At the sheer rock face beyond, Sophie halted in horror.
‘Where’s the ledge?’
Rafi looked concerned too. ‘It’s covered in snow. I don’t like the look of this.’
Sophie’s heart hammered as she tried to keep down her panic. ‘What shall we do?’
Rafi scanned the icy slope. ‘Watch for Thar – see which way they cross the crag.’
‘I’m scared.’
He threw her a look. ‘Still want to roam the Himalayas on a mule?’
‘Don’t tease me.’
‘Come on, we’ll see if we can find the track the shikari followed across the top.’
They spent the rest of the morning scrambling up the frozen ravine trying to find a route back to the camping ground. The sun was high and they could hear the glacier groaning as it shifted under the strong rays.
Finally they gained the summit, Rafi hauling Sophie up the last muscle-burning climb. She fought for breath, her head pounding and legs buckling. But as she clung to the rock she felt a thrill of victory that they had made it to the top.
The white peaks dazzled and shimmered. Below, the valley had disappeared under clouds. The mountain range stretched away like an archipelago in a sea of mist, leaving them cut off from the rest of the world.
‘Over there,’ Rafi pointed out. ‘A flock of Thar.’
Squinting, Sophie saw a line of wild goats threading their way between giant boulders down the slope.
‘Doesn’t look too difficult,’ she forced a smile.
‘We’ll eat first,’ Rafi said, hunkering down and pulling the remains of their breakfast out of his pack; cold kidney and stale bread.
One whiff and Sophie was vomiting into the rock. Rafi scooped a handful of snow and held it out to her.
‘Suck this.’
Sophie dipped her face and licked. The snow numbed her mouth and burned its way down her throat. But it stopped the retching. She took some more. Rafi rubbed her back.
Sophie groaned. ‘I’m sorry. It was just the smell.’
He regarded her. ‘It’s not altitude sickness is it?’
She didn’t answer.
‘You’re expecting, aren’t you?’
Sophie gave him a startled look. ‘How do you know about such things?’
‘My sister Noor was always being sick when her baby was on the way.’
Sophie sighed. ‘Yes I am.’
‘Does Tam know?’
‘Not yet.’
Rafi’s eyes glittered. ‘That will make him happy – and perhaps you too.’
Sophie gave a wistful smile. ‘Yes, perhaps.’
Rafi shoved the unwanted food back in the pack. He appeared to have lost his appetite too.
Just before they set off on the descent, he said, ‘I’m glad now that we did nothing to be ashamed of. Tam will make a good father for your child.’
It wrung Sophie’s heart to hear the finality in his words. He was right; they had come so close to betraying Tam but had resisted. It was the hardest thing now to nod in agreement and let Rafi go without telling him how much she loved him, how much she regretted not making love to him when they had the chance. He was a better person than her by far, Sophie thought.
She turned from him quickly so that he would not see the tears that welled in her eyes, and led the way down the mountain.
Chapter 34
Rafi looked around in disbelief. The tents were gone, ripped from their moorings with only a few pegs left in the hard ground. Debris of pots, candles and food lay scattered in the melting snow. A group of Thar ran off, disturbed from picking over the remains.
‘What’s happened?’ Sophie gasped.
‘The storm’s wrecked everything.’ He pulled a hand over his tired eyes as if he could change what was in front of him. He looked around in vain for his pony.
‘Oh, dear God!’ Sophie wailed.
Rafi gripped her arm. ‘This doesn’t mean they aren’t safe. There are plenty of places to shelter down here among the fir trees.’
‘What do we do? Should we start looking for them or go for help? I must know if Tam’s all right!’
Rafi saw the look of distress on her face, the huge brown eyes haunted with guilt. He knew now that she must regret the things she had said; their strange night of intimacy among the snow fields and stars seemed quite unreal now.
‘We’ll find him, I promise. Let’s head back to the main camp – if they’re not there, we’ll get up a search party.’
Rafi kept to himself the niggling question: why was no one out looking for him and Sophie?
