Forbidden

4.

I soak up the atmosphere of one of the few sites of Keersha that we are yet to see.

The doctors' surgery is a small, dingy little building by the corner of the market. It is stuffy and dark, as there is only one window in the whole of the waiting room and it is the size of a brick. This obviously creates an awkward smell, which wafts around lazily and causes the women to cover their faces with their shawls in disgust.

The whole village of keersha, understandably, only has one doctor- but what I really do not understand is why so many people are ill. Today the waiting room is full of people, I tried to count but people kept moving and I got bored at fourteen.

"The people of Keersha consider a small cut to be the difference between life and death," Jamina mutters under her breath. She has been nagging for the last twenty minutes.

Oliver is also very irritable, and this is providing me with some much-needed humour.

"I cannot believe," he whispers furiously in my ear, "that you even had the nerve to suggest this."

"You have an illness, Oliver, it is only necessary that you see the doctor."

"You're pathetic."

After eternity it is our turn.

"Finally, we can see Doctor Ibshibal," says Jamina. "Come, you will need me to translate."

The three of us move through the door to a much smaller, and much smellier room. A tall man with thick eyebrows is perched on a wooden stool, widens his eyes at the sight of us, and signals for us to sit down opposite him.

"...wrong?" he asks in the typical hurried Nivarian.

Jamina explains Oliver's problem to him and the doctor gives Oliver a look.

"English?"

"Yes," responds Jamina.

The doctor begins to talk really quickly.

"What's he saying?" I ask.

"He says that the problem is that you're English. You're not used to these surroundings. He says there is no cure but for you to get used to them."

I laugh. I can't help it. It makes me feel slightly guilty but I carry on- and Oliver's not even really ill anyway.

When we leave the waiting room Jamina starts cursing in Nivarian, until she gets stopped by a possible friend and Oliver and I find ourselves waiting outside the cramped doctors' surgery.

"Hey," a voice calls. "Doctor…no work?"

A strange-looking man has approached us. Many of the doctors' patients in the street give him a funny look and start whispering.

"Yes," mumbles Oliver dismissively and furiously, his expression sharp and cold.

"Shida… go…shida."

Oliver's ears prick up immediately.

"I'm sorry?" he wonders, forgetting that he's speaking in English.

The man starts speaking again.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"The man has said something about going to see the Shida. She can help because the doctor didn't, or at least, I think that's what he said."

The man sees Jamina approaching behind us and runs off, but he turns back towards us and mouths the word 'shida'.

"What did that man say to you?" she asks, looking slightly angry.

"We didn't understand him," Oliver lies.

"Good, he says bad things to get people into trouble."

Jamina starts cursing in Nivarian.

"Shida… tramp…take them to…."

----

"This is it!" Oliver is overexcited again now. "A Shida must be a doctor!"

"What a revelation," I gemble. I'm lying back on my bed, trying to shield my eyes from the Sun. I would close the shutters but then the room goes too dark and it is too early for candlelight.

"No, but she must be a doctor that uses some sort of illegal practice."

"Well that's not exactly the supernatural story we're looking for is it?"

"But it might be, John! How in the world are we going to know if we don't try?"

"Where will we find her then?" I ask. I hope this means we can give up. Actually, of course not- what am I saying?

"I don't know, the man said see the Shida by something like a mountain- but there is no mountain here."

I know what the tramp meant. I'm not going to tell Oliver though.

"The hill! The word for mountain is also used for hill! It must be that little house by the hill that leads to the market. No wonder it's so lonely- no wonder Rash told us not to bother ever going there. Yes!" Oliver cries, he gives a wide grin and starts scribbling something down on a piece of paper.

I sigh. This can only mean trouble.

Today Selma came to visit me.

"Hello," she greeted me when I opened the door. "How are you?"

I was so surprised that she had come again that I could not say anything.

"I have brought you some fruit from the market. This was all I could get for now but I will bring you some more another day."

And just like that, she put a whole basket of apples, oranges, grapes, kiwi, bananas and mangoes on the kitchen counter. I have never seen so many colours on our counter before. I could not quite understand why she felt she needed to bring me fruit- was it her way of making up to me?

"Old Bukay has a new range of meats in his market. Fresh stuff. Not like the usual old and smelly meats. I shall get you some as soon as I can get some more money."

She took off her scarf and sorted out the fruits into different piles.

"Why?" I suddenly asked. She looked up and her eyes were full of questions themselves.

"Why what?"

"Why are you buying me fruit and meat?"

Selma turned away from me and started rummaging through my cupboards.

"Where are your knives?"

