Two years and 27 unsuccessful attempts later, Yuri was now scowling across the table at the back of Raju’s head as he unwittingly faced the fireplace and puffed at his pipe. Without breaking her stare, she gently put down a second bowl of soup in front of the Mumta father, who seemed oblivious to her presence as he wrote what looked like numbers along the edges of one map.
“Ahhh!” Raju said happily, taking a deep breath. “These moments before dinner are always best. But as much as I enjoy the anticipation, I sure am hungry. I do wish those Mumta would start eating faster…”
“Papa, that Mumta kid won’t stop staring at me!”
“Ignore him, then! Why aren’t you sleeping anyway? I told you I’d wake you up when the main course was done!” Raju barked back, holding his pipe.
“I can’t sleep with him looking at me like that. His jaw’s been hanging open like that for almost an hour now.”
“Well…then you shouldn’t have brought him here, now, should you? Well…no…actually, I don’t mean that. I’m quite glad you did, as a matter of fact. What were you doing out there anyway, boy?”
“Trying to sail my ship through the water in the fields.”
“Hmph! The boat probably didn’t even float. The water’s too shallow ‘round this time of year, isn’t it? In any case, I thought I told you to stay out of the neighbors’ fields.”
“It was a small boat. I thought the Karakaze would be able to navigate it through. Anyway, the mast broke before I had a chance to try it out.”
“Well, it was a foolish idea to start with. I don’t want you going out there like that in this kind of weather!” Yuri interjected. “And next time, you come back here when I call you in to the house. None of this pretending not to hear!”
“Hmmm!” Raju uttered in weary assent.
Bunnu sat up suddenly causing the bladder of cool mustard to land on his belly. “Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you. When I was out there, I saw something shiny sitting in the rice fields. Like a mirror…or something that can reflect the sunlight. Out past field 011235. That kid,” he pointed at the Mumta boy, who just stared back at him blankly, “was staring at it when I saw them...”
He paused for a moment.
“Papa, can you please tell him to stop looking at me? He’s making me uncomfortable!”
“Bunnu!” Yuri said, “Don’t be rude to our guests. Yes, they might seem a little strange to you because they don’t have the benefits of civilization, but they are still here as our guests. And as our guests they must be treated with the utmost care and preparation. Now, look how upset you’ve made them. They haven’t even gobbled the stuffing I’ve put in front of them. They obviously don’t feel comfortable eating it, even when it’s clearly better than the wretched swill they have to eat out there among the other savages.”
“Sorry about that, fella,” Raju said over his shoulder to the pair. “The boy’s been picking up the worst habits living among these backward Bahlians. The wife and I’ve been talking about making a move back to Vasalla someday so we can bring him up right. Things just aren’t the same around here as they were back in the hometown. Like I said before, we’re a lot different from the people around here. Bunch of simple-minded lay-abouts! No sense of hygiene! Why…my wife told me how, one day, she went to the marketplace. The place was flooded, since it had been raining for a few days. Apparently, some kids thought it would be funny to bathe with some of the cattle in a rain gutter. Bathing in the same water! And the parents? You’d think the parents would have been furious when they found out. After all, what kind of people are willing to let their kids roll around in filth with the animals? We certainly wouldn’t. And yet, the parents of those children were actually standing aside and laughing as it all happened. Laughing, mind you! Unbelievable isn’t it? Like I said, no sense of hygiene. Just look at my boy!” He pointed at Bunnu, “He hasn’t even washed his face once, since coming in. Where I come from, no one would have stood for it. But the people here lack common decency. I guess you must be wondering how people like us even ended up living among them to begin with. Well…it’s a pretty interesting story, actually. It started out-“
“Oh no, Raju!” Yuri interrupted immediately. “Not now! If you start telling them that story, now, we’ll never get the chance to knock them out!”
“Well, I just thought that-“
“Well think again!” she said sharply with her arms folded. “I’ve already started the fire under the cauldron!”
“Papa, we really should take them to see the Outlander. He knows tons of great stories he could tell them. Plus, he knows a lot about their culture. He told me that their language doesn’t have a past tense…and that the spirits of dead people talk to people who are alive all the time and give them advice and-.”
“Enough about the Outlander, already!” Raju barked at him in annoyance, “Anyway, that doesn’t make sense. How could he possibly know something like that?” He shook his head, “No…no. He was clearly making it up. He does that sometimes. Just like those silly horoscopes of his.”
