The Unforeseen Rescue

Inspector Khalid stood in the dance hall of the Jeffries Hotel, observing the dancing couples. With him was the DS of his section.

"Look, there he is," Khalid said, pointing towards Imran, who was dancing with Dixon's daughter, Martha.

Sophia had arrived here with her guests today but hadn't participated in the dance.

"Really!" The DS expressed his surprise. "He still looks like a youngster! Anyway, I have asked Captain Fayyaz about his status! Oh, and there's probably Zargam's daughter, Sophia! Who's that bearded man with her?"

"Just a guest. Bar Tosh-- a citizen of Czechoslovakia! And that's Colonel Dixon! His daughter Martha is dancing with Imran."

"Keep a close eye on this Imran," the DS advised. "Alright, I'll be leaving now." The DS left.

The dance ended as well. Imran and Martha returned to their table. Khalid watched them for a few moments before he, too, left the dance hall.

Imran was in high spirits! In just two or three days, Martha had become quite friendly with him. She was that kind of person. She had also mingled similarly with Arif and Anwar, as if they had known each other for years!

"You dance well," she told Imran.

"Really!" Imran said in surprise. "If that's the case, I'll dance day and night. My father is a great man. He'll be very pleased."

"Are you really a fool?" Martha asked with a smile.

"That's what Papa says."

"And what does your mummy think?"

"Mummy is a specialist in using shoes to express her thoughts. She only shares her opinions on special occasions."

"I don't understand."

"You wouldn't. In England, expressing thoughts with shoes is not common."

At that moment, Martha was distracted by something Arif said. A waiter was bringing a tray of coffee for them. Among the items was a glass of orange squash that Sophia had ordered for herself. Just as the waiter approached, a man passing by collided with him. The waiter staggered but managed to steady himself and the tray.

Imran saw it all. His lips parted slightly and then closed again as he watched the man who had bumped into the waiter and then apologized before moving on.

As soon as the waiter placed the tray on the table, Imran turned in such a way that his hand knocked over the glass of orange squash.

"Oh no!... What a mess!" Imran exclaimed, flustered, as he hurried to set the glass upright.

"You've probably never been around decent people!" Colonel Dixon snapped, but Bar Tosh stared at him with strange eyes.

"I'll get another one right away," Imran said, looking at Sophia, and stood up with the glass. Sophia didn't say anything, but her face showed signs of displeasure.

Imran went to the counter to get another glass. By then, the waiter had cleaned the table.

Imran returned with the glass. Orange squash stains had marred Sophia's trousers and Martha's skirt, making both of them look utterly bored and uncomfortable. It was almost impossible to stay in such a situation, but the question was how they could leave. Clearly, the stains on the skirt and trousers were large and very noticeable from a distance.

"I've always seen bad endings for flustered people like you," the Colonel was saying to Imran.

"Yes," Imran nodded. "I've experienced it myself! Once, I mistook a lemon drop for arsenic."

Despite her irritation, Martha smiled.

"What happened then?" Arif asked.

"A child was born! ... and he called me uncle!" Imran said in Urdu. "You are quite cheerful, but Martha can never fall in love with you."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Sophia snapped.

Imran said nothing. He was lost in thought, and his eyes widened as if an owl had been suddenly caught in the light.

A little later, they all got up to leave.

The stain on Sophia's trousers was hidden under her long frock, but the stain on Martha's white skirt looked quite unsightly. Somehow, she made it to the station wagon.

Everyone felt the awkwardness caused by Imran, but there was nothing they could do except mutter curses under their breath.

The station wagon headed towards Colonel Zargam's mansion. The night was quite pleasant, and Martha was sitting close to Anwar on the seat, so Anwar kept the car's speed slow.

Suddenly, on a deserted road, they saw three uniformed policemen signaling for the car to stop. Anwar slowed down even more, and the station wagon came to a halt near them. One was a sub-inspector, and the other two were constables.

The sub-inspector approached the car and said, "Turn on the interior light."

"Why?" Imran asked.

"We received a report that there's an unconscious girl in this car."

