Where Earth Meets Sky (9 page)

‘Morning, Ironside!’ The captain sounded very cheerful, now he was free from the domestic realm.

‘Good morning,’ Sam rubbed his hands together. ‘Chillier morning than I expected!’

‘Ah yes – winter nights are pretty cold here,’ the captain said as they walked round to where the Daimler was parked. ‘You’ve come at the right time, though – gets damnably hot later in the year. Actually, you’ll catch the beginning of it. Come March, the temperature starts to creep up, and by May, June time, phoo! But you’ll be long gone by then. Course, we get the extremes here on the northern plains. Anyway – got your breakfast all right?’

‘Very nice, thank you, sir.’

‘No need to “sir” me – I told you. So, if you’re set, we can get cracking. Tell me about this car!’

That had Sam straight into his element, of course. The car was a 45 hp, one of the first new 1907 models, and Sam knew it was an excellent choice. So far as he was concerned, you wouldn’t find a better on the market anywhere, and he had admired the captain just from his choice of motor without even meeting him!

‘Right then . . .’ He hesitated. ‘Did you not want your groom to learn about the car too, sir?’

‘Oh, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to teach Arsalan. He’s quick as anything. Just give me a onceover first.’

‘Right you are, sir.’ Sam was already enjoying himself. ‘Well, let’s start with the chassis. Of course, they’re all built on a pressed steel frame now, not like the old models, you know, all flitch plate, channel steel and wood frames . . . This is a strong animal, this one.’

Animated, he pointed out all the special features, like the clearance between rear axle and side frames,
and
, ‘Look here.’ He ducked down at the back and beckoned to Charles Fairford to do the same. As they squatted side by side the odours of horse and sweat came off the captain, a pungent, manly combination. For a second, Sam found a powerful image of the women he had met earlier on flash into his mind. Miss Waters: as if she had been summoned by the primitive earthiness of smell. Bewildered, Sam banished her from his thoughts.

‘D’you see the height of the floorline?’ He was full of it now, rattling on at full speed! ‘Well, if you look at any of the models that went before, the floor’s been lowered considerably so it’s easier to get into the seats – especially for the ladies, of course. Now, you might be thinking, well that’s no good, because we’ll be scraping the car’s belly along the road at that rate.’

He looked round at Charles Fairford and saw he had his complete attention.

‘Well, yes, so you would think . . .’

‘Ah – well, this is the thing. Just take a look underneath her.’

As requested, Captain Fairford knelt and peered under the car. Sam noticed the sallow colour of his skin at the back of his neck, edged by his strong mahogany-coloured hair. From living out here, he thought. Never really goes white like the rest of us

‘See? Good clearance off the road, isn’t there?’

‘Well, I don’t have much to compare with . . . But it seems very good.’

‘Lower frame, but more road clearance – so, how have we done it? By raising the engine higher up in the frame, that’s how! The gearbox is lower because we reversed the position of the gearshaft and countershaft.
So
– the great thing is, you gain more stability
and
reduce the amount of dust raised off the road. Two things which will be of great importance out here. Quite a thing, wouldn’t you say?’

The captain looked genuinely impressed. ‘Splendid! Thoroughly splendid.’

They spent a very comfortable couple of hours, kneeling, prodding, peering into the engine, like two schoolboys with a Meccano set. Sam took him through every detail of the engine, cooling system, gears and the springing, which was another of Daimler’s proudest developments: springs four feet long – marvellous! And he could see the captain was hooked.

‘All I can say is, Captain, you’ve made an excellent choice,’ Sam finished. It was ten o’clock by now, the sun was well up and the air pleasantly warm. A sweet smell of flowers drifted from the beds and pots.

‘Well.’ The captain straightened up. ‘If Daimler’s good enough for the king I assumed it would be for me. You’ve painted a damned fine picture of the workings – thank you, Ironside.’

‘More than a pleasure, sir.’

‘Fancy breakfast?’

‘I thought I’d already had that.’

Charles Fairford laughed. He was a handsome so-and-so, Sam had to hand him that.

