BEAUTY OF INNOCENCE

Nandana Menike, with Koinmenika, came out of the post office being in a transport of joy. Nandana Menike looked at her photo again that had been pasted in the postal identity card.

"How many times did you glance at this…? Keep it folded without spoiling it…" Koinmenika was giving a piece of advice to Nandana Menike to protect the identity card as it had been issued by the post office for the GCE Ordinary Level examination.

"In this photo, I look gorgeous… isn't it grandma…?"

"No evil mouths or evil eyes can cast spell on your beauty by love…" Tears wetted her eyes unknowingly.

Nandana Menike looked around with a sense of pride and joy. She knew she was the center of attraction of the passersby on the road. She observed that a few young boys opposite the market were rather attentive and murmuring something to each other. From the corner of her eyes, she could see one of the boys was sticking his tongue out at her, for which she could not stop laughing at herself.

"Daughter, look straight and walk..." Koinmenika, frowning at the young boys, held Nandana Menike's hand tightly.

Sandra, coming from a by road, turned her vehicle to enter the main road. She stopped the vehicle then and there as she noticed Koinmenika walking a little distance away by the side of the road.

"Koinamme…, Koinamme…" Honking the horn of the vehicle, she called her with a loud voice.

As she noticed Sandra, Koinmenika came towards her with Nandana Menike. Sandra was completely taken by surprise with the sight of Nandana Menike's beautiful look.

Koinmenika witnessed the change in the disposition of Sandra. Nandana Menike guessed that the lady was none other than the mistress of the Bernard Hamu of the three tiered bungalow. Sandra had a feeling of instinct that she met someone who had been known to her for some time as the physical features of Nandana Menike seemed to be very familiar for her eyes.

"Who is this Koinamme…?"

Sandra regretted for not being told of her a single word about the niece. Sandra, in no time understood everything. Koinmenika was the wife of the guard at the estate. The child whom Victor gave her daughter was standing in front of her own eyes. Sandra got out of her vehicle and stood with a smile before Nandana Menike.

"Grandma, This is the mistress of the bungalow… isn't she…?"

The words Nandana Menike uttered were quite sufficient for Sandra to realize everything. Koinmenika looked at Sandra helplessly as if she had committed an offense.

"What is your name daughter…?"

An unbearable pain instantly engulfed her mind and soul when the word "Daughter" was articulated eloquently through the lips of Sandra's mouth.

"Nanda…" she answered with the shortened form of her name, the pet name commonly used to call her by school mates.

When Sandra noticed the gold necklace she was wearing, she realized that it was nothing else but what had been around Bernard's necklace.

"It is an ideal match for you Nanda, really beautiful…" Without making no difference, she inquired.

"Bernard Hamu gave me this when I reached puberty…" She told the truth showing any disinclination.

"Yes, I know it… Bernard told me… in fact, I wanted to see the daughter… both of you today… where are you going…?"

Koinmenika rubbed off the sweat on her neck with the help of the edge of her sari.

"This year, the daughter is facing the examination… Gunadasa reminded that the postal identity card had come to the post office… So we came to collect that… without telling you I took leave Nona Hamu, forgive me for that…"

Sandra remembered that Koinmenika had taken leave informing of her in advance in order to meet the Village Officer.

"If you had told me of your need to go to the town, you could have come with me… Come, let's go… You can go to the estate with me…"

Nandana Menike couldn't agree more with her. Sandra opened the front door and signaled het to get in. She looked at grandma and before she expressed her consent, Nandana Menike had got into the vehicle. Koinmenika occupied the rear seat with the help of Sandra.

* * *

Bernard quietly gazed at the flock of birds, flying freely in search of food, far in the distance over the range of mountains. He himself asked the probing question as to what reason; he tried to hide from Sandra, the story of giving his necklace to Nandana Menike. Victor was nobody else, but the elder brother of Sandra. Nobody could challenge to prove that Nandana Menike was his daughter. Even though she was born from the womb of a deformed mother, she was the one who could provide the evidence of paternal inheritance through the physical appearance with such beauty.

