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).