by Payal Doshi
“Really?” said Rea.
Leela nodded, looking thrilled. “It’s such a slick sounding word too! Swee-vin.”
Rea mentally gave an eye-roll. For all her adventurousness, Leela was quite a word-nerd.
“And who’s sending these messages into my dreams?” she asked.
Leela pointed at her, as if acknowledging that it was a good question. “Some think they are signs from the universe, while others say it’s a type of survival mechanism created by one’s own mind. Either way, these swevens can carry messages or signs.”
“So, I’m not on a wild goose chase with this nightmare-message thing and it could actually reveal something important?”
Leela nodded. “We just have to find out what it is.”
“Believe me, I’ve been trying,” said Rea. “And to top it all off, we have to make sense of these prophecies. Rohan’s alive and I need to keep him that way. So, think. I’ve come up with nothing.”
“Here’s what we’ll do.” Leela pushed her glasses up her nose. “Let’s tabulate everything. That will make it easier to study them.”
Tabulate? Rea’s annoyance flared. That’s not how you solve riddles. Her first instinct was to snatch the diary from Leela’s hands and tell her to forget it. She was better off on her own. But Leela had already plopped down beside her, and was titling a new page with ‘The Mystery of Rohan’s Disappearance.’
Rea watched as Leela divided the page into three small columns and two large columns. Rea’s irritation grew. Writing down every detail and laying it out in such an elaborate manner was a giant waste of time.
She was about to grab the diary away when she began to see the puzzle in a whole new light. Usually, her mind worked like the game of Tetris, where the pieces or clues fell to the bottom while switching positions to fit the shapes below. (She had played it once when Amma had taken her to the house of a family she cleaned for years ago, and the son had needed a second player to compete with.) But as Leela filled in the boxes, the puzzle morphed into a Rubik’s Cube like the one they had in their school library. A square box that you had to keep twisting until the matching colors lined up.
Hmm… using a different method may not be such a bad idea, thought Rea. Besides, her usual methods had gotten her nowhere.
Perusing through Rea’s notes, Leela wrote today’s date, ‘Monday, October 20th, and added the definition of ‘sylvan’ under Facts. Under Assumptions, she entered Rea’s analysis on all things ‘orbs’ and ‘burning,’ the potential identity of the kidnapper, and Rohan as the possible beating heart or living being who could guide her.
DAY DATE FACTS ASSUMPTIONS
Monday Oct 20th Sylvan = Of, pertaining to, or inhabiting forest or forest regions. Orbs/things burning = sunflowers, oranges, pumpkins, mangoes, turmeric, marigolds, tennis balls
Potential kidnapper = tea estate owner or a rich tourist
Rohan could be the beating heart/living being to guide Rea
“Why are you looking at me like that?” asked Leela.
“Like what?” replied Rea. Even though she was giving Leela’s approach a go, the extreme neatness and efficient tabulation was bothering her. Rea glanced at her own notes and saw a method one might call a little less structured—full of scribbles, strikethroughs, underlines, and messy word bubbles.
Rea held back her rising exasperation and in a calm manner said, “Under Facts, you should add that ‘Rohan disappeared on October 16th between two-thirty and four-thirty in the morning.’ That’s when I found his bat and the note. Ever since that night, I’ve had the same dream with a few variations and based on what I’ve learned from Bajai, Mishti Daadi, and you, it might be a message in code. Let’s add that, too.”
“If you’re saying, ‘might be,’ then it’s not a fact yet,” stated Leela. “I’m putting the last part under Assumptions since we have yet to establish if your nightmare is indeed a sweven.”
Rea narrowed her eyes. She didn’t stop Leela from writing things down, but this whole process was starting to feel out of her control. And she didn’t like it. But if she blew up at Leela, she would be alone again. And despite everything, she didn’t want that.
“After giving it a lot of thought, the only place I think Rohan can logically be in is a foreign country,” she told Leela, “A place with a different time zone, like where tourists come from. It would explain the first half of the riddle, ‘Where is Rohan?’ which says, “Where day is night and night is day.’”
