Read Online Return to Mandalay by Rosanna Ley - Free Book Online Page B

open smile that she liked.
    She tried to look modest. ‘It’s what I do,’ she said.
    ‘And what have you seen so far?’ He called over the waiter and ordered more beer for himself and tea for Eva. ‘If you do not mind me asking? I might even …’ He leaned forwards confidentially, ‘… be able to help you, if you are looking for contacts, that is.’
    Eva remembered what Jacqui had said about looking around for more stock. ‘It’s possible that I might be,’ she said. He seemed nice enough and it was good to have some company for a change. Why not tell him what had happened?
    ‘It was a bit of a disappointment, I’m afraid,’ she said.
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘I can’t possibly examine them in this light,’ she had told Thein Thein. ‘It’s far too dim.’
    A lengthy discussion followed between Thein Thein and the man in the shack. Voices had grown more and more heated but no one was actually doing anything.
    ‘Come on.’ Eva picked up one end of what she hoped was a nineteenth century scripture chest. ‘Give me a hand. Let’s get it outside.’
    Eventually, amidst much grumbling, Thein Thein helped her and they heaved it into the open air. It was weighty enough to be solid teak … But there was a lot of damage, as she could now see. She ran her finger over the wood carving. It almost looked like termite damage, but teak was generally very resistant because it was so rich in natural oils. She examined the piece all over for colour consistency and patination. It had been extensively repaired, although the top was sound. But there was a muddy look to the wood grain that made her suspect it had been treated with something. ‘What are you asking for this one?’ She checked her paperwork. It would need considerable restoration.
    Thein Thein translated. The Burmese dealer looked her up and down briefly as if to assess her wealth. Eva sighed. Hadn’t it been explained to him who she was and what she was doing? He named a figure.
    It didn’t correspond to what was on the paperwork and Eva pointed this out to Thein Thein. He shrugged. ‘He want to barter,’ he said.
    ‘Well, he can forget it.’ Eva put her hands on her hips. ‘We’re not interested.’
    ‘You do not think it genuine?’ Thein Thein took off his battered straw hat, he seemed so shocked.
    How could she explain to him? Authenticity was a blurred subject. How much an old piece had been worked on – restored, repaired, whatever you wanted to call it – could affect whether it was considered genuine or not. How much reconstitution was permitted before an item ceased to be an authentic antique? And how it had been repaired would certainly affect the price that could be obtained for it. Everyone had to make a profit, after all, this was a business.
    The dealer burst out in a spate of outraged Burmese.
    ‘He say it came from a sacred temple.’
    Eva nodded. It might well have done.
    ‘He say it has been protected by a special guardian, a nat, and that it once held holy scriptures on parchment.’
    ‘Is there any documentation?’ Eva asked. Not that she would understand it, but Thein Thein would presumably be able to translate.
    Both men looked blank.
    ‘Come on then,’ she said. ‘Let’s look at the rest.’ Experience had shown her that in every scrap heap there could be a pearl, and if it were here, she would find it. Otherwise Jacqui Dryden would certainly have something to say.
    Eva gave her companion a condensed version of the story. She didn’t want to say too much to someone who wasvirtually a complete stranger, but on the other hand he might be a useful person to know.
    ‘And what about the rest of the pieces?’ he asked. ‘Was there anything interesting?’
    ‘Not really.’ She pulled a face. On behalf of the Emporium, she had purchased an old circular lacquer table, a carved teak screen and a few bits of colonial furniture that she knew would be highly saleable. But nothing that had made her heart beat faster. Still,