A Thousand Perfect Things by Kay Kenyon

Author:Kay Kenyon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Epic, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781624670961
Publisher: Premier Digital Publishing
Published: 2013-06-24T21:00:00+00:00

-19-

Elizabeth lay on her bed, her sweat soaking the sheets. A fever had come upon her during the night, and now she had slept until the sun came blasting into her room. Where was her servant? If she would just close the shutters her stomach would not rise so.

“Bansi!” she called.

From the back room came the repulsive smell of cooking, with its vile cardamom and ghee. The sun and spices combined in a hellish concoction.

She reached for her cup of water, but it crashed to the floor.

“Bansi . . .”

Her stomach roiled, threatening to erupt. Oh, she must get to the bucket in the corner. Managing to rise, she staggered to the bucket and kneeled before it. Her stomach clenched in a fearful spasm, forcing its hot contents up and out. Again and again her gut heaved, finally producing only bile.

She sat back, wiping her mouth, desperate for water.

Bansi must help her clean up. Staggering into the schoolroom, she found some of the students already at their seats. They stared at her. She realized how she looked: hair frayed, her nightdress fouled. How late was it? Why had Bansi not called her nor come to help? Furious at the woman, Elizabeth rushed into the back room.

Bansi was at the little stove. She did not even look up, but stood cooking chapattis, adding yet another to a stack.

“Bansi. I'm sick.”

The woman glanced at her. “The children are wanting their lunch.”

Lunch? Why was she cooking, of all things? “Leave off, Bansi. Help me to dress.”

“You should go back to bed, Miss. Your nightshirt is soiled.”

Such insolence left Elizabeth speechless for a moment. “You will come now and help me. I have purged. Take the bucket away and help me dress.” It felt like every word was an effort. The slow-minded servant seemed hardly to comprehend.

Bansi flipped another chapatti onto the platter. “We have been hearing you purge. Please shut the door. It distresses the children.”

The stench of the room, the heat of the stove was unbearable. Elizabeth leaned a hand against the wall to keep from pitching over. “Bansi. Help me.”

Infuriatingly, the woman ignored her.

Elizabeth grabbed a long-handled ladle from the stove and struck Bansi on the shoulders. “You foolish cow! Leave the chapattis!” She drove Bansi back from the stove, her fury mounting. Bansi cried out as the blows fell on her. As she fled out the back door, Elizabeth followed, beating her on the head and shoulders, enraged that she dared to run.

They stood in the cart path behind the school. Villagers stopped to gape at the scene, as Elizabeth pummeled Bansi with the ladle, trying to beat sense into her. At last Bansi managed to snatch the ladle from Elizabeth's hands, throwing it aside. People gathered around, women in bright saris, men leaning on staffs, staring with gap-toothed astonishment at the white woman in her night dress. The school children poured outside, peeking now from around the adults’ legs. Some were laughing.

Elizabeth turned to seek refuge in the school, but instead her knees buckled and the ground came up to meet her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.