Crown Phoenix: Night Watchman Express

by Alison DeLuca

Chapter 8

  What Happened that Night

  uring the long hours the next day, Neil had many causes to regret his rash promise to Riki. Entranced with the idea of a nocturnal journey to a forbidden place, she spent her time finding unsuitable objects that she thought were vital for the journey and showing them to Neil. Finally, after she brandished a green parasol triumphantly in his face, he abandoned her and escaped to the kitchen.

  “Djire, Odjo,” Neil said, greeting the fat cook. Odjo turned and smiled, somewhat wanly. Tache was housed in a small cabin, which was really more like a shack, behind the gardens in the back of the house. Her father spent whatever free moments he had visiting her and coaxing fish broth and other strange brews into her, but the girl had showed little, if any, improvement. “Lemya akwisi fet?” Neil asked, offering to help.

  Lifting the lid of a huge, smoking pot, Odjo delicately sprinkled the contents with a few grains of red powdered spice, and sniffed the escaping steam. He waited until he closed the lid of rice before he looked at Neil and shook his head. “Ile,” he said. “Fet ile akwisi. Fet ile lemya.”

  “Oh, come on,” Neil couldn’t help retorting.

  Odjo wiped his hands on his spotless apron and appeared to consider Neil for a moment. He shrugged and picked up a tray with a delicate porcelain bowl. Uncovering another saucepan, Odjo ladled out some type of clear soup that smelled delicious into the bowl, covered it with a linen napkin and headed for the back door.

  Neil stood where he was, feeling rather nonplussed, until Odjo popped his head back around the door and beckoned to the boy. Neil started and ran after the large man who was already disappearing between rows of vines that hung with clusters of some type of green, spiky fruit growing in an island version of a kitchen garden.

  Odjo’s flapping apron rounded a corner. Neil caught up with him just as he opened the door to a small shack that looked as if it had been built out of rusted metal. Inside, the heat and the flies were fierce, although someone (undoubtedly Odjo) had hung muslin in front of the opening that served as a window to keep out some of the insects.

  The large man put the tray on a box and knelt by a heap of blankets. The girl Tache laid there, her eyes half-open, her hair wet with sweat. Neil exclaimed and clapped one hand to his nose as the smell hit him. She had been dirty the last time he saw her, and now she just simply stank. There was no other word for it.

  Odjo picked up a fan made of woven straw and waved it over her face. It only served to increase the smell. Neil’s stomach heaved. At the same time, the cook tried to maneuver the bowl of soup into his other huge palm, causing the tray to tilt perilously.

  “Bwah,” Neil said disgustedly and grabbed the fan from the cook. Breathing as shallowly as possible, he waved the fan at the girl’s face. A slight breeze of warm air was the result. Meanwhile, Odjo gently put the bowl to his daughter’s lips, but the broth poured out of her mouth and down her neck. He wiped it with his apron and tried again, with the same result.

  “Oh, look, this is ridiculous,” Neil finally said. He flung down the fan and strode out of the hut. Ignoring the yells of ‘Magano!’, Neil tore open the back door, marched through the kitchen and ran into Riki.

  “Hey!” she said instantly, her eyes lighting up. “Look at this!” She held up a huge antique barometer. “This will come in handy for the – you know.” She dropped her voice to a secretive growl on the last two words.

  Neil seized her shoulders. “Where is Chichilia?” he demanded.

  “Owww! What? Why do you want–” Seeing a hitherto unknown look of fury in his eye, Riki quailed and said, “She’s sitting on the veranda, I think.”

  Neil let her go and made for the front of the house. “Chichilia!” he thundered.

  The front door opened. “What is it, Mr. Neil? You startled me!” Chichilia pressed one hand to her chest.

  “Chichilia,” Neil said, bearing down on her, “Odjo’s daughter is dying in that ridiculous little box in the garden. It’s like hell in there. She must be given a real place to sleep at once.”

  “Oh!” she said, leaning back against the wall. “You certainly frightened me! I thought something had happened to you or Riki. No, I’m afraid I can’t allow that, Mr. Neil.”

  “Very well. I leave your house this afternoon.” Neil folded his arms.

  “What! Don’t even suggest such a – look, my husband will be back in a few days from Mixiamani. Let’s discuss it.” Chichilia smiled brightly.

  Neil shook his head. “Absolutely not. In a few days Tache will be dead. Either she is moved indoors to a well-ventilated area, and given proper medical attention, or I pack to leave now.”

  Chichilia actually wrung her hands. “What can I do!” she said. “I can’t allow you to leave, but I can’t move her in either. If only Weko were here!”

  “Weko wouldn’t want someone to die in his garden!” Neil shouted, losing his patience.

  Riki came from behind him and put one hand on her sleeve. “You can tell Papi that I will be very, very good every day from now on if you do as Neil says,” she suggested.

  Neil looked at her with surprise, and he nodded. “Yes, and you can also blame the entire situation on me.”

  Chichilia pressed her hands to her mouth and said through them, “You naughty children! If only you could leave things alone. Weko will certainly be horrified.”

  It’ll be good for him, Neil thought. He abandoned her and headed back to the kitchen. Riki, of course, followed him, but she was called back by her mother. Riki protested out of habit and quickly stopped, perhaps remembering her promise to be good.

  By that afternoon, Tache had been carried to a small room at one corner of the house. Odjo had protested just as vociferously as Chichilia had; his sensibilities of what was right and fitting had been offended by the suggestion that his daughter could sleep inside with the family. Once he had realized that it could only help her to get better, however, he had agreed. After being washed and laid onto clean sheets in a cool, darkened room, the girl had finally fallen into a natural sleep.