"Why didn't you tell me anything of that child..? Why did you hide everything in that way...?" Sandra's question was quite reasonable. He thought that the answer to be given to her would not that much be easy for him to justify.

"Even Koinmenika concealed it from me… How many times did I ask her about the guard's daughter…? In that way, I have inquired about the thief from his mother…"

It was a relief for Bernard not to see anger in Sandra's words.

"Koinamma had a reason not to reveal it…"

"What's the reason…?"

"The reason is me… It is ME who told her not to disclose anything about Victor's daughter to you…"

"Why is that…? I, of course, knew that because of Victor…, the guard's daughter had a child… He also asked me several times about the child…"

"That's the second point… I promised aunty that I would never allow you to meet that child…"

Sandra heaved a sigh of relief.

"The most important point… if you see Yasawathi, you will never believe that Victor would ever build a relationship with her…"

She stared at Bernard in astonishment as she couldn't get at what he meant through his words.

"How dare you say like that…? Whoever sees this child, would say that she is Victor's… Ok Bernard… let's keep Victor aside… Isn't this child look like me Bernard…?" He nodded his head in agreement with what Sandra was telling him straight through the shoulder.

"To tell you the truth, still I have not looked at that woman directly… that much ugly… What on earth did Victor have a relationship with a woman of that nature…" His statement, for her, seemed to be as puzzling as a page in an unknown language.

"How can a child of Koinamma be deformed…?" Sandra was correct as she hadn't seen Yasawathi before.

"I too saw that girl for the first time on the day she reached puberty… As soon as I saw her, I felt like burning within myself… I saw YOU through her… your age… I took a frock as a present that day… When I gave it to her, my mind asked me… That is your brother in law's daughter… isn't she...? At that moment I fell into a state of being unanswerable. That's why I presented the necklace given by you…"

Sandra got closer and gently kept her hand on his shoulder signaling the futility of recalling the series of events that had taken place.

"At least now, will you accompany me to Koinamma's house…?

The answer was very simple to Sandra's question. Bernard quietly expressed his willingness by caressing her.

* * *

A fresh feeling embraced Samantha's mind with the enchanting view created by nature with the sun rays kissing the tender leaves of the tamarind tree. It was certain that the mist that had spread all over the Dumbara valley would soon be dying down. Samantha who had been yearning to express his feelings to Nandana Menike for some time, impatiently waited till her figure appeared at the end of the foot path. The moment he saw her figure, through the disappearing layer of mist, mustering courage, he stepped a few yards forward thinking to express everything that was smoldering in his heart. Within a very short period of time, how had she grown up? The two braids that were playfully brushing against her growing breasts brought an inexplicable excitement. Being delighted with the expression of her smile, he extended his hand for her to get into the foot path through the stone steps coming from the slope ground down the foot path. Giving a gentle tap to Samantha's hand with her right hand, she got on to the foot path.

"Waiting for a long time…?"

Even though he had been there for some time, he nodded his head to mean the negative.

"Oh… terribly tired… Panting… after the run…"

As she came up panting from the slope down, he noticed her heavy breathing from her chest.

"What are you looking at…?" covering up the chest with her books, she questioned him with her eyes half closed.

Samantha looked away with a feeling of embarrassment and shyness.

"Hey, do you know something…?"

Samantha reacted attentively as he knew that she was trying to tell him something special.

"We met the mistress of the bungalow…"

Even though he had heard of the Bernard Hamu's beautiful wife, he had never seen her.

"Where…?"

"On Saturday, while we were on our way back home from the town… near the post office…"

"Spoke with her…?"

His question turned out to be a stimulus for her.

"We even returned home by her car…" She murmured with a sense of pride, referring to that incident as something unbelievable.

