The Flower Boy Read Online Free
who came with the bungalow, and the Kankanipillai, who came with the factory, there had been no workers or servants. He had left it to the Kankanipillai, who knew the area and the people, to hire factory workers and tea pickers. He tried in vain to interest his wife in hiring her household staff, but she had languidly said, âDarling, Appuhamy knows best.â
The fact that Appuhamy did know best was beside the point for John Buckwater, who wanted a happy, supportive wife by his side as he came to terms with this new land and its unfamiliar people.
Instead, he had come to rely implicitly on Appuhamy, who was a sort of majordomo cum butler cum valet.
Appuhamy had worked with British people before, and had been bequeathed to John Buckwater by the previous planter at Glencairn. He claimed to be sixty years of age, although John privately suspected him to be nearer seventy.
He was a slight but imposing figure in his snowy-white sarong, white shirt and broad black belt. He wore his long, scanty gray hair in the traditional fashionâoiled and drawn into a tight knot at the back of his head and held in place with a tortoiseshell comb, rather like a Spanish señora.
It was Appuhamy who hired Premawathi as housekeeper. She was a good choice, for not only did she speak passable English learned from her years at a missionary-run convent, but she was also quick, competent and abhorred laziness.
The only drawback was that she came with three children, but she quickly forestalled any possible objections, pointing out that the two girls could help in the house after school. In a house the size of Glencairn, the extra hands would be helpful.
The little boy was just over a year old, but Premawathi promised to keep him in the servantsâ quarters and the four soon settled down in a little room off the kitchen.
Premawathiâs husband, Disneris, worked as a salesman in a Colombo grocery shop. Because of his meager salary, he could not afford to keep Premawathi and the children with him, so the job at Glencairn had been the answer to all their prayers.
He tried to visit them once a month, but train fares were steep and the journey was long. Often, he wouldnât see his family for three months at a time. It was a bad situation, but it couldnât be helped. Colombo was expensive and jobs were scarce.
The three children went to the church school, which was a ten-minute walk from Glencairn. After school, the two girls swept, cleaned, made beds and helped Premawathi with the cooking.
Chandi romped through the tea plantation, and ran a profitable little business on the side.
chapter 3
IN 1505, THE PORTUGUESE LANDED IN CEYLON, FIRMLY DETERMINED to make it their own. The resident Ceylonese people, ruled by no fewer than three kings in three separate kingdoms, were divided by loyalty, caste and a few other factors. They were ripe for conquering.
The Portuguese walked in easily enough, but had the usual geographical and linguistic problems conquering heroes face when conquering unfamiliar lands.
The Ceylonese were quick to catch on, and although they bowed down to the might of the foreign invaders, they were not above having a few laughs at their expense.
One particular episode occurred when they enlisted the help of a few islanders to lead them to the kingdom of Kotte, so they could inform the incumbent king that he was to be relieved of his duties. It is said that the trip, which could have taken a few hours, took days before the tired and footsore conquerors were delivered to the now ex-king, by a bunch of sniggering Ceylonese.
The islanders obediently embraced Catholicism and a few Catholics, who married them. Although the Portuguese succeeded in annexing most of Ceylon for themselves, the central hill kingdom of Kandy remained inviolate. No amount of guns, cannons and bayonets could battle against strategically placed rocks rolled down mountainsides by an unseen enemy.
The intricacies of guerrilla warfare were
The fact that Appuhamy did know best was beside the point for John Buckwater, who wanted a happy, supportive wife by his side as he came to terms with this new land and its unfamiliar people.
Instead, he had come to rely implicitly on Appuhamy, who was a sort of majordomo cum butler cum valet.
Appuhamy had worked with British people before, and had been bequeathed to John Buckwater by the previous planter at Glencairn. He claimed to be sixty years of age, although John privately suspected him to be nearer seventy.
He was a slight but imposing figure in his snowy-white sarong, white shirt and broad black belt. He wore his long, scanty gray hair in the traditional fashionâoiled and drawn into a tight knot at the back of his head and held in place with a tortoiseshell comb, rather like a Spanish señora.
It was Appuhamy who hired Premawathi as housekeeper. She was a good choice, for not only did she speak passable English learned from her years at a missionary-run convent, but she was also quick, competent and abhorred laziness.
The only drawback was that she came with three children, but she quickly forestalled any possible objections, pointing out that the two girls could help in the house after school. In a house the size of Glencairn, the extra hands would be helpful.
The little boy was just over a year old, but Premawathi promised to keep him in the servantsâ quarters and the four soon settled down in a little room off the kitchen.
Premawathiâs husband, Disneris, worked as a salesman in a Colombo grocery shop. Because of his meager salary, he could not afford to keep Premawathi and the children with him, so the job at Glencairn had been the answer to all their prayers.
He tried to visit them once a month, but train fares were steep and the journey was long. Often, he wouldnât see his family for three months at a time. It was a bad situation, but it couldnât be helped. Colombo was expensive and jobs were scarce.
The three children went to the church school, which was a ten-minute walk from Glencairn. After school, the two girls swept, cleaned, made beds and helped Premawathi with the cooking.
Chandi romped through the tea plantation, and ran a profitable little business on the side.
chapter 3
IN 1505, THE PORTUGUESE LANDED IN CEYLON, FIRMLY DETERMINED to make it their own. The resident Ceylonese people, ruled by no fewer than three kings in three separate kingdoms, were divided by loyalty, caste and a few other factors. They were ripe for conquering.
The Portuguese walked in easily enough, but had the usual geographical and linguistic problems conquering heroes face when conquering unfamiliar lands.
The Ceylonese were quick to catch on, and although they bowed down to the might of the foreign invaders, they were not above having a few laughs at their expense.
One particular episode occurred when they enlisted the help of a few islanders to lead them to the kingdom of Kotte, so they could inform the incumbent king that he was to be relieved of his duties. It is said that the trip, which could have taken a few hours, took days before the tired and footsore conquerors were delivered to the now ex-king, by a bunch of sniggering Ceylonese.
The islanders obediently embraced Catholicism and a few Catholics, who married them. Although the Portuguese succeeded in annexing most of Ceylon for themselves, the central hill kingdom of Kandy remained inviolate. No amount of guns, cannons and bayonets could battle against strategically placed rocks rolled down mountainsides by an unseen enemy.
The intricacies of guerrilla warfare were
Readers choose
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Honey Brown
Lynda Bailey
James Wilson Penn
Gillian Roberts
Peter Tremayne
Joely Sue Burkhart
Emily Cooper
Myunique C. Green
Michael McManamon