Signs of a River – Chapter 1
Second Novel in Ferg Series – Now published as an ebook on Kindle
“My turn,my turn,” screamed the excited children. Little Pophi had not yet had a turn and so, with a little subtletyMathema edged her to the front. “I thinkit is Pophi’s turn, don’t you?” she asked the class. Pophi made her way to the rope and jumped andsquealed. “Now, when we move the rope,you need to jump at the same time” Mathi implored. Everyone called her Mathi rather than the moreformal Mathema.
“Jump” thechildren all cried, but Pophi jumped too early, was then tripped by the ropeand burst into tears. Mathi laughed asshe picked her up and brushed her off. “That happens to all of us. Don’t worry, just try again. We need to get our timing right, just likewhen we dance.” Pophi grinned and lookedat the clay statuette of Mathi dancing taking pride of place on a shelf on theclassroom wall.
Well, itwas an al fresco area, and outdoors is where they were this morning in order totake advantage of the beautiful sunny but sticky, humid day. The classroom was on the roof of the townhall and included an unrestricted courtyard beside an enclosed room with alarge open window space. It would soonbe shuttered and everyone kept inside all day, when the monsoon rainscommenced.
From therooftop you could see plenty of activity. The remainder of the golden barley crop in the distance, across thebroad, shallow river was being harvested and the boats were being readied inthe harbour. This was a very busy timeof year and most of the older students had been held back to help with thework.
The roadswithin the town faced due north and south, transected by smaller east weststreets forming neat rectangles and a few narrow, meandering laneways. Like all of the neighbouring towns, the houseswere built to a grand master plan. Thebuildings were consistently two storey, baked red brick with an open roof areaon top of each. The rooves all slopedfrom a centre point and had built in drains to take away the floodwaters duringmonsoon season.
The wholecity had been built on a massive brick and mortar platform, which had beendesigned to hold back the coming floodwaters. It protected the five thousand inhabitants andtheir buildings from disaster, or it at least had done for the last hundredyears and possibly many years before that. The streets were very well worn and the buildings had been replaced anumber of times previously, building on the old ruins each time in a similarstyle.
“That’sit, well done Pophi,” Mathi yelled as excitedly as the children when Pophimanaged her first skip. Now I would liketo do some special work inside with just a small group. “Pophi, please come over here, and Godhi,Bishu, Abhiram and Chandan. You too. How many is that now?”
“Five”they all chanted.
“Very good”Mathi praised the group. “You have been practicing your counting. Now if youcome with me we will be learning about shapes today.” Mathi looked up at the old man singing alongwith the children, her teaching assistant Andhi.
“Andhi,please look after the rest of the class while we have some special lessons.”
His facechanged from a beaming smile to an even bigger beaming smile, and then hestarted to sing again. He was one of thetown’s oldest citizens and loved his work with the children. Andhi had a somewhat manic appearance, alllong grey hair and creased face under wild facial hair with bright, shiningdark eyes poking through. About tenyears back he had just turned up in town pointing to the huge mountains nearby,as if by explanation. Once he hadlearned their language he did explain that he had come from the land of Xin,whatever that meant. Andhi was too oldto work in the fields, but was great with the kids and had much to teach, aslong as he wasn’t too hung over. He was ultimatelya musician and most of all a singer. Life was always just a rhyme away.
‘Swing the rope and jump away
Watch the happy children play.’
Mathigiggled with the other children as they entered the class room. “Now let’s sortthese toys a bit, we need to find all of the ones that are simple shapes.” The children spent a few minutes tidying upall of the toy boats, vehicles, animals, intricately carved game boards anddice, picking out the colourful bricks and blocks as they went.
“Let usstart with our standard brick. This isjust the same size as all of the bricks that have been used to build ourhouses. See how it is as high as mythumb is long and it is as wide as two of my thumbs,” she said using her digitsto show each dimension. She then placedboth hands with thumbs extended on the short edge with her index fingersrunning along the length of the brick.
“The longside of the brick is four of my thumb lengths, making the sides in the ratio offour, two and one” Mathi continued on with the lesson. “This is one of our most special shapes. It is called a standard brick and it has sixsides,” she said, pointing out each side carefully.
She then picked up a small block and describedthe length of each side. “This brickalso has six sides, but each side is exactly one thumb length. Does anyone know what we call this shape?”
