The Stolen Child (22 page)

“Yeah.  Whatever that means.”

“Suspicious.  I would be,” Milima said.

“
Guess you've got me all figured out.
”

The woman gave her a measuring look.
 

“
Well, c
an you trust
us
enough to sit down for a meal at least?”
she said.
 

“Food sounds good,”
Rachael
allowed.

“Great,” Milima smiled.  “Why don't you girls
get yourself some plates and bowls
, while I get this ready?”

Rachael and Arsha set places, whilst Milima continued to
work
at the stove
.  Soon enough
Rachael
found herself sat on one of the long benches, with a bowl in front of her being filled with steaming hot lentil soup.  
A wicker basket was set down, piled high with soft loaves of flat bread.
 

Ignoring Arsha's surprised expression, Rachael
devoured a whole loaf
before even starting on the soup.  It was thick and rich, full of spices that she couldn't
even
name,
and
it tasted better than anything she had eaten in a long time.  Milima's eyes widened in alarm
as the woman returned to the table
.

“Slow down girl.  You won't have room for the
stew
.”

Spoon half raised to her mouth, Rachael looked up in confusion.

“I'm sorry,” Milima continued, wiping her hands on a cloth.  “The soup and the
bread
were just meant
as a starter
.  It's nothing special I'm afraid, just last night's beef, plus some carrots and
okra
and what-not.”

“She's talking rubbish,” Arsha said.  “Milima makes the best
stew
ever.”

“
Well either way, I'd say it's about ready
,” Milima
said
, tucking the cloth into her back pocket.  
Returning to the stove, Milima retrieved another large pan
, which she set down in the middle of the table, steam wafting off
the surface.
 

“Give it a moment to cool now.”

Footsteps from the stairs above
gave her time to look up as a tall figure entered the room.  It took her a moment to recognise the young man from the night before.  In the clear light, without the goggles, he had the kind of face that you could spend hours drawing.  The delicate line of his jaw swept up towards perfect cheekbones that framed piercing blue eyes and a nose like a razor blade.  Her stomach twisted in disgust as she thought of him sighting down the barrel of the strange lightning gun he'd carried.
 

“
Hey Micah,” Arsha said, smiling brightly.  Her cheeriness only made the angry knot in Rachael's stomach twist a little tighter.
 

“
Hey there little bear,” Micah replied.  “So d
id someone say
stew
?”

Dropping down onto the bench beside Arsha, he reached for a long handled ladle.  No sooner had his fingertips grazed the
handle than there was a loud 'snap' as Milima cracked a wash-cloth over his hand.
 

“Hands off, you,”
she said.
  “Seven below, you've not even got a
bowl
in front of you.  Were you planning to just
eat it out of the pot
?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Micah said,
grinning as he got up
to collect some cutlery from the kitchen.  From across the table, Arsha caught Rachael's eye and gave her a resigned shrug.  Rachael looked down at her bowl of half-finished soup again, silently wondering how this could be normal for anyone.

“
So,
” Milima said, as she began to fill
more bowls
, “will the esteemed professor and his star pupil be joining us?”

Micah shook his head.

“You know those two.  Glued to their books.  I'll bring something down for them later.”

“Speaking of which, I should take
a bowl
up for poor Abasi.  He's been at those charts all night.”

As Milima spoke, Micah was already shovelling food into his mouth.  An instant later an uncomfortable expression appeared on his face.

“Yes, it's hot,” Milima s
ighed
.

“How is it I have this figured out and you don't?” Arsha chided, nudging him gently in the ribs, as Micah swallowed his mouthful and gave them all a boyish grin.

Rachael picked out a chunk of beef and bit into it
.  Her expression must have said everything, as Arsha nodded at her in agreement.

“Told you,”
t
he girl said.

Though Rachael said nothing, she had to admit it was mostly because she didn't want to waste any time on talking.  She devoured everything that had been set in front of her, and didn't think twice when Micah leaned over
to
refill her bowl
.  She couldn't remember the last time she eaten food that tasted as good, nor in such quantities.  As she polished off her second
bowl
, she felt as if her stomach might burst.  A heavy warmth filled her body, and for a moment she found herself feeling perilously at ease.  She could happily have set her head down on the table and fallen asleep right there and then.

She was so overwhelmed by the satisfied feeling that she didn't even notice Ilona come in.  It was only when the others looked up that Rachael realised the woman was standing only a few feet away from her.

Arsha was already shuffling up to clear a place when Ilona gestured for her to stay still.

“I'll just take
a tray
down.  It's OK,”
s
he said, flatly.

Bowls
were passed over, and Micah stood to help load up a tray.  Rachael watched out of the corner of her eye, pretending to be paying more attention to her food.  
T
he woman's
eyes were
bloodshot,
her make-up barely concealing the dark circles around them
.  
She looked as if she hadn't slept in days
.

As she was about to leave, Ilona turned to Micah.
 

“
So are you
actually planning on coming down to help us any time soon?”

“Not just yet,”
h
e said, apologetically.  Rachael caught the way he nodded, very slightly in her direction.  Ilona glanced at her, just for an instant, then back to Micah.

“Fine.  But
we've
still
got a lot of
work to
do
.”

“I know,” Micah
said.
 

As the woman left he sat back down, his cheerful smile returning.  Sipping at a glass of
milk
, Rachael watched as he began to quiz Arsha about her studies.  He seemed to be tutoring her in maths, or something like it, and Arsha wrinkled her forehead as she struggled to answer the problems he
tested
her with.

“Argh.  I'm awful at this,” Arsha growled, letting her head drop to the table.

