Gravedigger Read Online Free

was kofta , which was a ground lamb dish placed over rice, served with tea. Abasin and his wife and children asked them many questions about America, which they were happy to answer. And they were more than generous about the food, insisting they eat until full.
    When the hospitality part of dinner had finally passed, Abasin led them out of his home and across the village. The houses were made of stone and mud, the streets not much more than dirt paths. There were a few trucks and bicycles and a couple of motorcycles. There were also mules and horses. People were working in gardens, or tending to animals, or sitting on the stoops of houses smoking pipes. There were not many women to be seen, but there were plenty of children, who would swarm toward them until a few sharp words from Abasin scattered them.
    Finally, on the other side of the village they came to a low, flat building. Abasin pounded on the wooden door. A woman whose entire face was covered by a scarf except for her eyes, came to the door. He spoke to her softly and she waved them in.
    It was some sort of hospital. There were six people on beds. Two of them were adults. Four were children, none older than four years of age.
    Abasin talked, telling the woman who they were. Noa translated. Johnston excused himself and left the building, indicating he was going to go back to the truck. Derek asked him to bring his backpack along if he got the chance.
    The woman explained that the two adults were sick with fever, but it wasn’t anything unusual. The children, though, she didn’t understand. They had complained of headaches, vomiting, sore throats. None of those were unusual, but they also seemed to be weak. Two of them had seizures, but the woman explained it was not epilepsy. She’d seen epilepsy and this wasn’t epilepsy.
    Derek questioned the woman about her background and found that she was the local midwife, nurse and general healthcare worker – she had spent a year training in Islamabad. He asked her if he could examine the children. She looked at Abasin, who nodded.
    The oldest child, a boy, was sitting up, but his eyes were glazed and he twitched as if he had some sort of neuromuscular disorder. His name was Malik. Derek felt his forehead, but didn’t think he had a temperature. He asked the nurse about diarrhea. She said yes. He asked her if there was any blood in it. Yes. But that in itself wasn’t unusual. Dysentery was common.
    But the tremors were unusual. All the children had tremors. One of the other children was drooling. He asked the nurse if the amount of drool was unusual.
    “Yes,” she said. “For all of them. They’re spitting a lot or drooling.”
    Derek sat back on his haunches, thinking.
    Glancing up at Abasin, he said, “What’s the water supply for the village?”
    “We have a well.”
    “I’d like to see it.”

    As Abasin was leading them to the village well, General Johnston appeared carrying Derek’s ruckpack. “What’s up?”
    “We’re going to look at the community well.”
    Johnston’s bushy eyebrows arced, but he nodded. He asked Abasin if he could walk around, look at the crops. Derek suggested Abasin point him in the direction of the well, but Noa and Johnston go with Abasin.
    The well was in the middle of the village, a round concrete turret about three feet tall, about six feet in circumference. It was a hand pump. Several women were filling plastic jugs. He pointed at himself and to the pump. They nodded and he pumped while they filled the containers. The water had a slight sulfur smell, but looked clear enough.
    Finally the women left, hauling their water away. From his backpack Derek removed an M272 Chemical Agents Water Testing Kit. He pulled out a variety of test tickets for different nerve agents and wet them with water from the well. He then pressed them against the test patches. As he watched, several of the tickets turned blue.
    He then took several test tubes and filled them with the water and added