“Oh, that makes sense!” said Leela. She dove back into the diary, writing it down. When she looked up, Rea was staring at her.
“Are you listening to what I’m saying? We’re assuming Rohan is in another country so far away, it’s daytime there when it’s night here. That’s crazy.”
“I don’t think it’s crazy at all,” said Leela. “All mysteries start with improbable situations. You, a person who loves to solve puzzles, should know that. And no matter how far-fetched, we need to consider it. That’s the only way we’ll find Rohan.”
Leela returned to her neatly documented page, but Rea’s gaze lingered on Leela. Her annoyance with her diffused a little. Leela always found something useful and encouraging to say when she felt all out of hope, or made a crazy suggestion like going to visit a scary fortune-teller or assuming Rohan was in a foreign country. Having Leela support her wild ideas without insulting them or tossing them aside actually gave Rea a sliver of confidence and hope that they would find Rohan by the end of all this. And here she was, ready to jump at Leela’s throat at any second. Rea vowed to stomp out her annoyance.
“All right then,” Rea said, “according to Mishti Daadi, Rohan ‘boasts of strength and courage,’ which means he’s alive and putting up a good fight… Why are you making that face?”
Leela blinked nervously. “Um... should I enter that under Facts or Assumptions?”
“Obviously under Facts. If we put everything under Assumptions, what are we even doing? Besides, if he isn’t alive… what’s the point?” Rea said quietly.
“Of course he’s alive,” Leela said gently. “I was only asking for the purpose of tabulation,” she said, and hurriedly recorded it in the Facts column.
Rea cleared her throat, trying to shake off the emotions rising in her chest. “As I was saying, Rohan seems to be putting up a good fight, which means the kidnapper might not be as strong as we feared. I followed Rohan’s trail of footsteps from Scenic Point and lost it beyond the post office. Except for bullock carts or mules, no scooters or cars go there because the fields begin, and the ground is too soft from irrigation. So that means that wherever Rohan was taken, it was either by foot or cattle cart. And that, finally, is a fact,” she said. “Although… with that kind of snail’s speed transportation the kidnapper couldn’t have taken him too far. Unless there’s a large clearing where a helicopter or plane can land and fly Rohan to a faraway country...”
“Please, there are only mustard and paddy fields on the other side of the post office,” said Leela. “We’ve lived here all our lives. Have you ever heard of a clearing area? No. And don’t you think the farmers would have informed the police if they saw a helicopter or plane land?”
“Well, weren’t you the one who said, ‘all mysteries start with improbable situations’?”
“Improbable, yes. Not impossible!”
“Fine,” relented Rea, secretly relieved Leela had squashed her assumption. “Well then, he couldn’t have gotten too far. What place is close enough to Darjeeling and has a different time zone?”
“Maybe we’re taking this ‘time zone’ thing too literally. I’m underlining it, so we know it’s a doubt we need to clear up later. For now, let’s assume he isn’t being held very far away.” Leela turned to the final two prophecies and read the one on how to find Rohan.
“Nothing about this riddle makes sense, not to mention it’s the most important one,” Rea said in frustration. “I mean, who’s the beating heart—is it Rohan again?—what journey am I supposed
to take, and where is this clue? You can turn me inside out and I can guarantee you won’t find anything hiding within me.”
Rea hurled another stone into the lake and watched the water swallow it as Leela added separate columns for Questions and Inferences and wrote within them. Then, peeking from above her glasses, she asked, “This line, ‘hidden within your mind, a clue...’ couldn’t it be your nightmare a.k.a. the sweven?”
Rea was about to reject her suggestion, when suddenly, the colors of the Rubik’s Cube matched! Knitting her eyebrows, Leela chewed on the pen, and Rea looked at her in awe. Leela had cracked open the puzzle and had no idea she had even done it. A sliver of jealousy passed through Rea, but she ignored it. She was finally going to rescue Rohan!
“You’re right!” said Rea, startling Leela. “In both prophecies, ‘how do I find Rohan?’ and ‘what are the hidden truths?’ I have to follow something. I didn’t realize they were connected until just now. The nightmare is the hidden clue! And the journey I’m meant to take ‘to play my part’ is code for the journey I need to take to follow the ‘beating heart’ in my nightmare!”
