Now someone was standing in the middle of the road, frantically waving his arms

and shouting incomprehensibly.

It is Suri,' said Somi.
It was Suri.
Bespectacled and owlish to behold, Suri possessed an almost criminal cunning,
and was both respected and despised by all who knew him. It was strange to find him
out of to wn, for his inter ests were confined to people and their privacies; which
privacies, when known to Suri, were soon made public.
He was a pale, bony, sickly boy, but he would probably live longer than Ranbir.
'Hey, give me a lift!' he shouted. "Too many already,' said Somi.
"Oh, come on Somi, I'm nearly drowned.' 'It's stopped raining."
'Oh, come on.
So Suri climbed on to the handlebar, which rather obscured Somi's view of the
road and caused the cycle to wobble all over the place. Ranbir kept slipping on and
off the carrier, and the boy found the crossbar exceedingly uncomfortable. The
cycle had barely been controlled when Suri started to complain.
It hurts,' he whimpered.
Ihaven't got a cushion,' said Somi.
'It is a cycle,' said Ranbir bitingly, 'not a Rolls Royce.' Suddenly the road fell
steeply, and the cycle gathered speed. Take it easy, now,' said Suri, 'or I'll fly off!'
'Hold tight,' warned Somi. It's downhill nearly all the way. We will have to go
fast because the brakes aren't very good.'
'Oh, Mummy!' wailed Suri.
'Shut up!' said Ranbir.
The wind hit them with a sudden force, and their clothes blew up like balloons,
almost tearing them from the machine. The boy forgot his discomfort and clung
desperately to the crossbar, too nervous to say a word. Suri howled and Ranbir kept
telling him to shut up, but Somi was enjoying the ride. He laughed merrily, aclear,
ringing laugh, a laugh that bore no malice and no derision but only enjoyment, fun.

'It's allright for you to laugh,' said Suri, 'If anything happens,
I'll get hurt!'"
'If anything happens,' said Somi, 'we all get hurt!' That's right,' shouted Ranbir
from behind.
The boy closed his eyes and put his trust in God and Somi-but mainly Somi ...