“I miss India, and I miss Ayah,” David said. “When are we going home?”
“This is your home now,” Mary told him softly. “This is your home as long as Daddy is based in Berwick.”
David looked around the stark rooms of the house and pulled a face. “But I don"t want to be here. Ayah told me once that the captain"s little son will be an officer in the army. When can I be an officer and go back to India?”
Jack had a vision of his own ayah from 30 years before, with her sari and blouse, her nose rings and the tinkling brass bangles on her wrists and ankles. He understood how David felt.
“Where"s Monga?” David asked, referring to his pet mongoose, invaluable for hunting snakes.
“Monga"s back in India, where he belongs,” Mary said. “We gave him to the snake charmer to look after. He would not l
