Jehan and the Quest of the Lost Dog

by Rosanne Hawke

  Izaak smiled at Jehan, then led the way up to the house with Lali bounding beside them.

  The house was bigger than Jehan’s. It looked like it had many rooms, a large courtyard and lots of goats. Jehan felt his eyes sting as he walked toward the goats. One butted against him mildly like his white-faced nanny goat used to do. He blinked his tears away.

  Izaak watched him, his eyes kind. ‘You had goats?’

  Jehan nodded, but he couldn’t speak.

  ‘Ao,’ Izaak said softly.

  He led Jehan into a courtyard, but Lali had to sit at the entrance. She seemed to know people didn’t allow dogs in their houses. Children gathered around, staring at Jehan and the bundle in his hands. Inside the razai, Lali’s pups yipped and the children’s eyes widened.

  A girl around his age ran up to Izaak. She was taller than Jehan and had a long black plait down her back. ‘Salaam, Chacha ji!’ She squealed as Izaak lifted her high.

  When he put her down, he said, ‘Jehan, this is Shakila, my niece.’ He turned to the girl. ‘Jehan hasn’t spoken much to me, but he might to you. I’ll go now and check where he can sleep.’ He left Kooki’s cage by Jehan’s feet.

  Shakila asked, ‘What have you got in your razai?’

  Jehan lifted a corner. Nala and Lal looked up at them, blinking.

  ‘Wah,’ Shakila said. ‘They’re khoob.’ She touched one with her finger. ‘They remind me of a dog I saw recently.’

  Shakila picked up Kooki’s cage. ‘Is this chicken yours?’

  Jehan tipped his head. ‘I saved her from the flood. Her name’s Kooki.’

  Shakila looked at him carefully. ‘Do you have parents?’

  ‘I hope so,’ he said. ‘And a little brother.’ He sighed. ‘A man told me they’d drowned, that everyone had drowned.’

  ‘That’s a terrible thing to say,’ Shakila said. ‘He must have wanted to take you away.’

  Jehan squinted at her. ‘To the city?’

  ‘Perhaps.’ Then she pulled his hand. ‘Ao, I’ll show you our goats and chickens out the back. After, I’ll get you something to eat.’

  Jehan didn’t like to say he’d rather eat first.

  Shakila took him outside. The same goat bumped into him again – she must have walked around from the front of the house. ‘She’s called Billie because she’s like a cat. She wants you to scratch her head.’

  It was hard scratching a goat with heavy pups in your arms, but Jehan managed. A rooster and chickens scattered at their feet, clucking and scratching the ground. Kooki cackled at them. She tried to fly and bumped her head at the top of the cage. Jehan laughed. Then he saw the most beautiful bird he had ever seen. It had the brightest blue and green feathers. ‘What sort of parinda is that?’

  Shakila laughed. ‘It’s a peacock. We’ve found lots of animals in the flood. My father rescued him.’ She looked at Kooki. ‘Just like you rescued your chicken.’ She popped some grain into Kooki’s cage.

  Jehan tilted his head. He knew all about collecting and rescuing things from the flood. ‘I have a dog,’ he said softly. He hoped Lali was happy on the other side of the house and that she would be allowed to sleep with him later.

  Jehan looked out over the tents. There were so many, they looked like a white flood. He could see a red dog racing between some tents and he smiled. It looked like Lali. If his parents and Amir were here, they would be in one of those tents. As soon as possible, he would check.

  ‘Come inside,’ Shakila said. ‘Are you hungry?’

  Jehan tried to be polite by not saying how hungry he was. He picked up Kooki’s cage and soon Shakila gave him leftover curry and chapattis. Even cold it tasted like food from heaven. He kept half a chapatti for Lali and gave a small piece to each of the pups.

  ‘You can come to school,’ she said. ‘It’s in two big tents: one for the boys and one for the girls.’

  ‘School sounds good,’ he said between mouthfuls. If Amir was here the other boys might know him.

  The moment the boy went inside Lali couldn’t sit still. There were too many scents in the air: food, small four-leggers with horns, two-leggers. She had to explore. She might find Beti or those other kind girls she’d met.

  Lali bounded down the hill and ran along the dirt, jumping over ropes, exploring the lanes between the tents. She smelled bones, tough-tails and poo, and she sensed fear and worry. The smells made stories but many of them were unhappy.

