City of Ghosts Read Online Free PDF Page B

tightly.
    â€˜One of these days,’ she said to him, ‘we will be together properly. And there will be no more secret meetings.’
    Gurdial smiled. ‘But I love this place,’ he said. ‘Even after we are married I would like to meet you here – it is our place.’
    Something splashed in the stream, and above them a white dove circled. A gentle breeze whispered through the leaves. They sat down on the grass and looked out across their hiding place.
    â€˜It’s so beautiful here,’ said Sohni. ‘I can see why you like to come here. It’s like a dream . . .’
    Gurdial nodded. ‘I worry,’ he said.
    â€˜About . . .?’
    â€˜Dreams,’ he replied. ‘What if that is all we ever have?’
    Sohni lay back on the grass and looked up at a perfect, cloudless sky. ‘I won’t allow it,’ she said.
    Gurdial lay down at her side and turned towards her. ‘But there is so much that stands in our way. Your father will never consent to our wishes.’
    Sohni sighed. ‘I know,’ she said quietly.
    â€˜I have spent each night since we met playing it over and over in my head,’ he told her. ‘And each time I ask your father for your hand he laughs at me. It will be no different when I do it for real.’
    Sohni turned to look at him, her eyes wide with surprise. ‘You are going to ask him?’
    â€˜Yes,’ he replied.
    â€˜When did you decide on this?’
    â€˜Just now. Right here, this very minute. It is the only way . . .’
    Sohni felt her heart jump before her stomach clenched with nerves. ‘When?’
    Gurdial shrugged. ‘I do not know. Everyone I’ve spoken to thinks I am crazy . . .’
    Sohni smiled. ‘By everyone, I take it you mean Jeevan?’
    Gurdial nodded.
    â€˜How is your pig-headed friend today?’
    â€˜As stubborn as always,’ he told her. ‘He is trying to learn how to juggle and carries three onions wherever he goes. One of them is beginning to rot . . .’
    â€˜And is he any good?’ asked Sohni.
    â€˜Useless,’ replied Gurdial. ‘But you can smell him coming a mile away.’
    Sohni ran her hand down his chest. ‘So who else have you spoken to about us?’
    Gurdial wondered whether to tell her about Bissen Singh. After all, she didn’t know him and perhaps she would worry that they might be caught out. But Gurdial trusted the soldier and he trusted in his love for Sohni – there should be nothing that cannot be said between us, he told himself.
    â€˜A soldier,’ he admitted.
    â€˜A British soldier?’
    Gurdial shook his head. ‘He fought for the British intheir war, but he is a Punjabi: Bissen Singh. He is a wonderful man – full of good advice.’
    Sohni asked whether he could be trusted.
    â€˜You could trust him with your life,’ Gurdial replied. ‘He is the one who told me that I have to do the right thing and ask your father. He also told me that a dream is not worth having if you don’t believe that it can come true.’
    Sohni moved closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. ‘He seems to be a good man, from what you say,’ she said. ‘And he speaks sense. Mohni told me the same thing. What good is a dream if you don’t try to realize it?’
    Gurdial pulled her closer still until her breasts pushed against his side and he could feel her breath on his cheek. He ran his hand along the curve of her hip and let it rest on her thigh. Even through her clothes, he could feel the heat that emanated from her skin. He longed to touch her bare flesh, to ease into her and listen to her as she whispered her love into his ear.
    â€˜So when will you ask my father?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ replied Gurdial.
    â€˜And what if he says no?’
    â€˜Then we will have to think of something else.’
    â€˜We could run away,’ Sohni