Chapter Seven: Unexpected Company
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters from The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. They all belong to Hanna-Barbara. However, this story is mine, as are all the characters seen here that did not appear on the show.
Please note: Dialogue marked by angle brackets indicate that a character is speaking in Hindi.
Jessie and Hadji sprang apart at the sound of a knock on the bedroom door.
"That must be Madhu with my lunch," she said and went to answer the door.
The sultan remained where he was and watched her walk slowly into the room. His heart was beating faster than normal, and he acknowledged to himself just how much willpower it had taken to decline her invitation for a kiss. At that moment it would have been so easy to follow where his emotions were leading. He heard her greet Madhu, but knew that the maid could not see him from the door.
"Miss Bannon," the young woman began, "Her Highness wishes to know if you would like to have mendhi applied? It would take most of the afternoon, but she thought it appropriate since Dr. Priyadarshini recommended that you spend today resting."
"Mendhi is temporary body art, right?" Asked Jessie.
Hadji did not hear Madhu reply, but he heard his friend say excitedly, "That would be so cool! I'd love to!"
He felt a small twinge of disappointment. Mendhi was a primarily female ritual. If his mother was going to have an impromptu mendhi session, he would not be welcome in Jessie's quarters, at least not until the little party was over.
It is just as well, his conscience told him. A little distance between you and your pretty guest is not such a poor idea at the moment.
"—inform Her Highness," he heard Jessie's maid say.
"Great!" Jessie replied. "I'll eat my lunch before you come back."
After a moment, Jessie called out in a wry voice, "You can come out of hiding now."
Hadji came in from the balcony to find Jessie sitting on the long, cushion-strewn bench. A low, drum-shaped table bearing a glass of cold lemonade and a plate of savory saffron-flavored yellow rice and spicy vegetable kebabs stood on the floor near her. She smiled at him a little shyly, then asked, "Have you had lunch? I'm not as hungry as I thought I was…"
He gave her a long look, one that had a touch of regret in it. "It is best if I go, my friend. I have no doubt that my presence will be superfluous once my mother arrives."
Jessie raised an eyebrow at him. "If you insist…Are you sure you aren't just leaving to avoid the taint of girliness that will soon be filling the room? Jonny would be out of here in a split second if he were here right now."
The sultan smiled. "I assure you that is not the case. Not entirely, anyway. Mother would probably ask me to leave if I were here when she arrived." He moved closer to the door. "I will see you this evening at dinner. Enjoy yourself."
"See you later, then," she replied as he left, and then she settled back to enjoy her lunch.
Two hours later, Jessie was laughing with Neela and Madhu over tall glasses of mango lhassi. The smooth fruit drink was cold and refreshing, neither too tart nor too sweet. Carefully, Jessie took another sip of her drink, and her green eyes sparkled with merriment. "What did you do when you found out what Hadji had done?"
Neela chuckled, but her hand did not waver as she carefully applied the strong—but not unpleasant—smelling henna mixture to Jessie's left foot. "Hadji's father and I decided that we could not have a candy-stealing monkey roaming freely about the palace, so Patil was sentenced to spend his entire life in the palace menagerie. Hadji was such a sensitive child. His punishment was to live with the guilt that his decision to train his pet to be a thief led to Patil's lifelong imprisonment. Though he was only three years old, he took it quite hard. He cried for a week, and he certainly never tried to train another animal accomplice…" The older woman lifted her hand from her work for a moment, and a look of sadness crossed her face briefly.
Jessie could almost read Neela's thoughts. At least not as far as you know, Jessie mused. He was taken from you a year later when your husband was murdered, and you were imprisoned. She decided it was time to chance the subject.
"So how long do I have to leave this on?" She asked, looking closely at the lotus blossom pattern on the back of her right hand and to which Madhu was placing some finishing touches. The greenish-black henna paste contrasted starkly with her fair skin.
The maid smiled. "At least overnight, Miss Bannon. Twenty-four hours is better, if you can keep it there." She leaned back. "Your hands are finished. Let them dry a bit while I aid Her Highness with your feet." She then moved around Neela and knelt beside her in front of Jessie.
Jessie inspected Madhu's work curiously. She was delighted by the floral pattern that covered the back of her hands and swirled around her fingers and thumbs. "This is just beaut—" She broke off with a start as Madhu began applying henna to the sole of her right foot. Neela had already decorated the top and sides of it.
"Please do not move, Jessie. We do not want to make a mistake," Neela teased with a gentle smile.
"I was just surprised. Umm…how am I going to walk with this on the bottoms of my feet?"
"Very carefully, and as little as possible." The older woman sat back on her heels for a moment as she stretched her arms over her head. "This is all part of my diabolical plan to make you rest for another day. I do not mean to say that I am not enjoying this time with you, but Dr. Priyadarshini said it would be best for you to spend another day doing as little as possible, and I am inclined to agree with her."
Jessie sighed. "I came here for some rest and relaxation, but this isn't what I had in mind…"
Neela patted the side of Jessie's leg. "Do not worry about it, my dear. I believe that my son has something planned for you tomorrow afternoon. Will it not be best if you are completely rested for the occasion?"
Jessie perked up. "Occasion? What does he have planned?"
