.

“
None at all,
”
said Gideon
’
s voice from the entrance. He
walked
forward and glanced at the forgotten jeep.
“
You
’
d better take Joseph
’
s while he goes to work on yours.
”

“
But—
”
the American began.

“
But nothing!
”
Gideon said sharply.
“
It was your job to get the vehicle ready. Okay, so it
’
s you who has to do without transport today.
”

“
You
’
re not using yours,
”
Joe objected.

“
That
’
s beside the point.
”
Gideon handed me a roughly drawn map of the village showing the fields in which
I
had an
interest.
“
Think you can manage?
”
he asked with a smile.

I hesitated. I was very much aware of the atmosphere between Camilla and Joseph and the man who was giving
all
the orders, and yet he had reason, especially
if
Joseph really
was in
charge of keeping the vehicles on the road.

“
Perhaps Joe could show me the way?
”
I suggested
humbly. To my surprise he laughed.

“
If you want him! But that jeep had better be ready
for you
tomorrow morning. Did you hear that, Joe?
”

Joseph grinned sheepishly.
“
Right,
”
he said.
“
I
heard.
”
Joseph drove straight through the village.
I
had
tantalizing
glimpses of dark little shops that lined the road.
The oil
merchant and his press, which was driven by a single bullock
that trudged
endlessly around and around the homemade
mortar. Next door
was a bazaar in miniature, a hundred different
colors represented
by saris, ribbons, shirts, turbans and a few odd
lengths of material
spread out across the narrow pavement in the
dust. Beyond that
was the tailor, working his sewing machine
with one foot as he
used his hands to guide the material under
the needle and, beyond
him, the village potter, squatting beside
his wheel and making
the
few simple pots that the local housewives
demanded.

Beyond the village were the fields
—
dry, dusty
tracts
of
ground
that grew little and were badly
in
need
of water.

“
This is your main wheat field,
”
Joseph said,
nodding
with his
head toward the driest of all the fields.
“
Not
much hope for
that!
”

“
No,
”
I agreed.
“
Where
’
s the
nearest water?
”

Joseph made a face.

“
There
’
s a stream over there. When
the monsoons
come the
banks burst and wash everything away.
In the hot
weather it just
forms tanks for the local buffaloes
to wallow in. It
’
s
not much
help.
”

I looked at the deep cracks in the
dry earth where the
wheat was
struggling to live.

“
It might be,
”
I said.

Camilla didn
’
t want to walk across
the baked
field to have a look
at this rather doubtful water
supply.

“
I
’
ll wait here with Joe,
”
she
said prettily.
“
It
’
s too hot for all of
us to drag around.
”

I expected Joseph to say
that he would
come with me
,
but he
didn
’
t. He gave Camilla a
shy little smile
and shrugged
his
shoulders.

“
Whatever the ladies
command
of me!
”
he said with
mock
gallantry.

Somehow I didn
’
t
have the heart
to insist that he come with
me.
I pulled my hat
farther over my
eyes and went off alone.
It was
farther than
I thought. The wheat
straggled on for several
acres,
most
of it looking little better
than the average seeding
grass. An intervals
I
took samples of
the earth, sealing them into
separate
envelopes and marking them
so that I would know
where
they
came from. At intervals I
pulled up one of the plants
and
examined
the root carefully. Some
of them wer
e
badly eaten
by
insects,
a
few
suffered from root diseases, but the vast majority were dry and brittle from lack of water. I broke a couple of straws and looked at them gloomily. I was beginning to wonder if I had the necessary knowledge and experience to make a go of these crops.

When I reached the stream it was so sluggish that the water hardly moved at all. A few buffalo were immersed in their tanks, sharing the brown waters with one of the women from the village who was busy washing both herself and her family
’
s laundry. I waved to her and she waded to the bank to return my greeting more formally.

“
Namaste,
”
she said.

I placed the palms of my hands together.
“
Namaste,
”
I replied.

I sat on the dusty bank and watched the woman as she went back to her work, banging the clothes against a large flat stone that effectually blocked up most of the trickling stream. After a while she laid the garments out in the sun to bleach and dry.

I bade her a tentative farewell and made my way back across the field. I could see Joseph and Camilla sitting side by side in the jeep, intent on their conversation. They were in no hurry for me to return, I thought dryly, and wondered why I should resent the young man
’
s interest in Gideon
’
s sister. It struck me forcibly that two years was a very long time and I had no security that Timothy would come home to me.

By the time I had come up to them they had got out of the jeep and walked the last few yards to meet me.

“
This heat!
”
Camilla exclaimed.
“
Aren
’
t you completely exhausted?
”

I smiled, a little amused. It would be a fine thing if I couldn
’
t complete a single day
’
s work, having come all this way!

“
It
’
s certainly hot,
”
I agreed.

Joseph flapped his shirt against his chest and grinned at the two of us.
“
Where now?
”
he asked.

“
The next field,
”
I retorted.

It was much the same story wherever we went. Neglect and drought vied with each other as the main cause of the poverty of the crops. On the whole I thought drought won. Even such water as there was was not reaching the plants, and here lay my first and most immediate problem. Gideon hadn
’
t said anything, but I thought that our funds were probably pretty tight. It was possible that the government helped a little, but the sort of irrigation scheme I had in mind was expensive even by European standards.

On our way home Joseph and I tried to rally the thoroughly bored Camilla.

“
You can help me fix the other jeep after lunch,
”
Joseph offered, very much in the manner of a small boy offering to share one of his best toys.

“
I shall be lying flat on my back trying to get cool,
”
Camilla retorted. She saw Joseph
’
s face fall and took pity on him.
“
Perhaps I
’
ll come along after I
’
ve had a long cold shower,
”
she compromised.

Joseph flushed.
“
You don
’
t have to,
”
he said awkwardly. He glanced at me and then suddenly began to laugh.
“
Suki, honey, your face hasn
’
t half caught the sun!
”

He was right, of course. By the time we returned to the main bungalow it was already burning. One glance in the mirror was enough to tell me that by tomorrow I would be lucky if it wasn
’
t peeling. And at the back of my mind I discovered that it wasn
’
t the thought of the inevitable pain that disturbed me most, it was that Gideon would see me at such a disadvantage. I didn
’
t want to care what Gideon thought. What Timothy thought, thousands of miles away in America, would surely always be much more important.

Gideon was out at lunchtime. We sat on the verandah and played with a vegetable curry and the inevitable buttermilk that makes up the Hindu diet. The food was good, but it was too hot to eat. I made my escape as soon as I could and took my samples to the laboratory to test the content of the soils while I had the place to myself. It was work that I enjoyed. I was at home in the laboratory; I felt confident and sure of myself, and the rest of the world was very far away.

It was almost dark by the time I finished. I heard the jeep come in and I listened for Gideon
’
s footsteps to come toward the laboratory, but they stopped at his bedroom. I was bitterly disappointed. I sat in the gloom and waited longer, but there were no further sounds, and after a while I began to see how silly I was.

With
a
sigh I began to put my things away, neatly coding my results in the appropriate files that I had already prepared. When finished, I walked through the house and paused for a second on the verandah. There were monkeys chattering in the trees, pulling at the leaves and chasing each other up and down the branches, jumping down on to the ground and up again, like so many bad-tempered children.