Nightfall caught them still half way back to the main encampment where they had left Bracknall. Rafi made a makeshift shelter under the branches of a chir pine tree, propping up fallen branches and insulating it with feathery needles. They shared an apple and some biscuits salvaged from the storm-blown camp and huddled down together under the blanket for a second night.
They hardly spoke. Sophie was distant with him, preoccupied. He longed to put his arms around her again but she did not ask it. She would never know what a supreme effort it had been for him not to declare his love for her; to admit his need to be near her, hear her laughter and look into her passionate brown eyes. As he lay there sleepless, listening to her even breathing, he ground his teeth in jealousy that she was carrying Tam’s child and not his.
‘Rafi,’ she spoke suddenly. She had not been asleep after all.
‘Yes?’
‘You asked me if Bracknall had done something to me,’ she whispered.
Rafi sat up and peered through the dark. He could not see her expression but her voice wavered. ‘Well he – he did.’
‘Tell me,’ Rafi said gently.
Sophie could only bear to speak the words because she was cocooned in darkness, and the burden of not telling anyone was too great.
‘That night of the monsoon – when you and Tam were away and I was left alone with – that man.’ She swallowed. ‘He drugged me. I think he had it all planned – sent away my servants and kept his own – said the road to the canal bungalow was flooded so he had to stay the night. I hardly remember what happened,’ she said in distress, ‘but I know he took advantage – came to my room and forced himself on me–’
A huge sob broke from her. At once, Rafi had his arms around her, pulling her to him and holding her tight.
‘My God, Sophie,’ he hissed, ‘that bastard!’
She shook and wept in his arms. ‘How could I have let such a thing happen? I feel so guilty.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Rafi gripped her, ‘you’re not to blame. It’s all Bracknall’s doing. He’s a loathsome excuse for a man.’
For a while he just held her while she sobbed into his shoulder; the relief she felt at having spoken her horror aloud was like a dam bursting.
Eventually Rafi asked, ‘Does Tam know?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘You’re the only person I’ve told. And Tam must never know.’
‘But Sophie, something must be done about Bracknall. I want to tear his sneering head off!’
‘No!’ Sophie pulled away in agitation. ‘You mustn’t do anything foolish. He would just deny it and take it out on Tam.’
‘I’d stand up for you and Tam would too.’
‘I could never tell Tam,’ Sophie cried, ‘because of the baby. He might suspect ...’
Rafi felt his heart go leaden. ‘Suspect what?’
Sophie hesitated and then forced herself to say, ‘I think the baby is Bracknall’s.’
Rafi let out an oath. She could tell how shocked he was. He had nothing to say. She should not have told him; it was unfair to have shared her burden when he could do nothing for her.
‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you. What must you think of me?’
Quickly he took her head between his hands. ‘I think you are the bravest woman I know,’ he whispered and kissed her gently on her forehead. ‘I’m so sorry.’
She leaned into him and they lay down si
de by side, holding each other until they both fell asleep.
***
A party of hillsmen led by Cecil found them early the next morning. They were startled from exhausted sleep, not realising that the sun had been up for two hours.
‘Thank God!’ Cecil cried. ‘We’ve been looking since yesterday. A herdsman said he’d seen a couple on the higher slopes.’
Sophie, dishevelled and stiff with cold, asked anxiously, ‘Where’s Tam? Is he all right?’
‘Twisted his ankle – took a tumble coming down in the rain. But he’s all right – apart from fretting about you.’
‘I’m fine. Rafi kept me safe.’
Rafi noticed the awkward glances and felt he had to explain. ‘We got cut off by a fall of rock – had to take refuge in a cave–’
‘You can tell all this to Telfer,’ Cecil interrupted, looking embarrassed. ‘The main thing is that Mrs Telfer is unharmed.’
Rafi flushed. ‘She was never in danger of being harmed.’
Cecil gave him a frosty look. ‘She was in great danger from all kinds of things – out in a storm on a mountainside without her husband’s protection.’
Rafi was offended. It was quite clear the young engineer saw him as an added danger. He saw the way Cecil had peered at them in suspicion on finding them alone in the shelter. But a pleading look from Sophie made him bite back a retort.
