Rupee’s smile vanished. “I think the Ganga River is my mother and father. I swim every day, look for pretty things.”
“You’re not scared?” Mattie asked.
“Prem make me safe,” Rupee said, removing the dinosaur from his pocket and putting it on the table.
Mattie could see that Prem was scratched, sun bleached, and missing the tip of his tail. “Where did you find him?”
Rupee stroked the dinosaur’s back as he took another sip of his drink. “In Ganga. Long time ago, when I scared to swim in deep water. I find Prem and he always my best friend.”
The waitress returned with their food, setting steaming plates of curried chicken and rice before each person. Rupee had never seen so much food. He couldn’t believe that one little person like Mattie could eat so much. Wouldn’t that be enough to last her for three days?
Rupee started to reach for his rice with his fingers but saw that Mattie was using a spoon. Unsure how to eat with such an instrument, he tried to mimic her movements. The spoon was awkward in his hand, like a steel finger that he suddenly needed to move. He felt silly holding the spoon and once again grinned.
“What’s so funny?” Mattie asked, moving up and down in her chair.
“I never eat with spoon. It feel so strange in my mouth. Like a rock.”
“A rock? But it’s smooth.”
“Still feel like rock to me. Maybe I break tooth if I bite too hard.”
Ian watched Mattie and Rupee laugh. He was delighted that two children, complete strangers and from such different pasts, could joke together about a spoon. He looked up, wishing that Kate could see their daughter giggling with Rupee. It felt so good to hear her laugh. The pain in his stomach, in his mind, seemed to disappear when he heard her laugh. He felt as if he were undergoing a restoration, like an old sailboat that was being refitted and set out to sea.
As Ian studied Rupee, he thought about what to do with the boy. In two days, he and Mattie would depart for Hong Kong, and they couldn’t leave Rupee on the streets. But neither could they take him. Finding an orphanage seemed like the best idea. Surely, some place would accept a bright, happy boy. But how to find such a place? And how to keep from hurting either Mattie or Rupee by splitting them up so quickly?
Mattie finished her lunch, stood up, took Rupee’s hand, and led him to the edge of the balcony. They were four or five stories above the ground and had an excellent view of the Ganges. Rupee squinted, studying the funeral pyres. He thought he saw boys diving under the brown water, looking for treasures from the dead. Though Rupee had long ago accepted his fate, he didn’t want to go back to the river, at least not yet. He liked the American girl. No one had ever held his hand, and he enjoyed the feel of her fingers against his. She was clean and beautiful, and yet she held his hand, as if he were her friend and not an untouchable.
Rupee squeezed her fingers, not wanting her to let go.
Mattie saw that his smile was gone, that he was afraid she would leave. “Let’s get you some new sandals, Rupee,” she said, leading him away from the sight of the river. “Those are going to fall off your feet, and you won’t be able to show us around the city if your feet hurt.”
Ian watched his daughter walk hand in hand with Rupee toward the stairs. She was taking care of him, Ian realized. Though she’d always longed for a little sister, it seemed that she saw Rupee as a little brother of sorts, as someone she wanted to nurture and protect.
As they hurried down the stairs, Ian began to worry about their looming separation, wondering if there was anything he could do to soften the blow.
FIVE HOURS LATER, RUPEE WAS WEARING NEW clothes and sandals. His belly was full. Maybe best of all, at least from Rupee’s perspective, was that Ian had opened a bank account in Rupee’s name and deposited five hundred dollars. With his new identification card, Rupee could go to the bank and withdraw small sums of money whenever he was hungry. Because of this arrangement, Rupee wasn’t worried about having to hide his valuables from the other boys. If he found