“Well, that’s what he said. So, maybe he does know!” Bunnu said in a cheeky tone.
The Mumta father looked up from his calculations. His son looked at him for a moment before they both turned to stare out the window just behind Raju.
“Ah! I see you’ve noticed our Vasallan water-clock!” exclaimed Raju, motioning to the clock hanging just to the left of the window. “That was a wedding gift from the nice man who managed the brothel that my wife used to work at. What was his name again, honey? Anyway, I thought you might notice it sooner or later. Beautiful craftsmanship, isn’t it? Certainly not the sort of gift you’d expect from your average purveyor. The man certainly had an eye for this kind of thing, though. For example, that wood comes from a kind of tree that grows in the forest just to the south of Vasalla in a place called Neha. You’ve, no doubt, heard of the famous Battle of Neha? Same place. In fact, I’m a veteran of that battle. Thought I was going to lose a leg that day! Ha ha…but through a spot of luck, one of the field commanders had a set of spare medical supplies, so they didn’t have to go through with the amputation. ‘They really sheared the sheep on that one,’ as my old friend Anup used to say. Ha ha! You know, I really should tell you that story about how-“
“Papa,” Bunnu interjected. “I don’t think they’re listening.”
The Mumta were now, in fact, both standing. The Mumta boy stared down at the food on the table with a mixture of curiosity and amusement, as though bewildered by shapes, smells, and textures that were making themselves known to him for the very first time, while his father continued looking in the direction of the window with his watchful expression. He stepped in its direction, glancing back for his son to follow.
Raju looked through the window, too, and could see torches alit in the distance. “There are some people out there.” He muttered.
“What could possibly be so important that they should be out there at this hour in this kind of weather?” Yuri said as she rushed to the window.
“Are they out by field 011235?” Bunnu asked.
There was a knock at the door.
No one moved to answer it, but judging by Bunnu’s and Raju’s expressions, Yuri found, to her annoyance, that the responsibility of opening it had fallen on her. You know how much I hate answering the door! she silently admonished them with a look.
“Well…so much for dinner!” She cast an eye hungrily at the two Mumta as she opened the door to find Bunnu’s little chubby, rich friend Motiwala standing before her. His eyes just stared up at her as he said nothing.
“What is it, Motiwala?” Raju said over his shoulder. “Something happening out there?”
The boy continued staring up at Yuri without a word.
“Motiwala!” Bunnu said. “What is it?”
He looked over at Bunnu and said, “O-bousan-34 told me to fetch your Mama.”
“Did
he say why?” Yuri asked.
Again, the boy said nothing.
“Why, Motiwala?” Bunnu repeated in frustration, despite knowing that Motiwala was only capable of hearing his voice and no one else’s. Motiwala’s special hearing disorder was perhaps the only reason that someone of his status and wealth could be allowed to establish a friendship with a boy of Bunnu’s caste: a fact that he often reminded Bunnu of, when given the chance. However, without Bunnu’s help, he was effectively deaf to the voices of those around him. This is not to say that he was incapable of hearing any sounds at all. On the contrary, the acuity of his hearing was more than adequate. It appeared that his unique hearing impairment was one which only seemed to be related to human voices and nothing more.
Rakesh-7, upon meeting the boy, had surmised that Motiwala’s sense of hearing had a range different from that of other people, in that it could only pick up certain vocal frequencies. This often made Bunnu his chief source of contact with the rest of the world, as both of his parents were similarly unable to communicate with him. On occasion, Motiwala’s father, Diogenes, who was the younger brother of the Bahlian viceroy, sent for Bunnu to come visit him at his residence to translate for him as he had man-to-man chats with his son. Motiwala usually did his best to avoid actively participating in these conversations in the presence of Bunnu, as they usually seemed to involve topics that were rather sensitive to be discussing freely in front of one’s peers. However, Diogenes, feeling it was his fatherly duty to forcefully engage his son in this sort of dialogue, was adamant in his resolve and shameless in his expression, causing both the boys to blush on more than one occasion. Nonetheless, through this interaction, Bunnu and Motiwala had become quite close friends.
“The O-bousan,” Motiwala now told Yuri matter-of-factly, “is waiting.”
The Field at Night