  After that, Neil felt exhausted and thought he’d better get a nap himself, since he was going to be awake all night. He managed to corner Riki just as she ran off to rummage in a box-room on the top floor. “Put down that pith helmet. Go on, put it down at once.”

  Riki obeyed. “What do you want?” She had a note of suspicion in her voice.

  “I want to sleep for a few hours. You should take a nap too.”

  “A nap?” Her voice rose to a squeak. “That is the weakest thing I ever heard – and I’m much too excited to sleep!”

  “Suit yourself,” Neil said wearily. “Just don’t complain tonight that you’re tired, or I’ll never take you on an expedition of mine again. And if you’re going to stay awake, you might assemble a list of really useful things, as well as a few hold-alls to put them in.”

  “What useful things?” Riki asked.

  “Not pith helmets or barometers or parasols, for heaven’s sake. Bottles of water. Something to keep us warm. Food. Candles. And keep it light. Remember that we’ll have to lug most of that up a mountain.”

  Riki frowned, and her face lit up. “If I imagine that I’m on the trip, and think of things that I need on the way, wouldn’t that be a good idea?”

  “A great idea,” Neil said. “I’m off.” He stumbled to his room, trying not to picture the pile of rubbish that she would assemble.

  He slept the entire afternoon, so he didn’t have time to talk to Riki before dinner. Obviously she was dying to show him her supplies. During the entire meal, she winked and gave him meaningful looks. When she started to mouth things to him he shook his head; he was afraid that Chichilia or Odjo would notice. They appeared blissfully ignorant, however, or perhaps they were just used to Riki being odd.

  Dessert and coffee were finally served, and Riki begged, “May Neil and I leave the table? We’re not hungry.”

  “Riki!” Chichilia said. Neil winced. “Mr. Neil, I’m sure, wou
ld like to make up his own mind. Coffee, Mr. Neil?”

  “Ah, no,” he heard himself reply, catching Riki’s beseeching glance. She hopped up and hurrahed, but at that moment Odjo opened the door and said, “Vadjro, logogona. Mandayala uchewe lemla.”

  Chichilia nodded her head graciously. “Vadugo, Odjo.”

  Riki sprang to her mother’s side and said, “Mandayala is here? We don’t have to stay and talk to her, do we?”

  “Of course you do!” Chichilia said. “Sit down, children.”

  Smarting at being called a child, Neil sat down and frowned at Riki, who was trying to signal to him with her eyebrows. The next instant, the door opened again and Odjo bowed to a rather chubby lady wearing an ornate red and gold robe.

  “Chichilia!” this vision cried. Chichilia rose from her seat, and the she and Mandayala kissed the air beside each other’s cheeks. “Cherche! Jami uchewe fet?”

  “Mr. Neil speaks Pearson’s language,” Chichilia responded, indicating him. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind using that tongue!”

  “Oh – ho – ho!” Mandayala hooted. “The English! How quaint!” She took the cup of coffee that Chichilia handed her and peered closely at the room, Neil and Riki. “And how is your family, my dear friend?”

  “We are all well, thank you.” Neil began to get the impression that Chichilia, for all her air-kisses and offers of coffee, didn’t really like Mandayala.

  “I’m certain that little Riki here has been leading you a fine dance as usual, no?” Mandayala slurped some coffee and smiled at Riki, who, however, was lost in a daydream of that night’s proposed expedition.

  “Actually, no.” Chichilia smiled widely and put a slice of banana roll onto an emerald-green plate. She handed it to the visitor. “She has been as good as gold lately.”

  Mandayala seemed disappointed. “Really? You don’t say. Well, I’m certain that can’t last.” She peered closely at Riki again, but the girl merely yawned, leaned on one elbow, and began to hum something without words or tune. Giving up, Mandayala turned back to Chichilia and said, “So, my dear, did you hear about Reni and her problems with her maid and the cook? My goodness, such a scandal! Let me tell the whole of it.”

  At this, Chichilia quickly interrupted and began speaking in Lampalan, and Neil found his own attention fading. He could follow the gist of the long story, but it involved people he didn’t know or even want to meet. As it was the most tiresome type of gossip, eventually he stopped listening altogether. Across the table, he saw that Riki’s eyes were closing of their own accord. She’d better wake up and remember to unlock my door tonight, he thought grimly.

  Once Mandayala finally waddled off and Riki was herded to bed, Neil lay in his own bed and listened closely. He could hear the mighty tread of Odjo, bearing something up the stairs to Tache’s room. Chichilia’s light step passed his door, and paused. A light scrape proclaimed that she was turning the key in his lock.

  The light in the hall was dimmed, and Neil waited. What if Riki slept all night and forgot about him? He couldn’t wait in that locked room forever and not do something. He and Riki should have been making plans all day. He shouldn’t have been so concerned about affairs that were none of his own, except that the poor girl had looked so hot and sick in that stifling little shack. He rolled on one side and the other. Time felt as though it scraped by, leaving claw marks on his skin.

  There was a light tap on his door, and Riki whispered, “Neil!”

  Bless her, bless her! He leaped out of bed and ran to the door. “I’m awake!” he hissed. “Open the door!”

  The key rattled, and the door swung open. Riki stepped in with a small canvas sack. “I could hardly wait!” she whispered. “I thought mama would never go to bed!”

  “Shhh.” Neil drew her into the room and closing the door. “Let’s see what you’ve got here.”

  He knelt down and opened the bag, and she watched him anxiously. As he looked inside, she burst out, “Torches, crackers and cheese, bottled water, rolled up rugs, and rope. Is that everything we need?”

  Neil looked up at her in amazement. “I should say so!” he said. “Well done! And rope too. I entirely forgot about that.”

  “Yes, I know you did.” Her voice was smug, but at that moment Neil could have hugged her.