The Girl Who Stole an Elephant

by Nizrana Farook

  “Well, I couldn’t tell him to his face, could I? I left a note at home when I came to rescue you. I figured if something went wrong, he’d better know everything.”

  “How do you even explain everything that’s happened in a note?” asked Nour. “What did you say?”

  “I can tell you exactly what I said actually.” Chaya sat up and cleared her throat, striking a dramatic pose. “I wrote it so many times I have it memorised.

  “Dear Father. It wasn’t Neel. I am the jewel thief. I stole the jewels during the feast at the palace, when I broke into the Queen’s quarters and took them from a table by her bed. I wanted to help Vijay’s family pay the medicine man for treating his leg. If I admitted to it I knew the King would never believe that I acted alone, and you’d be in danger because of me. And then Neel got arrested right in front of me. But today I’m going to rescue him. If something happens and I’m caught, I think you should know what happened and why. Please don’t be disappointed in me. Your loving daughter, Chaya.

  “P.S. This isn’t really important in the grand scheme of things, but I skipped school the last two days.”

  Nour gasped, and fell about laughing when Chaya delivered the final line. Even Neel chuckled and shook his head. “You really are something else, Chaya.”

  “So you were telling the truth. Neelan had nothing to do with it,” said Nour. “Have you done this before, Chaya?”

  Chaya nodded. “Quite a few times, for different things. Someone in our village had his house destroyed in the monsoons and no one could help him. My old teacher from school got ill and lost her eyesight, so had to give up work. Then she had nothing to live on. Also one of the farmers was accidentally killed by a wild elephant that destroyed his crops. His widow needs help with money sometimes. It’s for things like that.”

  “Who do you steal from? And what sort of things?”

  “Rich people from the city, of course. That’s the advantage of living so close to it. Small things like ivory ornaments and silver betel trays. I doubt they even notice they’re gone.” She tossed a breadfruit piece into her mouth.

  Neel sighed. “No need to brag, Chaya. Look where all this has got us.”

  “Still,” said Nour. “It all sounds rather good fun.”

  Chaya sputtered over her breadfruit, almost choking on it. Really, Nour was the most surprising person.

  Neel groaned. “Trust me, Miss Nour. This episode has been anything but fun.”

  “Do you ever regret the stealing?” asked Nour, after a pause. “Even though it’s from the rich.”

  Chaya chewed her food slowly. She noticed Neel waiting keenly for her answer. “Sometimes. Yes.”

  “Is your family not rich then? Your father is the headman of Nirissa.”

  “Of course not. A headman’s just a representative from the village. Every village has one. If there’s an issue the headman takes it to the palace on the people’s behalf. That kind of thing. He gets a small wage and certain privileges, that’s all.”

  “Tell me about stealing the Queen’s jewels.” Nour leaned forward, her expression eager in the glow of the fire. “What made you take them?”

  Chaya shrugged. “It’s not like the royals have ever earned any of their wealth. When I saw that blue sapphire my hands automatically grabbed the lot. Blue is my favourite colour, and there wasn’t a lot of time for thinking.”

  Nour looked impressed. “Weren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

  “Not really. Not a lot at that point. Who needs so much stuff anyway? It made me mad rather than afraid.”

  Nour pondered this for a while. “Do you think the King would let you off if he knew that you stole to help his people?”

  Chaya snorted. “Not a chance. The King is too paranoid about his position and would worry that would make him look weak. Don’t forget, he banished his own half-brother as a child because he saw him as a threat.”

  “A threat, why?”

  “The King isn’t of full royal blood,” said Neel, “but his half-brother, Sena, is.”

  Chaya nodded. “He was afraid the people would believe Sena had the greater claim to the throne.”

  “So where’s Sena now?”

  Chaya shrugged. “He was sent away twelve years ago. The young prince, his little sister and their small entourage were banished by ship. They were never heard of again.”

  “But what happened to them?”

  “No one knows. There’ve been rumours for years that the prince has returned and is plotting the King’s overthrow. The King probably wishes he’d killed them all instead now.”