‘Ah – that was just
chota hazri
, a sort of minor breakfast I take before my ride. It’s about time for
bari hazri
. Breakfast major, let’s say!’

As they stood there, there came a flurry of running feet and the boy, Cosmo, came tearing round from the back of the house.

‘Pater! I want to see the car!’

Close behind, looking flustered, there she was again: Miss Waters, no longer in riding gear.

‘I’m sorry, Captain Fairford!’ She was blushing, though in her eyes Sam saw elements of mischief on the boy’s behalf. ‘He’s been trying to get out here with you all morning. I couldn’t hold him any longer.’

‘Not at all,’ the captain said easily. ‘Of course he must see it! Come here, Cosmo, old chap!’

He swung the boy up into his arms, and into the driver’s seat. Cosmo laughed with glee, jumping up and down on the seat, holding on to the steering wheel.

‘Make it go, Pater! Make it go fast!’

‘Not now, Cozzy. You just have a look for the moment. But we’ll get Mr Ironside to take us for a spin later on, shall we?’

They all stood watching the boy for a few moments, with all his four-year-old, full-hearted glee. Miss Waters’s eyes were fixed on him with a rapt smile. But for a moment Sam saw her gaze turn towards him with frank curiosity. He looked back, giving a faint smile, but she fixed her eyes on the boy.

Captain Fairford turned to them.

‘I don’t know if you’ve met Miss Waters? She’s Cosmo’s nanny – doing a sterling job too, I might say. Miss Waters, this is Mr Ironside, from the Daimler Motor Company, who has provided us with this splendid machine.’

They turned to one another again and Sam extended his hand.

‘How d’you do, Miss Waters?’

‘Pleased to meet you, Mr Ironside.’

She gave him that shy, yet somehow vivacious, look. He had never seen eyes contain more energy and depth. Then she looked quickly away again. Her hand was small and soft and he shook it so carelessly then. He had touched her for the first time, simply as a social formality. Sam had no notion that morning of the extent to which, engraved on his future, would be the mark of his longing to touch her again.

One afternoon, when he had not been in Ambala many days, Sam went for a stroll in the garden while he waited for Captain Fairford. The captain was obliged, naturally, to spend parts of each day working with his regiment on administration, parades and so forth. By three-thirty or so he was usually free, and Sam instructed him, and Arsalan, on the workings of the engine.

The hottest part of the day was rather like English summer, and when Sam approached the house, sweating a little in the afternoon sun, there was a commotion going on outside on the veranda. The two children were there with Mrs Fairford and Miss Waters. He lost his stride for a second, as he didn’t relish seeing the captain’s wife at any time. It was bad enough having to have dinner with her every night. However, the girl, Isadora seemed to be screaming blue murder, so they weren’t taking any notice of him.

‘
Ayah
– where is
Ayah
?’ Susan Fairford’s voice was shrill. ‘Lily, fetch the wretched girl. Fetch her at once!’

But before Miss Waters had moved more than a step the
ayah
appeared.

‘Oh, for goodness sake, take her indoors until she’s quietened down. This is unbearable!’

The
ayah
led Isadora screaming into the house and Mrs Fairford flung herself down into one of the chairs. She was dressed to go out, in a white, lace-trimmed dress and hat.

‘Oh, it really is too much. Just when she was ready. That child will be the death of me. I can’t bear it!’

Miss Waters was kneeling with her back to Sam, with Cosmo, whose shoelaces she appeared to be fastening, in front of her on a chair. But then Mrs Fairford caught sight of Sam.

‘Mr Ironside.’ She sat up, only just managing to regain her formal composure. In fact, she sounded annoyed at having another thing to contend with. ‘You’ll have to forgive us. We are just taking the children out to a party.’

‘Not at all,’ Sam said. ‘Don’t let me get in your way.’

‘Do come and sit down,’ she instructed, distractedly. ‘Charles will be back at any moment.’

