Page 231 - The Kite Runner

220 Khaled Hosseini

one said a word about it. Most of it was fear of the Taliban, I
think. But no one was going to risk anything for a pair of Hazara
servants.”
“What did they do with Sohrab?” I asked. I felt tired, drained.
A coughing fit gripped Rahim Khan and went on for a long time.
When he finally looked up, his face was flushed and his eyes
bloodshot. “I heard he’s in an orphanage somewhere in Karteh-
Seh. Amir jan—” then he was coughing again. When he stopped,
he looked older than a few moments before, like he was aging
with each coughing fit. “Amir jan, I summoned you here because
I wanted to see you before I die, but that’s not all.”
I said nothing. I think I already knew what he was going to say.
“I want you to go to Kabul. I want you to bring Sohrab here,”
he said.
I struggled to find the right words. I’d barely had time to deal
with the fact that Hassan was dead.
“Please hear me. I know an American pair here in Peshawar, a
husband and wife named Thomas and Betty Caldwell. They are
Christians and they run a small charity organization that they
manage with private donations. Mostly they house and feed
Afghan children who have lost their parents. I have seen the
place. It’s clean and safe, the children are well cared for, and Mr.
and Mrs. Caldwell are kind people. They have already told me
that Sohrab would be welcome to their home and—”
“Rahim Khan, you can’t be serious.”
“Children are fragile, Amir jan. Kabul is already full of broken
children and I don’t want Sohrab to become another.”
“Rahim Khan, I don’t want to go to Kabul. I can’t!” I said.
“Sohrab is a gifted little boy. We can give him a new life here,
new hope, with people who would love him. Thomas agha is a