When she opened them again, Alice was surprised to find herself standing in the hallway of the Vidyapith. This time, however, the Patels were nowhere to be found and she was barefoot. The floor was covered with water that felt icy against her soles as she walked toward the light that radiated from the end of the hall. She passed the window and looked at her reflection in it, just as she had before, and just as before she saw a face ten years younger framed by a dark bob.
It’s the same dream, she thought as she turned the corner. I’m going to drown again.
This time, however, she wasn’t alone. Standing on the other side of the glass was a young man dressed what Alice recognized as the uniform of an enlisted man in the British army. He was carrying a messenger bag with a red cross on it and didn’t seem to see her. Alice felt she knew him but when she tried to get a closer look his features were blurred by the mist. Unbidden, her hand raised to touch the glass again, and this time the soldier looked directly at her. He reached up and pressed his palm to the glass at the same time as Alice and she expected to see her blood running down the surface again. Instead her hand found the warmth of the soldier’s a moment before the mist turned into water and swallowed them both.
Alice sat up, gasping and pressing her hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Her fingers twisted in the stiff sheets and she closed her eyes. It was only a dream, she told herself. It didn’t stop her shaking and she heard the bed across from hers squeak. A moment later George came around her screen to sit on her bed.
“Did you dream about water?” His voice was quiet, and he didn’t bother asking if she was all right this time but Alice didn’t really care. “And a soldier?”
“Yes,” Alice said. “How did you know?”
“It was me,” he said almost under his breath. “That was the uniform I wore when I was a medic in the war. And I saw you too, on the other side of a glass.”
“There’s no way we could have shared a dream,” Alice said, shaking her head. “It’s not possible.”
“Are you telling me that you’re in the habit of standing in the water barefoot? Besides, I know what you looked like back then. I never forgot.” This last thing was spoken so softly she had to strain to hear it. “Alice, I think you’re somehow causing these dreams and that you’re the reason we passed out in the cave that first night.”
“Me?” This was a complete shock to her. Before she could say anything else, though, George took her hand again and dropped something into it.
“This may help,” he said as she held up the necklace. It was a teardrop-shaped silver pendant with a small black stone set into it. Words too small to be read in the low light surrounded it and Alice touched the stone.
“What is it?”
“It’s meant to block your chakras,” he said. “Specifically your arja chakra, the third eye. If we’re going back in that cave I want you to wear it.”
“I’ll never take it off,” Alice said. “I hope it works.” Without being asked, he took the necklace out of her hands and reached around her neck to put it on. His fingertips brushed over her skin and warmth raced over the place he’d touched. Before he could take his hands away, Alice leaned forward and laid her head on his chest. George paused for a moment, then put his arms around her and held her the way he had a lifetime earlier. Alice had a feeling that he would have kissed her if it weren’t for the nearby squeaking that told them someone else got out of bed. He let go of her before Phillip and Nadir came around her screen, but Alice saw the way Phillip looked at them and knew that they could probably guess what had been going on.
“I had the most bizarre dream,” Nadir said, shaking his head as if he was trying to clear it. He pressed a hand to his face. “I dreamt that I was drowning.”
“Me too,” Phillip said. “And I’ve had it before.”
“You see?” George looked at her. “This is exactly what I mean.”
“We have to go into the temple right now,” Alice said. “If we go back to sleep we’re going to keep dreaming the same things over and over.” She took a deep breath. “We can get through the wall but it will have to be all four of us. We have to go together or none of us can go.”
“What do you mean?” Nadir frowned at her and Alice took out her messenger bag.
“There was a book George found that spoke of a temple of Kali that only four can enter. A guide, a sage, a healer, and a scribe. That’s us. We’re the only ones who can get into the temple.” She held out the notebook as if to convince the . and Nadir looked around at his companions. “We have to go tonight. We have to go do this so we can get out of here. I think that’s the only way these dreams will ever stop.”
“Let’s go,” Phillip said. “I completely agree.”
“Yes,” Nadir agreed. “I do too.” They went back to their beds to change and Alice did the same, not caring if they saw her on the other side of the screen. She was frightened and excited at the same time, and twisted her hair up with the pick George had given her so tightly that it hurt. She took it down again and fixed it more gently, then picked up her messenger bag and went around the screen. The men had already changed clothes and they all looked at one another as if trying to confirm they were really doing this.
“Let’s go,” Alice said. “Before we change our minds.” Nadir nodded and led the way out of the tent, and Alice was relieved that he was taking the lead. Everyone seemed to be looking to her to tell them what to do and she wasn’t comfortable with it.
“Alice,” George said, touching her elbow to stop her from following the other men out. She turned back to look at him, her heart pounding as she tried to imagine what he wanted to talk to her about that required them to be alone. “Can I ask a favor?”
“Of course,” she said, her breath catching in her throat. “Whatever you need.”