He went into the shade of the veranda and sat on one of the lounging chairs, with wooden arms long enough to rest one’s legs on, though Sam kept his feet on the floor. He was not far from Miss Waters. She stood up, her attention fixed on the boy, who was looking the image of the perfect gentleman child in a sailor suit. Sam saw a faint smile on her lips, as if she was pleased with her handiwork. Not once did she turn and acknowledge him.

‘Don’t want my shoes on,’ Cosmo was saying, petulantly.

‘Oh glory – don’t you start as well!’ Mrs Fairford snapped, exasperated. ‘You see, dressing Isadora to go out is the most
awful
ordeal. The child would run around naked all day if we let her. The moment we begin on petticoats and so forth, all hell breaks loose!’

Sam could hear her trying to make light of the problem, but there was a desperate note in her voice. She had a printed card of some sort in her hand and was fanning herself with it and he noticed she looked pale and unwell.

‘As ever, the only person who can make her see any sense is the
ayah
.’

‘So what is her secret, do you think?’ Sam asked. He didn’t really give a damn what the answer was, but he was trying to be civil.

‘Heaven knows,’ she replied languidly. ‘So long as she gets her out here with her party clothes on, I couldn’t care less.’

But his question provoked a reaction from Miss Waters.

‘The
ayah
sings to her,’ she explained, quietly. ‘She sings her into her clothes.’

‘With her native mumbo-jumbo, no doubt,’ Mrs Fairford snapped.

‘She just sings about each item of clothing as they put it on,’ Miss Waters said. ‘And Izzy gets caught up in it, like a game. Srimala is rather clever like that.’

Her face was as calm and inscrutable as ever, but Sam saw a momentary light in her eyes as she looked down at Susan Fairford.
She can’t stand the woman either
, was his first thought, because that was what he wanted to think. He felt a complicity with Miss Waters, since they were both bracketed together as the ‘lower orders’. But immediately he saw that it was not that. There was something rather tender in her expression and he was puzzled. Sam wanted to catch her eye and smile, but she didn’t look at him. The boy was swinging his feet vigorously, kicking the legs of his chair and she laid a hand on his shoulder to still him.

‘Well, whatever she does, let’s hope it doesn’t take too long. I ordered the
tonga
for half past three. And – oh, my goodness!’ Susan Fairford leaped up. ‘Have we the milk? Really, Lily, you should have reminded me.’

‘Cook’s doing it. He said he’d bring it.’

‘Well, go round to the cookhouse and ask him to hurry. Quickly! Knowing him, he’s probably only just lighting the fire!
Really
,’ she exclaimed as Miss Waters obeyed. ‘You have to do everything yourself if you want anything done properly. And really, one doesn’t keep dogs to have to bark oneself, does one?’

‘Indeed not,’ Sam agreed, repelled by her attitude. He realized, to his surprise, that he had less respect for her than for the
syce
, Arsalan. Instructing him about the car, he found that the fellow had a mind like greased lightning; you only had to tell him anything once.

‘One can’t trust anyone else’s servants to boil the milk properly, you see. They’re all so lazy and heaven knows what we might all go down with. This country’s full of filthy diseases. So we always take our own children’s milk, to be quite sure.’

Miss Waters appeared then, holding two bottles of milk wrapped in tissue paper, and a moment later came the sound of hooves and a jingling bell as the
tonga
came along the drive, pulled by a scrawny pony. With magical timing, the
ayah
appeared with a tear-stained, but frilly-clad Isadora, and the three women and two children climbed on to the
tonga
. Cosmo perched on the seat facing the front, between his mother and Miss Waters, and the
ayah
took the girl at the back. It was Miss Waters who put her arm round the boy to steady him, though, and Sam found himself thinking, She is the one who looks as if she is his mother.

As the
tonga
moved off, Miss Waters glanced at him. Their eyes met, though he didn’t think it intentional on her part. He felt she was sizing him up in some way. But there was something in the look, a momentary nakedness in that usually closed face, which affected him. He sat and watched the
tonga
disappear past all the flowerpots along the Fairfords’ drive and on to the road and found that he was staring for quite some time afterwards.