“A block”screamed Pophi to make sure that she was first.
“That’sright Pophi. Does anyone have anothername for it?
“A cube, adice, a unit cube” were the various cries from the older boys.
“Very welldone, yes you are all correct. It iscalled a unit cube because all of the sides are of one thumb length. Does anyone have another name for the brickshape?”
They wereall silent this time as Mathi waited. “Itis called a cuboid and while the cube has each side equal, a cuboid has a differentlength, breadth and width” she said pointing out each dimension once more. “Now, can each of you make a full sized brickshape from the wooden blocks in front of you. Pophi what colour would youlike?”
“Red,” shebeamed.
“But mythumbs are smaller than yours” Bishu protested.
“That’sright and that is why we have a standard measure that is kept in the town hallbelow us and it tells us what a standard thumb length should be. It was made by the wise ones, the Magi verymany years ago. Each of our thumbs donot have to be the same length”
As theyall got busy on their project, the two twins Hanita and Hansa entered the room. They were pretty girls, with dark,curly, shining red hair down to their waists. Their eyes were a matching deep, iridescentgreen, creating an exotic feast for the eyes. “Please Mathi, it is very hot, and we wouldlike a drink. Can we go down to thefountain to get some water pleae?”
“Yes, ofcourse. Take a couple of the boys tohelp you carry it back. Stay togetherand come straight back, and make sure you tell Andhi where you are going” sheyelled after them as they disappeared out the door. Mathi swooshed her own cotton dress around tostir up a bit of air movement and show that yes she did understand that it washot. It was very finely woven in the coloursof the sunrise and complemented her bright silver bangles which extended allthe way along her left upper arm.
She did alittle jig and rattled her bangles musically, to the delight of the smallaudience. “How are we all going, haveyou finished yet?”
“Yes,Mathi, we finished a long time ago.” They screamed in unison. She looked downat their smiling faces and finished projects. “Who can tell me how many blocksyou used?”
They allput up their hands except for Pophi, who was still busy counting. Mathi waited a minute and then asked Pophi“How many did you get?”
“Eight”she replied, a little apprehensively.
“But whyare you worried about your answer. Are you not sure?”
“Oh, I amsure, but you always have a little trick, Mathi. I thought maybe I had missed it?”
Mathilaughed. “No, no tricks, and yes you are correct Pophi, well done. But what if we split the brick into two piecesthat are just the same?”
“Four,”they all chanted.
“Correctagain, and what if we push two bricks together, how many then?
Pophi didas she was asked and started to count. “There are now sixteen,” Godhiinterrupted her.
“That iscorrect Godhi, and how did you know that so quickly?”
“I addedeight plus eight.”
“Or youcan multiply four times four,” Bishu chimed in.
“That iscorrect. Well done Godhi and Bishu. Wewill have to teach you how to add and multiply, Pophi. It is most useful to remember the numbers,like the boys have done. They like toplay games with the numbers and I think that you might too as you grow older. It is why I have put you in the numbers classwith the boys.” Mathi praised them all,with particular attention to Pophi.
“Now, if Itake four blocks, and press them in the sand like this, what shape do we havenow?”
“Theimpression makes a square out of four unit squares, Memsaab Mathi.” Abhiram’s family were migrants and he kept up avery proper attitude to his work. He wasnot as relaxed as the locals.
“That iscorrect once again, Abhiram and you are most polite, but it is unnecessaryhere. Please feel free to enjoy theclass and don’t be concerned if you make a mistake. It is how we all learn. And yes if you press a side of the cube intothe sand, the impression has four equal sides, marking out a square shape. If you press four together you have a two bytwo square, and if you press sixteen you have a four by four square, which istwo brick impressions.”
Pophi wasa little puzzled by all the numbers but she could see the regularity of theshapes, and how they were derived from each other. Mathi was right, she did like these games, andshe did like to watch the older children play board games. She wanted to join in but they did not let herplay just yet. She hoped they would,once she learned her numbers.
“Andhi,can you find the children, we need some water to drink in here” Mathi yelledout to the court yard.
‘Water, water everywhere
In your pants and in your hair’
Andy sangas he ran towards the stairs and disappeared. A short while later he returnedwith a large jug and the children in tow. He organised cups and they all drank theirfill.
“OK, youfive, back to today’s lessons. Yes, sowe can put two bricks together and they make a large four by four square. Now we have a second brick, a larger one thistime. What is the ratio of the sidesplease Chandan?”
