The Heirloom

The Heirloom

By Dewi Anggraeni

"Rod," Wati said unexpectedly - that is, Rod hadn't expected
it. "I know it's a bit sudden. Would you mind staying the night?"

Rodney was dumbfounded. How could he not be? He had been
attracted to Wati for months, yet had not dared make any move, in
case he frightened her away.

While this was his second year in Melbourne, Rodney hadn't
quite picked up the local boys' ease when it came to chatting up
girls. In fact, he found city girls rather overwhelming. In
Dunkeld where he came from, everyone knew everyone else. With a
population of 200, it was like a big family.

And after finishing his primary education, his parents had
sent him to a Catholic secondary college in Hamilton. The college
had only recently become co-educational, and he had been grateful
for that. He had not turned out to be a complete nerd and was
able to conduct intelligent conversation with girls without
becoming tongue-tied or breaking out in a cold sweat.

However Rodney was inherently shy and careful, and scared
stiff of making a fool of himself.

He'd struck up a friendship with a fellow student, Nugroho, a
fine and intelligent young man from Cirebon, Indonesia. During
the first year Nugroho had stayed in the residential college with
him. When his sister Wati had come along to study the following
year, he had moved out to share an apartment with her, within
walking distance of the university.

Rodney had liked Wati immediately. Not only was she
intelligent and good looking, she had poise like he had never
seen in other girls. Almost regal. There was something about her
that commanded respect. To Rodney's pleasant surprise, Wati had
liked him and trusted him almost straight away. "Maybe because
I'm her brother's buddy," he'd tried to explain it.

That evening they had gone to see The English Patient at the
cinema in town. They had both been overcome by the film and had
talked about it all the way back to Wati's apartment. He was just
about to leave when Wati invited him to stay.

"If you worry about clean clothes, you can wear Nugroho's
shirts. I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Wati added. "You see Rod,
people from the other apartments have seen a prowler these last
few days. Though I haven't seen him, with Nugroho away, I'm a bit
spooked. I couldn't ask anyone else. I don't know anyone else as
well as I know you."

"So you don't think Nugroho would mind?" Rodney finally found
his speech.

"Oh no! He'd be happy that you kept me company."

"Well, since you put it that way. Okay, Wati. I'll stay."

"Thanks Rod. I knew I could rely on you."

Wati then made sure Nugroho's bed had clean sheets, and showed
Rodney the drawer where her brother kept his clean shirts. He
followed her around in a daze. "What's this game she's playing?
I'd better go along with it."

He helped her make warm drinks for both of them before sitting
down for a chat in the living room. He watched her every move,
yet couldn't find any signs of invitation to break the invisible
barrier between them. She chose a single seat, instead of the two
seater. She even kept her jacket on. Admittedly it was cold
inside, as the heater was taking a long time to warm up the room.
But what was he looking for? Wati obviously wouldn't initiate any
move. She wasn't that kind of girl. Conversation was a little
stilted because he was hugely distracted.

Then he saw a sign. Wati yawned then looked moistly at him,
unfocused. Was this what the boys called "bedroom eyes"? Rodney
wished he were more experienced. Instead, he was quietly shaking
from nervousness.

Wati yawned again and began to get up, yet all Rodney was able
to do was ask, "Tired?" He couldn't even continue, "Ready for
bed?" His jaws were stiff, his body frozen on the spot.

Rodney cursed himself as he saw Wati step slowly toward her
bedroom. "Good night, Rod. I hope the bed is comfortable. I can't
keep my eyes open any more. After two almost sleepless nights,
worrying about the prowler, I'm going to collapse, I'm afraid."

"Night, Wati," he croaked, looking at his empty cup. Five
minutes after Wati closed her door Rodney finally gathered his
strength to stand up.

As he walked past Wati's door, he knocked and asked whether he
should turn off the lamp at the end of the corridor. "No, leave
it on. That way you can see your way around during the night."

He left his bedroom door ajar, just in case. In case of what?
Did he really expect Wati to sneak in? Ridiculous. Hadn't she
hinted that he could come to her room, "that way you can see your
way around during the night"? Idiot.

He sat up in his bed, steadying his nerves. Then, before he
lost his courage, he tossed the blanket off, swung his legs down,
threw his shirt on his back and stood up.

