How the Man in Green Saved Pahang, and Possibly the World by Joshua Kam

Author:Joshua Kam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Epigram Books
Published: 2020-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

They were shivering and soaked to the bone when they entered. The house had locks, but Khidir slid them off like abacus beads and before they knew it, they were inside.

“I suppose this is a safe house?” Gabe asked, as they slid open the back grille and entered a dusty but homely living room.

Khidir walked about like he knew the place. “Chis! With this architecture? I should hope not,” he replied. “Look at this tropical British fare. You could almost imagine the vacationers on the verandah with their s’tengahs, discussing the partition of India.”

He was right. The pool looked new, but the rest of the house had the air of an estate owner’s retreat. Consummate Edwardian paintings withered in their frames, as did chairs with seats of octagonal rattan braids. A bar counter stood at the front of the living room, as though some time ago, this place had thrown parties away from the city. Gabe ran his fingers over the wooden arm of a lounge chair. Lacquered teak.

“Whose is it?” he asked, then wishing immediately that he hadn’t.

“Not a clue!” Khidir said, picking up a charming family photo in its frame. “Summer vacationers, by the looks, and it’s not an Airbnb.”

“Ah.” Gabe wondered if it was breaking and entering when you thought your friend owned the house. Khidir switched on a pair of wall lamps, and the house began to take on more colour.

“The good news is no one’s home, and I’m tired as hell, Gabe,” Khidir said, slinging his arm over Gabe’s shoulder. Gabe was halfway through slipping on his soggy pants again, but Khidir swatted his arm. “None of that! We’re washing the salt out.”

He sprinted up the mahogany stairs. Gabe sighed. This better not be the prelude it was making out to be. Grabbing his clothes, he trudged upstairs.

The master bedroom, with a four-post bed absurdly draped with satin mosquito nets in the middle, was quite sufficient. Gabe felt the cool touch of rich wood under his feet. Khidir started looking for a first-aid kit and some bandages, which he found in the bottom drawer of a dresser.

He sat Gabe down on the bed and began dabbing at the wound with ointment from the kit, while Gabe hissed and cursed. It had pierced deeper than he had thought, but the yellow Burnol and the bandage helped. Gabe had almost forgotten about his wound in the excitement, and as he bucked and kicked at the pain, he found his eyes meeting Khidir’s, steady as a harbour tide.

“That’ll hold,” Khidir said simply, before getting up and flinging the bathroom door wide open, charging inside and turning on the ancient faucet to start the hot water. A curtain had been mercifully drawn across the shower.

“Sorry, the cold was about to undo me,” he said. “Your turn in a minute! Oh, and can you find any towels?”

Gabe found some in the dresser and threw them over the curtain bar. He wrapped a towel around his own waist and stared at a mirror on a closet door.

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.