‘But where would I stay?’
‘One of Tom’s numerous aunts has a house in Boston, and has offered to put us all up for the night.’ Su Ling hesitated. ‘I’m told she has nine bedrooms, and even a separate wing, but if that’s not enough, I could always spend the night in the back of the car.’ Su Ling didn’t reply as Mario appeared carrying two cappuccinos.
‘This is my friend Mario,’ said Su Ling, ‘very good of you to keep my usual table’ she added.
‘Do you bring all your men here?’
‘No, I tend to select a different restaurant each time, so that way no one finds out about my vestal reputation.’
‘Like your reputation as a computer whiz?’
Su Ling blushed. ‘How did you find out about that?’
‘What do you mean, how did I find out? It seems everyone on campus knew except me. In fact my closest friend told me, and he’s at Yale.’
‘I was going to tell you, but you never asked the right question.’
‘Su Ling, you can tell me things without having to be asked the right question.’
‘Then I must ask if you’ve also heard that both Harvard and MIT have invited me to join their computer science departments.’
‘Yes, but I don’t know how you responded.’
‘Tell me, captain,’ she said, ‘can I ask you something first?’
‘You’re trying to change the subject again, Su Ling.’
‘Yes I am, Nat, because I need my question answered before I can reply to yours.’
‘OK, so what’s your question?’
Su Ling lowered her head as she always did when she was slightly embarrassed. ‘How can two such different people,’ she hesitated, ‘end up liking each other so much.’
‘End up falling in love, I think is what you’re trying to say. If I knew the answer to that question, little flower, I’d be a professor of philosophy, and not worrying about my end-of-term exam grades.’
‘In my country,’ said Su Ling, ‘love is something you do not talk about until you have known each other for many years.’
‘Then I promise not to discuss the matter again for many years — on one condition.’
‘And what is that?’
‘That you will agree to come to Boston with us on Friday.’
‘Yes, if I can have Tom’s aunt’s telephone number.’
‘Of course you can, but why?’
‘My mother will need to speak to her.’ Su Ling lifted her right foot, slipped it under the table and placed it on top of Nat’s left foot.
‘Now I feel sure that has a significant meaning in your country.’
‘Yes, it does. It means I wish to walk with you, but not in a crowd.’
Nat placed his right foot on her left. ‘And what does that mean?’
‘That you agree to my request,’ she hesitated. ‘But I should not have done it first, otherwise I would be considered a loose woman.’ Nat immediately removed his foot and then replaced it. ‘Honour restored,’ she said.
‘Then after we have been on our uncrowded walk, what happens next?’
‘You must wait for an invitation to take tea with my family.’
‘How long will that take?’
‘Normally a year would be considered appropriate.’
‘Couldn’t we speed up the process a little?’ suggested Nat. ‘How about next week?’
‘All right, then you will be invited to tea on Sunday afternoon, because Sunday is the traditional day for a man to have a first meal with a woman under the watchful eye of family.’
‘But we’ve already had several meals together.’
‘I know, so you must come to tea before my mother finds out, otherwise I will be abandoned and disinherited.’
‘Then I shall not accept your invitation to tea,’ said Nat.
‘Why not?’
‘I’ll just stand outside your house and grab you when your mother throws you out, and then I won’t have to wait for another two years.’ Nat placed both his feet on hers, and she withdrew them immediately. ‘What did I do wrong?’
‘Two feet means something completely different.’
‘What?’ asked Nat.
‘I can’t tell you, but as you were clever enough to find out the correct translation of Su Ling, I feel sure you will discover the meaning of two feet, and never do it again, unless...’
On Friday afternoon, Tom drove Nat and Su Ling up to his aunt’s home in the leafy suburbs of Boston. Miss Bussell had obviously spoken to Su Ling’s mother, because she’d put her in the bedroom on the main landing, next to hers, while Nat and Tom were relegated to the east wing.
After breakfast the following morning, Su Ling left to keep her appointment with the professor of statistics at Harvard, while Nat and Tom spent some time walking slowly round the cross-country course, something Nat always did whenever he would be running over unfamiliar territory. He checked out all the well-worn paths, and whenever he came to a stream, a gate or a sudden undulation, he practised crossing it several times.
On the way back across the meadow, Tom asked him what he would do if Su Ling agreed to a transfer to Harvard.
‘I’ll move at the same time and enrol at the business school.’
‘You feel that strongly about her?’
‘Yes, and I can’t risk letting anyone else place both feet on hers.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’ll explain another time,’ said Nat as he came to a halt by a stream. ‘Where do you imagine they cross it?’
‘No idea,’ said Tom, ‘but it looks too wide to jump.’
‘Agreed, so I expect they aim for the large flat pebbles in the middle.’
‘What do you do if you re not sure?’ asked Tom.
‘Follow closely behind one of their team, because they’ll do the right thing automatically.’
‘Where are you hoping to end up this early in the season?’
‘I’d be satisfied with being a counter.’
‘I don’t understand, doesn’t everybody count?’
‘No, although there are eight runners on each team, only six count when the final score is calculated. If I come in twelfth or higher, I would be a counter.’
‘So how is the counting done?’
‘First across the line counts as one, second two, and so on. When the race is over, the first six in each team are added together, and the team with the lowest overall score is the winner. That way, seven and eight can only contribute if they stay ahead of any of the first six runners on the other team. Is that clear?’
‘Yes, I think so,’ said Tom, looking at his watch. ‘I’d better get back, because I promised Aunt Abigail I’d have lunch with her. Are you coming?’
‘No, I’m joining the rest of the team for a banana, a lettuce leaf and a glass of water. Could you pick up Su Ling and make sure that she’s back in time to watch the race.’
‘She won’t need to be reminded,’ said Tom.
When Tom strolled into the house, he found his aunt and Su Ling deep in conversation over a bowl of clam chowder. Tom sensed that his aunt had changed the subject the moment he’d entered the room. ‘You’d better grab something to eat,’ she said, ‘if you’re hoping to be back in time to see the start.’
After a second bowl of clam chowder, Tom accompanied Su Ling across to the course. He explained to her that Nat had selected a spot about half-way round, where they could see all the runners for at least a mile and then if they took a short cut, they would be back in time to watch the winner crossing the finishing line.
‘Do you understand what a counter is?’ Tom asked.
‘Yes, Nat explained it to me — an ingenious system, which makes the abacus look positively modem. Would you like me to explain it to you?’ she asked.
‘Yes, I think I would,’ said Tom.