The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,8

trusted Lydia, who had always seemed to cause upset and tension among the grown-ups.

She remembered the relief among the residents when Lydia left, but also her mother’s disgust at her sending baby Andrew back to India for Tom to bring up. ‘Imagine giving up your son like that? That woman has a heart of stone.’

Esmie, on the other hand, could not have been a more caring mother to Andy.

Stella touched her arm in reassurance. ‘I’m sure there’s no need to worry. Andy has a mind of his own – his mother can’t force him back to Scotland against his will.’

As they turned back towards the hotel, Esmie was still pensive. ‘I can’t help feeling that there’s something else upsetting Andy.’

‘Such as?’

‘I’m not sure – it’s just an instinct.’ Esmie looked uncomfortable. ‘He’s been a bit distant with me since this happened.’

‘Do you want me to try and find out what’s bothering him?’ asked Stella.

Esmie hesitated. ‘I shouldn’t really ask you – but you’ve always been so good with Andy – if he’ll tell anyone, it’ll be you. Would you mind?’

‘Of course not,’ Stella said. ‘He’s probably embarrassed that he’s caused such a fuss – he might feel that he’s let you down. I’m sure it won’t be anything more than that.’

Esmie smiled at last. ‘Thank you, Stella. You’re such a kind lassie.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Stella said. ‘I’m sure once Andy’s back at Gulmarg he’ll be his usual self.’

At dawn, two days later, Stella and the Lomaxes left for Kashmir with Myrtle Dubois insisting on them taking enough food for a journey twice as long.

‘In case there are landslides,’ she said, as she supervised the loading of the van with baskets of sandwiches and curry puffs, oranges, bananas, tinned cheese, tinned biscuits, a thermos of tea and one of coffee, bottles of soda water and bars of chocolate.

Andrew chose to sit in the back of the van with Frisky, so Stella sat up front with Esmie while Tom drove. As they left the plain and took the twisting hill road up through the pine trees, the conversation petered out. Stella wound down the window and breathed in the fresh air, excited for her first glimpse of the snow-capped mountains. No one spoke as they trundled through Murree and past the driveway to Nicholson’s School.

Then they were plunging down the road to Kohala and the suspension bridge over the roaring Jhelum River, leaving British India and crossing into Kashmir. Stella’s spirits soared as she gazed on the distant Himalayan peaks – they seemed to be welcoming her back.

Chapter 4

The Raj-in-the-Hills Hotel, Gulmarg, Kashmir, 1933

It was after dark by the time the log cabins of Gulmarg came into view. Abandoning the van at the end of the cart road, they walked up through the settlement. A full moon was bathing the turf of the golf course and polo ground in a ghostly silver, while the spire of the stone-built church thrust towards a myriad of stars. Most of the chalets were still shuttered from the cold season but soft lamplight shone from one or two.

A welcome breeze blew off the hill, bringing the scent of thyme and marjoram from the high meadows. Sounds were amplified: the bleat of a sheep and whinny of a horse. Laughter drifted down from the veranda of a sprawling low-lying building.

Panting, Stella stopped to take a breath. ‘I see Nedous Hotel is already open.’

‘Last week,’ said Tom. ‘We should have been opening this week too . . .’

The Raj-in-the-Hills lay beyond the main settlement and behind a belt of trees, nestling close to a secluded meadow. Word must have reached the staff that the Lomaxes were approaching, because Bijal, Tom’s bearer, came hurrying down the path with a pony. Beside him, Maseed the assistant cook held up a kerosene lamp to light their way.

‘Hello, Bijal!’ Andrew called out as he rushed forward, setting Frisky barking.

‘Andrew-sahib!’ Bijal grinned in surprise. ‘Back so soon?’

‘Yes, and Stella’s with us too.’ Andrew turned around and pointed into the dark.

Stella had stopped to marvel at the sight of the mountains looming over the meadows, their peaks glinting in the moonlight.

‘Come on, Stella!’ Andrew shouted.

She waved, forcing her tired legs on. As she greeted Bijal he offered her the pony.

‘Thanks, but let Esmie ride her,’ said Stella, heaving for breath in the thin air.

‘Meemee is much fitter than you, Stella,’ Andrew teased her.

‘Yes, but I want to walk across the meadow.’ She pulled off her sandals and plunged her feet into the chill