Drowned History

by Rebecca Lovell

  “There,” he said, trying not to think about how soft her hair still was. When he’d known her before it had been in a fashionable bob. Now that it was longer it made her look more elegant, especially with the gray hairs that had surfaced when her hair was released. Whatever his feelings toward her might have been, he couldn’t deny that she was still beautiful.

  “Thank you,” Alice said, bending to pick up the broken comb. “It’s such a shame. My friend’s sons gave me this for Christmas. I suppose I’ll have to buy another.”

  “Here.” Still smiling, Phillip put his hat on her head. “That'll at least keep your hair off your neck if you put it up underneath.”

  “Thank you,” Alice said gratefully. “It is awfully hot to have it down.” She carefully gathered her hair and twisted it into a bun, which George watched with barely-disguised interest. It was already in thick curls from being up all day and he found himself wishing she would take off the hat and let it hang loose. There was something intimate about it and he decided not to say anything. He wanted to save that sight for himself and not share it with Phillip. “Let's hurry up and find something to put it up. I hate hats.”

  They walked down the row of stalls together, making their way to the Vidyapith, and Phillip stopped by one to pick up an ornate black hair comb.

  “How about this one? It would look pretty nice with your hair.”

  George immediately knew Alice would hate it. She likes simple things, he thought with disdain. Natural woods and metal. I took a risk with the tea ball but she liked it anyhow. It bothered him a little that he was still concerned with the things she liked but the feeling passed quickly when Alice smiled kindly at Phillip and shook her head, just as he’d known she would.

  “No, it's a bit too much.”

  “This one seems more your style,” George said, picking up a rich mahogany wood pick in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. “It looks sturdy as well.” Alice seemed surprised by his words but she took the pick and turned it over, and he was mindful of the disappointed look on Phillip's face.

  “Yes, this is perfect,” she said. “Just what I was looking for.” She turned to the old man behind the counter and spoke in Gujarati. “How much for this pick?”

  “I don’t suppose you thought to bring any Indian money, did you?” It was a simple enough question but for the first time since he’d seen Alice again, he felt a twinge of guilt at his sarcastic tone.

  “Oh,” Alice said, her face falling. “Oh. Damn.” She set the pick down and shook her head. “I'm sorry, I don't seem to have my money. Thank you, though.”

  “Here.” Before she could turn away, George opened his wallet and handed the man more American money than he would probably make in a month. Then he picked up the hair ornament and handed it to Alice. Without waiting for her to thank him, he walked away in the direction of the Vidyapith listening for the small, delicate footsteps that would tell him she was following.

  It wasn’t much as apologies went, but he still hoped she would accept it.

  Thirteen

  “Alice,” Amesh Patel said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “You’re looking so well. I can hardly believe it’s been more than ten years!”

  “Hello, Amesh,” she replied, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. It was more familiar than she would have been comfortable with back home, but she had always thought of Amesh as a combination of father and brother and she hadn’t seen him in years. “I’m embarrassed that the first time I see you again is only to come and ask a favor.”

  “It’s nothing,” Amesh said, ushering her into the Gujarat Vidyapith. It was a school that had been founded in twenty years earlier in an attempt to give Indian students an education free of British control, and it was thanks to Amesh and this open-minded approach that allowed Alice to study there even though she was an American citizen. “I remember when you first came here, a young girl who spoke only rudimentary Gujarati asking to study with natives. I thought you were out of your mind but you learned so quickly.” He sighed. “Now look at you. Consulting with archaeologists.” He turned his attention to George and Phillip. “Are these them?”

  “Not quite,” George said, extending a hand. “I’m Dr. George Bennett and this is Phillip Harper, our pilot.” At the sound of his name, Phillip nodded and extended a hand. It took Alice a moment to realize that she, George, and Amesh were all speaking Gujarati but it had seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

  “George?” Amesh looked taken aback for a moment, then looked at Alice. “Wasn’t there a gentleman named George that you were seeing?” She wasn’t sure how truthfully she should answer the question and when she opened her mouth to speak George talked over her.

  “As luck would have it, that gentleman was me,” he said with a smile that served to remind Alice that he could be quite charming when he wanted to. “Everything about this job has been a bit strange, to be honest.”

  “I should say so.” Amesh glanced at Alice and she wished desperately that she could be alone to talk to him. She had spoken at length about George to him and Neha, so there was no doubt in her mind that he was wondering how she felt about the situation. Part of her was glad they were on a schedule, though. She didn’t know what she would say. The distance between George and herself seemed to have closed just a bit, and she didn’t want to say anything that would open it up again. “Come, let us make our way to the library.”

  “You got our message then,” Alice said, relieved.

  “I did. There are plenty of books on Sanskrit in the library and many more in the archives. I had the liberty of having some brought down there for you. There are also some religious texts I thought might be of use to you.”

  “That’s wonderful, thank you.” They walked down to the library together and Alice glanced back at Phillip. “Would you be willing to take Phillip on a tour of the campus? He doesn’t speak any Gujarati and I doubt he would be interested in sitting in a foreign library for several hours.”

