Tim and Amy

"Just the place for a nap," I said.

Tim lay down, his hands behind his head, and I joined him, pillowing my head on his chest.

We must have dozed off, and when we woke the sun was almost at its height.

"Hmm, time to find some shade," I said.

We retrieved our clothes and dressed, and I led Tim further on up the slope. At the top of the hill was a small summer house, showing the ravages of time but its roof still intact.

"I like to think that the Maharajah might have come here with his favourite concubine on days like this," I said

"Would she have danced for him here?" Tim asked.

"I imagine so," I replied.

We sat together in a well-worn stone seat, looking out over the valley and towards the mountains beyond. I could just see the smoke from the village cooking fires. Tim looked at me, and I knew that we were both thinking of that day when he'd proposed to me, when I'd told him how much I missed India.

"Tell me about the Maharajah and his concubine," Tim said.

"Well," I began, "he would sit here, and she would start to dance for him. She'd start off in her harem clothing, but by the time she was dancing close up to him, she'd have taken everything off, so that all he could see was her body against the backdrop of the mountains and the sky..."

My voice trailed off, and Tim held me close.

"We should try that sometime," I said, my voice still distant.

"Come back to me," Tim teased. "It's probably time we headed back to the house."

I smiled, and we set off slowly back down the hill, past the pool, then through the ruined palace.

As we approached the house, Amy and Laura were coming up the track from the village.

"Did you make the most of the time?" grinned Laura.

I looked at Tim. "I think we had quite a feast," I smiled.

We reached the house, and Tim said, "What's for lunch?"

"I asked Jaya to leave us something," said Amy. "I'll take a look in the kitchen."

She returned with plates of tiny samosas and small cakes of fried potato. "Jaya put them to keep warm over the embers," Amy explained.

We sat down to eat. "Are you two going to retreat back into your love-nest this afternoon?" asked Laura.

"Let's all go for a walk," Tim said. "Sarah showed me a fantastic place to swim."

When we had finished eating, we put our swimming things on underneath our clothes, then walked back along the track and up to the pool.

The girls slipped out of their clothes and got into the water, while Tim and I sat on the grassy bank watching them and talking.

After a while Laura called from the pool, "Are you two coming in?"

Tim looked at me. "How about it?"

I grinned. "Why not."

We shed our clothes and joined the girls in the cool water.

***

As the sun dropped lower in the sky, we walked back down the track to the house. The smell of something appetising was drifting from the kitchen, and Jaya came to the door of the kitchen to greet us.

"Really feels like home," Tim said, squeezing my hand.

Jaya brought us food, and we savoured our meal, knowing that we'd have less opportunity for shared meals and family time once Tim and I were both working again.

We sat on the verandah till late, the moon rising in the clear sky.

"The constellations are the same," said Laura, tracing the outline of the Plough in the sky.

"Mm," Tim said. "Familiar stars above us."

I yawned. "Well," I said, "I'm whacked. I think we should get some sleep, so we can enjoy the festivities tomorrow."

The girls went to their room, and as usual we heard the murmur of their voices.

"I think they'll miss each other when one or both of them finds a husband," I mused, as we returned to our room.

"Well, from what Amrit said, Amy won't be going far, and Laura will be right here," Tim said. "So they'll easily be able to spend time together."

We got into bed, and I said, "Just hold me tonight."

Tim wrapped his arms around me and I shifted my body closer. Then I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, a feeling of deep gratitude in my heart.

***

We woke early the next morning. I stretched luxuriously, and said, "Well, big day for Sita today."

"No rush for us, though," Tim said. "We have to be there for what, eleven?"

I nodded. "The girls and I have to get ready, remember."

"I'll make sure there's plenty of time," Tim promised. "Now, before I go and make sure the girls are up..."

***

Tim got up and put on his dressing gown. "I don't really want to move," he said, "but it must be time we had breakfast."

He went along the verandah and tapped on the girls' door. We all sat on the verandah and Jaya brought coffee, then our usual breakfast meal. She spoke to me, and I nodded.

"She and Sita are off down to the village now – Jaya will help Sita to get ready."

When we had finished eating, the girls went off to get washed, and Tim and I sat enjoying the sun. When the girls returned, Tim and I took our turn in the bathroom, then I said, "I'd better go and help the girls, then get ready myself. I'll give you a call when it's time for you to change."