At Cecil’s insistence, Sophie was bundled onto a mule and taken ahead with the army engineer, while Rafi followed on behind with the local search party. By the time he reached the camp, the mood was tense. There was no sign of Sophie. The engineers avoided him. Bracknall summoned him into his tent. Rafi could hardly bear to look at his boss; he was so full of disgust at what the man had done to Sophie.
Tam hobbled up from a chair to greet him, his thin face etched with pain. Rafi wondered if he had broken his ankle.
Shaking him by the hand he said, ‘thank you Khan for bringing Sophie safely back.’
‘Where is she?’
‘She’s resting; looks terrible. I don’t know what she was thinking of going off without the rest of us.’
‘My fault, I’m afraid,’ Rafi admitted. ‘I wanted to show her the leopard.’
‘Leopard,’ Bracknall snorted, ‘an unlikely tale.’
Rafi bristled but bit his tongue.
‘Still,’ Tam said, looking unsure, ‘she should have waited for me and the other chaps.’
Bracknall was quick to criticise. ‘I think it’s damnable! You go missing for two nights with Mrs Telfer while her husband here is going out of his mind with worry. And Cecil finds you in a cosy little nest in the woods. Explain yourself Khan!’
Rafi stood furious. None of this would be happening if he had been white and British. His brother Ghulam was right; their rulers had no intention of handing over power to men like him. Bracknall and his insinuations were odious. He refused to answer.
‘You had better start speaking if you want me to prevent a scandal from breaking over us all,’ Bracknall snapped, his look malicious. ‘It would be very stupid to lose your job over this.’
‘My job?’ Rafi was incredulous.
‘My wife assures me that nothing improper went on,’ Tam said, blushing deeply. ‘Just want to hear it from you.’
Rafi gaped at him. So Sophie had already been subjected to questioning. It suddenly struck him how Sophie had been right about Bracknall having too much power over them all.
‘And you believe your wife, do you?’ Bracknall butted in.
‘Of course.’ Tam looked flustered.
‘Well I’m sorry to say it Telfer,’ Bracknall leered, ‘but that minx is not the innocent little Scotch girl you think she is.’
Rafi saw Tam flinch as if struck in the face. Anger churned in his stomach.
‘Please don’t speak about her like that,’ Tam said.
‘It’s true.’
‘What do you mean, Sir?’ Tam demanded.
‘I mean you need to keep your wife under a firm hand. It’s embarrassing the way she flirts with other men. Even a middle-aged man like me isn’t safe. You must have noticed.’
‘No–’
‘Don’t listen to his lies Tam,’ Rafi snarled, his fists clenching.
‘Did she try and seduce you too, eh?’ Bracknall needled, his cold eyes lighting with glee. ‘I bet she did. The guilt is written all over your brown face.’
In an instant, Rafi was launching himself at his boss, knocking him out of his camp chair. ‘How dare you, after what you did!’
He pinned him to the ground. Bracknall stared up at him, eyes wide with shock.
‘Get him off me!’
‘I despise you!’ Rafi raised his fist to strike.
‘Khan, don’t be a damn fool!’ Tam was immediately catching at his arm and attempting to pull him off.
At the commotion, Cecil ran in. He punched Rafi hard in the face; Rafi reeled backwards, releasing his grip. Tam hauled him up while Cecil helped a shaken Bracknall to his feet.
Rafi stood breathing hard, his cheek stinging from Cecil’s blow. For a moment, no one spoke. Bracknall brushed at his shirt and smoothed his hair. His look turned from fear to cold fury.
‘Telfer,’ he said, his voice icily calm, ‘you will discipline your wife as you see fit.’ He fixed Rafi with a look of pure loathing. ‘Khan, you’re finished. Now get out of my sight.’
Sick at heart, Rafi stormed from the tent.
Chapter 35
The journey back to Dalhousie was tortuous. Sophie saw how much pain Tam was in from his ankle, yet he snapped at her if she fussed. He rode ahead, making no secret of his wish to get back as quickly as possible.