  Nour gasped. “He sounds horrible. But I love these stories. Tell me about the Queen.”

  “I don’t know if there’s much to say about her. She has a nice room and too many jewels and wouldn’t have missed the ones I took.”

  Nour laughed. Firelight danced at the mouth of the cave and everything felt safe for the moment. Chaya was even beginning to feel sleepy.

  “Right, we should turn in,” said Neel. “We have Ananda to guard us as we sleep.”

  The inside of the cave glowed dimly from the dying embers of the fire. Chaya stretched out on the cool floor, which was hard but not uncomfortable. She could hear Nour close by, her beaded dress scraping on the ground as she curled up to sleep. She tossed a sheet over to Chaya in the dark.

  There was a thump from outside as Ananda settled down for the night. Chaya felt a rush of affection for him. He was her getaway vehicle first, saving her from the King’s men. Then he carried her all that time through the jungle while she rested her ankle. Now he was their very own guard elephant, lying outside in the dark while they drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning, Chaya returned to the cave cool and refreshed.

  “Where have you been?” asked Neel, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He’d been sleeping outside.

  “To the river, for a wash.”

  Neel stretched. “About time! I did that hours ago. Let’s get ready and move on then. We can eat as we go. Nour,” he shouted into the cave, “come on, we need to get started. River at the back for washing.”

  Nour emerged from the cave, crumpled and yawning. “River? Oh no, is it deep?”

  “Yeah,” said Chaya. “So deep you can see your ankles when you stand in it.” She gathered up Nour’s bags that were lying outside from the night before.

  “OK, I’ll be back in a minute.” Nour tore off a pleated wrapper from a cake of soap as she set off for the river. “Don’t leave without me!”

  Chaya went into the cave with one of the bags. “Glad you’re not calling her Miss Nour any more,” she said to Neel. The place was full of Nour’s jasmine scent.

  “That would be weird now. She’s all right, you know.” Neel picked up a sheet from the floor and handed it to Chaya. “She’s nice.”

  Nice? Neel seemed to have forgotten that it was Nour who ruined everything by buying the box and taking the jewels. Chaya scrunched up Nour’s sheet and rammed it into the bag. She went out of the cave into the sunshine.

  “What is that smell by the way?” Neel sniffed the air. “It’s wherever Nour goes. It’s very familiar but I can’t place it.”

  “No idea,” said Chaya, tying the two sacks together and putting them on Ananda. “She must have stepped in something. Come on, we should get going.”

  Neel picked up his mahout stick and Chaya hoisted herself on to the kneeling elephant.

  Nour appeared and they all set off together.

  A few hours later Chaya swapped places with Nour. She slipped down the side of Ananda on to the rutted ground.

  “Your turn,” she said to Nour. “But less of the screeching, OK?”

  Neel stopped and got Ananda to kneel down for Nour. She screwed up her eyes tightly and got on.

  “Do you think we’re going the right way?” Chaya asked Neel.

  Neel looked up at the sky, and then the shadows of the trees. “I think so. It’s hard to know for certain. I hope we can go in as much of a str
aight line as possible, aiming for the sea to the south. We should come to a mountainous area of the jungle by tomorrow if we’re on the right track. If we’re not, we’ll be in uncharted territory.”

  Chaya shuddered. The denser the jungle got, the more chances of leeches crawling up them. And they didn’t have any salt. If they didn’t have ready access to a fire they’d just have to wait it out while the leeches sucked out their blood and fell off themselves.

  “We’re fine for the moment though,” she said. “But I wish it wasn’t so hot today.”

  “And I’m thirsty,” said Nour. “I wish we had water.”

  “We should come to water soon,” said Neel. “Hopefully.”

  But an hour later the sun had risen higher and the day grew sweltering. Chaya’s clothes stuck to her back. At least her ankle was better and she wasn’t in pain any more.

  Nour seemed to be wilting on top of Ananda. “We should have brought water with us.”

  “It’s no use complaining now,” said Chaya. “You should have brought a bottle instead of bed sheets. Would have been more useful to us.”

  “Why didn’t you bring one then, since you know everything?”