“Find the beating heart, follow it, and you’ll find Rohan!” exclaimed Leela.
“Exactly.”
“And, and... since you’re in your dream, you could be the beating heart!” The words rushed out of Leela’s mouth, and Rea threw her arms around her in excitement.
But then something occurred to her, and she dropped the hug, stepping away from Leela with a scowl. “Wait, though. If I’m the beating heart, how can I follow myself?”
“Oh,” frowned Leela. “Is it so hard for other beating hearts to be there? I mean seriously, it would make this so much simpler.”
Rea stared at the table Leela had created. Slowly, the boxes lifted, floating around like Tetris shapes, and fell into place. Her eyes came alive.
“There are others,” she cried. “And it all makes sense!”
“It does?” Leela asked, flummoxed.
“The owls! They’re in my sweven! See.” Rea pointed to her diary entry. “In my last nightmare, there were owls flying everywhere. Hundreds of them. They’ve got to be the beating hearts and their eyes, ohhh—they’re a bright, burning orange!”
“That’s what ‘suns as bright burning orbs glow’ must mean. Eyes bright like round, burning suns!” Leela squealed and flung the book in the air. She caught it and scribbled in block letters in the bottom-corner box.
“And guess what?” Rea grabbed Leela’s arms. “I even know which owl to follow.”
“You do? Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! I don’t care if it’s three in the morning, you have to wake me up the second you find out what the sweven reveals to you.”
“I will!” said Rea. Excitement burst through her veins.
“But we still don’t know who has taken Rohan,” said Leela, her happiness vanishing. “Or why.”
Fingers of fear squeezed Rea’s heart. She had been so wrapped up in the puzzle, she had almost forgotten about the kidnapper.
“You know what? Baby steps,” Leela said hurriedly, seeing the agony on her friend’s face. “We solved one clue, and now you know how to follow the nightmare to reveal its meaning. One by one we’ll find out everything and it will lead us to the person who has done this.”
Rea held onto Leela’s confidence and nodded.
Late that night, the receding rains fell. Through a crack in the window, a damp coolness licked Rea. She drew her blanket up to her ears and turned to her side. A tress of silver curls shone in the moonlight next to her. Rea smiled, comforted to have Bajai by her side. She had insisted on sleeping on the mattress so Rea wouldn’t be alone at night. Before Rea closed her eyes again, she glanced at the moon. An owl soared across it with its wings spread wide.
Rea dove under her blanket and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to sleep.
“I’m coming to you,” she whispered.
Rea stands beside the silvery plinth. Countless pairs of golden eyes blink at her. The night is a wicked black. The wind whistles wildly. Shivering, she warms her palms under her armpits and inspects the twinkling canvas. With her back facing the plinth, she sees the owl.
The one that never blinks.
From its sky-high perch, it is watching, waiting for her. Beckoning her. The bird, unblinking, spreads its majestic wings and takes to the heavens. Rea runs after it, sprinting through fields of grass as tall as her.
She isn’t fast enough. The owl gains distance.
“Wait for me,” she screams.
The owl is a faint white dot.
Angry and nervous, Rea pushes her legs as fast as she can. Stalks slice her skin and the mist returns. Its dirty white fingers slither around her, blotting the sky and the long-gone owl. Not giving up, she arrives at a wall of trees. Deep, dark and dense. The trees mark the ending, and also the beginning.
She steps within.
Standing tall, spreading thick and wide, and stained in blood, is the answer she has been desperate for.
Chapter 10
Beyond the Banyan
Rea woke up and ran to the telephone drawer. Carefully, she brought out the diary and updated the Inferences column with the information her nightmare had revealed to her: the place where she would find Rohan. Rea stared at her scribbled words for a moment and then rushed out the door.
Her breath fogged Leela’s bedroom window. She picked a handful of pebbles from the ground and flung them one by one through the gap that let in the draft. Leela sleepily brushed the stones away. Only when the fifth one hit her did she realize what was happening.
