Kelsey and the Quest of the Porcelain Doll Read online

  ‘Shukriya, thank you, I’ll keep it for him.’ Shakila’s fingers curled around the pencil. ‘We had pencils and exercise books at our school before the flood but they all got washed away.’ Kelsey thought she’d better bring one for Shakila too; she had a whole pencil case of them. Next she took out the Barbie and handed it to Shakila.

  ‘For me?’ Shakila said, a hopeful light in her eyes.

  Kelsey nodded.

  ‘Shukriya.’

  Kelsey knew what that meant now. ‘You’re welcome.’ She watched Shakila’s shining eyes as she cradled the Barbie.

  Before dinner Kelsey wrote emails to Chantelle and Mrs Penner. She told them about the flood and the tent school. That was when she had an idea. If every person in her class gave ten cents then every girl in the tent school could have a pencil. She made a poster on the computer and emailed it to her teacher as well. It must have been late in Australia but Mrs Penner emailed back instantly. She thought raising money for pencils was a great idea.

  Kelsey started the pencil fund straight away. She found a tin and put in fifty cents. Five pencils already.

  A few days later, Nanna Rose rang on Skype. Kelsey had lots to tell her.

  ‘I gave Shakila my Barbie and she loves it,’ Kelsey said.

  ‘That was very generous.’ Then Nanna frowned. ‘Have you had any mail from Australia?’

  ‘No,’ Kelsey said. ‘But we’ve had emails.’

  There was a worried look on Nanna Rose’s face.

  ‘What’s wrong, Nanna?’

  ‘Nothing, just thinking.’

  Kelsey wondered if she was thinking about the story. ‘Can you tell me what’s happening to Amy Jo and Zebi?’

  ‘Of course.’ Nanna Rose’s eyes crinkled up as she smiled and continued with the story.

  Zebi took Amy Jo outside to play while her dad found more rubbish to sell. She wouldn’t have to cook the curry for a few hours yet and she had already swept out the tent.

  Before the flood, when her mother was alive and they lived in their house, they did the housework together. Zebi told Amy Jo about it.

  ‘After the washing Ummie took me to the bazaar and bought me a hot samosa and toffees. Would you like a toffee?’ She picked up two pebbles and pretended to eat one. She held the other to Amy Jo’s mouth. ‘Mmm. I can see you like that, Gudie.’

  Amy Jo was pleased. No one had shared sweets with her before.

  ‘Salaam, Zebi.’ Zebi looked up. It was her friend, Batool.

  ‘What have you got there?’ Batool said. ‘Wah, a gudiya. Can I play with it too?’

  ‘It’s not a toy.’ Zebi held Amy Jo closer. ‘Abu needs to sell it.’

  ‘So why is it out here?’

  ‘I’m taking it inside now.’ Zebi stood up.

  ‘Why don’t you bring it to my place? It will be safe and we can have chai and biscuits.’

  It was an offer too good to refuse. Zebi tucked Amy Jo into a cloth bag and walked arm in arm with Batool.

  Batool’s family lived in a tent too and they had six foam mattresses piled up inside. Her mother shooed them outside to play. It was too warm in the tent.

  Amy Jo didn’t like being in the bag. She ended upside down and it reminded her of the box. At least it was better than being bitten by a dog. She bumped against Zebi’s back as the girls ran off.

  ‘Let’s go far enough that I can’t hear Ummie calling me for a chore,’ Batool said. ‘I’ve already helped wash the clothes at the river today.’

  Zebi kept quiet. She wouldn’t care how many jobs she did if she could have her mother back. They stopped when they had passed all the tents.

  ‘Here,’ Batool said. ‘Now show me the gudiya.’

  Zebi hesitated, then drew Amy Jo out.

  Amy Jo opened her eyes. She liked seeing the trees and it was cool in their shade. A monkey chattered and leaves fell down, but the girls didn’t notice.

  ‘Look at her dress, pretty with lace. But where is her shalwar, her trousers?’ Batool said.

  Zebi shrugged. ‘She was dressed like this when Abu found her.’

  ‘You could make a shalwar for her.’

  Zebi liked Amy Jo just the way she was, as if she had come from a magical kingdom far away.

  Batool tried to make Amy Jo stand by herself. Her two white boots dug into the dirt, but Amy Jo couldn’t manage it without her plastic stand. She fell, face first, onto the ground.

