The Weight in Locker Thirteen

The Moonrise Market had one rule that every stallholder knew. Nothing was sold until it was weighed, and every scale in the market answered to the Measure House.

Pasar Bulan Terbit punya satu aturan yang diketahui setiap pemilik lapak. Tidak ada yang dijual sebelum ditimbang, dan setiap timbangan di pasar itu tunduk pada Rumah Takaran.

Adaeze ran the scale stall at the north gate. She was sixteen, and she had kept the stall alone since the spring. It had a brass scale and a row of iron weights. It also had one tiny silver weight, the Honest Gram. The Honest Gram was special. Whenever a trader lied about his goods, the scale tipped toward the truth. The whole market saw it happen.

Adaeze mengelola lapak timbangan di gerbang utara. Usianya enam belas tahun, dan ia menjaga lapak itu sendirian sejak musim semi. Lapak itu punya sebuah timbangan kuningan dan sederet anak timbangan besi. Ada pula satu anak timbangan perak yang mungil, Gram Jujur. Gram Jujur itu istimewa. Setiap kali seorang pedagang berbohong tentang barang dagangannya, timbangan itu condong ke arah kebenaran. Seluruh pasar menyaksikannya.

On the morning of the yearly inspection, the Honest Gram was gone.

Pada pagi pemeriksaan tahunan, Gram Jujur hilang.

Adaeze counted the weights three times. Iron, iron, iron, and then an empty hole in the velvet where the silver one belonged. Her hands began to shake.

Adaeze menghitung anak timbangan itu tiga kali. Besi, besi, besi, lalu sebuah lubang kosong di beludru tempat si perak seharusnya berada. Tangannya mulai gemetar.

"Don't panic," said Thandi, who sold dried figs at the next stall. "Think. Who has been near your scale?"

"Jangan panik," kata Thandi, yang menjual buah ara kering di lapak sebelah. "Berpikirlah. Siapa yang sudah mendekati timbanganmu?"

"Nobody," Adaeze said. "Only the Measure House clerk. He came yesterday and said my scale was drifting."

"Tidak ada," kata Adaeze. "Hanya petugas Rumah Takaran. Dia datang kemarin dan bilang timbanganku menyimpang."

"Drifting?" Thandi laughed. "Scales don't drift. He wanted a reason to touch it."

"Menyimpang?" Thandi tertawa. "Timbangan tidak menyimpang. Dia hanya mencari alasan untuk menyentuhnya."

"Without the Gram, the inspectors will take my licence at noon," Adaeze said. "Then I lose the stall."

"Tanpa Gram itu, para pemeriksa akan mencabut izinku saat tengah hari," kata Adaeze. "Lalu aku kehilangan lapak."

Thandi looked at the sun, which had just cleared the rooftops. They had about five hours. She tied up her fig sacks and shut her shutters with a bang.

Thandi melihat matahari, yang baru saja melewati atap-atap rumah. Mereka punya sekitar lima jam. Ia mengikat karung-karung buah aranya dan menutup daun jendela lapaknya dengan bunyi keras.

"Right," she said. "We find out where he put it."

"Baik," katanya. "Kita cari tahu di mana dia menaruhnya."

It was not hard. The clerk kept a list of every item he borrowed, and he was proud of his handwriting. The list hung on a nail outside the Measure House door. Beside yesterday's date it said, in neat black ink, "One silver gram, for testing, locker thirteen."

Itu tidak sulit. Petugas itu mencatat setiap barang yang ia pinjam, dan ia bangga akan tulisan tangannya. Daftar itu tergantung di paku di luar pintu Rumah Takaran. Di samping tanggal kemarin tertulis, dengan tinta hitam yang rapi, "Satu gram perak, untuk pengujian, loker tiga belas."

"Locker thirteen is in the cellar," Adaeze said. "Every stallholder knows that. The cellar door has a guard."

"Loker tiga belas ada di ruang bawah tanah," kata Adaeze. "Semua pemilik lapak tahu itu. Pintu ruang bawah tanahnya dijaga."

"Then we need a plan," Thandi said.

"Kalau begitu kita butuh rencana," kata Thandi.

They made one on an upturned crate behind the fish stalls. It was a good plan, and that was the problem. Thandi would carry a heavy basket of figs to the front desk. There she would complain loudly about a broken scale. While the clerk argued with her, Adaeze would slip past the guard and go down to the cellar. She would open the locker with a thin steel pick that Thandi had borrowed from a locksmith's son. Then she would take the Gram and run.

Mereka menyusunnya di atas peti terbalik di belakang lapak-lapak ikan. Itu rencana yang bagus, dan itulah masalahnya. Thandi akan membawa keranjang besar berisi buah ara ke meja depan. Di sana ia akan mengeluh keras-keras tentang timbangan yang rusak. Selagi petugas itu berdebat dengannya, Adaeze akan menyelinap melewati penjaga dan turun ke ruang bawah tanah. Ia akan membuka loker itu dengan pengungkit baja tipis yang dipinjam Thandi dari anak seorang tukang kunci. Lalu ia akan mengambil Gram itu dan lari.

