A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao

Author:Nilima Rao
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Soho Press

HOT ROTI AND tea restored Akal’s spirits and he left the house with more of a spring in his step.

“Did Susan tell you where her husband will be working today?” the doctor asked Akal as they walked down the hill to the overseer’s house to get their packs, and then on to their horses.

Akal snorted. “I’m not sure if she remembers she has a husband. She seemed a little wrapped up in the man who ‘escorted’ her from Suva.”

“Yes, I thought I heard you talking to somebody. Who is he?”

Akal filled him in what little he had learned about Lewis Robinson.

“Henry can’t be too happy about this,” the doctor mused.

“They seem to live very separate lives,” Akal said.

“That’s true. Maybe Henry doesn’t mind,” the doctor said, sounding very doubtful.

“I just wish I had been more alert this morning so I could have spoken with Mr. Parkins then. Now we have to go find him,” Akal said with a sigh.

“Henry didn’t really give you much opportunity. He just stomped off. I haven’t seen him this agitated before. I don’t know if it is because of his wife, because his overseer took off, or because of this missing woman. He has a lot going on.”

As they approached the stables, they saw a native Fijian man leaning bonelessly against the wall of the wooden structure.

“Bula,” he called out to them.

“Bula,” they chorused back at him. Neither said any more, as neither of them could speak much more of the native language. The Fijian man peeled himself off the side of the building and sauntered towards them, sun gleaming off of the glossy, near-black skin on his outstretched arm.

“I’m Timi. Who are you?” the man said, luckily in English. He beamed a gap-filled smile at them while vigorously shaking their hands.

“I am Sergeant Akal Singh of the Fijian Constabulary, Suva Division,” Akal said, surreptitiously rubbing circulation back into his hand after Timi finally released it. “This is Dr. Robert Holmes.”

“Ah, you here about that woman who ran away, huh? Beautiful woman, I heard. You Indian men, you need to take better care of your women. We don’t have our women working for the kaivalagi. Our women are not running away.”

Akal ground his teeth. Could nobody in this country see the difference between him and the coolies? Women in his family were protected. He ignored the comments with some effort, and the doctor jumped in while Akal struggled with his temper.

“Where is your village?” asked the doctor.

“You know the Navua River?” Timi asked, gesturing in the direction of the river Akal had seen from the top of the hill. “We close to here, at the river. Good fish in that river, best in Fiji. You come by, we give you a good feed. The Lavuwala village,” he concluded with a self-satisfied nod.

“Right, we might just do that,” responded the doctor blandly. Akal did not think they would be getting that “good feed.” Robert’s preferences for simple food had become quite clear on this trip. Unlike

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