limped back to his consciousness. The cold wind shocked him back again to the reality of his nakedness. He peered into the darkness of the ground and groped around with his hands. His trousers, shirts and briefs were neatly arranged one over other close to where he was standing. As the clothes passed over his body he began to feel a burning pain on his elbows and knees. He paused to run his fingers over the pain. His fingers got moist, and as he took them to his nose he smelled blood. He had bruises there. There was no sign of Jacoba Van Goens! He ran all over the inner side of the fort looking for her. Then he came onto the seaside carefully measuring his steps along the side of the wall as he had done earlier in the evening following Jacoba. He looked at the sea with a pounding heart. It looked like an infinite black carpet being heaved up by a subterranean wind. The stars made a diamond studded canopy that fell on the far end of the sea like a colossal wave. The lighthouse of Thangasseri blinked three times consecutively from its height on his right. He could see the yellow specks of light coming from half a dozen fishing boats at the sea. He had no idea of the time. Amal ran the brief distance from the seashore to the road skirting it. The road and the bus junction were empty. He ran to his house. “Where the hell were you all the time?” his father asked holding the door open for him. He kept his head low staring at the floor. “How mean of you to leave our guest on the beach like that?” his father’s voice hardened. “On the beach?” “Didn’t you run away with your friends leaving her there?” “Well... I...” Rosa came out to the drawing room. “Do you know what time it is?” He looked at the clock on the wall which showed fifteen minutes past one. To his shock Amal came to know from his parents that Jacoba left soon after she had come home. His father had arranged a taxi for her to go to Alappuzha, the neighbouring district, which was her next destination on the itinerary. Amal could not sleep a wink with his mind crushed into a
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