Outlaw in India by Philip Roy

Go somewhere else.”
    “You mean you won’t help us. You can help us but you won’t.”
    Without changing his voice he said, “I cannot help you. Go somewhere
     else.”
    I yelled at him. “ Where ? Where are we supposed to
     go?”
    He went to the door, pushed it open and pointed out. “Go.”
    Funny the things we notice at times like this. I saw the very same
     advertisement for Radji’s skin cream on the wall of the doctor’s office. On the
     counter was an open box of tubes. The doctor was selling it here. “Go,” he
     said. “Across the street there is another clinic. Maybe they will see you
     there.”
    He left the room. I rushed outside, went through the gate and looked down the
     road. There was a group of buildings at the corner. It looked like the edge of a
     small town. I grabbed hold of Radji’s legs tightly and hurried down the
     road.
    I burst into the clinic, saw several people waiting in chairs and a doctor
     talking to a nurse. They stopped talking and stared at us. I was almost fainting
     with fatigue now. “He . . . he . . . got a snake bite!”
    The doctor put down her chart. “Quickly!” she said. “Come with me.”
    I followed her to an examining room where she helped take Radji off my back and
     lay him onto an examining bed. “How long ago?” she asked.
    “Umm . . . about forty-five minutes, I think. We were in the woods.”
    “Where?”
    “I don’t know. Down the road.” I pointed.
    “No. I mean, where is the bite?”
    “Oh. Here. Above the ankle. His leg is swollen now.”
    She felt his forehead, lifted his wrist and started counting his pulse.
    “Will he be okay?”
    She looked at me very sympathetically while she counted his pulse. “We will
     certainly hope so.”
    “The doctor across the street wouldn’t see us.”
    “He would see you . He wouldn’t see him.”
    She took a magnifying glass and looked at the snake bite very carefully.
     “Describe the snake to me.”
    “It happened so fast. It was green and had black and yellow on it, I think. I
     wanted to try to kill it and bring it here but never had a chance.”
    “Were they blocks of colour or stripes?”
    “Umm . . . I’m not sure. I think maybe they were stripes.”
    “But you’re not sure?”
    “I’m sorry. No.”
    She felt the swelling on his leg, then compared it to his other leg. “Did he
     fall? Did he hurt his leg in any other way?”
    “Yes. He did. He twisted his ankle this morning. I saw him limping a little
     bit.”
    She nodded her head. “And was he maybe very tired?”
    “Umm . . . yes, I think so. Our sleep had changed. We had been up all night and
     sleeping in the day, then we changed back.”
    “Yes. Well, I think I might have good news for you. I think this is not a
     venomous bite. We don’t need to see the snake to diagnose a snake bite anyway.
     We can tell by the bite. Not all snakes here are dangerous, although many are. I
     think your friend was bitten by a harmless snake. Painful, yes, but not
     deadly.”
    “But what about the swelling?”
    She smiled. She was so kind. “Your friend has been walking around on a sprained
     ankle. That’s why it is swollen. Didn’t he complain?”
    “No, he never complained.”
    She touched his forehead affectionately. “He’s a tough little guy.”
    “He is.” I swallowed hard. “Can you help me? I have to find my dog. Is there
     any way I can leave my friend here while I go searching for him? Please?”
    She touched my arm gently and looked into my eyes. “He can stay here. Go find
     your dog. We’ll keep him safe and let him rest, and when he wakes we’ll find
     something for him to eat.”
    “Thank you so much.” I could barely get the words out of my mouth without
     bursting into tears. I felt so grateful. Her kindness took me by surprise. The
     doctor across the street would have let Radji die. But I couldn’t think about
     that now. Hollie was lost in a dangerous place and I had to find him.

Chapter Twelve

    HOLLIE