Read Online Ghost Letters by Stephen Alter - Free Book Online

school, Sikander cannot forget the loss of his friend. He feels guilty for having abandoned Lawrence, even if the Tommies gave him no choice. Sometimes he becomes so upset his tears fall into the ink and dilute the mixture. The letter writer grumbles at him.
    â€œNot the right shade of black,” he says. “What’s wrong? Have you forgotten everything I taught you?”
    Sikander snuffles into his sleeve and adds more soot and resin until the ink is the correct color and consistency—as dark as his mood.
    An old woman has come to dictate a letter to her son. Her message is full of family gossip and rambles on for several pages. Sikander feels frustrated listening to the woman, thinking there are so many more important things that could be written. When it’s finished, the letter is folded into an envelope and sealed. Sikander is told to carry it to the post office and make sure it is mailed to Calcutta. This time, he doesn’t leap to his feet but walks slowly, dejectedly through the crowded lane, head held low.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with you?” asks the postal clerk when Sikander hands him the letter. “Such a long face!”
    â€œMy friend has been kidnapped,” he explains. “I’m afraid he’ll be killed.”
    From his stool behind the counter, the clerk peers down at Sikander sympathetically before he weighs the letter.
    â€œThere haven’t been any letters for Mr. Sleeman at the tea estate, have there?” Sikander asks. “We’re waiting for a ransom note.”
    The clerk shakes his head, then checks the envelope. “First class to Calcutta … Three ounces … Two annas.”
    Sikander hands over the coins and listens to the thump, thump as the clerk cancels the stamp. It sounds like a judge’s hammer, punctuating a fatal verdict.
    When Sikander returns to the letter writer’s shop, he finds that Ghulam Rusool has gone out for his afternoon walk. Picking up the pen and choosing a blank sheet of paper, Sikander dips the nib in a bottle of ink. Maybe if he writes to Lawrence, something might happen, though he knows there is no address to which his message can be sent.
    Dear Lawrence,
    Don’t be afraid. The police are searching for you. I’m sure they will rescue you very soon. Please don’t think I was a coward to run away. I didn’t want to leave you but I had no choice. Now I wish I’d stayed with you orlet them kidnap me instead. We’re waiting for the ransom note but nothing has reached your father yet. I’m sure he’ll pay the money as soon as he can and make the Tommies set you free.
    I am your friend,
    Sikander
    As soon as he finishes writing the note, Sikander has an idea. He hurries home and climbs to the roof of his house. Taking one of the pigeons from the coop, he rolls the note around its leg and ties it with a piece of string. Then he tosses the bird into the air and watches it fly away, high into the air, circling once, then disappearing into the clouds.

15
Lenore
    There were a lot of things Gil didn’t know about his grandfather, until he moved into the Yankee Mahal. One of them was that Prescott had a girlfriend. Her name was Lenore Sullivan and she lived in Houghton-on-Waspanoag, just across the bay from Carville. It was a much more exclusive town, with a yacht club and palatial homes. Lenore’s house was smaller than most, set off by itself on a spit of land near the mouth of the Waspanoag River. There was a broad beach in front with clam flats at low tide and sand dunes fringed with poverty grass.
    The day after Gil and Nargis discovered the skeletal hand, Lenore invited Prescott and his grandson over to dinner. Gil felt self-conscious meeting her at first, but his grandfather reassured him.
    â€œDon’t worry,” he said. “Lenore is one of the most easygoing people you’ll ever meet. She has to be if she’s put up with me for fifteen years. Of course,