Rain (The Quest Trilogy-Book Two) (8 page)

“Hmm …” said Rain, leaning forward on his elbows and supporting his chin on his fists, “this one seems to be simpler, in fact. What I think it means is, never make a decision in haste.”

They waited, looking at the wooden box expectantly, but nothing happened.

“My instinct tells me you have got the correct meaning, Rain.” said Dammy. “But why won’t the box open? I think there is something you are missing.”

“I got it!” said Rain, snapping his fingers. “What he meant was, never make a decision when you are angry. Always wait to cool down first, because a man always makes the most unwise decisions in a state of anger.”

The second lock on the box snapped open, falling to the floor with a dull clang.

Dammy Kunga looked like he would burst with happiness.

“Rain …” he said, looking at him in admiration, “I have spent most of the last few years pondering over the meaning of these words, but with no luck. Then you arrive and in twenty-four hours, two riddles have been solved!”

“Hey, it’s just luck.” said Rain, feeling a little embarrassed at the shower of praise. “Let’s move on while things are going so well. Tell me the next riddle.” he suggested, wanting to take the attention away from himself.

Dammy Kunga seemed to understand how Rain was feeling and he sobered down immediately.

“Of course, of course. The third riddle goes something like this – ‘An empty glass can never quench thirst, look for the source of water first.’”

Rain fell into deep thought again. In the meanwhile, the servants laid out the breakfast.

“Come, Rain. Let us now eat breakfast. It is impolite to leave a guest hungry. We can search for meanings later.”

Dammy Kunga led the way to the breakfast table and only when he was satisfied that Rain had eaten well did Dammy Kunga allow him to resume puzzling over the riddles.

Rain spent all of that day and the next trying to figure out the meaning of the third riddle, but with no luck. Finally, he asked Dammy Kunga to tell him the fourth riddle, hoping it might be easier to solve.

“All right,” said Dammy Kunga, “I’ll tell you the fourth riddle. But do not be too dejected if you haven’t yet figured out the meaning of the third, it will come to you. Take your time and do not worry about being a burden on me, for I am thoroughly enjoying your company. You see, there are not many in my village that I can have an intelligent conversation with.”

Not many? Thought Rain, there was probably nobody here the man could have an intelligent conversation with. He seemed to be the only one here with a functional brain.

True
, said his Geeya. And Rain realized that he had spoken to his Geeya without being aware of it. Touching his Geeya mark to dismiss her, because he didn’t really need her now and she was only serving as a distraction to him, Rain turned to concentrate on the problem at hand.

The fourth riddle turned out to be no less confusing.

“The fourth riddle is – ‘Do not expect help from above, when foolish is the friend you love.’” said Dammy Kunga. “I have wondered about this last one the most. I am not in love with any woman; neither do I have any friend by the name of ‘Foolish’, whom I hold dear. What could my father have possibly meant by this?” he wondered.

Rain looked at him and mentally amended the level of Dammy Kunga’s intelligence. Yes, he had a brain, but only half of it seemed to be functional. Not surprising considering the company the poor guy kept, thought Rain sympathetically.

“I’ll have to think this over, too.” he said, pacing back and forth slowly, mulling over the new riddle along with the old one.

Rain spent all of that week ruminating and trying to discover the meaning behind the last two riddles. Finally, the following week, an answer came to him shortly after breakfast.

“Dammy …” he called, “come with me to the box. I think I have the meaning of the fourth riddle- you know, ‘Do not expect help from above, when foolish is the friend you love’ …” he said, repeating the riddle.

Dammy was by his side immediately, visibly trying to hold in his excitement in case this should be just a false alarm. “Come quickly then, before you forget.” he said, leading the way.

They walked together to the table where the box lay, patiently waiting for its secrets to be discovered. They sat facing each other, as usual, and Rain began to speak.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it all this while. It’s something my father always said. He would say a smart enemy is better than a foolish friend. And that’s what I think this rid…”

The third lock on the box snapped open before Rain had finished his sentence.

“See? I was right!” said Rain, feeling a sense of relief at having correctly solved one more riddle.  But this seemed to put Dammy Kunga in a dilemma of some sort.