  “I was too busy rescuing Neel from death.”

  “So what? I brought stuff. And I didn’t see you complain when you were stuffing yourself with my food yesterday.”

  Neel rubbed the back of his hand over his head, making his sodden hair stick up like a wet crow’s feathers. “Chaya, Nour, please can we—”

  “Bed sheets!” shouted Chaya. “Seriously, who brings bed sheets when they’re going on the run?”

  Ananda grunted and shook his head.

  “Will you two stop it,” said Neel. “Look, we’re all hot and thirsty. And so is Ananda. Can we stop wasting our energy on fighting and look for some water?”

  “Fine,” said Chaya, glaring at Nour. She turned to Neel. “You know what. Ananda will know where the water is. I’ve heard the mahouts say elephants can smell water from miles away.”

  “Could that be true?”

  “No idea, but it’s worth a try.” She clapped Ananda on the back. “Water, go on. Water, Ananda.”

  Ananda tossed his head, then sped up a little.

  “Hang on, Ananda!” said Chaya. “Hey, he’s in a hurry. Let’s get on.”

  She hoisted herself up behind Nour, quickly followed by Neel, and Ananda sped them on their way, the sequins on Nour’s now dirty clothes blinking in the sunlight.

  Soon the trees opened up in front of them and they saw an expanse of water, shimmering a silvery, mirrored green. Ananda bounded towards it.

  “Stop him!” Nour shrieked. “He’s going straight for the water.”

  “What did you expect?” shouted Chaya. “I would too.”

  “But – but, he might drown.”

  “Elephants can swim, silly.”

  “No they can’t. Stop him!”

  “It’s true, Nour,” said Neel. “Don’t worry.”

  All the same, Nour screamed when Ananda splashed into the river. He glided his way straight into the middle and inhaled a load of water.

  Nour screamed again as his humungous head tipped back on to her to drink it.

  “Come on,” said Neel. “Let’s get off.”

  Ananda inhaled another trunkful of water and his trunk curled up over his head.

  The three of them screamed as a heavy shower of water drenched them. They were in hysterics as Ananda showered them again and again as he cooled himself off.

  Neel jumped into the river from Ananda’s back and Chaya followed. She felt the heat and anger melt away as she splashed Neel with water and he splashed her back.

  “Come on in, Nour,” said Chaya, throwing water on her. Nour remained on Ananda, but laughed and splashed Chaya back, joining in the water fight while Ananda lowered himself into the river. She made a huge racket as she splashed and kicked water their way, turning her face to avoid the spray.

  “Look, Nour, look at this,” said Chaya. She climbed on Ananda, and Nour moved back to make space for her. “Dip, Ananda.”

  Ananda stood up slowly and knelt down on his front legs, dipping his head down in front as Chaya and Nour tilted forwards towards the river. Nour yelped in shock while Chaya slid down Ananda’s head and splashed into the river.

  “How did you do that?” shouted Neel, swimming up to them.

  In answer Chaya reached over Ananda’s head and vaulted up on to him, and he stood up with her facing his back. “I told you I know all the commands,” she shouted, laughing at Neel’s astonished face.

  “I’m going to have a go,” said Neel, getting on Ananda. He tumbled down with a great crash into the river, not at all graceful like Chaya. “Come on, Nour. You too.”

  “There is no way I am doing that,” said Nour.

  The clearing echoed with their shouts and laughs as they splashed and played around Ananda. Chaya felt worry bubble up inside her as she thought about the King’s men coming after them. But she pushed it down for the moment. They had been in fear long enough.

  Afterwards they went ashore for food. Chaya went and found two papaya fruits and Neel cut them up with his knife. Ananda sprayed himself with sand, making Nour cry out in dismay.

  “Why would he do that? He just got clean.”

  Chaya handed her a chunk of papaya. “It’s to keep himself from getting sunburnt.”

  “No it isn’t. Neelan, she’s messing with me isn’t she?”

  Neel laughed. “It’s true. The sand also forms a layer of mud that pulls out any bugs on his skin when it falls off.”