"Is she beautiful…?" He wanted to get that confirmed as he had heard of her with such disposition.

"What are you talking…? It goes without saying… she is really gorgeous…! In fact, she is very good, Samantha… Not swollen headed with pride…." She explained, being in high spirit, her positive picture of Sandra.

"She is the one who drove the car… oh, gosh… the smell coming from her…!"

"What did she tell you then…?"

Along with his question, her counting of a few seconds in silence was a clear indication of her attempt to line up the words to form the answer, for which Samantha was waiting anxiously.

"The mistress called me 'Daughter'…"

"That means, he knows whose who you are…"

In a moment, a wave of ambivalence was etched on her face.

"I don't know that… but, the mistress says that I am like her…"

"So, you are also beautiful…"

"Am I really beautiful…?" She felt happy about her beauty being admired.

Samantha hinted the confirmation of it nodding his head and slightly closing his eyes half way. His glance was a clear indication of his affection for her that none could deny.

"The mistress looked at me and told at once that I was a carbon copy of her when she was of my age…"

Samantha was startled by the words she mentioned. If the people at the bungalow welcomed her, Nandana Menike's future life would be distancing from him. If it happened, he thought with a sense of fear, his hopes would be scattered leaving him in a world of despair.

"The mistress may know that you are one of their people…" Along with a sigh, a gleeful air of happiness was visible on her.

"If she speaks to you...?"

"For what…?"

"If you're asked to come to the bungalow…?"

"No problem, I'll go there… Grandma also goes there every day…" Her response was a simple one.

"Not that really… if you're asked to stay there…?" Samantha's question had hidden another layer of meaning.

"Why do you say so…?"

Even being questioned then and there, Samantha thought that Nandana Menike would be expecting such a thing. Again, he felt that he was down in dumbs having missed the chance to express his feelings that were suppressing in his heart. They had, by that time, reached the boundary of the school with their chat.

* * *

Sandra got a shock when she saw Yasawathi's face. She couldn't even believe the fact that Victor had a relationship with her. She asked herself to clear her mind whether Nandana Menike was born to a woman of that nature. She failed to have a word with that woman. She had no other idea except leaving Koinmenika's house as soon as possible.

"I think of those charms prevalent in villages are true now…" She broke silence after going a little distance away from Koinmenika's house.

The emergence of a smile on Bernard's face, while driving, turned out to be a puzzle for Sandra.

"Why are you laughing…?"

"Do you think Victor won the heart of Yasawathi by means of charms…?"

"Why not…? How did my brother get entangled with her then…?" Her motive was crystal clear. She wanted nothing else but to defend her brother.

"Who knows…, the beauty which Victor could see through the lenses of his eyes, cannot be seen by our eyes…" His face was etched with a derisive glance.

"Rubbish…" Sandra reacted with a feeling of resentment.

"That one is the guard's daughter of this estate… Justin, the most reliable person Daddy ever had… Do you think Koinamma would interfere with matchmaking for Yasawathi and Victor by means of charms?"

She didn't take much effort to perceive what Bernard tried to convince. Yet, as she couldn't believe the reasons for developing a relationship with such an ugly woman, she pondered over the matters, which could have led to it.

"Except for the ugliness on her face, no other flaws to be detected…" The same smile remained on his face, when he had a glance at her from the corners of his eyes.

"Nonsense… I couldn't notice anything of that woman other than that deformed face…" There was a clear indication of anger in her words.

"I too had that problem Sandra…" Bernard broke silence leaving some space in between the words denoting a degree of seriousness.

She turned towards him with the idea of getting to know the reasons for it.

"When I was in England, I got to know this news… I too wanted to know the one who stole Victor's heart, as you intended…" He stopped the vehicle with a sigh, and turned to Sandra with the intention of seeing her reaction.

Sandra was deep in thought.