"What if the guard sees me?" Adaeze asked.

"Bagaimana kalau penjaganya melihatku?" tanya Adaeze.

"He won't," Thandi said. "He never looks up from his lunch."

"Tidak akan," kata Thandi. "Dia tidak pernah mengangkat kepala dari makan siangnya."

At eleven o'clock, they went in. The front hall smelled of wax and old paper. Thandi marched to the desk with her basket and began to shout about her ruined scale. The clerk, a thin man with a pointed nose, stood up at once. Adaeze waited until his back was turned, then ran along the wall to the cellar stairs.

Pukul sebelas, mereka masuk. Aula depan berbau lilin dan kertas tua. Thandi berjalan tegap ke meja dengan keranjangnya dan mulai berteriak tentang timbangannya yang rusak. Si petugas, seorang laki-laki kurus berhidung runcing, langsung berdiri. Adaeze menunggu sampai punggungnya berbalik, lalu berlari menyusuri dinding menuju tangga ruang bawah tanah.

The guard was not eating lunch. He was sitting straight up on his stool with a long stick across his knees.

Penjaga itu tidak sedang makan siang. Ia duduk tegak di bangku kecilnya dengan tongkat panjang melintang di lututnya.

"Where do you think you are going?" he asked.

"Mau ke mana kamu?" tanyanya.

"The clerk sent me," Adaeze said. Her voice came out higher than she wanted. "For the, um, borrowed silver gram."

"Petugas yang menyuruh saya," kata Adaeze. Suaranya keluar lebih tinggi daripada yang ia inginkan. "Untuk, eh, gram perak yang dipinjam."

The guard looked at her for a long moment. Then he pointed his stick at a chair. "Sit. Nobody goes down without the clerk's own signature."

Penjaga itu menatapnya lama. Lalu ia menunjuk sebuah kursi dengan tongkatnya. "Duduk. Tidak ada yang turun tanpa tanda tangan petugas sendiri."

So the plan had failed in the first two minutes. Adaeze sat and stared at the cellar door. Upstairs, she could hear Thandi's voice getting louder and more desperate. She would not be able to keep that up for long.

Jadi rencana itu gagal dalam dua menit pertama. Adaeze duduk dan menatap pintu ruang bawah tanah. Di lantai atas, ia bisa mendengar suara Thandi yang makin keras dan makin putus asa. Thandi tidak akan sanggup bertahan lama.

Then the guard's stomach growled. He glanced at his stool, where a small cloth bundle sat half hidden. Adaeze had an idea. It was not a clever one, but it was the only one she had.

Lalu perut si penjaga keroncongan. Ia melirik bangkunya, tempat sebuah bungkusan kain kecil tergeletak setengah tersembunyi. Adaeze punya gagasan. Bukan gagasan yang cerdik, tetapi itu satu-satunya yang ia punya.

"Sir, may I ask you something?" she said. "Do you know what a fig weighs?"

"Pak, boleh saya bertanya sesuatu?" katanya. "Apakah Bapak tahu berapa berat sebuah buah ara?"

"What?"

"Apa?"

"Thandi's figs are the best in the market," Adaeze said. "She is upstairs with a whole basket. I think she would give you a handful if you asked. I could fetch it for you."

"Buah ara Thandi yang terbaik di pasar," kata Adaeze. "Dia ada di atas dengan sekeranjang penuh. Saya rasa dia akan memberi Bapak segenggam kalau diminta. Saya bisa mengambilkannya untuk Bapak."

The guard hesitated. Then he nodded slowly and waved his stick toward the stairs. "Ten minutes. And if you are not back, I ring the bell."

Penjaga itu ragu. Lalu ia mengangguk perlahan dan mengayunkan tongkatnya ke arah tangga. "Sepuluh menit. Dan kalau kamu belum kembali, saya bunyikan lonceng."

Adaeze ran up, grabbed Thandi by the sleeve, and whispered in her ear. Thandi stopped shouting in the middle of a word. She gave the astonished clerk a sweet smile, scooped up a fistful of figs, and followed Adaeze down.

Adaeze berlari naik, menarik lengan baju Thandi, dan berbisik di telinganya. Thandi berhenti berteriak di tengah sebuah kata. Ia melempar senyum manis kepada petugas yang terheran-heran, menyendok segenggam buah ara, dan mengikuti Adaeze turun.

The guard ate eleven figs, one after another, with his eyes closed. By the time he opened them, the two girls were standing in the cellar. He had no idea how they had got there. In his defence, he had said they could fetch the figs. He had not said where.

Penjaga itu memakan sebelas buah ara, satu demi satu, dengan mata terpejam. Ketika ia membukanya, kedua gadis itu sudah berdiri di ruang bawah tanah. Ia tidak tahu bagaimana mereka bisa sampai di sana. Untuk membela dirinya, ia memang bilang mereka boleh mengambil buah ara. Ia tidak bilang ke mana.