I went into the girls' room, leaving Tim sitting and reading.

When I returned, I'd done my hair and makeup but I was still in my jeans. "Ok, you've got half an hour," I said.

Tim went into our room to get changed. As he was putting on his jacket, I came in from helping the girls finish getting ready, and slipped out of my jeans and t-shirt. I carefully put on my beaded silk dress, then said, "Zip me up?"

He stood close behind me, breathing in my warm, clean scent.

"We could be a bit late..." he said softly, sliding his fingers a little way inside my dress through the open zip.

"Afterwards," I promised, putting my hand over his.

He grinned, and pulled up the zip.

We went out onto the verandah, meeting the girls coming out of their room, Amy stunning in her dark green sari, Laura's slim figure shown off by the cream salwar kameez.

"Wow," Tim said. "If I didn't know how amazing Sita is going to look, I'd say you three would entirely steal the show."

We walked down the track to the village and made our way to the piece of ground beside Amrit's house where our wedding had taken place.

"Is it really two weeks?" Tim said to me. I nodded.

We slipped in to the back row and sat while the space filled up with guests. Anjali came and sat with us, holding Shila on her lap, and Amrit took his place at the front of the gathering with the groom.

I heard the expected blare of instruments, and turned to see Sita walking down the aisle, swathed in red and gold, wearing even more jewellery than she had at our wedding. Jaya walked behind Sita, obviously having been adopted as a bridesmaid.

Amrit conducted the ceremony, the couple making their vows decisively. Then Amrit turned to the congregation and held out his arms, clearly in some kind of invitation.

"What's he doing?" Tim asked me in a whisper.

"He invites anyone who wants, to come to the front and say a few words, then pray for the bride and groom."

Tim took my hand. "Come on," he said. "I think she deserves us to stand up there – she looked after us so well, and we are partly responsible for her ending up here, after all. You say a little bit about her first, then – well, I have no idea about the praying part, but I'll do my best."

We walked to the front, conscious of many eyes on us, knowing how incongruous we looked. I faced the congregation and began to speak, saying how much we appreciated what Sita had done for us, and wishing her every happiness. Sita watched me with a grateful expression.

I finished speaking, and looked at Tim. I was surprised at how nervous he looked, knowing that he was very used to making presentations, and speaking at meetings with even very senior people in the company.

"Dear Lord," he began. I spoke briefly each time he paused, translating his words.

"Thank you for Sita. Thank you that she has served my wife and my family so well. Please give her happiness in her new life, and be with her and her husband. Amen."

I looked at Sita. Her eyes were full of tears, but she was smiling. Her fiancé – now husband – bowed his head towards us and made a complex hand gesture.

We returned to our seats. Amy and Laura were sniffing back tears. Amy squeezed Tim's hand.

"Well done, that was very sweet," she said.

The service finished, and we made our way with everyone else to the area where the food was served. Again we saw Sita's husband make sure his wife had enough to eat before taking a plate for himself. Tim did the same for me, and I smiled.

The meal took quite a while, including the sharing out of the various traditional sweets made of coconut, sugar, and milk. When everything was cleared away, the music and the dancing started.

As I danced opposite Tim, my dress swirled around my ankles and he looked down, catching a glimpse of gold. I followed his gaze and smiled.

"No-one else knows that you're the Maharajah and I'm your favourite concubine," I said, leaning over to him. "But you can see what else your concubine knows later."

He grinned. "I'm looking forward to it."

Tim danced with me for a while, then I said, "Sita will want to dance with you, and Anjali, and Jaya. And don't forget the girls." I sat down to watch.

Tim looked round. He caught a glimpse of Amy across the room, and Laura was easy to spot, her blonde hair standing out like pure gold.

Sita took his hand, and Tim did his best to keep up with her skilful dance moves for a while, then she smiled and let Anjali dance with Tim and confuse his feet even more.

Laura came over and rescued him. "Come on, Tim," she said. "You're safe with me for a while."

He took her into hold, and they did their best to produce a creditable tango.

As they swung to a stop, the music fell silent, and I returned to Tim's side.

"I'm impressed," I said. "Now, Sita and her husband are leaving, so let's go and wave them off."

We went outside, and waved as the newlyweds drove off down the track in an old Ambassador which had obviously been lovingly polished up for the occasion.

