“I know a lot of them,” announced Paul. “Mom used to tell them to me before Penny began asking so many questions. Maybe Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles, will remove the stone from over the door. I don’t like being shut down here. Is it all right if I ask him?”
Peter started to protest, but the magician said, “Let him pretend if he wants to. It will keep him from being frightened.”
“Lift me up!” Penny pleaded. “I can’t see anything.”
Judy smiled as she saw the magician lift her and hold her close. She was thinking what a good father he would make. Impulsively she asked, “You aren’t married, are you? I thought at first you were Mr. Dran. I know you live with them.”
“All four of them,” he said. “Mr. and Mrs. Dran and the two children. They keep my house in order and make it more like a home. Their boys are smart little fellows, but they can’t beat these two. Paul, here, knows the names of these pieces almost as well as I do.”
He was pointing them out, one after another, to the children. Not all of them were green. The monkey god was carved out of mottled gray jade, and Ravana, with his many heads, was almost black.
All the idols were small and delicately carved. The largest was the four-headed Brahma, the Creator, sitting on his throne in the center. The Preserver of Life, Vishnu, and the Destroyer, Shiva, were placed on his right and his left. The other jade pieces were variously grouped around them.
Peter pointed out the life god or the Preserver, and his wife, a tiny image. Penny said she looked almost like Sita.
“But where is Rama?” she asked.
“He’s in good hands, thanks to Judy and Peter,” the magician assured both children. “He’s waiting for Sita just as I am. When you see him I hope they will be together.”