Sophie had heard the row in Bracknall’s tent when Rafi had got back with the porters but couldn’t make out what they said. In an agony of indecision about whether to intervene, she had decided that anything she said would make things worse. Now she wished she had. Tam had told her how Rafi had attacked Bracknall like a madman over something he had said about her. Tam would not tell her exactly what that was but his coldness towards her was wounding.
‘You shouldn’t have gone off with Khan alone,’ he had accused. ‘The man’s going to be sacked because of it – wouldn’t be surprised if Bracknall hands him over to the police too.’
It sickened her that Rafi was to take the brunt of Bracknall’s vindictiveness, and she was furious at her own powerlessness to prevent it. Her word counted for nothing. She’d longed to speak to him – she feared he might have said something impulsive about Bracknall molesting her – but Rafi had been despatched ahead to await his fate in Lahore. Rafi went without a goodbye. The last glimpse she had of him, he was unshaven, hair unkempt and cheek swollen as if he’d been punched. It broke her heart to see the sadness in his handsome face as he mounted his horse. There had been no chance to speak to each other. Impotently, she had watched him go. Sophie felt desolate. Would she ever see him again?
Before they reached Dalhousie, rumours had already preceded them that the trip had nearly ended in disaster. Within a week of being back in the hill station, scandalous speculation was circulating around the hotel tearooms and club houses about Sophie.
Telfer’s head-strong young wife – you know the one who preferred to hang around with the men in the plains than join the women in the hills? – well she went missing on the Chamba route with another forester, don’t you know?
A native forester at that!
What was she thinking?
Handsome, of course. Mohammedan.
Turned up safe as houses. Rumour has it, they were hiding in the forest all the time.
Poor Telfer. It’ll blight his service record. Well it puts Bracknall in an impossible position, doesn’t it? They say the Scotsman showed promise.
Bit too full of himself, I’d heard.
The Indian will be sacked, of course.
Can’t just do that – not these days. Father’s a big shot in Lahore. Just have to send him off somewhere remote.
Don’t be too harsh. It’s not her fault she doesn’t understand India – she’s barely been out a year. And you know how seductive these chaps can be.
Sophie overheard the gossips; they disgusted her. Rafi’s attack on Bracknall was the only part of the awful affair that didn’t seem to have leaked out. Perhaps the chief forester thought it would show him up as weak and unmanly if it became known that an Indian subordinate had got the upper hand in a fight? Whatever the reason, she prayed it meant that Rafi was not to be arrested for assault.
Tam spent his time out in the forests riding, filling every hour with work, ignoring the pain in his swollen ankle. Soon he was due to go back to Changa Manga.
‘It’ll still be unbearably hot down there,’ he said, ‘but it might be best if you come with me. Social invitations seem to have dried up anyhow – apart from that eccentric friend of yours, Fluffy Hogg.’
‘Of course I’ll come back with you,’ Sophie replied. ‘I want to. I can’t bear it here. People are saying such awful things about us – about Rafi.’
Tam gave her an unhappy look. ‘You promise me there’s nothing in the rumours?’
‘Tam! How many times do I have to tell you?’
‘Cos I couldn’t bear the thought of you with any other man.’ His tone was hard and unforgiving. ‘It would break me.’
Sophie’s insides froze. She forced the thought of the hateful Bracknall from her mind. She could never tell her husband the truth of that night; Tam would never be able to bear it. She regretted bitterly that she had told Rafi, for surely that was why he had lost his temper with Bracknall. She should have gone through life nursing the awful secret alone.
‘There’s just you Tam.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he sighed.
They stared at each other, wondering if their fragile marriage could survive the doubts and accusations.
It was time to tell him, Sophie decided. She went and sat next to him on the veranda. The air was full of the scent of rambling roses. She slipped her hand in his.
THE PLANTER'S BRIDE: A story of intrigue and passion: sequel to THE TEA PLANTER'S DAUGHTER (India Tea Series Book 2) Page 31