  ‘Careful,’ Zebi said. ‘She mustn’t get dirty again.’

  Batool laughed as she picked Amy Jo up. ‘I wonder if she can fly then.’ She threw Amy Jo in the air and caught her.

  Amy Jo wasn’t sure she liked that.

  Zebi held out her hand. ‘It’s time for me to go. Give Gudie back.’

  ‘Gudie? What a baby name. She needs a princess name like Jahanara.’ Batool threw Amy Jo up again but this time she didn’t come down. A brown paw snatched her.

  ‘No!’ Zebi shrieked. ‘Look what you’ve done. Now the monkeys have her. Abu will be so angry.’ She climbed up the tree but the monkey jumped to another one. ‘Climb that tree,’ Zebi called to Batool.

  Amy Jo thought the monkey was like the bears in the shop: furry, brown and cuddly. The monkey sat, lifted up Amy Jo’s dress and pulled off one of her boots. He sniffed and dropped it. Then he jumped to another tree. And another. And another. Amy Jo skimmed through the branches and leaves until, finally, the monkey stopped. He sat with his tail curled around a branch turning Amy Jo over and over.

  When he decided she wasn’t a baby monkey he tried to chew her face. But Amy Jo wasn’t good to eat either so he left her on the branch.

  A sudden breeze shook the branch. There was no way Amy Jo could hold on. Her hands weren’t strong enough. She slipped off and landed softly in the leaves behind the tree.

  All Zebi could find on the ground was Amy Jo’s little white boot.

  Kelsey finished wiping the breakfast dishes.

  ‘You never liked doing the dishes at home, Kels,’ Mum said.

  Kelsey thought of Shakila helping at her house and Zebi cooking and washing clothes in the tent. ‘It’s okay.’ She picked up her backpack. This time she put her favourite book in it.

  ‘See you later, Mum.’

  Kelsey ran down to the river where Izaak kept the boat. Dad was waiting and helped her in. As soon as she was seated, Izaak started the motor.

  Weeks had gone by since they had first arrived and the water had receded a little. She could see the tops of bushes she hadn’t seen before and roofs of houses. The spiders were still spinning webs in the trees.

  ‘Shukriya,’ Dad said to Izaak as they jumped out of the boat. Kelsey walked straight to Shakila’s school tent. It was early and the girls were just getting settled. Kelsey showed her book to Miss Parveen. It was about a snow leopard.

  ‘Accha, good,’ Miss Parveen said. ‘Why don’t you read it to the girls?’

  This time, Kelsey remembered to say the words slowly. She showed the pictures too and even the older girls said, ‘Ooh’.

  When she had finished, Miss Parveen said, ‘Please tell more of the doll’s story, Kelsey.’

  Kelsey told them about Zebi, Batool and the monkey and, when she had finished, the girls clapped.

  At the end of the morning, Kelsey told Miss Parveen she could keep her book in the school. She hadn’t seen one storybook in the tent or exercise books. The girls wrote on slates.

  ‘That is very kind, shukriya.’

  A bigger girl pushed past Kelsey as she left. ‘You’re just pretending you care,’ the girl said. ‘You’ll go back home to your nice life and forget about us. Leave us alone.’

  Tears pricked Kelsey’s eyes.

  ‘Don’t cry,’ Shakila said. ‘Fozia is not angry with you. She is not well and she is sad because her little sister drowned. Many people ha
ve lost someone in the flood.’

  Shakila led Kelsey back to her house. As they walked Kelsey kept thinking how sad Fozia must feel, like Zebi, and of the stinging way she said the words. It was true she would go home and true she didn’t care in the beginning. When she was back in Chantelle’s pool would she forget the flood and the children walking through the water with ropes? Would she forget the peacock’s cry which Kelsey thought sounded as sad as the flood? She glanced at Shakila. How could she forget about Shakila, her new friend, and the tent school?

  Shakila took Kelsey to her room to show what she had made for the Barbie.

  ‘A shalwar qameez.’ Kelsey looked doubtfully at Barbie’s new blue trousers and long top. ‘She looks different. She has a plait now, like you.’ Kelsey didn’t think she looked like a Barbie anymore. She couldn’t see her long legs.

