A year later, a tsunami would storm across the rocks and knock down half the houses in that town. It was like a recurring dream from childhood – a house by the sea that is lifted like a tree by its roots into the sky. I mourned for that house, went to stand again and again on the spot where my mother was born and where my grandparents had made a life, and I can still hear my grandfather rocking determinedly in his chair, challenging the winds, proclaiming how no one was ever going to blow him off his feet.

Chapter 27

27

It’s August and I feel a tiredness in my body. I want to lie down and forget about the city. I want something different. I drive slowly to the house. A cluster of brown birds scuttle off the path. The dogs run up the driveway to greet me, barking and howling. Bagheera’s puppies are due soon. There is something majestic about her, even though she has grown so heavy and slow. After this round of birthing, we’ll have to find a way to fix her.

The house looks silent, all the blue shutters closed. The dogs’ dishes are scattered on the porch, empty of water. I sound the horn. ‘Mallika!’ I shout.

The garden hose is coiled in a heap on the lawn. ‘Mallika!’ I shout again.

I leave the groceries in the car and walk around the house to see if she’s watering the trees along the stone path. I look through the French doors. Everything is hushed. The patio furniture has been pushed inside, the cushions heaped one on top of the other. ‘Lucy,’ I yell.

I walk around the house again, past the car, towards Mallika’s little house. Everything is eerily neat. No vessels outside, no hanging clothes. The sand has been raked and there’s no sign of a recent wood fire. There’s a padlock on the door.

I run now, heart erratic, body warm and light. I stare at the wall of the bathroom downstairs. The shower area is open to the sky and it’s where I always imagined an intruder could enter. All they’d need to do is jump the wall, and if the door to the bedroom wasn’t locked, as it frequently wasn’t, walk through. I lift my arms up against the wall and try jumping. It’s not so easy to climb a wall without a ladder or someone’s hands to push you over. I make hopeless movements and slump in the grass.

Raja, Dimple and Golly are around me, barking, excited. ‘What’s happened?’ I say. ‘Where is everyone?’