  Although this was a strange village, Lali knew it was a safe place for the pups and the boy. The big-water stayed in the river. She wouldn’t have to swim to catch food anymore.

  There were more two-leggers than she had seen in her life. Some were quiet and just sat, others were busy washing pots and cooking meat outside. Lali salivated. One two-legger male threw her a small piece of meat and bone. She caught it as if it were a ball and took it away from the tents to chew on the grass.

  A familiar smell of jasmine flowers grew stronger. She yipped. Turned around and sniffed again. And again.

  She could smell Beti! She was healthy but distressed, like the boy. Lali snuffled along the grass and back to the rows of tents, her nose to the ground. She had to dodge running children and a big two-legger flicked her away with a cloth. Eventually, she arrived at a tent that had two-legger girls in it. One was making happy sounds like Beti.

  But Beti wasn’t there.

  After an hour, Izaak came to fetch Jehan. He was carrying Jehan’s bath and a plastic bag. ‘Ao, I’ll take you to your tent. You can wash and put on these fresh clothes.’

  Jehan turned to Shakila. ‘Thank you for the meal.’

  ‘Come back in the morning and help me with the goats.’

  ‘Shukriya.’ He picked up Kooki’s cage and called for Lali. But she didn’t come. He decided not to worry; she would be able to find them.

  With the pups cradled in his arms, Jehan followed Izaak down the green hill toward the tent city. He was becoming used to walking on the ground – his legs weren’t quivering as much.

  ‘How long were you living in the tree?’ Izaak asked.

  ‘Almost a month. Since the flood came.’

  Izaak’s eyebrows rose. ‘Wah, how strong to survive so long. Well, you’re safe now.’

  Jehan’s eyes filled. Izaak spoke the truth, but Jehan knew he wouldn’t feel truly safe again until he found his family.

  Lali bounded up to him and sniffed the razai to check the pups were there. ‘So there you are, Lali. Have you had fun running around on solid land?’

  They walked down a muddy pathway between two rows of tents. Some girls raced ahead of them and a few adults sat on charpais, staring at him. Now Jehan was closer to the tents it felt like a town, not a village. So many people must have lost their houses.

  Izaak stopped outside a grey tent. ‘This one is for boys,’ he said simply.

  Jehan knew they would be boys like him – boys without parents. Perhaps Amir would be here. He took a deep breath as he looked inside. Two older boys were sitting on mats, playing with marbles.

  Izaak said, ‘Salaam, Anil and Sunny. This is Jehan.’

  The boys tipped their chins. ‘Salaam.’

  ‘Salaam,’ Jehan put Kookie’s cage on the ground.

  Izaak turned to leave. ‘See you at the evening meal, Jehan. Anil and Sunny will show you where to go.’

  Lali gave a bark from outside. Jehan held the pups close. He knew most people didn’t allow dogs inside. He said, ‘Do you mind if my dog sleeps with me? I’ll sleep outside with her if you wish. She has pups.’

  Anil glanced at Sunny and they both shrugged.

  ‘You sleep on that mat by the flap,’ Anil said. ‘Then if they need to go outside they can without touching us.’

  Jehan arranged a cloth and the pups in the bath so they wouldn’t crawl away.

  Anil and Sunny crowded to
see. ‘Khoob puppies! You’re lucky, Jehan.’

  Jehan smiled. ‘They’re called Nala and Lal.’

  ‘Wah! Nala, like The Lion King,’ Sunny said.

  Jehan yawned. He was too tired to talk anymore, too tired to say again that he didn’t know where his family was.

  He lay beside Lali on the razai and thought of the time his mother turned the house upside down until she found her lost gold earring. She always said lost things must be found. Jehan decided that he would check all the tents the next day. His family must be here and he would find them.

  In the morning, Jehan dressed in a shalwar qameez Izaak had given him, then washed his face and hands with Sunny and Anil outside the boys’ food tent. He watched all the people coming to the tent, checking for his parents and Amir. But there only seemed to be children or single grown-ups without families who ate there. After a while, Sunny and Anil pulled him in to eat chapattis and egg. Jehan couldn’t wait to start searching the tents. He ate his food quickly, wondering where to look first.