Chandanbusily measured each side and came up with the answer. “It is four to two toone again Mathi” he replied, very seriously for a young boy.
“You arecorrect again. Our builders like thatratio. Everything is built from bricksthat have those exact dimensions. Itmakes building so much easier if all the parts fit together and it also makesit easier to determine the number of bricks that we need to produce. Now look at this.” Mathi smiled deeply as she laid the long edgeof the large brick, across the diagonal of the square made up of the twosmaller bricks. “It fits exactly. Thediagonal across the square made by two small bricks, is exactly the same lengthas the long side of the large brick. Andnow Chandan, how long is the larger brick?”
Chandanquickly set about measuring the large brick’s longest side and after a coupleof attempts looked puzzled. “It is notany length, Memsaab Mathi. It is toolong for five thumbs and too short for six. But maybe I am mistaken?”
“No, youare correct again. See how the measurehas been divided into ten smaller divisions. I think you will find that the answer that youare looking for is five and six tenths, or very nearly. It is a puzzle to find the exact number andno one has yet done so. Maybe you canone day, if you keep studying numbers. It is the way back from making thesquare. We know that two times two makesfour, but what equal numbers do we multiply to make two. It is a puzzle for the Mages.”
Hanitacame back into the room looking a little concerned, but afraid to interrupt. When Mathi noticed her, Hanita spoke. “I don’t know where Hansa is. I have not seen her since we collected thewater.”
“Did shecome back with you?” asked Mathi.
“I don’tknow. I was too busy talking to the boysand took no notice of where she was. ThenAndhi found us and we were all singing. Idon’t remember Hansa singing.” Shesobbed the last bit as the realisation took hold.
“That’sOK, we will find her,” Mathi comforted her.
“Andhi,you stay here and look after the children, while I go and find Hansa. It appears that she did not come back when shewent to get the water.”
Mathi randown the stairs, two at a time. Shereached the ground floor and ran over and into the public toilets, lookingaround frantically. A large, squarecistern was filled with clean water and to her relief, no bodies. She checked behind the wooden buckets, used toflush the toilets, but no Hansa. Mathicalled out her name and heard many echoes, but nothing from the living.
She racedout to the water fountain. Peopleeverywhere were going about their business, but no Hansa could be seen. Mathi spoke to a few people that she hoped hadbeen there for a while, but no one had seen anything. She ran back down to the town hall groundfloor area which was mostly a large open space, but there were a few nookswhere a child could hide.
“Have youseen a little girl come this way?” she asked the brewer, going about hisbusiness. “No, no one has been this way. Iam careful to keep a watch over my fresh products. I don’twant any interference as it could ruin my brew, so I would be surprised if Idid not notice an interloper. Ifanything falls into it, the taste is different and everyone complains.”
Mathi ranto the main road, searching anywhere a child may have wandered off to if theywere distracted, but still no Hansa. Ineed help, she thought, now becoming worried that something serious hadhappened. Crime was so rare these daysthat she could not bring herself to think the worst. Hansa must have met up with someone she knows,Mathi decided. She should approach themayor and enlist her help, yes that was the right procedure.
As quicklyas she could, Mathi returned to the town hall and ran up the stairs to theroof. “Has she returned yet?” she asked of everyone. The response from all was the same. No one had seen her.
“Hanita,come with me please.” She took Hanita’shand and went down a floor to the Mayor’s rooms and found her working on herartisan jewellery. She was drilling aprecision hole and was concentrating on getting it just right. Mathi could not decide whether to interrupt orwait, but her inability to stand still interrupted the Mayor anyway.
“Mathi,you look distressed. Whatever can be so wrongto put you in that state?”
“Lalassa,I am most sorry to be bothering you, but one of the girls has gone missing. I cannot find her.”
“Childrendo get distracted and wander off. Shehas most likely met someone and gone off with them.”
“She is atwin. Her sister can think of no one shewould have gone off with by herself. Asyou can see, she is very worried as well.”
“It seemsthat we had best start an official enquiry then,” said Lalassa, putting downher tools. “You can perhaps take Hanita home and tell her parents. I am sure they will want to help in a search. I will gather a few people and start anorganised hunt. Was she dressed like youHanita?”