"Haha!" Imran laughed. "Absolutely, there is. Absolutely."

Anwar turned on the interior light, and the sub-inspector squinted as he looked at each person. Imran watched his face with great interest.

"Where is she?" the sub-inspector demanded.

"Am I not unconscious?" Imran said, pressing a finger to his nose and leaning back. "I'm unconscious, that's why I'm wearing men's clothes!... Oh, get out of here!"

Sophia, Anwar, and Arif started laughing uncontrollably.

"What nonsense," the sub-inspector snapped.

"But may I ask where this information came from?" Imran inquired.

"Nothing! Go on... it must be some other car!" The sub-inspector moved away from the vehicle, and they drove off.

Martha asked Sophia the reason for their laughter, and then she too started laughing.

"I don't know what kind of person he is!" she said.

She expected Imran to say something in response, but he remained silent, seemingly lost in deep thought.

It wasn't too late yet, so when they reached home, everyone got involved in some sort of activity. Anwar and Bar Tosh played billiards, while the Colonel and Arif waited to play bridge with Sophia and Martha, who had gone to their rooms to change.

A little while later, Imran knocked on Martha's door.

"Who is it?" came the voice from inside.

"Imran the Great Fool," he replied.

"What's the matter?" Martha asked as she opened the door. She had already changed her skirt.

"I'm sorry that I ruined your skirt," Imran said.

"It's nothing!"

"Oh no! Give me the skirt, or the stain will become permanent!"

"Don't worry about it."

"Give it to me, or I'll feel even worse!"

"You're really hard to get rid of."

After a bit of back and forth, Martha handed her skirt to Imran. He then went to Sophia's room, holding Martha's skirt in one hand and a bottle of milk in the other.

"What is this?" Sophia asked in surprise.

"I'm going to remove the stain! Hand over your trousers as well."

"What nonsense! Mr. Imran, you can be very annoying sometimes."

"No, really! Give them to me! I won't use water; I'll clean them with milk!"

"I don't care!" Sophia fumed.

Imran grabbed the trousers that were draped over the chair. Sophia watched his actions with a mix of exasperation and curiosity. He poured the milk into a large bowl and began rubbing the stains. After a short while, the stains were gone. Sophia's fluffy Persian cat kept trying to pounce on the bowl, and Imran kept pushing it away. Once he was done, the cat lunged at the milk. This time, Imran didn't stop her.

"Couldn't you have washed it with water? Why do you always feel the need to demonstrate your foolishness?" Sophia asked.

"Wait, did I do something foolish?" Imran asked, feigning surprise.

"For heaven's sake, stop being so annoying!" Sophia said, clearly irritated.

"When Adam hesitated to approach the forbidden tree, Eve said the same thing!"

Sophia said nothing. She glanced at the cat, which had fallen over after drinking the milk.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked, getting up.

"Nothing!" Imran said, grabbing the cat by the leg and holding her up.

"What happened to her?" Sophia screamed.

"Nothing. She's just unconscious… If God wills, she won't wake up until morning."

"What on earth are you doing?" Sophia's tone was aggressive.

"Those fake policemen! They would have certainly found an unconscious girl in our car. But I couldn't let that happen."

"What?" Sophia exclaimed, her eyes wide. "So those stains…"

"Obviously, those weren't ordinary stains."

"But what does this mean?"

"It means they planned to kidnap you... but I didn't let their plan succeed."

"You deliberately knocked over the glass?"

"Yes!" Imran nodded. "Sometimes such foolishness is necessary."

"But how did you know?"

Imran repeated the story of an unknown man bumping into the waiter. "My left eye is always open... I saw him put something in the glass!"

Sophia started to look frightened. Imran said, "Oh, don't be scared! But you must follow my instructions no matter what!"

Sophia said nothing, staring in amazement at this foolishly wise man.

"And yes, don't mention this incident to anyone!" Imran said, pointing at the unconscious cat. "Not even to Arif or Anwar!"

"I won't, Mr. Imran! You truly are great."

"I wish my father thought the same," Imran said in a sorrowful tone.