"I fear that I am not at liberty to tell you," Hadji's mother replied with a smile, "but I am certain that you will enjoy it." She lifted Jessie's foot once more and resumed her work.
Neela and Madhu had almost finished when there was a knock on the bedroom door. The maid rose to answer it and admitted a teenage girl who spoke softly to Madhu in Kannada.
Neela turned to Jessie and said, "Hiranmayi Hiranya is here to visit you, and she's brought a guest. Do you wish to see her?"
"Of course!" Jessie exclaimed without hesitation. "She came all this way, after all."
Neela turned to the teenager and nodded. The girl bowed and left the room quickly. Madhu shut the door behind her then moved back to Jessie and Neela.
The sultan's mother stopped her. "I can finish this, Madhu. Please fetch more refreshments before Jessie's guests arrive."
"Of course, Your Highness." She bowed, then left to do as she had been bidden.
A few minutes later, there was another knock on the door. "Please enter," Neela called out from her place on the floor, just as Jessie said, "Come in!" The two women smiled at each other as the door opened, and the minister's lovely daughter entered in a cloud of sweet-smelling perfume. A short, slight woman in her mid-forties followed behind Hiranmayi.
A startled expression crossed Hiranmayi's face when she saw Neela sitting at Jessie's feet. Her face cleared as she recognized the odor of the henna paste, and she smiled. "How fun," she exclaimed brightly after bowing to Neela. She gestured toward the woman who accompanied her and said, "Your Highness, may I make known to you my mother's sister, Bhairavi Sarasvat. I live with her in Mysore when I am working." Hiranmayi's aunt bowed respectfully and declared in a low, melodious voice that it was a pleasure to meet Neela. Of Jessie, she said, "This is the sultan's guest, Miss Jessica Bannon, who met with some misfortune yesterday."
"What misfortune was that, Miss Hiranya?" Hadji asked from the open door, startling the four women. A look of uncertainty flickered over the young woman's face while Neela and Jessie glanced toward each other in confusion.
"Your Highness! How are you?" Hiranmayi touched her aunt's shoulder and asked, "May I introduce to you my aunt, Bhairavi Sarasvat?"
Hadji smiled politely at the woman and inclined his head. "How very nice to meet you, Madam," he said tonelessly, as his gaze flicked back to Hiranmayi. "Now, may I have an answer to my question?"
"Well—the wedding procession did separate us." Hiranmayi looked at Jessie. "It must have been a frightening experience for you when you became lost in the crowd."
Hadji spoke again. "Jessie was directed to a police station after I left you and your brother at the coffeehouse. My mother was notified, and she brought Jessie home while I attended to my duties as Sultan."
Hiranmayi's expression faltered the tiniest bit at Hadji's less than subtle reminder of his rank, but he, watching her closely, was the only one who noticed the nearly imperceptible change.
"So you see, Jessie is none the worse for the short time she spent alone in the city," Neela said after realizing that there must be more to the situation than she first thought. Certainly there could be no harm in corroborating her son's story. "Isn't that right, my dear?" She asked with a glance in Jessie's direction.
"Yes," Jessie agreed after a brief pause in which she recovered from her surprise. Hadji was not one to rearrange the truth to suit him, so she knew that he must have a very good reason for what he was doing now. "So please have a seat. I believe Madhu will be back soon with some cold drinks."
Hiranmayi and her aunt sat on the bench next to Jessie; it was large enough to seat five people comfortably and could even seat six if they didn't mind getting friendly. Jessie noticed for the first time that Bhairavi was carrying a white paper sack, in which she was now rummaging, while her niece looked on expectantly. She pulled from the bag two wrapped boxes. Hiranmayi took the first box, covered in an orange floral print, and extended it to Neela with both hands.
"For you, Your Highness. I hope you like burfi."
Neela accepted the box with a smile. "Why, thank you, Miss Hiranya. As a matter of fact, I like burfi very much."
Hiranmayi offered the other box, wrapped in shimmering emerald green fabric, to Jessie, whom she sat beside. "And for you, Miss Bannon. Have you ever tasted burfi?"
Jessie nodded as she took the box from Hiranmayi. "Yes, once, the first time I visited here. It reminds me a little of American fudge." Seeing Hiranmayi's blank expression, she explained, "It is a candy like burfi, and it usually comes in chocolate flavors."
"Oh, I see," the actress replied while giving the impression that she didn't.
Hadji had remained standing in the doorway, but now he stepped into the room to allow Madhu, who was carrying a tray of refreshments, to enter. He watched as the maid distributed drinks, then spoke into the silence. "Would you and your aunt care to join us for dinner, Miss Hiranya? You are quite welcome, I am sure."
Hiranmayi smiled warmly and glanced at her aunt, who nodded. The young woman looked back to the sultan and replied, "We would love to, Your Highness. Thank you for the invitation."
"It is no trouble at all." He moved toward the doorway as he said, "I will see all of you at dinner, then. Now I must return to work. Please enjoy yourselves." He closed the door behind him as he left, leaving the five women looking at each other in the quiet room.
A big !Thank You! to all of my Chapter 6 reviewers: Wildxtreme, Palin 1, renisanz, AmethysteAngel, Echo, Andrea, Morgan Skye, Parella, Maile Skye, and capncrunchnotthecereal.