Hanitacould only manage a nod as they left on their own mission. Lalassa strode around to the offices behindthe town hall and found two pada who were not working in the fields. One was a young teenage boy with a bad limpand the other a stick-thin, dark skinned elderly man. The mayor had a quick look and wondered ifthe only available law enforcers could provide any useful assistance.
“Bringyour lathis and help us find a missing girl’ she commanded. “ Lailesh, you walk down to the main gate andask if anyone has seen a red headed girl come past” she said to the old man asshe wondered how long that might take. “And you, young man, can you bring a table andchairs out into the courtyard where we will set up an investigation centre bythe fountain and question everyone who may have seen the little girl.”
Mathi ranacross the city with Hanita in hand. They had headed north, out from the upper levels of town and downtowards the docks. The main river couldbe seen as a rippling, swirling expanse of muddy water, flowing rapidly in asouth easterly direction. Mathi andHanita followed a well-worn track around to the docks, located in a relativelyquiet backwater and found Hanita’s parents preparing their houseboat for alaunch. It had been docked for the dryseason, when the water level was too low to navigate safely. The snow melt had recently started the processof filling the rivers, but they would not be fully navigable until the monsoonscommenced.
“Hanita,you are home early,” scolded her mother Jhun. “Mathi, where is Hansa?” she asked, gettingconcerned at seeing only one daughter accompanying her teacher.
“We wentto the fountain to fill the jug with water, but I did not see her come back,and now she is gone,” cried Hanita, before Mathi could explain.
“Is anyonelooking for my daughter?” Jahi asked, as he approached the small group. He was dressed in a rough broadcloth dhotitied in the way of working men, fastened around his hips and pulled up betweenhis legs, leaving his chest bare in the hot weather.
“Yes, Lalassais coordinating a search party.”
“Well wehad better gather some of the workers and go back and help with the search.”
MeanwhileLailesh was busy talking to anyone he came across as he slowly made his way tothe town gates. No one had seen anythingof the girl and yes they all knew who she was. She and her twin sister always stood out in a crowd. As he approached the main trading area, hefound that the streets had become quite busy. Everyone wanted to get moving while the roadswere still passable, before the deluge arrived. He concentrated on the incoming traffic butstill no one admitted to seeing the red haired girl.
The maingates were massive wooden structures, with intricately carved mandalasrepresenting the city plan. On theoutside a series of figures had been carved into the main plinth, outlining theservices that could be found within the city walls. They included medics and dentists, transportservices, grain and fish supplies, jewellery and various fabrics. Lailesh looked away from the gates andsighed. He knew that if the young girlhad been snatched and taken from the city limits, there was no way that theycould find her.
Mathi andher entourage returned to the town square at a run and found the area aroundthe fountain was busy with people searching every possible hiding place.
Lalassahad set up a table and chairs a little earlier and had interviewed anyone thathad seen the children fill up the water jug. No one could remember anything out of theordinary and all remembered both girls being part of a small group ofboisterous children. This investigationwas going nowhere fast.
Chura wasan old and blind fortune teller who had set up camp in the square a number ofyears ago. Maybe, just maybe she couldhelp. She could not have seen anythingand was seriously hard to understand at the best of times, lost in somemysterious world of her own. Lalassa hadled Chura back to her interrogation station and was pondering what line ofquestioning to take. Chura was likely totake offense easily, or more to the point was unlikely to answer a directquestion if asked.
“Thebeast, you are looking for the beast, the beast with a single horn and adornedin fresh flowers” Chura informed her, before Lalassa could think of a questionto pose.
“Whatbeast?” Lalassa asked impatiently. Thisis going to be a waste of time she thought.
“The onehorned beast has taken her.”
Thatgrabbed Lalassa’s attention, “has taken who?” she asked.
“The redhaired girl you seek. She has been takenby the magical beast. She has been takeninto the sewers.” Chura spoke in the most unequivocal terms.
“I see theworld in a different way, but I see everything, even things the others cannotsee.” The blind woman spoke and thenturned on her heel and headed slowly back to her small camp without assistance.
Mathi andentourage arrived to see the mayor sitting on her stool deep in thought.
“What areyou doing, why aren’t you searching for Hansa,” pleaded Jahi.
Lalassalooked up, coming out of her trance. “Chura just told me that Hansa has been takeninto the drains. I am deciding if sheshould be believed. She mentioned thebeast.”
They alllooked horrified. 5;
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