A Garland of Marigolds (11 page)

“
Now, about the water,
”
Gideon began.

I waited for him to go on, but he was lost in thought.

“
Well?
”
I prompted.

“
We
’
ll have to make better use of the monsoons,
”
he said.
“
The streams fill up then—too much so.
”

I thought of the muddy trickle that ran beside the wheat field.

“
I shall build a dam myself,
”
I announced. The spices from the
pan
had practically blown the top of my head off and I felt quite capable of doing anything.
“
It isn
’
t impossible,
”
I went on,
“
the water is there!
”

Gideon gave me a long, hard look.
“
All right,
”
he said slowly.
“
See what you can do, but don
’
t come crying to me if it doesn
’
t work.
”

My back stiffened.
“
I wouldn
’
t dream of it!
”
I told him coldly.

CHAPTER
SIX

Julie Burnett invited Gideon and Camilla to spend Sunday with her parents. For some reason Joseph and I were not included in the invitation. I don
’
t think either of us minded, but Camilla took immediate offense at the whole arrangement. After the incident of the moth, no one had expected her to become exactly friendly with the other girl, but we couldn
’
t help feeling that a certain tolerance was desirable.

“
I won
’
t go!
”
she told her brother.

Gideon barely looked up from the paper he was reading.

“
Don
’
t be ridiculous,
”
he said.

Camilla, who was not often or easily putout, completely lost her temper.

“
Nothing will induce me to go! Why should I? Besides, why can
’
t she ask all of us? She
’
s a horrible snob and I won
’
t have anything to do with her!
”

Things were not made better by Gideon leaving the room as if he had not heard her.

“
Would you go?
”
Camilla demanded.
“
Imagine his liking such a person!
”
A terrible thought struck her.
“
Suki, you don
’
t suppose he would actually marry her, do you? Because no one else in the family will survive the shock!
”

“
Oh, Camilla!
”
I protested, because I didn
’
t like the idea of Gideon marrying Julie,
“
I imagine your brother will make up his own mind when it comes to marriage.
”

“
Possibly,
”
she agreed tearfully.
“
But I couldn
’
t live in the same household with her.
”

I sighed. It wasn
’
t my place, I supposed, to break it to her that she might not be wanted by her brother once he married. I half-thought that I might try and prepare the ground, but the very idea of Julie living on various research stations around the world was so ridiculous that I hardly knew where to start. It was funny that we should all think of her as such a social creature when really she lived right at the back of beyond and probably had had as few parties and outings in her life as I had.

“
I don
’
t suppose Gideon is really serious about her,
”
I said pacifically.
“
He has to be polite and so do we.
”

Camilla stared at me, wide-eyed.

“
You mean I have to go on Sunday?
”

I nodded regretfully, but Camilla became quite cheerful about
it.

“
Okay, I
’
ll go. It will be interesting to see what sort of people managed to produce a freak like Julie, anyway.
”

I frowned at her, but I had to admit that I would have been interested myself. It was terrible to be so curious and I couldn
’
t help being glad that Gideon didn
’
t know of my interest, for I was quite sure that he would have had no sympathy with my own vivid dislike for the other girl.

I thought Gideon looked grim and strange in a jacket and tie when he got the jeep out on the Sunday. Camilla had excelled herself by producing a filmy nylon dress that clung to her youthful figure and a picture hat that gave her a quaint dignity.

“
Somebody has to keep the flag flying,
”
she said tersely.

“
Oh yes!
”
I agreed. It was difficult to keep from laughing and I was afraid that Gideon would see. As it was, I thought I caught an answering gleam of laughter in his eyes, but I knew of course that I must be mistaken. One doesn
’
t stay out until all hours of the night with a girl unless one admires her.

“
What are you two going to do with yourselves?
”
Gideon asked as he started up the engine. For a minute he sounded quite envious of our freedom.

“
I
’
m going to start the dam,
”
I said.

Joseph stood with his hands on his hips, twisting his belt with his thumbs.

“
I guess I
’
ll help,
”
he said indifferently.

Gideon hesitated, looking worried.

“
Do you think you can manage on your own?
”
he asked.

“
Why not?
”

He smiled slightly at my challenging attitude.

