Page 67 - Lavender-B-6

Father was taken aback. ‘Of course, Norbu,’ he replied. ‘But why?’

‘Because to tell God I am here.’

Norbu spoke without bitterness, but on Father’s ears, the words fell harshly. He put an arm

round the boy’s shoulders. ‘Why son, what makes you think God has forgotten you?’
But Norbu would not say anything more, and Father did not want to press him, for

already the boy’s face had gone very white. They had a cup of hot milk together. Later,
Father took a torch, and saw Norbu to his dormitory, halfway down the hill.

Norbu came every day, directly after evening study, while the rest of the boys went tearing
down to the dining hall. He stole past Father’s room and entered the chapel. And five
minutes later, Father Rebello could smell the joss sticks.

Norbu seemed content, but Father knew that this was not the end.

The rains had come and gone early that year.

Autumn twilight trailed over the land, pink and
dotted with stray white clouds. Father Rebello
loved the evenings—a time when he could take
his mind off the day-to-day problems of running
the school. He never missed his evening walk,
starting from the school on top of the hill, down

into the valley and up again to the little knoll
that overlooked a running stream. Here Father
would sit and watch the sun sink to rest among
the pines.

One day Father Rebello came later than
usual. As he zig-zagged up the path to the
top of the knoll, something caught his eye. A

blue-clad arm, jutting out from behind a bush.
Someone from the school. In uniform. Father Rebello
quickened his pace, for he knew the knoll was out of bounds
at that hour.

‘Who’s there?’ he said sharply, drawing level with the figure behind the bush. And then he
saw the startled face of Norbu. In one hand the boy clutched a pencil, in the other, a sheaf

of papers. He had been drawing the face of a girl, a Tibetan girl, and her likeness to Norbu
was so remarkable that Father caught his breath.
dormitory: a large room
‘I never knew you could draw so well,’ he said. ‘And who is this where a lot of people sleep
girl? Your sister?’ knoll: a low round hill
jutting: sticking out

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