  Jehan took food to Lali and the pups. And after the pups had scoffed their first scraps, Jehan held his torn razai under Lali’s nose. ‘Smell this, Lali. Can you help me find my family?’

  Lali barked.

  They ran up and down the paths between the tents. But he couldn’t see anyone sitting on a charpai who looked like his father. And no one cooking over a fire looked like his mother. Nor could he check inside the tents in case someone was changing their clothes. Plus, there were so many tents.

  Jehan stopped and put his hands on his knees, puffing. ‘This will take ages,’ he cried.

  Lali kept bounding up the path.

  ‘Lali, ao.’

  But she didn’t come. She stopped outside a tent near the end of the row.

  ‘Lali!’ She stood still, her nose pointed to the tent opening. Jehan caught up to her. ‘What have you found?’

  Lali wagged her tail.

  He peeked inside carefully. But the tent was empty. On a mat Jehan spied a green razai. It was the same colour and pattern as the torn razai he used to share with Amir. The cloth was common, but how strange that Lali knew it was here. He didn’t think dogs could see green.

  Jehan walked slowly back to his tent. It was so hot he unbuttoned his new qameez. Lali zigzagged far behind him, sniffing footprints and poo. Jehan walked past a big school tent with the Pakistani flag on top. How he missed his school and Mr Nadeem. His life was so different now.

  Shakila was outside his tent when he returned, trying to peer in at the pups.

  Jehan smiled. ‘Go in and pat them.’

  ‘The mother won’t mind?’

  ‘Nay. But let’s pull the bath outside,’ he said. ‘Then they’ll have fresh air.’

  Kooki clucked. She looked pleased to see Shakila, too.

  Jehan and Shakila leaned over the bath and watched the pups trying to crawl up the sides. He sighed. He was thinking of Kooki. She would love to run around and scratch.

  ‘Shakila,’ he said.

  ‘Hmm?’ She gave him a quick glance.

  ‘Would you like to have Kooki? She’d much rather play with your hens than sit in a cage.’

  Her eyes shone. ‘Shukriya, she is so pretty. I don’t have a black one.’ She looked up at him and paused. ‘What’s that around your neck?’

  Jehan touched the ribbon with his finger.

  ‘Wah,’ Shakila said, ‘it’s Kelsey’s ribbon!’

  Jehan stared at her. ‘You know a girl called Kelsey, too?’ In the busyness of the past few days he’d forgotten Izaak had said he knew a girl called Kelsey.

  Just then Lali raced up and sniffed Shakila’s hand.

  ‘Lali!’ Shakila turned a shining face to Jehan. ‘This is the dog we saw.’ She patted Lali’s head. ‘You wouldn’t stay with us.’

  Lali sat in front of Shakila, her tongue lolling happily.

  ‘So, this is your dog? And she’s the pups’ mother?’ Shakila asked Jehan. ‘How amazing.’

  Jehan shifted his feet. ‘I found Lali in the flood. And we rescued her pups together.’

  Shakila tilted her head. ‘And it was you who found the ribbon.’

  He wondered if he should give it to Shakila to return to Kelsey.

  ‘We thought a family must love Lali very much to make her a collar and put her name on it,’ Shakila said. ‘Kelsey tied her ribbon to it, in case they needed help.’

  Jehan thought about how Lali had returned to the mango tree and wanted to take him somewhere. She must have wanted to take him to the girls.

  ‘It worked,’ he said. ‘The ribbon made me realise other people could be alive. That Lali must have met someone. ‘I wish I could thank Kelsey.’

  Shakila smiled at him. ‘You’ll see Kelsey soon. She often comes here to play or to go to school with me.’

  At that moment Lali jumped to her feet. ‘Woof!’

  ‘What is it?’ Jehan asked.

  A squeal came from the end of the path. ‘Lali?!’ cried a high voice.

  Jehan saw a tall girl with a long dark plait slung over her shoulder running toward them.

  ‘Woof! Woof!’ Lali sprang up to the girl, her tail wagging faster than Jehan had seen before.

  ‘That’s Fozia,’ Shakila said. ‘Her sister drowned and she hasn’t found her parents yet.’

  Fozia was now kneeling on the ground, hugging Lali and weeping. Lali licked her face, her head, her hands. Then she ran around the girl, barked, and licked her all over again.

