The Voice Within

Chapter 25: The village of Billipur, Kashmir, India - six months later

The sun hung like a fiery globe over the distant hills. In the village square, people busied themselves for the celebration. Tables were set and filled with a variety of local delicacies. At one end of the square, six rows of chairs were set facing a small platform. Bunting and lanterns were strung between buildings. At six o'clock, the guests began to take their places and an elderly priest busied himself with preparations.

A ripple of applause went up as the groom appeared. Nick was dressed in a white tunic and he wore a small white knitted cap on his head – a sign of his recent conversion.

As the sun dipped lower and the shadows lengthened, the priest began reciting from the Koran. After fifteen minutes, Aleena appeared wearing a simple red gown decorated with flowers. Gold bracelets adorned her arms. She was led on the arm of her brother. When they reached the platform, Hakim passed her hand to Nick.

As the marriage ceremony progressed, Doug had great difficulty holding back tears. He felt immensely proud of Nick. Here, in a village in Kashmir, he had found the peace and confidence he needed, amongst people who welcomed him into their community – people whose values he shared. It was a far cry from the morally bankrupt world of phone hacking and corruption that characterised his own world. He squeezed the hand that rested firmly in his and smiled at Rachel. 

The next morning, Doug knocked early on Rachel's door. The hotel was simple but comfortable. It was a twenty minute drive through maize fields and pasture to the village where Nick and Aleena had married the previous day. There were to be more celebrations, more greetings and more feasting.

The locals had difficulty understanding Doug and Rachel's relationship. They were Nick's parents and they had been married but now they weren't. Yet they had arrived together, sat together and seemed to derive much pleasure from each other's company.

Doug and Rachel strolled into a simple dining room which looked out onto a walled garden, vibrant with green foliage. The sound of water trickling from a stone urn was mixed with the languid chatter of other guests. In the streets beyond, the shouts of traders and the splutter of motor cycles was a reminder of the rapidly emerging face of 'new' India.

"Nick seems so content," observed Rachel as they were shown to a table with a crisp white linen cover. "He seems to have a calmness and serenity about him that I've not seen before."

"Life back home never really worked for Nick. I can see that now," reflected Doug. "That attempt to get him to do a business degree – to focus on a career. That was never his thing. He seems to fit in here."

"How does that make you feel?"

"Strangely envious. Maybe he's found something that's worth searching for."

"It's not too late for you to start searching too."

"I don't think I'd want to do it by myself."

"I'm so sorry about Julia."

Doug's heart felt heavy as he thought back to that last meeting with Julia. After the night in the courtyard at Penhallam, he'd been determined to turn his attention to her needs. He'd been far too preoccupied with his own problems. It was at dinner two nights later that she dropped her bombshell.

"It's not going to work, Doug. I love you but that's not enough."

"I don't understand. It's a pretty good start. Surely we can build on that – build a new life together."

"But I already have a life and I have a husband. We've come a long way together. Things have gone wrong recently but that's no reason to give up. Sometimes, you have to work hard to retrieve what you've lost. You can't always start again. And don't forget, we have a daughter together. I know she's not here physically, but she lives on within us. We need to stay together – to give her life."