  Shakila said gently, ‘She’s mine now. She doesn’t have to be the same.’ Then she said, ‘Your country is rich.’

  Kelsey had never thought this before. ‘We’re not rich.’

  ‘Do you have another doll at home? Books? Pencils?’

  Kelsey was silent. She had six Barbies and so many pencils and Textas she wouldn’t know the number. Was that rich? They had two cars. She knew Shakila would think that was rich. They only had a boat.

  Yet Shakila had something else. Kelsey loved going to her house where there was always something happening, someone to spend time with or talk to.

  ‘You’re rich too,’ Kelsey blurted out.

  Shakila laughed.

  ‘You’re rich in family. I have no brothers or sisters. My cousins live in another state.’ Her eyes watered just thinking about it. ‘But I do have a lovely nanna.’

  Shakila put an arm around her. ‘So do I – I have two and all of their sisters. You can share them and my cousins. There are too many for me.’ She made a funny face and Kelsey laughed.

  ‘Let’s go help peel the vegies.’ It was so much fun doing chores at Shakila’s house. It was like a party.

  That night the internet connection wasn’t working. Kelsey had to wait almost a week to check her emails and speak with Nanna Rose before her dad got it working again. Kelsey wanted to know if Amy Jo would be safe in the forest, but she sent her schoolwork first. Then she saw emails from Mrs Penner and Chantelle.

  Mrs Penner said she had bought pencils and would mail them to Kelsey to give out. She also asked Kelsey what else the class could do to help.

  Chantelle wrote that she was having a pool party and everyone would pay a dollar to come. ‘That way,’ she said, ‘all the girls in the tent school will get a notebook too.’

  Kelsey thought that much money would even pay for pens. Maybe other classes in Australia could also raise money. Shakila’s school wasn’t the only one held in a tent.

  She rang Nanna Rose then. ‘Hi, Nanna. It’s been a while but it’s been raining and we’ve had trouble with the internet.’

  ‘I thought there must be a problem. I’ve been trying to reach you for days. Are you having a good time?’

  ‘I do have a good time at Shakila’s house. But I’m worried about the kids. So many are sad and sick, like a girl called Fozia, and there isn’t enough medicine. My class is raising money for notebooks, but—’

  ‘Maybe there’ll be enough for medicine too.’

  Kelsey thought that was an excellent idea. ‘I’ll tell Mrs Penner about it.’

  ‘Would you like to hear the story now?’

  ‘Yes, I’m worried about Amy Jo too. What if another animal picks her up in the forest?’

  Nanna stared at her from the screen. ‘That’s a good idea, Kels.’

  Amy Jo was feeling sorry for herself. She was muddy again, lying in leaves and dirt. She had lost one of her lovely white boots. An animal with tickly whiskers nosed around her checking if she was good to eat. Now her face was sticky from its licking.

  A boy walked through the trees and the animal scampered off. He took slow steps and stared at the ground. He spotted Amy Jo.

  ‘A gudiya.’ He picked her up. ‘I’ve never seen one like you before. You are just what I need to cheer up my sister, Rubi.’

  He walked faster telling Amy Jo about Rubi.

  ‘She’s very sick, but I look after her. I have to pick up rubbish to make money for her medicine. You’re the best rubbish I’ve picked up yet. I’ll have to sell you to buy medicine but she’ll be able to play with you for a while.’

  Amy Jo didn’t like being called rubbish but she felt happier when the boy spoke of his sister. Maybe she’d be nice like Zebi.

  The boy carried Amy Jo past a scrap heap the size of a mountain to a big cardboard box under a tree. Inside, a girl lay on a blanket. Her shalwar qameez was even dirtier than Amy Jo’s dress.

  ‘Rubi, here is a surprise for you.’

  Rubi coughed and coughed before she opened her eyes. She held out her hands when she saw Amy Jo.

  ‘You can only have her for a short time. I’ll have to sell her. She should buy enough medicine for months.’

  ‘Shukriya, Asher.’ Rubi tucked Amy Jo into the crook of her arm and stroked her hair and face.

  Asher strode off toward the scrap heap with a huge plastic bag. A truck had brought more rubbish.

  Amy Jo wished she could say words. Rubi didn’t look well at all and her body shook when she coughed

  Rubi didn’t talk about being sick. Instead she sang Amy Jo a song. It was about butterflies and elephants and billies. ‘Who made the hathi, the elephant?’ Rubi sang.

