A Widespread Disease

Chapter One: Little Miss Mary    

Nobody seemed to care about Mary.

She was born in India, where her father was a British official.

He was busy with his work, and her mother, who was very beautiful, spent all her time going to parties.

So an Indian woman, Kama, was paid to take care of the little girl.

Mary was not a pretty child.

She had a thin angry face and thin yellow hair.

She was always giving orders to Kama, who had to obey.

Mary never thought of other people, but only of herself.

In fact, she was a very selfish, disagreeable, bad-tempered little girl.

One very hot morning, when she was about nine years ld, she woke up and saw that instead of Kama, there was a different Indian servant by her bed.

What are you doing here? she asked crossly. Go away. And sent Kama to me at once.

The woman looked afraid. I am sorry, Miss Mary, she can not come.

Something strange was happening that day.

Some of the house servants were missing and everybody looked frightened.

But nobody told Mary anything, and Kama still did not come.

So at last Mary went out into the garden, and played by herself under a tree.

She pretended she was making her own flower garden, and picked large red flowers to push into the ground.

All the time, she was saying crossly to herself. I hate Kama, I will hit her when she comes back.

Just then, she saw her mother coming into the garden, with a young Englishman.

They did not notice the child, who listened to their conversation.

It is very bad, is it? her mother asked the young man in a worried voice.

Very bad. he ansered seriously. People are dying like flies. It is dangerous to stay in this town. You should go to the hills, where there is no disease.

Oh, I know. she cried, we must leave soon.

Suddenly they heard loud cries coming from the servant's rooms, at the side of the house.

What is happened? cried Mary's mother wildly.

I think one of your servants has just died. You did not tell me the disease is here, in your house.

I did not know. she screamed. Quick, come with me.

And together they ran into the house.

Now Mary understood what was wrong.

The terrible disease had already killed many people in the town, and in all the houses, people were dying.

In Mary's house, it was Kama who had just died.

Later that day, three more servants died there.

All though the night and the next day, people ran in and out of the house, shouting and crying.

Nobody though of Mary.

She hid in her bedroom, frightened by the strange and terrible sounds that she heard around her.

Sometimes she cried and sometimes she slept.