Stepping out to the corridor, his heart missed a beat when the
lamp light flickered. Was he seeing things? How could an electric
light flicker? He walked to the corner table where the lamp was
and examined it. Yes, it was an electric bulb alright. Chuckling
at his stupidity, he turned to begin walking toward Wati's
bedroom. Suddenly he felt a chill right down his spine. For a
split second he saw a big shadow on the opposite wall.

"Wati? Is it you? Wati?" he called out. An eerie silence
followed. Then the general plumbing noise from next door broke
the spell.

Rodney took one step along the corridor but Wati's door seemed
miles away. Despite the heater, he felt cold. Confused and
disoriented, he returned to his bedroom and closed the door.

At around three o'clock, he was waken up by footsteps in the
corridor, then Wati's door opening and closing. Shaking his head
gently, he crawled out of bed to go to the bathroom. He looked
left and right before stepping out. No shadows and the light
wasn't flickering.

He didn't lighten his footsteps as he knew Wati wouldn't have
gone back to sleep. In fact, on the way back from the bathroom,
he intended to knock on her door, ostensibly to ask if she was
alright.

His fist stopped in mid-air. Again, he saw the lamplight
flicker and a shadow pass. This time he didn't dilly-dally. He
went straight back to bed to calm down. Was this apartment
haunted? Was this what Wati meant when she'd said she'd been
spooked? Why hadn't she told him the truth? This story about a
prowler, was it just an excuse so that she didn't have to tell
him that the apartment was haunted? "What's happening to me? Am I
so freaked out about Wati being so close yet so far? I probably
spooked myself up."

"Did you have a good sleep?" asked Wati at breakfast.

"Yes, er well, actually I woke up at three o'clock and
couldn't go back to sleep for hours."

Wati looked concerned. "Oh no. Don't tell me. You heard the
prowler!"

Rodney looked her straight in the eye. "Prowler was not what
came to my mind. Wati, do you come across anything weird... er
spooky, in this apartment?"

"What d'you mean?" asked Wati, visibly alarmed.

"Oh God. I was probably imagining things. Probably just over-
exhaustion. No, it couldn't be. I swear I saw..."

"What?" Wati pressed.

When Rodney told her what he'd seen the previous night, Wati
looked genuinely disturbed. "Good God, Rod! You gave me the
creeps! To think that I get up once or twice a night and walk
that corridor! But how come it never happens to me? Or Nugroho.
If it ever happened to him, he never told me."

She walked to the corner table and picked up the lamp to have
a good look at it. "I've checked," said Rodney, "nothing unusual
there."

After her morning lectures, Wati and some friends walked into
the cafeteria. There she saw Rodney sitting at a table reading.
He looked up and saw her saying something to her friends then
come away toward him. Something warm and mushy swelled inside
him. There was a definite closeness between them now, bordering
on exclusivity.

"I'm getting another cup of coffee. D'you want me to get you
one?" he asked when Wati sat opposite him. Wati nodded
thankfully.

Sipping her coffee and seemingly thinking, Wati looked really
vulnerable, invoking Rodney's protective instinct. "Wati," he
said, "d'you want me to stay with you again tonight? Nugroho
won't be back till tomorrow, will he?" Strange, how it was so
easy for him to say that now.

Wati looked up, her eyes beaming. "Are you sure it's okay with
you, Rod? If you have to do your assignments, you can use
Nugroho's computer, you know."

The pathway to heaven opened up before him. Wati actually
invited him to stay with her again, even luring him with the use
of her brother's computer. What next?

After his evening lecture Rodney went to his rooms to collect
some clean underwear, then rushed to Wati's apartment. She was
preparing a rather elaborate dinner of rice, roast chicken in
soya sauce and vegetables cooked in coconut juice.

"Are you having guests for dinner, Wati?" asked Rodney,
suppressing his disappointment.

Wati smiled cheerfully. "Yes. You."

Seeing his incredulous face, Wati went on, "I thought, since
you've been so kind, the least I could do is cook a decent dinner
for you. I knew you liked roast chicken in soya sauce. I just
hope you like the vegetable dish as well."

"Wati," Rodney smiled uncertainly, "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. Just give me a hand and set
the table. Oh, and, Rodney, there are some candles in that drawer
over there."

Romantic candle-lit dinner! Wow, I wish I'd bought some wine.
"D'you want me to pop out and buy some Riesling or something?"