“I don’t understand.” said Dammy. “How can it be better to have a smart enemy instead of a foolish friend? An enemy is always an enemy. He could never do me any good.”

“Exactly! And so, you will always be wary of him,” agreed Rain, “because an enemy can always be counted upon to cause you harm. But a friend? You would never exercise caution with a friend. And if that friend happens to be foolish, he could lead you into trouble faster than you can say ‘go’.”

“Yes … I do believe I understand now.” said Dammy Kunga, beginning to toy around with his rings again. Rain understood that Dammy Kunga did this out of habit whenever he was in deep thought or there was something troubling him. Rain found himself glancing down at his own chain. Why wouldn’t it glow? All of the riddles he had solved until now had been wisdoms, but none of them were what he was looking for. He hoped the last riddle would be the wisdom he was supposed to collect on this Quest.

“Wait a minute…”said Rain, softly.

He looked up at Dammy Kunga with excitement.

“You think you have the answer to the last riddle?” asked Dammy Kunga eagerly.

“Thirst … quench thirst … ‘an empty glass can never quench thirst, look for the source of water first’ … this means knowledge! Your father wants you to always thirst for knowledge. But don’t go seeking it just anywhere. Search out wise, learned men, scholars … the right source of the water, of knowledge, and learn from them.” explained Rain.

Their attention was drawn towards the last lock on the box which had opened with a loud snap and was now lying on the floor. Then, the lid of the box flew open and its sides fell away, revealing its contents at last.

The insides of the box were covered with soft velvet cushioning, where two bottles of perfume lay. One of the bottles held a diamond inside it while the other had an unremarkable flat metal disc with a hole in its centre, like an ancient coin. There was a small note below the two bottles, which Dammy Kunga picked up with shaking fingers and began to read aloud.

‘My son, this is my gift to you. Choose any one bottle and wear the pendant that’s inside on your neck, always. Let it be a reminder to you of the lessons you have so far learnt.’

Rain wasn’t really listening. He was fiddling with his chain which still refused to glow.

Dammy Kunga looked up at Rain.

“Another riddle?” he asked.

“What?” asked Rain, looking blank. Dammy repeated the words of his father’s note.

“I don’t think so.” said Rain, looking preoccupied. “Go ahead and open the bottles. Then choose the pendant you want to wear. You’ve found your father’s gift. Congratulations.” he gave Dammy Kunga a brief smile but Dammy shook his head.

“Something doesn’t seem right. Between the diamond and the metal there isn’t really a choice, is there? It’s obvious I’ll choose to wear the diamond pendant.” he said, reaching for the bottle with the diamond suspended in it.

He opened it carefully and brought the bottle close to sniff the perfume. An extremely foul smell hit his nostrils the instant he did that and he screwed up his nose, quickly closing the lid of the bottle.

“Ugh! This is disgusting! Have I been too late in opening the box? This perfume seems to have spoilt.”

The fumes from the bottle were indeed terrible and Rain found himself turning up his nose even though he didn’t want to, for fear of appearing impolite. Dammy Kunga then picked up the second bottle and, holding it out at some distance, opened it. But the smell that wafted from this bottle was most pleasant and Dammy Kunga breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with its sweet scent.

“How odd …” he noted quietly, staring at the bottle in his hand, “after opening the bottles, my choice has reversed. I can never wear the diamond pendant. It smells too foul. My choice will most definitely be the metal pendant, though it is not as remarkable as the diamond.”

And it hit Rain like a bolt out of the blue.

“That’s it, Dammy! Look, that’s a
diamond
pendant there, but you’re not going to wear it because it smells so foul. Instead, you would prefer to wear an ordinary piece of metal because it smells wonderful. This is your father’s final message to you. In simple words, what this means is, if you stay around roses, you’ll smell like roses. Stay around dirt, you’ll smell like dirt. Your father didn’t want you to languish here in this village, just wasting away.  That’s why he told you not to marry before you solved the riddles; so that you wouldn’t grow roots here - pardon me for saying this - in a village full of foolish people. He wanted you to move out, seek the company of learned men, and settle down somewhere where you can become a worthy person and not just remain like that diamond, immersed in a pool of foul smelling liquid. Beautiful to look at, yes, but absolutely undesirable and useless.” he finished, slightly out of breath.