"Now the party really gets going!" I said. We went back in, and as the band struck up again I did my best to surpass Laura's tango with him.

After a couple more dances, we found a table and sat for a while, sipping fruit juice. Again I spotted Laura dancing with a group of the young women, but I couldn't immediately see Amy. Then I noticed her coming towards us, a young man beside her.

"Hi, Amy," I said. "Are you having fun?"

Amy smiled, then hesitated, again the half-confident, half-shy young woman I'd met at Satpura, seemingly a lifetime ago.

"What's up, Amy?" Tim asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

She took a deep breath, then spoke in the confident voice I'd grown to love. "Sarah, Tim, I'd like you to meet Amit. He's the groom's cousin – you remember, Rajesh's son."

Tim reached out his hand. "Good to meet you, Amit." Amit returned his handshake firmly.

They sat down, and Amy continued. "I know this is going to seem very sudden, but Amit and I have been talking all afternoon. We've so much in common, and –" she paused, and looked me straight in the eye – "we'd like you to speak to Amrit about making an arrangement between Amit's family and ours."

Tim looked momentarily overwhelmed. All the comments we'd made about the girls finding someone special of their own, the light-hearted teasing about putting their photos on Indian matchmaking sites, the matter-of-fact way Amrit had scratched lines in the sand from Amy's stick figure to the village, all these came back into my mind in a rush.

I put my hand on Tim's shoulder to reassure him.

He reached out to take Amy's hand. "Dearest Amy," he said, "of course we've talked and thought about this. We'll do everything we can to make an arrangement we're all happy with."

Amy sagged with relief, and leaned over to kiss him. Tim again reached out to shake Amit's hand, and the young man spoke for the first time, his English clear. "Thank you, sir."

A thought occurred to Tim. "Have you told Laura?"

Amy's face showed immediate concern, and if I hadn't been certain already, the fact that her best friend had temporarily slipped from her mind convinced me that something significant had happened to her.

"I'll go and get her," I said. I walked towards the group of young women Laura was dancing with, and caught her eye. We returned to the table, and sat down.

Amy smiled at her friend, and said, "Laura, I have some news. I've asked Tim to speak to Amrit about an arrangement for Amit and I to get married."

I watched Laura's face anxiously, sure that she would be able to absorb the news, but afraid that her heart might balk against the loss of her friend, against more change, against loneliness.

Laura got up from her seat and embraced Amy, smiling, tears pouring down her cheeks. Then she turned to Amit, and said, "Whoever you are, welcome to the family." She leaned over and kissed the shocked young man on the lips, then turned to Tim, grinning broadly.

"There's only one thing for it," she said. "Amrit has to find me somebody too, no messing."

Again I saw the world shift beneath Tim's feet. I knew he had absorbed my explanation of Amrit's words, nokna and nokrom.

Tim took a deep breath. "Yes, ma'am, I'll get right on it." Laura collapsed in a fit of giggles and I put an arm round her shoulders.

Tim looked around for Amrit, spotting him in conversation with Rajesh.

"Come on, Sarah," he said. "Let's strike while the iron's hot."

We approached Amrit, and I asked him and Rajesh to join us for a moment. We sat at an empty table, and Tim looked at me. "I would if I could, but you're going to have to do this part."

I began to speak, explaining. Amrit looked across to the table we'd left, then back to me, and spoke to Rajesh. Rajesh replied, and Amrit reached across to put his hand on the man's shoulder, nodding.

Tim could tell from their expressions that they were happy about the idea, and my translation confirmed it.

"There'll be no problem," I said.

"I was expecting more negotiation," Tim said, surprised.

"It's not an idiom they have here, but this really is a bit of a no-brainer," I grinned. "Amit is bright, he has a university education and prospects, everyone knows he's got a good character. Amy has a business degree from the UK, and experience – courtesy of her gap year with you. Neither Amrit or Rajesh can see a downside. And they'll be living in the village, at least to start with, so they'll have you and me, and Amit's parents, and the church, to help them with getting started, sorting out any cultural things that arise."

I spoke to Rajesh, thanking him, and the two men got up to leave. I put my hand on Amrit's arm – an unusual gesture between a man and a woman in this culture. He looked at me in surprise, then took his seat again as Rajesh left us.

