161 A Fishy Funeral (2/2)
”You fool,” said Samir. ”Do you know what you have done?”
Jagat stayed silent, and Samir briefly thought about killing him, his stupid wife, and her insufferable brother. He was tempted; his hand moved to the hilt of his knife. He restrained himself with the greatest difficulty. He said:
”You have made sure you will have people coming here. People who will want food and clothes and a place to live. They'll kill you and your wife and her stupid brother and take everything you have.”
Jagat was horrified.
”No,” he said. ”The New World has been given to us by the gods so that we can mend our ways and live in peace.”
”I can hear your priest talking through you,” Samir said. ”He's never been to the New World. It's obvious he doesn't know much about it. Why do you think I killed those two men? For fun? They wanted to kill me. They wanted to take my settlement. And now you waste a whole morning messing around with their corpses.”
”What do you want me to do?” Jagat said sullenly, still refusing to look at Samir's face.
”I want you to finish what you started. Here, take the flint. I want all of you back here in a couple of hours. I want to speak to all of you before I leave.”
”You're leaving?”
”Of course I'm leaving. I told you that last night.”
”I was thinking you will stay for a few days.”
”No. I must return to the capital. I will come back in a week or two. In the meantime, you'll have to manage the best you can.”
Jagat was crestfallen.
”But I don't know if we can manage on our own,” he said.
”Then you'll die,” Samir told him, and went off to look for Neil.
He didn't have to go far. He met Neil and the two teenagers a few moments later. They were returning to the village, loaded with goodies. They had fish and coconuts and some greens and the girl was also carrying hairy coconut husks. Their fiber was easy to twist into a string.
It showed good thinking, good initiative, and Samir felt a little better about his new colonists. When they were back in the village, he generously gave the girl his knife to scale and gut the fish.
”Do it right away next time, and drop the guts into the water where you fish,” he told her. ”The fish like that. It's food. It doesn't bother them they are eating their friends and companions. They will come back for more.”
Then he took Neil aside for a quick conference.
”What do you think about those two?” he asked.
Neil grinned.
”They're nice,” he said. ”We've become friends. Did you know Keya is Hunar's sister? They don't look alike at all.”
”I thought she was his girlfriend.”
”So did I.”
”I like them,” Samir said. ”I don't like the other three.”
Neil was diplomatically silent. Samir sighed, and said:
”It seems were stuck with them. Oh well. Listen, we're going home this afternoon. We'll eat, I'll tell everyone what to do, and we'll go. I want you to leave your ax with them. Give it to Hunar if you like. I'll also give him my spear.”
”The others are going to be offended.”
”I don't care.”
Neil's face changed suddenly. His eyes widened, and he said:
”What's that?”
Samir turned, squinting at the faraway column of grey smoke.
”Oh, that,” he said. ”They're burning the bodies of the men we killed. Those two asses, Jagat and Mitesh, spent the whole morning setting it up.”
”Samir?”
”What?”
”Hunar and Keya told people back home about your colony.”
”I am going to kill them all,” Samir said through clenched teeth. ”I am going to kill them all. They are going to ruin everything.”
”I told them they shouldn't have done that. They promised to keep quiet in the future.”
”What's done is done,” Samir said. He bit his lip, his face dark. It was obvious he wasn't thinking nice thoughts.
”All right,” he said finally. ”Let's see how they're getting on with those fish. I want my knife back.”
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