"Even for me, Daddy had laid some conditions prohibiting me to go the guard room or even closer to it… I slightly saw her on the day of Justin's death… As she saw we were going there, she crept into the house…"

"Then the girl…?" Sandra was referring to Nandana Menike.

"I had no idea about the girl… After about two years, I saw her accidentally… I didn't notice anything special other than the colour of her… Those days, a scrawny lasso she was…"

Sandra was reminded of her childhood. Before she reached her puberty, she too had been a thin girl.

"Now she is a real carbon copy of my brother…" Sandra was expressing her idea about Nandana Menike's look, heaving a deep sigh.

"Not like Victor…, I see she is like YOU…"

Sandra admitted it nodding her head.

"What shall we do to this girl Bernard…?"

"What can WE do…?" She will be there as she has been throughout…"

"She could have been so if she hadn't possessed our look…, what would the people around not say about us when they see this girl…" Bernard learnt that Sandra was thinking of the prestige and dignity of her family.

"Having been so silent for such a long time, how can we claim a right of the girl…?" Bernard expressed the truth.

"But when I see that monstrous face, I'm fed up with everything…" Though she was sensitive towards Nandana Menike, her remarks on Yasawathi didn't show any sign of acceptance or sympathy towards Yasawathi.

"But, the way you behaved there is wrong…, we must bear in mind and must not forget the fact that we all are human beings…" Saying so, Bernard started driving the car.

As Nandana Menike was entering the house after school, she cast an inquisitive glance at the cups of tea lying on the table in the living room. She noticed that one of the cups had been emptied half way, while the other remaining untouched. She entered the room as she couldn't see anybody around. Koinmenika had been lying on the bed. Nandana Menike kept her books on the table and wondered as to why grandma had come home earlier than usual. She removed her school uniform and put it on the wooden frame nest to the window and she noticed that grandma was looking at her.

"Grandma, you have come earlier today… Who came here…?"

"Hamu came with his wife… so, I also came with them…" sitting down on the bed and adjusting her loose blouse, Koinmenika said.

Nandana Menike's mind was clouded by a sense of sadness. The reason for that were nothing else but the arrival of Hamu and his wife. Unknowingly she breathed a sigh as she couldn't figure out anything.

"They were waiting for you Menike... they left the place when I told them of your delay because of the evening class…" Even Koinmenika explained the thing in that way, Nandana Menike sensed that what had taken place was something else.

"Where's mother…?"

"Why…? Wasn't she over there…?" The answer to her question was given through another question.

Nandana Menike went out of the room looking for the mother. Koinmenika didn't try to wipe out the tears that were flowing to her eyes as Nandana Menike was out of her sight at that moment. When Nandana Menike stepped into the kitchen, she saw Kapilasena, who was seated beside mother, going out of the kitchen. Yasawathi, showing no difference of her posture, was sitting on the bench. Yet, from her facial expressions and slight movements, Nandana Menike noticed that her mother had cried.

"Mother…"

Yasawathi burst into tears with an unbearable distress, the moment when she heard Nandana Menike's voice. Her mother's this unexpected behavior was a puzzle for Nandana Menike. She slowly inclined towards her mother as she couldn't compose her mind on anything.

"Why…? Did Kapilasena Bappa tell you something…?"

Yasawathi wiped out her tears by the back side of her palm and nodded her head indicating her daughter that the reason for her crying was not Kapilasena.

"Then…?

"Go and ask your grandma…!" Yasawathi, with a deep and long-drawn sigh, looked out of the kitchen door. She had no answer to give.

After a brief contemplation, Nandana Menike went away from her. Yasawathi stood up slowly keeping her palms on her knees and went out of the kitchen. She looked around with a mood of desperation. Kapilasena was not to be seen. At least to some extent, if there was someone to understand the level of pain of her heart, it was only Kapilasena.