I spoke again, and I saw Tim catch Laura's name. Amrit's face became extremely thoughtful, and he replied slowly.

"Amrit completely understands," I said, "he just wants us to realise what doing this means in our culture."

I stopped dead, my mouth open, hearing my own words.

Tim reached for my hand. "It's fine, my love. You're right – we do belong here now, this is our culture, even if we don't know everything about it yet."

"I know about this custom," I said. "The nearest thing to it in – " I hesitated – "in Western culture, is when a man who has no male heir adopts a child and names him as heir. But it's more than that here – even before the man dies, his nokrom begins to take over his responsibilities."

I paused. "Part of the reason for that is that in Indian culture, when a man reaches about fifty, it's expected that his children are established in their own families, and his responsibilities as a householder are completed. He and his wife can go into a kind of retirement, for contemplation. The word is vanaprastha."

"Well," Tim said thoughtfully, "I already sort of retired, if you count changing to being an occasional consultant for the company."

Tim looked at me seriously. "I'm fine with this. But do you remember we talked about whether we might want to start a family of our own?"

I grinned. "So we did. That'd certainly mix things up a bit. But I bet Amy and Laura won't hang about with starting their families, so if we did the same, they could all grow up together, and our little one – little ones? – would just be treated as part of the next generation."

Tim nodded. "I've said before, I trust Amrit. Tell him we're absolutely certain."

I spoke to Amrit again, and he nodded, replying briefly.

"He will have to talk to the elders," I explained. "This is a big decision for the village. He'll do that before Sunday."

Amrit got up to leave, and Tim and I rejoined the girls and Amit.

"So what happened?" asked Amy, on tenterhooks.

"Well, we bargained hard over the number of cows we wanted for both of you," Tim said, my eyes twinkling with amusement.

Amy punched him lightly in the arm. "Not funny!" she said.

"Ok," Tim said, "I'm sorry. Truth is, Rajesh is delighted to agree to your match."

Amy whooped, and high-fived Amit, obviously a gesture that had found its way even here.

"What about Laura?" Amy asked, checking her joy momentarily.

"Amrit has agreed to talk to the elders, and he'll come back with a decision by the weekend," I said.

Laura nodded. "I can wait that long."

She paused, then went on, "I like this way of doing things – there's none of the 'does he really like me? Is he just interested in my body?' stuff. And in this setting, there's a lot of accountability – because the decision is a community one, everyone has to help make it work. The couple aren't just left to sink or swim because they were the ones who chose each other."

I sat silent, moved beyond words by the wisdom beyond their years of our two 'adopted daughters'.

"Well, I think the party is finally coming to an end," smiled Amy. In truth, we had been so absorbed in our own events that we hadn't noticed people slowly drifting away.

"Come on, let's go home," Tim said. He shook Amit's hand again, then said, "What the heck," and embraced him warmly. Laura and I did the same, and finally Amy hugged him and planted a kiss on his lips. The dazed young man bade us "Good night" and went over to find his parents.

"They'll have something to talk about tonight," Tim grinned.

"So will we," I said. We set off along the track to the house.

When we arrived, I looked in at the kitchen door.

"There's still some heat left in the fire," I said. "Anyone want a drink?"

I heated milk for us, and we sat on the low wooden kitchen stools and drank, enjoying the warmth of the fire. When we'd finished, we walked across the verandah, stopping outside the girls' room.

Tim and I hugged them both. "Sleep well – sweet dreams," he said.

Laura grinned. "I think you can guarantee that – though the face in my dreams might be a little fuzzy."

They went in and closed the door.

"Ready for bed, my love?" Tim asked me.

I nodded. "And for sleep – but I don't think many people will be up early tomorrow."

***

The sun was well up when we woke in the morning. I could just hear Jaya in the kitchen.

"Gosh, what an eventful day that was," I said, stretching luxuriously.

"Mm," Tim said. "Sita married, Amy engaged, and Laura –"

"Not just Laura," I reminded him. "This chap, whoever he is, will represent us, our interests, to the village."

"Amrit said by Sunday, didn't he," Tim recalled.

"He'll come and tell us as soon as the decision is made," I reassured him. "Come on, let's go and get some breakfast."

We donned dressing gowns and went out onto the verandah. Amy and Laura joined us, already dressed, and Jaya brought coffee and food.