  Jehan felt a dog-sized hole open up inside of him. He knew Lali wasn’t his to keep, but he didn’t think he’d have to lose her so soon.

  Lali ran up to Jehan, then looked back at Fozia as if to make sure she followed.

  Fozia’s shadow fell over Jehan. He gulped. She was so much taller than him.

  ‘Did you find my dog?’ she asked.

  Jehan tilted his head. He didn’t trust himself to speak.

  Shakila said, ‘They were living in a tree together. Chacha Izaak found them.’

  Fozia frowned. ‘I thought everyone in my family was lost.’

  Jehan’s eyes welled up at the same time as Fozia’s. Everyone might be lost for him, too. And now what would he do without Lali?

  ‘She sleeps with me,’ Jehan burst out. ‘And the pups.’

  Fozia’s eyebrows rose. ‘She still has the pups?’

  ‘Ji.’

  ‘Show me.’

  Jehan indicated the bath. Nala and Lal stood on their hind legs, clawing against the tin sides, yipping to be let out.

  ‘They’re khoob,’ Fozia whispered. ‘Just like Lali. They were only a few weeks old when—’ Fozia stopped and blinked her eyes.

  Jehan averted his gaze. He understood how she felt.

  Then Fozia said, ‘My parents would never let me sleep with Lali. She slept outside, but we played together after school. She wasn’t a guard dog, she was my pet.’ Fozia swallowed. ‘It was unusual in our village. I always hoped she would survive—’

  She stayed silent a long time. So did Shakila, and Jehan. He thought of finding Lali, the fish she brought him, and Lali teaching him to swim. He thought of the nights when they curled up together and how one growl from Lali kept the monkeys away. And he thought of how she ate all the rats so they couldn’t chew his ears. These were all the things that Fozia didn’t know.

  ‘Lali is my dog,’ Fozia said firmly.

  Jehan hung his head. He wiped his nose with his sleeve.

  ‘But—’

  Jehan looked up as Fozia hesitated. He felt a thump in his belly.

  ‘—Lali and the pups can sleep with you,’ she said quickly.

  Jehan couldn’t believe his ears. Was Fozia saying he could share Lali? He didn’t dare voice it in case she changed her mind. He just tilted his head. She was much older and bigge
r than he was. Just like he imagined a big sister would be – a bit bossy but with kindness settling between her words.

  ‘Shukriya,’ was all he said.

  That evening when Jehan returned to his tent after eating, he found Kooki in the bath with the pups. Kooki crooned as Jehan stroked her neck. ‘Do you miss us, Kooki? You can come and visit anytime.’

  Lali padded in and lay on the mat with Jehan. ‘Are you glad you’ve found your family, Lali? First the pups, and now Fozia?’

  She licked his cheek.

  Jehan was happy for Lali, but his heart felt heavy.

  He prayed that he would find his own family soon.

  Next morning was a school day, so Jehan did everything Anil and Sunny showed him. Sunny removed dirt from his nails with a stick. ‘We have to have clean faces and fingernails,’ he explained.

  Jehan knew about clean hands. His mother had rapped his knuckles if his fingernails were dirty.

  Izaak was on duty in the food tent pouring chai into plastic cups when they went to have breakfast.

  Jehan took his cup from Izaak and said, ‘Shukriya for bringing Lali and me here.’

  Izaak smiled at him. ‘I’ll check the records today to see if your family is in the camp. There are many people, thousands, so it will take a while to find them. What is your father’s name?’

  ‘Akram Masih.’ Jehan felt a spark of hope surge through him to hear Izaak talk about his parents as if they were alive.

  When Jehan hurried out of the food tent with Anil and Sunni, Shakila rushed up to him. ‘Guess who’s come to school today?’

  Jehan looked up and saw a little boy. He gave a start. Was it Amir?

  ‘That’s Raza, my brother,’ Shakila said.

  Then Jehan saw the girl Raza had by the hand. She had yellow hair and her skin looked as if she had been born with no colour. She was the strangest person he had ever seen.

  The girl walked to Lali and crouched in front of her. ‘Salaam, Lali.’ Then she said English words about how beautiful Lali was. Jehan was glad he had gone to school and understood.

  Shakila grinned at him. ‘This is Kelsey.’ She turned to the girl. ‘Kelsey, Lali brought Jehan here. He saw your ribbon. They were living in a mango tree.’