Page 32 - Train to Pakistan

Hukum Chand pulled her onto his lap and began to play with her hair. It was
heavily oiled and fixed in waves by gaudy celluloid hair-clips. He took out a
couple of hairpins and loosened the bun at the back. The hair fell about her
shoulders. The musicians and the old woman got up.

‘Have we permission to leave?’
‘Yes, go. The driver will take you home.’

The old woman again set up a loud singsong: ‘May your fame and honour
increase. May your pen write figures of thousands—nay, hundreds of
thousands.’
Hukum Chand produced a wad of notes and put it on the table for her. Then

the party went to the car, leaving the magistrate with the girl in his lap and the
bearer waiting for orders.

‘Shall I serve dinner, sir?’
‘No, just leave the food on the table. We will serve ourselves. You can go.’
The bearer laid out the dinner and retired to his quarters.

Hukum Chand stretched out his hand and put out the paraffin lamp. It went
out with a loud hiss, leaving the two in utter darkness save for a pale yellow light
that flickered from the bedroom. Hukum Chand decided to stay out of doors.

The goods train had dropped the Mano Majra wagons and was leaving the
station for the bridge. It came up noisily, its progress marked by the embers
which flew out of the funnel of the engine. They were stoking coal in the

firebox. A bright red-and-yellow light travelled through the spans of the bridge
and was lost behind the jungle on the other side. The train’s rumble got fainter
and fainter. Its passing brought a feeling of privacy.

Hukum Chand helped himself to another whisky. The girl in his lap sat stiff
and frigid.
‘Are you angry with me? You don’t want to talk to me?’ asked Hukum

Chand, pressing her closer to him. The girl did not answer or look back at him.
The magistrate was not particularly concerned with her reactions. He had paid
for all that. He brought the girl’s face nearer his own and began kissing her on

the back of her neck and on her ears. He could not hear the goods train any
more. It had left the countryside in utter solitude. Hukum Chand could hear his
breathing quicken. He undid the strap of the girl’s bodice.

The sound of a shot shattered the stillness of the night. The girl broke loose
and stood up.