‘Happy to,’ he drawled. ‘Why?’
‘People look for signals with the hands. Or they watch the face. No one looks down except you,’ she said, as she poked him beneath his chin. It lifted his face up. ‘You are haughty. You stare at me as if I were a bug.’
‘And I’m to look at your knees?’
‘Yes. If my knees are tight together, pressing inwards, then you do not like the price.’
‘But if you turn them open, then that’s a good deal?’
‘Yes.’ She glanced nervously at the skyline. It was still dark as pitch. ‘Come on. There is little time.’
They disembarked quickly, then moved through the streets. They were four people in total, with him in the centre acting as the wealthy one. Her father and a muscular sailor trailed behind. She went ahead. And though he itched to put her behind him, she was the one who knew where to go.
She’d said she wasn’t sure of their destination, but then he’d see her whispering with a child curled up in a shadow. Another hiding in the branches of a tree. And a third tucked into a pile of rubbish. He wouldn’t have seen them if she hadn’t found them. She would whisper and gesture, then hold up a small coin.
Getting directions, he thought, and soon they came to a shop closed up for the night with a second story that likely housed the family. She went up to the door, hesitated and looked back at him.
‘You remember where to look?’
He grinned, his chin lifting as his gaze went slowly and obviously down her body.
She rolled her eyes and hissed, ‘I’m a boy!’ But her lips were curled in a soft smile as she turned back and banged on the front door. ‘Master Mukhtar! Master Mukhtar!’
Sounds came from upstairs and somewhere a lamp was lit because he could see its flickering light in the window. And there were responses from shops on the opposite side of the alleyway. People slept in those upstairs floors, and Lucy had just woken them all.
Finally, a girl poked her head out of the window upstairs, calling something in Hindi that Cedric couldn’t understand. And neither could Lucy, as far as he was aware. And yet, she still communicated what she wanted to say.
Lucy pointed straight at Cedric. ‘Englishman!’ she cried. ‘Buy spice!’ She mimed a fat purse of money.
‘Spice?’ the girl asked.
‘Cinnamon.’
The girl shook her head. ‘No cinnamon.’
‘Black pepper.’
‘No. No pepper.’
‘Salt.’
‘No salt!’ There was fear in the girl’s eyes about that and he already knew why. The East India Company viciously controlled that. Indeed, it was even more tightly controlled than the tea from China.
This was getting them nowhere. He sighed loudly, as if he was incredibly impatient. ‘Enough, boy. I will buysilkinstead.’ Then he turned to leave, but an adolescent stuck his head out of the window.
‘Silk? Come! Talk!’ Then both boy and girl disappeared from the window.
Cedric shifted uncomfortably, making a show of his displeasure. He wasn’t exactly sure if that was what she wanted, but then she turned and started rambling in a fawning tone. ‘You see? Good sale here. Good sale.’
What he saw was the spark in her eye and the way her knees were turned open. This was what she wanted. Very well, he could play along.
‘Make it quick.’ He made a show of consulting his pocket watch. He couldn’t see the time in the dark, but he made a show of it anyway.
The door opened, and they were gestured inside. Cedric’s back prickled at walking into a darkened room like this. He’d learned to be cautious entering foreign places without protection. There could be armed thugs on the other side of the wall. Her father and the sailor were equally cautious as they entered, scanning the room, then quickly shutting the door behind them. They were under strict orders from Lucy to remain silent sentries, watching for problems but not speaking or interfering in the negotiations.
Fortunately, their fears seemed unfounded. It was the adolescent boy who faced them. The girl hid in the shadows in the back, and perhaps he saw a woman hovering behind her. But it was the boy who strutted before them.
‘You buy silk!’ he said, pointing to a pile of cheap muslin. Even Cedric could see that it was in terrible condition.