  “Of course. If you like I can also take him on a tour of the city. I have nothing else to do today and it’s always rather fun to play tourist once in a while.” Amesh turned back to Phillip and smiled. “What would you say to my showing you around, young man?” His English was flawless and delivered with an almost British accent and Phillip looked surprised.

  “Sure,” Phillip said, then looked at Alice. “You guys don’t need any help?”

  “It’s all in Gujarati,” she said. “Well, almost all. You’d probably have a better time if you went with Amesh to see the sights, such as they are.” Phillip gave her an uncertain look, then nodded. Alice didn’t think she was imagining his disappointment but there was little she could do to make the task ahead of her more interesting and she had a feeling Phillip knew it.

  “You’re probably right.”

  “We’ll meet you back here when the library closes,” Amesh said. “Don’t worry, I’ll look after him.” He led Phillip back down the hall and Alice sighed.

  “It’s too bad there isn’t a way he could help us,” she said. “He’s so eager.”

  “One might say too much so,” George said. He held the door to the library open for her and she smiled. “Did you bring anything to take notes with?”

  “I did,” Alice said. “I wasn’t sure how much I would be writing so I brought a couple of notebooks and two pens. They were all supposed to be for me but I’m happy to share with you.”

  “Don’t do me any favors,” George said. “I have a notepad in my pocket.” His tone made Alice want to sigh. The door George had opened by buying her the hair pick seemed to have swung shut again. She had been hoping things would be a little different but she had obviously been wrong.

  Alice had been in the archives precisely one time. They were located at the back of the library in the basement and when she stepped into them the cool air that surrounded her was pleasantly familiar. A table with three chairs around it sat in the middle of the room and bookshelves ran along all four
walls. Several more were squeezed into the room in odd places and Alice was pleased to find that the books Amesh had been talking about were stacked in a neat pile on the table.

  “If it’s here, we’ll find it,” she said, setting down her bag and digging out the notebooks. Inside one was the rubbing of the wall George had made and she took it out. “I suppose I’ll start with older Sanskrit translation books and work my way back.”

  “Good idea. I’ll look into books on Kali and her temples, there may be something in one of them that’s similar.” George looked around at the bookshelves. “Would those be down here or up in the library proper?”

  “Maybe a little of both,” Alice said, thumbing through some of the books on the table. “There’s probably some older, handwritten information down here. It might be more of what we’re looking for.” She smiled. “You’re probably better suited at reading handwriting than I am.”

  “I did have to decode some questionable penmanship, yes,” George said. “And unfortunately a good deal of misspelling. Shame there isn’t a test you can take before you’re allowed to write invoices.” He went over to the shelves and looked up at them. “Religion,” he said, more to himself than Alice. “Where would I find texts on religion?”

  “Try over by the door,” Alice replied as she sat down at the table with a book that looked promising. “If not there, you may have to go up into the library. There are study rooms along the walls if that’s the case.”

  “Would they mind if I brought the books down here, do you think?”

  “What?” Alice looked up at George, whose back was to her. He was scanning the shelves with a thoughtful look on his face and spoke again without turning.

  “If I found some of the books I was looking for, I’d rather bring them down here so I could consult with you about them. We’re supposed to be working together, remember?” Alice didn’t know what to say to this. He’d been so cold to her that she’d forgotten that they were working toward the same goal, and she wanted very much for them to help each other the way they used to. Her silence stretched out so long that George finally turned to her. “Alice?”

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” she said. “We just shouldn’t take the things down here out there. They might get damaged by the heat.” George nodded and went back to looking through the shelves while Alice put the rubbing in front of her notebook so she could puzzle over it. After a few minutes he joined her at the table and set down the medical bag that she had forgotten he had been carrying. “Doesn’t that get heavy?”

  “You’ll be grateful for it if there’s an accident,” George said, opening a hand-bound book. “If there’s one thing I remember from working with Dr. Advik it’s that the medical system in Gujarat is spotty at best. It might well have changed in the last ten years but I’d still rather have it than not.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Alice said. “Though I have a feeling you could navigate the medical bureaucracy for me if we needed to.” George looked over his glasses at her and she smiled at him, then went back to her book.

  She wasn’t surprised he had become a doctor. For the most part, his import business had run itself thanks to the work he put in while he was establishing it so he had spent some of his spare time assisting a doctor in Surat. He’d learned a great deal about traditional Indian medicine as well as Western medicine and he’d always been excited to tell her about it. Alice found it hard to believe that the George standing over her could ever get excited about something and wondered when exactly that had changed.

  Hours later, the optimism Alice had felt when she went into the archives had all but faded. Her eyes were getting tired and everything was starting to blur together. Worse yet, she hadn’t been able to figure out more than the word “world.” She closed the book she was working on and set it aside, then got up and went over to one of the bookshelves in the middle of the room. It was more to get up and stretch her legs than it was looking for anything specific and she looked up at a book so old the words on its spine were worn away.

