As soon as she mentioned the name of the house, Cyrus was transported back fifteen years to his school days, and he felt a shudder of fear run down his spine. As a schoolboy, Cyrus and his friend, Sandeep, used to pass "Banjara House" on their way to and from school. It was a large, detached and quite sinister looking, red brick house set in its own Gardens behind a brick wall. Entrance was via a huge, wrought iron gate. He and Sandeep always imagined that it was haunted.
On their way home one evening, they had been joined by Seema, a girl that Cyrus had a schoolboy crush on. Both Sandeep and Cyrus were both in a particularly boisterous mood, both trying to impress Seema. Sandeep had dared Cyrus to take a few mangoes from the tree just inside the wrought iron gate of "Banjara House".
"My brother said the house is haunted," warned Seema.
"There's no such thing as ghosts," replied Cyrus, trying to sound confident and knowledgeable. "How many mangos do you want?"
"Six," replied Seema. Her eyes widened with nervous admiration as Cyrus pushed open the heavy, squeaking, wrought iron gate and began to climb the mango tree just a short way up the drive.
"You can have a dozen if you like," Cyrus called out cheerfully from half way up the tree, relishing the opportunity to demonstrate his bravery, as his two friends watched him from the other side of the gate.
"I'll give you a dozen!" said a woman's voice from the direction of the house, "A dozen strokes of my cane across your bum young man."
In complete panic, Cyrus dropped from the tree, mangos scattering around him, and ran as fast as his legs would carry him through the gate and into the street. His friends were already scampering away up the road. He didn't look back, so he didn't see the lady, but he had heard her footsteps walking briskly towards him on the gravel drive. He pictured her with a cane in her hand.
Cyrus changed his route to school after that incident, always fearing that a woman wielding a cane would be waiting behind the gate for him when he passed by. The image of her haunted him. Even now, fifteen years later, the image he had made up in his own head, made him nervous each time he had to pass near to "Banjara House".
Now, he was running his own small gardening business. The call he had just taken was from a lady called Ms Archana. She had a refined voice and explained that she had a large garden that needed regular maintenance, and that her regular gardener had recently retired for health reasons. She lived in the same town and Cyrus agreed a time to call in to quote for the work. It was then that she gave him the address and the name of the house. Cyrus realised his hand was shaking as he put down the receiver.
Later that afternoon, Cyrus pushed open the same heavy wrought iron gate he had last ran out of all those years ago. It still squeaked. He became aware he was sweating as he walked past the mango tree. It seemed smaller now. A minute later he pulled himself together and knocked on the oak front door of "Banjara House". Of course she won't recognise me after all this time, he thought to himself. It might not even be the same person, she might have moved.
The door was opened by a glamorous and attractive lady, smartly dressed in a sari. Her dark hair was held back into a tight bun and beginning to grey. He guessed she was in her late forties. She looked at him for a few uncomfortable moments, before he found his voice.
"I'm Cyrus," he said, clearing his throat, trying to disguise his nervousness, "I've come to quote for gardening."
"Oh yes, of course," she said, studying his face carefully, her clear, hard, blue eyes boring into him.
There were a few uncomfortable seconds of silence and Cyrus felt himself flushing.
"Perhaps you would care to take a look around the garden, Cyrus," she said eventually, "As you will see, it's suffered a few weeks of neglect. I'd like a quote for tidying up, weeding, trimming hedges. If you'll excuse me I'm in the middle of something, so just knock when you've had a look."
She closed the door.
Cyrus was nervous and excited by the mere presence of this refined lady. The thought that it might have been the same lady who had promised to cane him fifteen years ago was impossible to put out of his mind as he looked around the large garden. He realised he had an erection. Ten minutes later he knocked on the door again.
"I've had a look around, Miss Archana. It's a lot of work, I think it will take about a week to put it back in order,"
"I accept the quote, Cyrus," she said as soon as he had given her a price, "When can you start?"
"I usually ask for a fifty per cent deposit," he said shyly.
"Well I don't usually pay a fifty percent deposit," she replied firmly, "I pay when the work is completed to my satisfaction. When can you start?"
Cyrus found himself becoming erect and his face flushing again. He felt sure she had glanced down and noticed the bulge in his trousers. She looked back into his face with a hint of amusement in her eyes.
"Next Monday," he said meekly.
"Good. I'll expect you at 8am sharp." She raised her eyebrows slightly, indicating that she expected a reply in the affirmative.
"Yes, Miss Archana," he replied obediently.
* * *
Cyrus was unable to put Miss Archana out of his mind for the rest of the week. He was almost desperate to know if she was the same lady who had threatened him with the cane. The thought excited him and scared him.
He began work on Miss Archana's garden at the agreed time the following Monday. She occasionally brought him out a cup of tea and inspected his progress, but other than that he saw little of her during the following week and she didn't seem interested in engaging him in conversation.
Towards the end of his last day, he was tidying away his tools, happy that the job was complete, and he found himself standing by the mango tree he had tried to steal mangos from when he was a boy. He tried to imagine what it would have been like if he'd been caught. He found himself becoming erect again, and unconsciously put his hand to his erection.
"A penny for your thoughts, Cyrus?"
Her voice made him jump and he quickly pulled his hand away from the front of his trousers, looking to his left to see Miss Archana standing to his side with a cup of tea.
"I was just admiring your mango tree," he replied awkwardly, not being able to think of what to say. She looked at him with a slightly amused look on her face and he felt his face flush again and his erection harden.
"Yes," she said at last, "Of course you were."
