Under the Jeweled Sky by Alison McQueen

Author:Alison McQueen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2013-11-19T05:00:00+00:00

20

The train pulled in almost six hours late. Dr. Schofield, weary from the journey, put his hat on and climbed down from the carriage. A boy rushed to his side, pulling at his bag. “Me carry! Me carry!” he shouted.

“Chale jao!” Dr. Schofield brushed him off, clutching the bag to his chest. He had learned his lesson about street rascals long ago, brazen little louts who would run off and disappear into the crowds with anything they could carry. Pushing his way through the swarm of people, he exited the station to see Mr. Ripperton waiting beside one of the blue palace cars, driver at the wheel. The Maharaja must be back and expecting someone important to send the first ADC to greet them. Dr. Schofield turned and made his way to the area where the rickshaw wallahs gathered.

“George!” He halted at the call of his name. “George!” Mr. Ripperton raised a hand in greeting, threw his cigarette to the ground, and stamped it out before marching over. “I thought you’d never get here.” They shook hands.

“Rip,” Dr. Schofield said. “What brings you here? Waiting on an esteemed guest?”

“Only you. Thought you might need a lift back to HQ. Can’t be too careful at the moment. There’s still a lot of saber-rattling going on. We had a stabbing on the estate on Monday. Nobody will say who did it, of course. Poor chap damn near lost a kidney.” The driver jumped out from behind the wheel and took Dr. Schofield’s bag, placing it on the front seat before opening the back doors for the men. “How was your trip?”

“All right,” he said. “Dusty.”

“It’s a fine thing young Sophie is doing there, going off to do her bit like that, particularly at a time like this. She’ll have them all whipped into shape in no time. Did you get to look the place over?” The car pulled away, honking its way through the crowds.

“Yes, a bit.”

“I suppose they’re all the same,” Rip said, adopting some of his passenger’s fatigued manner. “Still, good for her to get out of the old mausoleum, I suppose. It can’t be easy to be the only young bones in a place like that, although I have to say that poor Fiona is bereft, missing her like mad already.”

George stared out of the window, unable to concentrate on the patter of small talk that fell from Mr. Ripperton’s mouth. It was part of his job, to impart polite conversation, keeping the Maharaja’s guests entertained and attended to, and he was very good at it. All the way to the palace, his steady, melodious voice imparted useless snippets of information about matters in which Dr. Schofield had no interest. He would reply with a nod or a small yes or no, and that was all it took to maintain the flow. George wished that Rip hadn’t bothered to collect him. He would have been just fine traveling solo and felt the need to be alone with his thoughts.

The prospect of dealing with his wife hung around his neck like a dead weight.

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