“I don’t want to carry my entire bag with me,” he said. “Could I put a few things in yours? Just some things we might need in case of an emergency?”
“Yes, of course,” Alice said, trying not to sound as disappointed as she felt. She opened her bag and he transferred some small items into it. They didn’t add much weight and she buckled the bag again, wondering what exactly he thought they might need. Satisfied, George nodded toward the door.
“After you,” he said, lightly putting his hand on her back again. It reminded her of both their past life and the library, and both thoughts were comforting. “I must say that necklace looks lovely on you.” It was the last thing she would have expected him to say and she smiled, putting a hand on his arm.
“George,” she said quietly, just in case the others were listening. “I broke my promise to you. I don’t know if you can ever forgive me for it, or even if you should. But I want you to know that I’ll never break one to you again.” George smiled at her, another genuine smile, and her heart soared in spite of everything.
“I know,” he said simply, then ushered her out of the tent and toward the temple. Alice gripped the strap of her bag and walked with the small group across the field, hoping that whatever they found would be worth all this.
Sixteen
Alice usually slept far more soundly than George, so when he sat straight up in the middle of the night clutching his chest and woke her up she knew something was wrong.
“George?” Alice sat up and put a hand on his arm. She was surprised to find he was shaking. “George, are you all right?” Instead of responding, he put his arms around her and held her so tightly that for a moment she couldn’t breathe. When he loosened his grip a little, Alice put her head on his bare chest and closed her eyes. His heart was racing beneath her cheek and she waited until his shaking had subsided to look up at him. “What did you dream about?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, his voice flat and unsteady. He let go of Alice and she reached up to brush his sweaty hair out of his face.
“Why don’t I go and make us some tea? It’ll calm your nerves,” she said, knowing that there was very little
chance she could get him to go back to sleep anytime soon.
“I’d rather have a stiff drink,” George replied, not surprising Alice in the least. It was what he always did when he woke up from one of his nightmares and she nodded, reaching for the lamp beside the bed. “No,” George said, catching her wrist in one of his hands and holding it firmly. “Leave it off.”
“All right.” She watched him slide out of bed in the light that came through the window from the moon, then did the same. She paused to put on her dressing gown, then saw that George had left his own over the back of his chair. With a sigh, she picked it up and carried it out to where he was sitting on one of the chairs in the living room and staring at the bookshelves on his wall. “Come on, now, you’ll catch your death.” Gently, she draped the dressing gown over his shoulders and he looked up at her as if he’d finally realized she was there.
“Thanks,” he said, and Alice was relieved to hear his voice was steady again. “I’ll get us something to drink.” He stood up and pulled on the dressing gown but didn’t cinch it closed, and Alice sat on the sofa and looked at the bookshelf. She wondered what he had been looking at.
Since she slept beside George almost every night she knew that there were times that his nightmares were more frequent, but this was the first he’d had in a while and she had a feeling from the way he acted that it was a bad one. He returned from the kitchen with a bottle of gin and two small glasses. Alice wasn’t much of a drinker but she knew it would put him more at ease, and she picked up the glass after he poured her a small drink.
“You know, a proper lady wouldn’t be drinking in the middle of the night,” George said, and Alice could tell he was trying his best to act normally.
“A proper lady wouldn’t be sleeping in your flat right now either,” she said over her glass and George managed a smile.
“Fair enough,” he said, and Alice watched closely as he filled his own glass nearly to the top.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”
“No,” George said, his tone clearly stating that it was none of her business what he drank. He sat back down in the chair and picked up his glass. Alice set hers down and looked at him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what you dreamed about?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” George snapped and Alice fell silent. She knew better than to ask him but always did anyway, hoping that time would be the one he felt like he could open up to her. George saw the look on her face and tried to smile at her. “I don’t want to burden you with it.”
“You could never be a burden to me,” Alice said, reaching over to put a hand over his free one. The subject of his dreams was closed for the evening so she decided to talk about something else. “How is Dr. Advik?”
“Busy as usual,” George said, taking a drink of his gin. “You wouldn’t believe all the things he’s taught me. Not just Western medicine either. He’s been showing me traditional Indian medicine and remedies as well. They call it Ayurveda.”
“Ayurveda,” Alice repeated. The words were strange on her tongue and hard to say with her affected British accent but she tried anyway and hoped he wouldn’t hear the change. Luckily for her he was distracted and didn’t notice. “How interesting.” Something occurred to her and she smiled. “Have you ever thought about going back to Britain and going to medical school?”
“I’m afraid I burned that bridge a long time ago,” George said bitterly. “If I went to school it would probably be here.”
“I think you’d make a wonderful doctor,” Alice said. “You’d be able to help a lot of people.”
“You think so?” George shook his head. “I’m not sure medicine is for me. It’s interesting and I enjoy helping people, but I don’t know that I’d want to make a career out of it. I do appreciate your confidence in me, though.”