Locker thirteen was in the far corner, behind a stack of cracked barrels. It was small and black, and it did not have a keyhole. Instead, it had a little brass pan fixed to its door, like half of a scale.

Loker tiga belas ada di sudut jauh, di balik setumpuk tong retak. Loker itu kecil dan hitam, dan tidak punya lubang kunci. Sebagai gantinya, ada sebuah piring kuningan kecil yang terpasang di pintunya, seperti separuh timbangan.

"The pick is useless," Adaeze said. "There is nothing to pick."

"Pengungkitnya tidak berguna," kata Adaeze. "Tidak ada yang bisa diungkit."

"Try it anyway," Thandi said.

"Coba saja," kata Thandi.

Adaeze pushed the steel pick into the seam of the door. It snapped with a sharp little crack and flew across the floor. The pan began to hum.

Adaeze menyodorkan pengungkit baja itu ke celah pintu. Benda itu patah dengan bunyi retak kecil yang tajam dan terlempar melintasi lantai. Piring itu mulai berdengung.

"Now what?" Thandi whispered.

"Sekarang bagaimana?" bisik Thandi.

Adaeze put her hand on the pan. The humming grew louder, and it felt as if the whole cellar was listening. "It wants something," she said slowly. "I think it opens when the pan is balanced. When it holds exactly what is inside."

Adaeze meletakkan tangannya di piring itu. Dengungannya makin keras, dan rasanya seluruh ruang bawah tanah sedang mendengarkan. "Dia menginginkan sesuatu," katanya pelan. "Kurasa pintunya terbuka kalau piringnya seimbang. Kalau piring itu menahan persis apa yang ada di dalam."

"And what is inside?"

"Dan apa yang ada di dalam?"

"The Honest Gram." Adaeze stared at the pan. "I have no weights with me. I always keep them in the stall."

"Gram Jujur." Adaeze menatap piring itu. "Aku tidak membawa anak timbangan. Aku selalu menyimpannya di lapak."

Thandi dug into her pocket and pulled out a handful of fig seeds. She had been spitting them out all morning. "In the old trade," she said, "a fig seed is one gram. My mother sold figs that way. She told me it is the same weight every time, as exact as a king's coin."

Thandi merogoh sakunya dan mengeluarkan segenggam biji ara. Ia sudah meludahkannya sepanjang pagi. "Dalam perdagangan zaman dulu," katanya, "satu biji ara adalah satu gram. Ibuku menjual ara dengan cara itu. Katanya beratnya selalu sama, seteliti koin raja."

They looked at each other. Then Adaeze took a single seed and laid it carefully in the pan.

Mereka saling menatap. Lalu Adaeze mengambil sebutir biji dan meletakkannya dengan hati-hati di piring itu.

The pan trembled, dipped, and rose again. Something inside the locker clicked, and the little door swung open.

Piring itu gemetar, turun, dan naik lagi. Sesuatu di dalam loker berbunyi klik, dan pintu kecil itu terayun terbuka.

The Honest Gram lay on a bed of grey cloth, shining faintly. Adaeze picked it up and felt it grow warm in her palm. She smiled, and for the first time that day her hands were steady.

Gram Jujur tergeletak di atas alas kain kelabu, berkilau samar. Adaeze mengambilnya dan merasakannya menghangat di telapak tangannya. Ia tersenyum, dan untuk pertama kalinya hari itu tangannya tenang.

"Let's go," Thandi said. "Before the guard finishes the figs."

"Ayo pergi," kata Thandi. "Sebelum penjaganya menghabiskan buah aranya."

They were halfway to the stairs when Adaeze stopped. Something else had been lying in the locker, tucked behind the cloth. She went back and looked.

Mereka baru setengah jalan ke tangga ketika Adaeze berhenti. Ada sesuatu yang lain tergeletak di dalam loker, terselip di balik kain. Ia kembali dan melihatnya.

It was a second silver weight, exactly like the first. It was stamped with a tiny number, and the number was not thirteen. It was fourteen.

Itu anak timbangan perak kedua, persis seperti yang pertama. Terukir sebuah angka mungil, dan angka itu bukan tiga belas. Empat belas.

"Why would the Measure House keep a spare Honest Gram?" Thandi asked.

"Kenapa Rumah Takaran menyimpan Gram Jujur cadangan?" tanya Thandi.

"I don't think they would." Adaeze held the two weights side by side. One was warm, and the other was cold as ice. "I think somebody else has been using my scale. And I think the clerk knows who."

"Kurasa mereka tidak menyimpannya." Adaeze memegang kedua anak timbangan itu berdampingan. Yang satu hangat, dan yang lain sedingin es. "Kurasa ada orang lain yang memakai timbanganku. Dan kurasa petugas itu tahu siapa."

From the stairs above them came the sound of a bell.

Dari tangga di atas mereka terdengar bunyi lonceng.