  “I’ll never find it,” Alice said, rubbing her temples. “There’s far too much information in here, it’ll take weeks just to find the book I need.”

  “You’ll find it,” George said as he joined her at the bookshelf. “I’m certain of it. You’re a clever girl.” He smiled at her, the sort of genuine smile he’d given her when they’d been lovers, and Alice’s heart beat a little faster. He was still handsome, and still had the power to break through her defenses. “Too clever by half, I’d say.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not,” Alice said, returning his smile. George stepped closer to her and put a hand on her upper arm. His entire demeanor had changed from the man in the plane who hadn’t even wanted to talk to her and goosebumps prickled Alice’s skin. He was close enough to her that she could feel his warmth and she looked up at him, wanting to keep their connection open as long as possible.

  “It is.” Not giving her a second to think of a reply, George leaned down and kissed her. Alarm bells went off in Alice’s head and her eyes widened as his lips pressed against hers. It was something she thought she’d never feel again and she closed her eyes to enjoy it. Even if it never happened again, even if they never spoke of it after leaving the archives, she would keep this moment close to her heart. She still loved him in spite of everything and she wanted to lean into his arms, but was afraid it might break the spell that had been woven around them.

  “Miss Graesser? Dr. Bennett?” The door at the top of the stairs opened and George stepped away from her quickly. “I’m afraid the library is closing now.”

  “All right,” Alice managed. She went over to the table and picked up her messenger bag with her cheeks on fire. “What should we do?” It was just as much in reference to the kiss as their search for the meaning of the words on the wall and her heart thundered in her ears as she waited for an answer.

  “We’ll have to come back tomorrow,” George said. “There’s no point in going back to the dig site if we don’t know what we’re looking at.” He tapped the cover of one of the books. “Try to remember where we left off and we’ll start again in the morning.”

  “Of course,” Alice said. He was looking at her with the same academic detachment that he had given the texts and she wondered for a moment if the kiss had actually happened. “I wonder if they would let me take some of these to Amesh’s house for the night.”

  “We can deal with it in the morning,” George said, shaking his head. “We have a chance to sleep in a real bed and take a real bath, I say we just enjoy it. We’ll probably be back in New York before we get the chance again.”

  “You’re right. And don’t forget Neha’s home cooking. She’ll have pulled out all the stops with the three of us staying the night so I hope you like rogan josh.” Alice knew perfectly well that he did. It had been one of his favorites back then and Neha had promised to make it for them one day. “I wonder if we should radio the camp and tell Nadir we’ll be staying another day. I don’t want them to worry.”

  “Probably a good idea,” George said. “I don’t know that they expected us to walk in here and immediately find what we were looking for but it would be good to let them know the progress we’ve made so far.”

  “Progress,” Alice sighed. She slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and George nodded.

  “Progress. We may not have found it this afternoon but we know where to pick up tomorrow.” He glanced up at the door then back at Alice, and she got the feeling that he wanted to say something. Instead, he motioned to the stairs. “Come on, then.” Alice nodded and went ahead, only to be surprised when his hand pressed lightly against the small of her back as they were going through the door. The longer she spent with him the more confusing things got but at that moment Alice didn’t care. All that mattered was that they were there together and George still believed in her. More than that, he’d gone past friendship and gone straight to a sort of affection. She couldn’t make herself
believe it was anything less, especially after his kiss.

  Maybe he had been listening in the plane after all.

  Fourteen

  It wasn’t hard to see that Alice was getting discouraged. She was leaning her head on her hand as she read, her eyes moving so quickly over the words that George knew she couldn’t be taking them all in. Every now and then she would pick up the rubbing, compare it to something in one of the books, then frown and put it back down. She had started out taking notes in her notebooks but by mid-morning she had given up and was simply trying to find a way to translate the carvings from the cave.

  “Perhaps we should take a break.”

  “We can’t,” Alice said. “We’ve got to find what we’re looking for today.” She turned the pages of the book she was reading a little more roughly than necessary. “It has to be here somewhere.”

  “Of course it is,” George said. “It’s all a matter of looking in the right place.”

  “I just don’t know where that place is,” Alice sighed as she shut the book hard. “What do you think is happening at the camp? Why haven’t they radioed us back yet? Amesh says they’ve tried several times.”

  “I haven’t the slightest,” George said. “I’m sure everything’s fine, though.” In truth, he was as concerned as she was about the silence from the dig site. It wasn’t like the radio at the Vidyapith where there may or may not have been someone there depending on the time, the tents at the site were so close together that they could have heard the radio in the middle of the night if a call came through. They’d tried several times before giving up and George wasn’t sure he wanted to be the one to tell them that they hadn’t made much progress in spite of what he’d told Alice.

  “What if it isn’t?” Alice rubbed her face with her hands as if she was trying to wake herself up. “I really think we should have brought Nadir along. If something’s happened to him---”