“See, she says this because she thinks it's normal for fifteen year olds to be doing math at a university level,” Micah said, giving Rachael a conspiratorial wink.  “What about you, Rachael?  Are you much good at numbers?”

“Not really,” Rachael said.

“
That's OK, neither am I really,”
he said with a genial shrug.  “Honestly, if my old man hadn't insisted...”  
 

He didn't bother finishing the sentence, perhaps sensing her disinterest.  
Rachael pushed her empty plate away.

“What's with all this,”
s
he said.  “Why is it
everyone's so keen
to act like we're all
best friends now
?”

For a moment Micah and Arsha were both silent.  They shared an awkward look, as if neither of them knew what to say to this.

“We just wanted to... You know... Make
you feel welcome
,” Arsha said.  “I mean, we know things haven't been easy for you.”

Rachael shook her head in astonishment.

“You don't know nothing about me, so don't try to pretend you do.”

“Hey, we're just trying to...” Arsha began, her tone indignant, even as Micah silenced her with a raised hand.

“It's OK.  Look, Rachael... We're not trying to pull anything here.  I mean, this whole situation
has been
pretty horrible, for everyone.  
But you're our guest here, OK?
”

Scowling, Rachael looked back down at her plate again.  The silence was broken by Milima's reappearance.

“Dessert, anyone?  It's
buttermilk pie
,”
s
he announced, either missing the mood of the room, or hoping to break it.

“Did the coolroom break down or something?” Micah said, with a surprised expression.

“
I just thought we could all do with some comfort food after the last few days,
” Milima said.  “But, if you don't want any...”

“Hey,
let's not be too hasty now,
” Micah said.

“Just what I thought,” Milima nodded,
smugly
.

Rachael thought she couldn't possibly eat anything more, but as a steaming hot
slice of pie
was set before her, a cold, raw instinct made her pick the spoon up.  It could have tasted like a mouthful of dirt, and still she wouldn't have been able to bring herself to refuse free food.  When it tasted as good as this, she knew she was helpless.  Another glass of cold milk was poured for her and she dug in.

The conversation continued around
her
, as Milima bemoaned Rishi and Ilona's refusal to sit down for a proper meal.  Micah nodded, reaching for a second helping of
pie.
 

“Not that you couldn't think about getting back down there and helping them,” Milima added, jabbing a spoon in his direction.

“Healthy body, healthy mind,” Micah
said, with a grin
.

“Healthy doesn't have this much sugar in it, young man.  Not that
it'll make any difference to you
.”

Micah shrugged, prompting a quiet smirk from Arsha.  Looking down at her empty bowl, Rachael
could feel her head swimming
.  The room felt too warm, and suddenly everything didn't seem straight.
She felt dizzy and flushed, as a wave of nausea seized her stomach.
 She looked across at Arsha, and managed “Toilet?”

Surprised, Arsha gestured at the stairs.

As another wave of nausea washed over her
, Rachael left the room as quickly as she could.  
Halfway down the stairs she broke into a sprint
, and barely made
it to the bathroom in
time.

There was cold sweat on her brow by the time her stomach had ceased heaving.  
A
voice in the back of her head was screaming angrily at her for letting so much good food slide down a toilet bowl, but she
was
too
dazed
to pay it much attention.  She was shivering and her
throat
hurt.  She fumbled about the sink, looking for something to wipe her mouth with.

She heard the door open, but felt too dizzy to look up.  Gentle hands wrapped a towel around her shoulders.  A damp cloth was wiped across her mouth, and then a glass of water was held out for her.  She took small sips, swilling and spitting first to get the worst of the taste from her mouth.  
Gentle hands
rubbed at her back, as she swallowed small mouthfuls of water.

“That was my fault,” Milima said,
quietly
.  “Stupid
of me really
.”

Rachael said nothing.

“I imagine it's been a long time since you've eaten that much in one sitting.”

She supposed this was true.  She could have lasted a week on what had been put on her plate that night.

“
Are you
OK now
?”

She nodded.

“
All right
.  
Up you come
.”

Milima helped her to stand,
taking her arm
like a little girl.  She felt a hot flush of anger, and pushed the woman's hand away.

“Hey,” Milima
snapped
.  “Claws away.”

Rachael
stared at the woman, incredulous, feeling
her hands clench so tight that the nails bit into her palms
.  What
ever
self-control she
had
maintained through
out
dinner,
she could feel the last of it slipping through her fingers
.

“I know you're angry, Rachael.  Of course you're angry.  We've assaulted you, we've dragged you away from your home, and we've done nothing but tell you that it's for your own good.  And the worst part is that it's the truth.”  

The woman spoke calmly, meeting Rachael's furious
glare
with a steady gaze.  

“I can't
change that
, and I can't imagine I'd feel any different in your place.  But
I can
at least try to make things a little better for you.  Will you let me do that much?”

“I can look after myself,” Rachael growled.

“Seven keep us, I didn't imagine for a second that you couldn't.  
Rachael,
I know what starvation looks like.  How long has it been since you had a
proper meal?  Since you slept in a real bed?  A year or more, I imagine.
”

“
More or less,
”
s
he said, cautiously.

“I'm sorry,”
Milima said, her tone softening.
 “
It can't have been easy.
”

Rachael just shrugged, not meeting her eyes.

“
It's
not your fault,”
s
he said.  It took her a moment to realise just what that meant.  It wasn't
Milima
's fault,
or Arsha's, or Micah's
.  None of what had happened to her was.  No matter how good it felt, to lay everything on the nearest target, she couldn't
escape
the
awful
feeling that Milima was right.  
Lashing out
hadn't
gain
ed
her anything.