"No need, I've got some homemade lemonade in the fridge."

They brought the food to the table, lit the candles, turned
off the big lights and set the CD player on soft music. Rodney
was as excited as a six-year-old boy on Christmas Eve. He pulled
a chair out for his lady-love, patted her shoulder as if to
settle her in, then pulled another chair opposite her for
himself, so that they would be able to look into each other's
eyes.

The soft music must have had an effect on Wati, because her
eyes beamed and glistened each time Rodney complimented her on
her cooking. Rodney was so high he began to suspect that the
lemonade was not so innocuous after all. They were talking and
laughing, sharing interests and jokes with their food. It was
obvious now to Rodney that Wati was as attracted to him as he was
to her.

The romance of the evening had filled him with confidence and
courage. When all the laughter had subsided, Rodney reached out
to grab Wati's hand. She didn't retrieve it. Just when Rodney was
going to raise it to his lips, the candle lights flickered
wildly, and there on the wall opposite him, he saw the shadow of
an old man in profile wearing a weird headdress. He promptly
dropped Wati's hand, his mouth gaping in fright.

"What's going on? What'd you see?" asked Wati, turning around
to have a look at the now blank wall.

"There was a shadow on that wall, but only for a second,"
Rodney said feebly, still trembling.

"What was the shadow?" asked Wati bewildered.

"An old man, wearing a... a sort of a... hat... No, I'm not
imagining things. This time I know I saw it. Did you see the
candle lights move? Yet there was no breeze."

Wati stood up, visibly shaken. Then they both jumped when the
front door opened. Nugroho walked in carrying his suitcase,
surprised to see them in a room lit only by candles. "Well, well!
Did I disturb your evening?" There was teasing as well as
upbraiding in his voice.

Seeing them disconcerted to the extent of speechlessness,
Nugroho tried to make light of the situation. "I hope you've left
some chicken and vegetables for me. I'm famished."

They all moved and behaved awkwardly for the next hour, until
Wati finally blurted out, "Mas Nug, Rodney saw a ghost in this
apartment."

Nugroho looked up from his food.

"Not quite a ghost, Nug. It was a shadow, rather. The shadow
of an old man," Rodney explained.

Nugroho stopped eating and looked at both of them. "Tell me
about it."

Rodney then recounted what he'd seen the previous night and
this evening, and Nugroho listened attentively, frowning and
squinting. Suddenly he smiled.

"Rod, correct me if I'm wrong. I think you neglected to tell
me, that it only happened when you had... er romantic thoughts
toward Wati. Am I right?"

Rodney took a deep breath to hide his embarrassment and Wati
blushed. Nugroho turned to Wati, reached out to take her hand and
seated her beside him. "Listen Wati. When you came here, you
brought a very powerful heirloom with you, right?"

Wati looked wide-eyed at her brother. "You mean Ki Ageng?"

"Yes, Ki Ageng. Do you know where Ni Ampen, Ki Ageng's mate
is?"

"With Ria, in Leiden. Mother gave them each to us. She says to
protect us."

"I thought as much. I suggest you ring Ria in Leiden and
arrange for the two to be reunited."

"What d'you mean? Why?"

"Because, my girl, they are a couple. When they are apart,
they're both restless, missing each other. That's why Ki Ageng
not only protects you, but protects you against an amorous young
man! Ha.. ha.. ha..."

Wati began to laugh too. "You mean, Ki Ageng is jealous?"

"Of course he is!" Nugroho put his arm around his sisters
shoulders and they fell against each other laughing.

When Rodney found his voice, he raised it asking, "Can someone
please enlighten me. What are you talking about? Who's Ki Ageng,
and his mate Ni Ampen?"

Among their laughter, they managed to answer, almost in
unison, "A kris."

Rodney couldn't believe his ears. "You mean a traditional
dagger?"

"Yes, from the Majapahit kingdom in the 12th century."

Rodney lowered himself into a chair, picked up his glass of
lemonade and drank it slowly.

Dewi Anggraeni was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and lives in
Melbourne. She was the Australian correspondent for Tempo and now
writes for The Jakarta Post, Forum Keadilan and other
publications in Indonesia and Australia. She has three books
published in Australia -- two novels, The Root of All Evil (1987)
and Parallel Forces (1988), and a trilogy of novellas called
Stories of Indian Pacific (1993).