Dammy Kunga’s jaw had gone slightly slack, and he could only gape silently at the small metal pendant that he held between his fingers, as he slowly absorbed the full meaning of the messages his father had left him. Rain looked down at his chain- a single claw was glowing.

Bingo!

‘Stay around roses, smell like roses.’ This last wisdom was it. The one he was looking for.

Rain got to his feet purposefully.

“Dammy, I believe all the riddles left by your father have been solved. I have found the wisdom I was looking for, too. You were right, the solution to both of our problems was inside that box. I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality. I must be off now. Thank-you so much for everything.”

Dammy rose to his feet, too.

“No… Rain, my friend. It is you I must thank. In the short time that you have spent with me, you have opened my eyes. I now understand perfectly what my father wanted from me and I fully intend to follow his advice. I could never have done this without you. How can I express my gratitude to you?”

“You have already done more than enough.” said Rain generously.

“No, no. I insist.” said Dammy Kunga. “There must be something you want. Gold? Jewels? Horses? Anything I have. Name it and it’s yours.”

Rain hesitated for a moment and then let the words out quickly before he lost his courage.

“Pepito … he is a nice man… and his children deserve a better future. If it’s not too much to ask, could you please take him and his family along with you when you leave this village?”

“Consider it done.” said Dammy Kunga without a moment’s thought or hesitation. Rain shook his hands gratefully and then they parted ways.

Rain made his way out of the village with a bounce to his steps. This had taken very long, but the effort felt like it had been worth it. On his way out, he passed the field where he had met little Pu. He spotted her standing in the middle of the playground, surrounded by a small of group of girls of similar age. She was clearly the favored one in the group now, observed Rain, as he watched her laugh and gesture animatedly to the group, who seemed to be hanging on to her every word.

How things change in such a short time, he thought, shaking his head with amusement.

He caught her eye then, and smiled at her. Disengaging herself from her group of admirers, she came running over to him as fast as her chubby legs would allow her to.

“Pulina, how’s my little princess?” inquired Rain, fondly ruffling her hair.

“Are you leaving?” she demanded, pouting and slightly out of breath.

“Yes, because my work here is finished.” answered Rain.

“I don’t want you to go.” she protested, tears brimming in her eyes. “They let me play now because you are my friend.”

“And I will always be your friend.” said Rain.

He went down on bended knee so that he would be at eye-level with her.

“Look, don’t cry. Here, you can have my last toffee.” he said, offering her the sweet. She smiled despite herself and took the sweet from him. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and popped the sweet into her mouth. Rain smiled at the familiar sight.

“Will you do one thing for me?” he asked her.

She nodded solemnly, sucking on the toffee.

“In a few days from now, the village chief - Dammy Kunga - will leave. I want you to convince your family to leave with him, Okay? And you leave too. It’s for the best. Promise me you’ll do that.” he said, searching those wide, innocent eyes. It was a big responsibility to put on her young shoulders, Rain knew, but if it helped her family move out of here and make something better of her life, she would thank him for it.

She nodded again. “I promise, Rail.”

“Good girl.” he said, and then kissed her on the cheek.

Pu gasped and went red in the face. She stood rooted to the spot as he rose and turned to leave. She waited until he had gone some distance and then, without another word, she turned around and ran back to her waiting circle of friends.

“He kissed me!” she squealed in delight, even before Rain was out of ear-shot.

“Ooh!” echoed the girls around her. “You lucky bug!”

“Is he your boyfriend now?” asked one.

But Rain couldn’t hear her reply because the wind was whooshing around his ears and the village was just a blur, whizzing past.

*****

CHAPTER 6

Rain could make out the outline of the makeshift hut even from this distance. As he neared the hut the smell of lamb being cooked hit his nostrils and he sniffed in appreciation, increasing his pace.