"Why, Selma?"

"You must have a knife somewhere."

"Please tell me."

Selma sighed.

"You cannot stay alone here forever," she said. "You could do with someone to help you."

"What about the villagers?"

"They don't have to know."

Of course, but Selma saw my face and knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Think about it. You do not go to the market anymore because you are scared of who is there, even if you are disguised. Everyone knows what happened with Liman after you ran through the market. How are you supposed to eat? Get your herbs? If people do not know that I am here then I can go and get everything for you. I told you I was sorry- and I want to help you," she found a knife in one of the cupboards and cut a mango in half, before she came over and gave me one of those halves.

"If you let me- I can help you as much as I can. I can be like- a friend."

I eyed the mango carefully; it was very bright and it glowed in the darkness of the front room. I took it slowly and bit into it fiercely, the sweet taste seemed to lighten my mood. Selma smiled.

And that was that. She left after a while and told me that she would be back in a couple of days with some of those meats. She even asked me if there were any herbs I needed for treatment. I must say that I am still very surprised at this woman, but I do not know if I can trust her just yet.

"What a trek it is getting down here!" Shouts Oliver. We've just reached the bottom of the hill, and I've tripped over around six logs and even nearly got eaten by a rodent of some sort.

It was such a nightmare getting here. First we had to get into a cart that would drop us off far enough for us not to raise suspicion, but close enough so that we did not have much work to do. So Oliver stupidly chose the market, which is a lot farther than we- or rather he- thought. The walk in the hot sun has made me desperately thirsty.

The little house at the bottom of this hill actually looks bigger up close, maybe it's because we've passed a lot of the trees that shelter it. There's not really much to look at, the door looks as if it has been bolted shut nine times over and the shutters are closed. In fact, this place does look deserted, just as Rash said it was. I would be surprised if there was any life here at all, let alone someone who could help life.

Oliver bangs on the door really loudly, completely disturbing the silent atmosphere that had drifted its way into my aura. We wait for a while, and then I notice an eye peering at us through a little window. The eye stares at us for a while, and it doesn't seem like the door is going to open.

"Er… Shida?" says Oliver, before speaking in Nivarian. "We... help."

We wait for a moment and the door opens. A slim figure is standing behind it, her entire face is unusually covered with a shawl apart from her eyes, which are glaring at us, full of curiosity. Despite her covering, I can tell that she is young.

"Hello," she says calmly.

"Hello," we reply.

She says something which I think means 'come in', as she opens the door. She watches us all the way as we walk inside, and looks outside the door carefully as if she's expecting someone to follow us. The door shuts, but she does not move. She gestures for us to sit down on the seats in the middle of the room. This room has a smell to it, but not unpleasant like in the doctor's surgery. It is like herbs, it makes me think of the open, of nature, of the beauty of all those things.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

Oliver starts talking in Nivarian. I've noticed that he has spent a lot of time practicing his Nivarian since we arrived with Rash- learning new phrases and actually managing to hold conversations. I have found no reason to bother, and all I can think about is how much I coud really do with some water.

After Oliver has finished, the Shida lifts her eyebrows in amusement.

"You…no…ill," she tells him.

Oliver looks at her in astonishment.

"What?"

The Shida moves closer to us and looks Oliver in the eye. There's something about her stare that is both frightening and appealing at the same time.

"You…no…ill. I know."

The next thing she says I cannot make out at all, and it looks like Oliver cannot either, despite his practicing and learning in the dead of the night. My mind wanders and I think about how I can't wait to get a drink when we leave this place.

"We are English…can't understand..."

"I know," she repeats. "Why…you here?"

"Because I'm ill," says Oliver- I've heard him say this phrase enough times to Pakshi.

"No," replies the Shida. "Not that… something else."

I can see that she is thinking for a while, and then suddenly her eyes widen.

"Please… leave," she says. She goes to the door and opens it.

Oliver sighs and we start to leave. He looks frustrated, but not as much as the Shida. I think about what a waste this whole journey has been, until for the first time since we stood outside the door, the girl looks directly into my eyes, and she says something but I'm too shocked to even begin to make out what it is.

Those eyes of hers were so powerful that I felt like I was her prisoner.

Oliver curses as we leave.

"Do you know what she said to me?" I ask inquisitively. Oliver looks at me as if I'm stupid.

"She said you should drink something. Cheeky tramp, what impudence she has."

I hope you guys liked this chapter, but please please review and let me know that you do! If you have any ideas or suggestions about what you'd like to happen next then feel free to let me know, they will be welcomed with open arms =D.

I will try and update as quickly as I can!