“Well whatever you want to do, you know I’ll support you.” This made George smile for real, something Alice was relieved to see. Sometimes it took hours for him to fully respond to her and she knew that she had sparked something inside him.
“Is that so? Then you wouldn’t mind if I handled the import business for the rest of our lives?” His tone was actually teasing and Alice smiled.
“Of course not,” she said. “For one thing it means I get a lot of nice clothes cheaply.” The laughter that her words coaxed out of George made the last of her tension melt away and she took another drink of her gin. He had finished his own at a pace that made her a little worried but had also set aside his glass so she stood up and took both of his hands in her own. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.” She made a show of pulling him up, pretending to use all her strength, and George smiled. It always made him smile, no matter how many times she did it. “Have you gained weight?”
“Probably,” George said, standing up. “I haven’t been cooking as much since you’ve been here.”
“I’ve yet to taste anything you’ve made,” Alice said.
“The less said about it, the better.” He turned off the light behind them and they walked through the dark flat into his bedroom. “But if you insist, I’ll subject you to it one day.”
“Don’t expect me to return the favor,” Alice said. “I can’t cook a curry to save my life.”
“You can’t possibly think I’d cook anything like that,” George said and Alice waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light before moving forward. She’d already tripped over George’s shoes in the dark once and fell onto the chest at the foot of his bed, and it wasn’t something she wanted to repeat. Alice had always heard men were messy but this was her first experience with it. She had no idea why he was so averse to her turning the lights on after one of his dreams but the last thing she wanted to do was upset him. “It’s easy for me to get British ingredients because I import them myself, and I usually end up making Western food.”
“Is it interesting, importing foreign goods?”
“Interesting enough,” George said, taking off his dressing gown and tossing it on the chair. “Exports are far more so. You would not believe how many people think they can pass off a soapstone elephant as jade.”
“I thought jade was more common in Asia,” Alice said, taking off her own dressing gown. A moment later, George’s arms were around her and he had pressed his face into her hair.
“Where do you think we are?” His voice was playful and when Alice looked back at him he kissed her. “Silly girl.” Alice turned in his arms and gave him a pouting look. “Don’t look at me like that,” he said with a smile.
“You’ve always got to tease me, don’t you?”
“That’s because you’re amusing when you’re annoyed with me.” He kissed her again, then pulled her over to the bed. Alice sat down on the side of the bed she had come to think of as hers and was just about to slip between the covers when George stopped her. “Wait.” She gave him a questioning look she wasn’t sure he could see in the dark.
“Is something the matter?”
“No,” George said, putting his hand on the side of her face. Alice loved when he did this and she leaned into his touch. “Whatever did I do to deserve someone like you?” His words were meant to be loving but they sent a knife through Alice’s heart. He didn’t deserve her. He deserved someone honest, someone who didn’t speak with her mother’s accent, who used her own name, not just one who adored him. She could only claim one of those things but it was that one that kept her silent. Alice loved him more than life itself, but she was afraid that telling him the truth would make him leave.
“Just lucky, I guess,” she said, struggling to keep the tears out of her voice. Suddenly she needed to say it. She needed him to know that no matter what, he was always in her heart. Her lips parted to tell him everything but what came out was simply “I love you, George.”
“That’s your misfortune,” he replied. “More so because I love you as well.” He was smiling when he spoke but stopped short when he felt a tear run onto his finger. “Are
you all right?”
“Yes,” Alice said, unable to stop the tears from flowing. “I am.” It was a lie but whether he accepted it or not she would never know. Instead of an answer he kissed her again, this time more deeply than before. She kissed him back, adding her passion to his until they were undressing each other as quickly as possible.
It was a little strange to Alice; he’d never wanted to be with her after one of his nightmares before but this time was different. With the same desperation as he had held her when he woke up, George pressed forward into her and Alice put her arms around him to pull him closer. She wanted him as close as he could get and she needed every inch of his body touching hers. It seemed he needed her too, but it didn’t last as long as their lovemaking usually did. They were both satisfied in every possible way when they parted, and Alice remained in George’s arms as she waited for his breathing to slow. She was happy, completely happy, and everything she worried about was pushed aside for another night.
“Alice?”
“Yes?” She wondered what he was going to ask her. It was an unusual time to ask questions but when she thought about it, George was a rather unusual sort of man.
“Where did this scar come from?”
“What?” Alice’s stomach dropped and she fought to keep her composure. Her accent had a tendency to slip when she was nervous and this was the sort of question that would do just that. “It’s from a riding accident I had when I was younger,” she said, hoping her voice sounded even. “The horse threw me and I was stabbed by a branch. There was blood everywhere, it was quite dramatic.”
“Is that so?” George traced the scar with his finger and it tingled where he had touched. “If I didn’t know better I’d say it looked like a bullet wound.”
“When would I have ever been around a gun?” Alice forced a laugh, then took his hand away. “For that matter, when were you?”
Drowned History Page 10