  Amy Jo didn’t know.

  ‘Khuda ne banaya,’ Rubi sang. ‘God made them.’

  Amy Jo liked the song. The only music she had heard was from the music box in the Teddy Bear Shop. Rubi’s voice sounded even nicer.

  On Friday, Kelsey’s dad and Izaak dropped her off at Shakila’s house on the way to the new village they were building. Shakila was doing her English homework when Kelsey arrived. She had to write words in sentences and learn a long list of spelling.

  ‘Miss Parveen says my English is getting better from playing with you,’ Shakila said.

  ‘That’s good. Can you teach me some sewing and Urdu words now?’

  While they sewed they laughed over the way Kelsey said the words. Shakila had a square of cloth for Kelsey to use.

  ‘Draw a picture,’ Shakila said. ‘And colour it in with thread.’ She showed Kelsey how to do a chain stitch.

  Kelsey drew a boat with water all around it. Then she drew flowers, butterflies and birds on the side of the boat.

  ‘That looks like our boat!’ Shakila giggled.

  ‘It is.’

  ‘Let’s take the goats down to the river now,’ Shakila said. ‘Good grass grows there.’

  Kelsey remembered her mum’s warning. ‘Are you sure it’s safe?’

  ‘Of course, I always do it. Raza can come too.’

  The girls packed lunch, a bottle of water, and the Barbie in a cloth bag. Kelsey took Raza’s hand and they let the goats out onto a patch of grass. They sat under some trees and ate fried eggs rolled up in chapattis again.

  Raza trotted off to chase the goats and Shakila picked up the Barbie.

  ‘Will he run too close to the water?’ Kelsey imagined what her mum would say.

  ‘No, he’s too little to go far. He’ll be back to annoy us soon. Let’s play the guddiya is going to the bazaar.’

  ‘She can buy more clothes and shoes,’ Kelsey said.

  ‘No, we can make her more clothes. She buys some samosas. She’s too thin, she needs to eat more.’

  It was strange playing Barbies with Shakila. She made the Barbie do different things. ‘Does she ride a bicycle? Or drive in a car?’ Kelsey asked, thinking of Chantelle’s pink Barbie car.

  ‘She walks to the river and rows a boat to the bazaar.’

  Sudde
nly they heard a squeal. Kelsey jumped up. ‘Where’s Raza?’

  They couldn’t see him on the grass, but they could hear him screeching.

  Both girls ran to the river. ‘There he is!’ Kelsey said. They stood at the water’s edge. ‘He’s fallen in!’ He was drifting away from the land.

  ‘What can we do? What can we do?’ Shakila cried.

  She ran into the water up to her knees screaming, ‘Raza!’

  There was no time to lose. Kelsey pulled off her sneakers and jumped in. She had to reach him before he drifted too far away. The water was a different colour from a swimming pool but it was still water. She tried to swim freestyle to Raza but soon found it was much harder than swimming in a pool. The water had a mind of its own. By the time she was close enough to grab Raza, he was gulping water and coughing. He tried to climb up to her shoulders and Kelsey couldn’t keep afloat with his weight dragging her down.

  ‘Shakila!’ she screamed. But as she opened her mouth the river water rushed in and she coughed as much as Raza. She went underwater and struggled to surface again.

  ‘Look!’

  Kelsey could see Shakila at the water’s edge – she was pointing at something in the water. A plank was drifting toward them. Kelsey tried to hold Raza around the neck like she was taught in swimming lessons but he struggled and screamed too much. She reached for the plank as it drifted close. She missed and tried again. Finally she clasped one end. She pulled Raza onto her hip with one hand, then steadied the plank as he climbed on. He lay down and Kelsey put her arms around him to keep him safe. She trod water hanging onto the plank to catch her breath. Then she slowly pushed it back to shore.

  Shakila was there to pull them out.

  ‘Raza? Raza? Are you okay?’ Shakila was crying.

  ‘Kila,’ he whispered. Then he coughed and muddy water dribbled out of his mouth.

  ‘Alhamdulillah, praise God.’ Shakila hugged Raza. ‘You saved him.’

  When Kelsey spoke to Nanna Rose that afternoon she didn’t mention Raza.