Free Jane Vejjajiva by Unknown Page B

windbreaks, the gable panelled in a traditional criss-cross pattern.
    Kati loved everything about this house. She was content with all she had here, and now there were no more lost or discarded pieces of her life to find.
    She sat by the pier. In her heart she greeted the water, the trees and the sunlight around her. Grandpa walked over to sit beside her and catch her once again in a tight hug as though he had not shown his love for her sufficiently with the last hug.
    ‘At the temple they said the abbot will be back next week. I guess Tong will get back just in time for the new school term.’
    Kati counted the days in her heart. There were still a number of days before Tong and his uncle, the abbot, would start to travel home.
    Tong had said he would be following his uncle on the itinerary arranged by their hosts. But he would end up at the temple on the hill where he had stayed when they first arrived, the temple whose address Tong had given Kati.
    ‘Grandma wants to make a big merit offering at the temple, but she wants to wait for the abbot to get back. That’s good. Grandma needs something to look forward to right now. I hear she’s going to cook up a storm, with her usual creative cooking. Creative – sure! Creating work for other people, don’t you know?’ Grandpa laughed at his own joke.
    It was true. Kati saw a huge pile of coconuts under the house, and there were bananas drying on a big tray. A jar of pickled mangos hid behind the water jar. Grandma had not been idle. Kati felt the atmosphere at home was no longer completely grief-stricken, though in Grandma’s and Grandpa’s eyes she could see the shadow of that recent farewell. But the pain and fear of that inevitable event, which they wished had desperately to forestall, was gone.
    What Grandpa said was true. Looking forward was the best thing to do.

Epilogu e
    Tomorrow was the first day of term for the new school year. Kati would be glad to see her friends again, but today she had something else to be happy about because early in the morning Tong had rowed his uncle over to receive the alms offerings. As the bow of the boat appeared round a bend in the waterway, the sound of oars hitting water broke through the still mist which was just beginning to evaporate after the departing night’s dew. Tong’s smile evoked answering smiles in all who saw him, just as it always had. Grandpa laughed and called out his greeting: ‘Hey, so how’s the American boy – how’d you like your taste of life abroad, hey?’
    Tong raised his hands in his usual deep wai, but only smiled in response. Grandpa turned to the abbot,
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    and Kati heard them fixing the date for the merit offering. Grandma had instructed Grandpa not to forget to ask what day suited the abbot. If Grandpa had failed to do so, both Kati and Grandpa would have ended up with serious indigestion as Grandma would most certainly have complained all through breakfast.
    Tong said he had something for Kati. It was a book on stargazing, a big hardback with beautiful coloured pictures. As if he knew what she was thinking, Tong reassured Kati that it wasn’t too expensive. He had wanted to bring back all the beautiful books he saw overseas but didn’t have enough room in his luggage. Kati thanked Tong and watched him as he rowed the boat away.
    Kati had to wait all day for a chance to look at the astronomy book, and by the time she opened the book it was dark. Kati wanted to know if the sky she could see from here was the same as the one shown in the book, but she hadn’t even started spelling out the English words when she found a sheet of paper between the first pages of the book. Actually it wasn’t paper, it was a postcard of the night sky somewhere. Kati’s name and address were written clearly on the back in Tong’s handwriting. There was even a stamp on it.
    Hi Kati, I meant to send this in the mail but then I thought it’d be more fun to copy someone else I know and not post it. Thanks for