The Hour of the Oryx by Farah Zaman
Author:Farah Zaman [Zaman, Farah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781945873324
Publisher: Book Power Publishing
Published: 2020-04-14T22:00:00+00:00
When the teenagers came back to the orphanage that afternoon, the scene on the front lawn was the same as last Monday. Adam marveled that only a week had elapsed since they had accompanied Heba to the cemetery and her home. So much had happened since then that it seemed much longer.
Heba was eating snacks with several girls on the tarpaulin. Catching sight of Adam and his group, she called out, “Salaams. Grab your snacks and come sit down.”
When they came back with lemonade and cake, the girls were gone.
“What happened to your friends?” Zahra asked.
“They’re going for their Science Club walk. They do it every Monday.”
The teenagers looked over at the walkway. A group of students had gathered there, the straight-backed figure of Ms. Yusra among them.
“We should join them,” Layla said. “It will be a good chance to speak to Ms. Yusra.”
“It’s a lovely afternoon for a walk.” Zahra raised her face to the sinking sun. “I don’t mind going.”
“Me too,” Zaid said.
“We’d best hurry before they leave.” Adam gulped down the rest of his lemonade and got to his feet. “Heba, we’ll see you later.”
“Have fun…walking with Ms. Yusra,” she said, her remarkable eyes shining in the afternoon sun.
The group was still on the walkway when the teenagers got there. Adam went up to Ms. Yusra and said, “Salaams. Is it okay if we join you for the walk?”
Ms. Yusra nodded. “We’ll be walking to the village and back. Along the way, we’ll pick up specimens of stones to discuss in class. You can help the students gather them.”
“Sounds like fun,” Layla said. “We ought to be able to gather a pile. But it might be difficult to walk with a heavy load. We might have to drop some along the way.”
Ms. Yusra’s lips twitched, as if she was amused. “Just a few will do.” There was a slight pallor to her face and shadows beneath her eyes. She still looked ill. “Alright, everyone,” she called out. “Let’s go.”
She led the procession, the teenagers next to her. The rest of the students followed, laughing and speaking in merry voices. When they made their first stop to gather specimens of smooth, round stones, Adam racked his brains to think of how to bring up Mr. Issa’s murder. Ms. Yusra provided the opening.
“Have you been to the village?” she asked them.
“Yes, we went with our parents,” Adam said. “We also visited Heba’s house. It’s terrible that her uncle was murdered there.”
The pleasant expression faded from Ms. Yusra’s face. “I’m surprised she still goes there.”
“She told us her uncle was murdered for a book,” Layla said.
“It’s ridiculous,” Ms. Yusra said, her nostrils flaring.
“You don’t believe it?” Zaid said.
“I mean it’s ridiculous that anyone would kill a human being for a paltry thing as a book.”
“Maybe it was a valuable book,” Zahra said.
“Or a book of magical spells that could make the reader rich,” Adam said in a jesting manner as he watched Ms. Yusra closely. Her eyes widened and the blood rushed to her face, filling her cheeks with color.
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