When Yasawathi noticed the arrival of the couple from the three tiered bungalow with Koinmenika, she wanted to avoid them without coming to the living room. Yet, as a gesture of obeisance for her mother, she decided to face them. The couple was given the warmest reception that Koinmenika could ever offer for any visitor, and when Yasawathi brought tea for them, Sandra looked away as if she saw a nauseating creature. Yasawathi placed the tray with two steaming cups of tea on the stool and went inside the house. Being inside, she listened to the conversation they had. Sandra wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. Even Bernard tried his best to pacify her, it became a futile effort. Koinmenika's voice too couldn't be heard. Yasawathi a little later understood from her behavior, how helpless her mother had been at that moment. She couldn't feel how long she had been gazing at the range of mountains far in the distance. She derived a great sense of relief when she felt the touch of her daughter's cheek on her back.

"Mother…, doesn't take these things so seriously… let anybody say anything… whoever it is… don't worry mother… I'm your Daughter…" Nandana Menike consoled her in a gentle manner.

Raising her right hand, Yasawathi turned towards Nandana Menike, and stroked her head. Yasawathi contemplated how unkind and ungrateful she had been to Nandana Menike when she gave vent to her feelings of resentment on her daughter in the recent past. Yasawathi again felt wetting her eyes with warm drops of tears as her mind went back to times when she had quarrels with hatred feelings with her pretty girl born out of her own womb.

* * *

Kapilasena was involved in some work for about one hour opposite the vacated office room besides the building used for drying tobacco. Kapilasena received a message from Bernard to meet him at the three tiered bungalow, yet, he was scared of going there because of Rover. He made up his mind to meet Bernard there after getting some instructions from Koinmenka. Kapilasena waited for a long time expecting Bernard, and finally since he couldn't tolerate any longer, he stood up to leave thinking to meet him another day. He headed a few yards along the road and sensed a motor bike stopping behind him. He looked back and saw Bernard on his bike.

"Plucking cloves down the estate today…" Bernard, with a smile, briefly mentioned the reason for his delay.

Kapilasena, with a timid glance at him suspected whether he had belittled him as he did not wait for Bernard's arrival at his office.

"Let's go to the office…"

Bernard's friendly nature was a consolation for Kapilasena. Bernard rode the motor bike towards the office room signaling Kapilasena to come along that direction. When Bernard entered the room after parking the motor bike outside, Kapilasena was standing nearby him.

"Where are those cows…?"

As Bernard expressed his consent to provide cows, Kapilasena was entrusted with the responsibility of finding out good quality cows. Kapilasena had got to know the news of a cow, its new born calf and a young cow to be sold in an adjoining village and he had conveyed this message to Bernard through Koinmenika. The reason why Bernard summoned Kapilasena was to arrive at a final decision regarding the matter.

"Senarathwela… near the Maberiya Farm…"

"Did you go there and have a look…?"

He nodded his head with enthusiasm indicating that he had seen them.

"The cow, the calf and the young cow… what is your idea…? Going to buy three of them…?"

He couldn't even think of the kind of answer he was going to give Bernard. He had no means to purchase the animals. From Kapilasena's innocent and helpless glance, Bernard could understand the crisis Kapilasena was facing.

"I just asked… do they sell three of them…?"

"Yes…, the entire herd is to be sold…"

"Then, let's go tomorrow morning… come to the bungalow around six o'clock…" Bernard, scratching his chin, came to a decision after a brief contemplation.

A mild smile crept over his face when Bernard saw Kapilasena's timid eyes.

"Don't get scared of the dog… it is in the kennel… Mmm… or else, you better stay at home… I'll pick you while coming on my way from that side…"

"No Hamu… I'll come around six o'clock and wait there at the gate…"

"Not necessary… Anyhow, I have to go along that road passing your house… so why should you trouble yourself early morning…?"

Kapilasena was bubbling with happiness over the realization of his dream of rearing dairy cattle. He showed his gratefulness and faithfulness from every gesture he could. Bernard, tapping on Kapilasena's shoulder, headed towards the tobacco shed for inspection.