Campbell

Chapter 10

' Tonight I must give him one of the tranquilizers I brought with me . ' I thought .

We finished our breakfast by nine . ' Good morning James , looks like you slept well .' I greeted trying to fight a smirk .

' Don't you know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and rude way to greet ? ' James stated .

' Don't you know it sarcasm is the highest form of intelligence and it is rude when you don't return the greetings ?' I countered .

Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something , there was a honk .

We both turned our heads . A bearer came and informed us that the car had been called to drive us to the Fort Of Bundi .

We reached the Fort by nine-thirty . We parted our ways and got started with our work .

After about two hours I came back to the car . I was told that James was on the terrace .

I set my tools and briefcase in the boot of the car and made my way up the terrace . I reached the terrace and found James standing absent-mindedly near a wall on the other side of the terrace . He did not seem to notice my presence even when I stood beside him . He started when I called him by his name .

It felt as if he was possessed .

' What on earth is the matter with you ?' I asked . 'Why are you standing here looking morose even in a beautiful place like this ? I can't stand it .'

James simply said, ' Have you finished your work ? IF SO , LET'S... '

Had I been alone , I would have definitely spent a little more time at the fort . But one look at James made me decide in favor of returning to the Circuit House .

We were on the back seat . James was unusually quite and gloomy . Now I was convinced that he was possessed or sick . This odd relentlessness worried me .

After about ten minutes , I could not take it any more .

'It might help if you told me about your problem ,' I said . James shook his head .

' Its no use telling you , for you are not gonna believe me .'

'OK, even if I don't believe you , I can at least discuss the matter with you , can't I ?'

' Campbell came into my room last night . Those little marks on my quilt were his footprints .' He said carefully shuddering .