Despite my exhaustion, that last glimpse of Rai Chand both puzzled and disturbed me. He’d looked like a man with no good choices. I did not for a moment think that would work in my favor.
The Framjis did not know where I was, so Diana would be frantic. How long had I been unconscious? I did not even know what day it was.
After dropping that assignment on me, Rai Chand had not set me free. Why not? Was he planning to dispose of me after all? Perhaps demanding that I steal the Queen’s gold was a blind—but why go to the trouble of such theater?
My knee almost buckled when I groaned to my feet. When I bent to pocket my notebook and watch, my head swam. I blinked, feeling weak. The room tilted, then righted itself. I could not recall when last I’d eaten. Ignoring my churning gut, I examined my prison.
For all its peeling paint, the locked door was sturdy. A narrow window hung high in the outer wall, slightly above my head. I ran my fingers over the stones. The mortar between was riddled with holes and cracks. An old stone building, ill kept.
Sweat stung my eyes. I mopped it away with a cuff and blinked, but my sight was still blurred. The water. It had been waiting at the door. The group had silently watched me drink.
My gut tightened as awareness dawned. I had less time than I imagined. They had not set me free because they were waiting for me to pass out. I tasted the sour tinge of bile as I understood. Whatever they had in store, it was something I would not accept while conscious.
I dragged the chair to the window and propped my foot on it, then dug out the little blade from the heel of my boot. Just inches long, the rounded wood handle fit snugly in my palm. With this I made a series of gouges in the wall, loosening the already crumbling mortar into footholds.
My injured knee shrieked at the first step onto the seat. The second was easier, since I’d got my hands over the window ledge. The third brought my elbow over the ledge, so I ducked my head through into the fresh air. If the window had been barred, I’d have been stumped. My boot slid around, scraping the wall. Then my shoulders scraped painfully through, barely fitting.
I was on the second floor—too high to drop to the ground. I’d only save the gang the trouble of killing me. To my left was another window, to my right, a water pipe bolted to the stones. All I needed was somewhere to sleep, a place I would not be found. I blinked and tried to clear my vision. Time to choose. Left or right?
By shoving the toe of my boot at the wall, I found purchase and pushed upward. Clinging to the window jamb, my hips squeezed through. I stifled a grunt, but the pain helped. My vision cleared and my mind.
The only safe course was the roof.
The sun was at the horizon when my bicycle tonga stopped at the gate of Framji Mansion. I’d waited on the roof of Rai Chand’s lair, wedged by the chimney, its shadow sheltering me from the heat. Perhaps I’d even slept. Eventually the hubbub below had ceased.
Gurung hauled open the grille, crying, “Captain Sahib has come!” Ganju ran to aid me up the stairs.
“Jim!” Diana yelped. “Are you all right? Your face!”
Burjor came from his office, his bulk fairly bouncing toward us.
Her arm guiding me, Diana asked, “Where on earth have you been?”
I recalled hiding from the searchers with jocular relief. “Rolling in ditches, I’m afraid.”
Mrs. Framji arrived with baby Tehmina on her hip, exclaiming, “Did you find Shirin? Oh! What happened to you?”
Someone propelled me to a long chair and pulled out the leg rests so I could recline. Mrs. Framji gave orders. “… sunburnt. Smash up two raw potatoes and bring the pulp!”
Little Tehmina appeared near my elbow, peering. Diana poured water from a glass jug whose beaded mesh tinkled softly. “God, Jim, what happened?”
Someone applied a cool cloth to my face. Lightheaded, I closed my eyes, speechless, my arm curved around Tehmina’s birdlike frame. I was home.
If only I could have brought Shirin with me, I might have been able to rest.