Outlaw in India by Philip Roy Read Free Book Online Page A

and shrugged. “I guess it’s
     working.” He grinned with pride.
    We spent a few more days walking around Kochi and Ernakulum, and I stocked up
     on fresh groceries. I bought potatoes, onions, carrots, squash, oranges, bananas
     and pineapple. I also bought as much yogurt as I could fit into my little
     fridge, and some that I froze. I had started making lassies with bananas and
     with cinnamon. I also bought a bunch of fried fish and squeezed it into my
     freezer.
    Finally the time came for us to leave. I managed to open one of the windows of
     the warehouse and coax Seaweed in, then shut it. I prepared everything so that
     we could leave in the middle of the night. I planned to pedal out of the
     channel, then surface and head out to sea on engine power with the lights on so
     that we would resemble a small boat in the dark and on radar. If we were spotted
     I would dive as deeply as possible and pedal as I had done before. Then I would
     find a ship to hide beneath, but this time I would look at it first.
    It was difficult to say goodbye to Radji. We had become good friends in a short
     time, even though he was only ten and even though I had hardly heard him speak.
     I thought he was a wonderful person, and I told him so. He surprised meby how well he accepted that we were leaving, because I knew
     he had also become very fond of Hollie. He never cried. Or if he did, I didn’t
     see it. It was dark when we were ready to leave. Seaweed and Hollie were settled
     in their spots around the observation window. I went back inside the warehouse
     with Radji to say goodbye at his sleeping place in the wall; that way he
     wouldn’t have to make his way back there alone in the dark. I gave him a hug and
     told him, “Never let anyone stand in the way of your dreams. No one! That is
     what I believe and that is how I live my life.” I couldn’t see his eyes clearly
     but he nodded his head with conviction, and I knew that he understood me. As a
     parting gift, I gave him my chess set. He hugged me again. Then I left.
    I made my way carefully back through the warehouse to the boathouse, then
     climbed into the sub, shut the hatch and submerged. I felt awful inside. I
     missed Radji already. I didn’t know what kind of life he was going to have. He
     deserved so much more than he had, but I couldn’t give it to him. I certainly
     couldn’t take him with me; it was way too dangerous, especially around here,
     especially right now. And so I left, as I knew I had to. But I felt sad.
    I pedalled out of the boathouse, rose to periscope depth, turned to port and
     pedalled out of the channel. When we turned the corner I came in close to shore,
     near where the ferries docked, surfaced in the dark, started the engine and
     headed out to sea. For anyone watching on radar we would probably look like a
     boat heading out early to fish. I put ourlights on too. You
     would have to come pretty close to know we were a submarine. And if you did, we
     would disappear.
    Seaweed was sitting perfectly still and was probably asleep. Hollie was chewing
     his rope, which normally I could hear but couldn’t right now. The ringing in my
     ears was almost gone though. It just felt like they needed a good cleaning.
     Suddenly, Hollie jumped up and ran back into the stern. It didn’t surprise me;
     it was a game of hide-and-seek he had played with Radji. Radji would sneak off
     and hide in the stern and Hollie would find him. Hollie loved it.
    “I’m sorry, Hollie. Radji’s not here anymore.”
    But Hollie persisted. I got up and went into the stern. “He’s not here. See?” I
     opened the door to the engine compartment. Hollie took a look, then stared at
     me, disappointed. “I’m sorry. He’s not here.” I threw his ball into the bow and
     he went after it. I returned to the control panel and watched the radar
     screen.
    As before, there was lots of traffic. But this time I wasn’t looking for a
     place to hide or wait, I wanted to get