awake, Pisskop?â she asked, not unkindly.
âJa, Mevrou.â I was back in the real world and I quickly gathered my mental camouflage about me. My head was swathed in a thick crepe bandage and I was wearing my pajamas. My head didnât hurt a bit, but my shoulder ached where Iâd landed against the wall.
âNow listen to me, Pisskop.â There was a note of urgency in Mevrouâs voice. âWhen the doctor comes you must tell him you fell out of a tree, you hear?â
âJa, Mevrou.â
âWhat tree did you fall out of, Pisskop?â she asked.
âThere was no tree, Mevrou.â I had fallen at once for the trick.
âDomkop!â she shouted. âWash out your ears. What did I just tell you, man?â
âIt was the mango tree, the big one next to the playground,â I corrected.
âJa, thatâs good, the mango tree.â She rose from the chair beside my bed. âYou have a good memory when you try, Pisskop. Remember to tell the doctor when he comes.â
No sooner had she left than I leaped from the bed and ran to the window where I whistled for Granpa Chook. In a few moments he appeared, clucking and beady eyed as ever as he came to rest on the window sill beside me.
âGranpa Chook, weâre in a lot of trouble,â I told him and explained about the arrival any day now of Adolf Hitler, who was coming to march us into the sea. âCan you swim?â I asked him. Granpa Chook was so amazing that it wouldnât have surprised me if he turned out to be the only chicken in the world who could swim.
âSquawk!â he replied, which could have meant he could or he couldnât, whoâs to say? Granpa Chook wasnât always easy to understand.
We could hear voices coming toward the dormitory, so I quickly pushed Granpa Chook back into the orchard and jumped into bed.
To my joy Mevrou entered with Dr. Henny. He sat on my bed and unwound the bandage around my head. âWhatâs the matter, son? You look pretty done in.â
Even if Dr. Henny wasnât a rooinek, I knew he was on my side, and I longed to burst into tears and tell him all my troubles. But I had already blown my camouflage once that day with near-disastrous results. A bandaged ear and a sore shoulder werenât too bad as a result for having been unforgivably stupid. Next time I might not be so lucky. Choking back the tears, I told him how I had fallen from the big old mango tree next to the playground.
I must have laid it on a bit thick because he turned to Mevrou and in Afrikaans he said, âHmm, except for the cut between the ear and the skull there are no contusions or abrasions. Are you quite sure this child fell from a tree?â
âThe other children saw it happen, Doctor. There is no doubt.â Mevrou said this with such conviction that I began to wonder myself. I realized that Dr. Hennyâs line of questioning could only mean trouble for me.
âItâs true, sir. Thatâs what happened, I fell out of the tree and hurt my shoulder against the wall.â
Dr. Henny didnât seem to notice that Iâd replied in Afrikaans. âThe wall? What wall?â
Fear showed for a moment in Mevrouâs eyes, but she quickly recovered. âThe child doesnât speak Afrikaans very well. He means the ground.â
âJa, the ground,â I added, my camouflage damn nearly blown sky high.
Dr. Henny looked puzzled. âOkay, letâs look at your shoulder, then.â He rotated my shoulder clockwise. âThat hurt? Tell me when it hurts.â I shook my head. He moved it the opposite way with the same result. Then he lifted it upward and I winced. âThatâs sore, hey?â I nodded. âWell itâs not dislocated anyway.â He checked my heart and chest and my back with his stethoscope, which was cold against my skin. âSeems fine. Weâll just put in a couple of little stitches and youâll
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