“
Go carefully,
”
he bade me.
“
You can
’
t accomplish everything at once.
”

I
hardly listened to him. I certainly
didn
’
t take his words of caution seriously. Poor
Camilla, I
thought, what a dull day she was going to have. But my own day
was full
of the most exciting prospects. I turned to Joseph
with enthusiasm.

“
Will you go and round up the men?
”
I
asked him.
“
The
sooner we begin the better!
”

The gentlemen of the
panchayat
stood in a group at the edge of the field looking with distaste at the barely moving muddy waters of the stream. They did not understand my plans for the dam and were plainly suspicious that any female could conceive such a plan.

“
The water
is
small and narrow,
”
they argued.
“
How will you make it more? It will never be enough to water the whole field.
”

It was difficult to argue in a language with which they were not familiar. I found it easier to show them. Accordingly I built a tiny dam across one of the trickles that made up the stream. I tried to explain
how
I would build a tank on either side to take up the water and how
I
would slowly build the two walls toward each other, with
sluice
gates in the center that could be opened during the monsoons to control flooding. The old men watched with interest. They nodded
their heads
and discussed the plan among
themselves.
One of
them had a son
who had traveled
to
another
district to
see a similar experiment. It had brought prosperity to
the whole
area, he reported
eagerly, and
the other men believed him.
They
knew how important water was to the crops. They also knew
what it
was like
to
live
in
times
of
famine.

“
It would cost very little,
”
I
encouraged
them.

Two of the older men hitched
up
their clothing and came and stood beside me in the stream.
With
eager hands,
I
described exactly where the dam would be built, splashing around in the water and getting myself thoroughly muddy and wet.

“
It will need much labor,
”
the old men said finally.

“
There are young men in the village,
”
I
replied eagerly. I knew that there would be the difficulty of caste, but I was hoping for the best. I wasn
’
t at all sure of the working force I would get, but I was reasonably sure that I could manage with a few.

“
We would have to pay for the sand and cement?
”

I nodded unhappily.

“
But the field would repay the expense in a single season,
”
I countered.

The old men scuffed their toes in the
muddy waters and
thought some more.

“
We shall do it,
”
they said
at last.
“
We shall do it if Mr. Wait
agrees to the plans.
We shall discuss the whole
matter with him.
”

I agreed to this,
shaking hands with
each of the old men in turn. When they had gone, I found myself alone, still up to my ankles in muddy water,
but completely
content because I knew that somehow I was going to make the wretched field productive.

I was still there, gloating, when Joseph came to find me. He wore his hat at an angle, his trousers were skin-tight and
his
shirt was hanging out. He sat down on the bank beside the
stream
and took out his cigarette case. It flashed
gold
in the sun as he opened it and offered me a cigarette. I accepted one gratefully and sat beside him.

“
Thank you very much,
”
I said.

“
How did it go?
”
he asked.

I sat down beside him,
trying
in vain not to grin too triumphantly.

“
Well, I think.
The actual decision
is to be referred to Gideon.
”

“
Oh well, that was only
to be
expected. You don
’
t mind, do you?
”

I felt quite breezy
with
confidence and didn
’
t mind at all.

“
Not in the least!
”
I
assured him.

He grinned.
“
Good for
you!
I
’
ll be right in there, cheering for you!
”

But I wasn
’
t as sure of him as
I
wanted to be. For all the length of time I had been on my own, making my own friends and answerable to no one, I was strangely ignorant of the ways of men. When I thought about it, there had been only one man whom I had really studied and that was Timothy.

“
I can manage very well on my own,
”
I said to Joseph.

He wasn
’
t in the least put out.

“
Nonsense. You
’
re going to need all the help you can get!
Friends
on these occasions are half the battle. Didn
’
t you know
that?
”

“
I
’
ve heard it,
”
I admitted cautiously.
“
But how can we be sure
of our
friends?
”

He
was
hurt.
I watched helplessly as he struggled with his
feelings.
First he was angry and then became more chagrined.
“
What have I done to offend you?
”
he asked at last.

I
shook my head, searching for some way of easing the wound
I had
inflicted.

“
I wasn
’
t thinking of you in particular,
”
I assured him.
“
It
’
s just
that
I never realized how personalities come into this kind of
work.
”