The night was quiet. Moths flapped their zithery wings around the streetlights.
“You decoded the sweven?” Leela asked, running towards Rea while slipping on her shoes. She hadn’t been outside a minute and her nose was already bubble-gum pink.
Rea switched on her flashlight. “I know where Rohan is, and we’ve got to leave now.”
Leela and Rea grabbed their bicycles and rode into the darkness, the yellow beam of light bouncing ahead of them.
“So, tell me, where is he?”
“Sanobar,” said Rea, keeping her eyes focused on the barely lit road.
“The forest?” It was Leela’s turn to be surprised.
A chilly wind whistled. Rea pushed down on her pedals and within a quick fifteen minutes, they reached the entrance of the wooded copse. Its trees, sharp as spears, impaled the silent sky.
“Wait a second, we’re going straight in?” asked Leela, her eyes wide, and Rea turned with a look that said, ‘What else did you have in mind?’
“I mean, what’s the plan? Are we going to meet Mishti Daadi?”
The moon, hanging like a lantern, spilled its light over the edge of the trees.
“We’re going to the banyan,” said Rea and the nightmare flashed before her eyes.
The owl disappearing into the thicket. The close-knit trees. The enormous roots. The pair of burning eyes. The stain splattered on the skin of the trunk.
“It’s where the owl led me, and it was covered in blood.”
“B-blood?” Leela clasped her handlebars. Sweat covered her temples.
Rea steeled herself. She’d been foolish to assume Leela would come along. This wasn’t the same thing as solving riddles by a pretty lake or going to visit a fortune teller. It was past midnight and they were alone with no idea of where they were going or what lay beyond the banyan.
“If you don’t want to come, I understand...”
Rea put her foot on the pedal and rode into the forest. She didn’t want to look at Leela. Or have Leela look at her. She wanted Leela to come. Without her this journey would have already been much, much harder. Leela was smart, scrappy, and despite her mind being full of nerdy information, she was pretty good company.
But there was no time to feel rejected or lonely, Rea reminded herself. Life had taught her to toughen her heart years ago. If she were to reach inside and feel it, her heart was harder than a cricket ball. She
was used to being a lone, solitary soul and as she drew strength from the thought, the leaves beside her crunched like a crispy papadum.
“Of course, I’m coming!” said Leela, riding after her. “At least take this before you go any further.” She handed Rea a sharp-edged stone and kept one for herself. “Mark the trees so we can track our way out. It’s darker than a well in here.”
Rea’s gaze flitted towards the sinister silhouettes of trees and then landed on Leela. A smile rose from within her but stopped before it touched her lips. Leela was being supportive and dependable—two things Rea was still not used to experiencing. Leela hadn’t once questioned whether she was a hundred percent certain the banyan was the right place her nightmare had led her to. If she was in Leela’s shoes, her first instinct would have been to doubt. But Leela had faith in her. So much faith.
Rea so badly wanted to reciprocate the feeling, but suspicion needled her. What if Leela suddenly changed her mind and left her stranded like Amma and Rohan had? No, she was better off not letting anyone inside her heart. Rea turned away with a quick thanks and took the stone, and together, they rode their bicycles deeper into Sanobar.
The forest, quiet on the outside, was alive with a deafening fritinancy on the inside, as if a dozen crickets were twittering straight into their ears. Rea’s heart pounded. Cutting a trail through the wild foliage, she hoped her gut was right. That she would find Rohan here. Unable to see much, she kept her eyes fixed on the beam-lit path. Damp leaves, wet like tongues, licked her face and she shook away the shudders scurrying up her spine.
“Um, Leela,” she said.
“Yes?”
“We’re riding in circles.” The flashlight illuminated a ring of trees marked with X’s.
“Oh no,” Leela said, desperately looking for a way out.
“Follow me.” Rea flashed the torch-beam from side to side and tested out different paths. Leela rode after her through a web of wrong turns and strewn forest debris. During one such turn, Leela misjudged the width of a fallen tree trunk and tumbled over it. She fell straight onto Rea, who hit the ground arms first.