  “I can never tell with you, Chaya.” Nour frowned and settled herself against a stone. Chaya laughed.

  They sat eating the sweet orange pulp and sunning themselves on the rocks, their clothes drying to a crisp in no time. The sun slipped behind the trees and a warm breeze blew across the water.

  “Guess we’ll have to get going,” said Chaya. “But that was just great.”

  Suddenly Neel frowned. “Did you hear that?”

  Nour looked up sleepily. “What? I didn’t hear anything.”

  Neel held up a finger for them to be quiet.

  He turned to Chaya and Nour. “Someone’s coming.”

  The jungle felt eerily quiet.

  “We can’t see anything from here,” said Chaya. “Let me climb a tree.”

  She climbed up a branching ariddha tree. A green vine snake slithered down a branch but she ignored it and moved across to a taller tree, hopping from branch to branch until she reached the highest point.

  She perched at the top and surveyed her surroundings. From this angle the jungle was a sea of different greens as far as the eye could see, occasionally broken up by a rocky hill.

  Nothing looked out of the ordinary. The jungle was full of creatures – she supposed that Neel must have heard one of them. Chaya looked down to the ground and could just about make him out, staring upwards into the tree, with Nour mounted and waiting on Ananda.

  It was so calm and still up there. Underneath, the jungle pulsed, but up here it was as if she were the only person in the world.

  Then something flashed on a hill to the left. Chaya squinted. There was movement.

  Horsemen. Two of them, wiry and fast.

  Chaya slid down the branches, tearing her sleeve.

  “What took you so long?” said Neel.

  “They’re coming,” said Chaya. “We need to go.”

  “Come on, quick.” Nour moved up Ananda’s back to make room for them.

  “No, Nour.” Chaya’s voice broke. “We’ll have to leave him.”

  Nour’s mouth fell open.

  “They’re that close?” said Neel. He rubbed Ananda’s side. “Come on, Nour. Down.”

  Chaya pulled the bags off the elephant and threw them under some bushes. She put her cheek on Ananda’s side and stroked him. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For everything. You’re going home now.”

  The first sound of hoof beats echoed
through the trees. Chaya followed Neel and Nour as they sprinted off past a startled sambar doe. “Keep together,” said Neel. “Whatever you do, don’t get separated.”

  Branches whizzed past them as they pounded through the trees. The hoof beats got closer and Chaya’s ankle was starting to throb with a dull pain.

  “Come on,” Neel called, turning back and grabbing her by the wrist. They plunged down a tiny track, scattering a small troop of purple-faced monkeys.

  The hoof beats were deafening now. Chaya stumbled and fell, scratching her legs painfully as Neel dragged her along.

  “Nour, wait,” said Neel. “We need to stay together.”

  Trees started rustling behind them. Any minute now the horsemen would be right on their backs. Chaya ignored the pain and sprinted. Neel bolted from behind, and Nour picked up her speed too. They crashed through the wilderness and into a clearing.

  They were out in the open for maybe two seconds, but in that time Chaya heard the shout.

  The horsemen had seen them.

  With a great neighing of horses they galloped closer.

  Neel yanked Chaya’s hand as they ran off the path into the dense undergrowth. There was no way a horse could follow them here. They heard the clatter and pull-up of hoof beats, and the thud as the two riders dismounted. It gave them the few minutes they needed. Chaya ignored her throbbing ankle and sprinted after Neel. They were single file here, and she saw Nour’s red dress flash up ahead, leading them.

  In a while, Neel slowed down. Chaya couldn’t hear the riders any more. The three of them stopped and Neel held a finger to his lips.

  Around them birds sang, a cacophony of raucous sounds. The wind whistled through giant trees and a flying squirrel soared through the air and scuttled up a branch.

  “I think we’ve lost them,” whispered Chaya, looking around the deep jungle. “Trouble is, we’re completely and utterly lost too.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Chaya.

  Neel looked up to get his bearings, but the leaves above them were spread thickly and the gnarled trunks of the trees scuffled with each other for room in the damp, knee-high undergrowth. The smell of decaying leaves filled the air.