by Ranjit Lal
About two hours later, when they’d actually been doing good time, they unexpectedly ground to a halt. Ahead of them, buses, trucks, tempos, taxis and cars stood stationary in a long, twisting line, hooting impatiently.
‘Jam,’ Saxena said, leaping out. He returned after a few moments, shaking his head. ‘There was a landslide,’ he said. ‘It will take time to clear.’
‘How much time?’
‘Not sure, madam, maybe two or three hours.’
They were still stuck in that horrible jam at two in the afternoon, when three Air Force helicopters swiftly clattered past.
‘Lucky bastards,’ Zara muttered. ‘They don’t have to wait around here for ever.’ But she caught up on her sleep, and Saxena brought her some absolutely delicious stuffed paranthas and tea from the dhaba down the road. She called up Mr Roy again to tell him what had happened. ‘Keep in touch, Zara,’ he said.
They were on the move again by four and finally – thank god – they’d reached the end of the road at Anandpur village in the evening. That’s when it had begun clouding over and the breeze was whippy and sharp.
And now here she was, walking down this forest track that would lead her to Emerald Eden Estate. She grinned, thinking about how her father would react if he found out that she was having a little adventure in the middle of the Himalayas. Zara punched Mr Roy’s number again, but couldn’t get through. ‘Damn it; I’ll call when I reach.’ All she wanted now was to see the look on Gaurav’s face when he saw her…
TWELVE
‘Ajay and I are taking your mom, Mihi and Mariamma down to Haldwani tomorrow,’ Megha aunty told Gaurav over dinner. ‘Why don’t you join us?’
‘I think I’ll stay here,’ he said.
‘Are you sure? We’ll be leaving pretty early, and will be gone the whole day.’
‘I’m sure, thanks,’ he smiled.
‘Well, then Mohan will look after you and serve you your meals – all of the other staff are on leave.’
As they returned to their cottage later, his mother pressed him to accompany them. ‘What will you do by yourself the whole day?’
‘Shroom will probably be over in the morning as usual… I’ll be fine!’ Deep inside him a faint but dangerous pilot light had flickered on.
‘Megha said we might get quite late returning…’
‘That’s okay, ma; don’t worry. Mohan will be here and I can always go to Raveena’s and Monica’s place if I want.’
‘Well, if you’re sure!’ At least he was talking like a civilized human being now, his mother thought in relief.
They left at six the next morning and at seven-forty-five, when Gaurav reported at the dining hall, he found Shroom waiting, arms akimbo, glaring at her watch and tapping her feet. Savita and Gudiya nodded and smiled, and Mohan cheerfully organized breakfast.
‘Do you know the time? I was just coming down to wake you up, but then Mohan got me my eggs.’ She looked around. ‘Where are Mihi and aunty? Mohan said Megha aunty’s gone to Haldwani…’
‘Ma and Mihi have gone with her.’
‘Hmm…’ She lowered her voice and glanced around. ‘Something very important is going to happen today,’ she said with a mysterious smile. ‘I can’t tell you anything more, but you will be duly informed at the correct time. Now hurry up and have your breakfast, then we’ll walk back.’
Gaurav escorted Shroom back to her house and at once noticed the increased security around the area. There were four armed men at the guardhouse, and another at the spot where the connecting path led to the higher one.
Shroom’s eyes shone as she gripped his hand and nodded, humming with suppressed excitement. ‘I’ll make contact with you,’ she whispered, standing on her toes to deliver the message straight into his ear. ‘Be at your position and monitor everything. The message will come today.’
‘Roger,’ he said, ‘if it doesn’t I’ll send you mine maybe, if I get clearance from HQ. They said it could happen any time now. Remember, no one must accompany you.’
‘Oh, wow! Roger that!’ Involuntarily she kissed his cheek and ran across the little stone bridge.
He walked moodily back to the estate, and met Monica on her way to the big house.
‘Hi, Gaurav,’ she said. ‘Have your mom and Mihi gone to Haldwani with Megha? They’d mentioned something last evening…’
‘Yes…’
‘Listen, come and have lunch and dinner with us. They’ll probably get back quite late.’
‘Thanks. But Mohan’s making my lunch, so maybe for dinner…’
‘Just drop in, if you like.’ She smiled. ‘Now I’d better hurry!’
Gaurav got back to the estate and flipped through his sketchbook. Then Mohan appeared, smiling sheepishly, and said that he needed to go to Anandpur for some work. He’d cooked lunch and would be back in time to make dinner… so would that be all right?
Gaurav shrugged. ‘Yes, okay. I might eat dinner with the school teachers, so you don’t have to hurry back.’
Half an hour later, he was the only person left at Emerald Eden. It felt slightly eerie… but suited his plan perfectly. He stared at the sky. It was alternating between being sunny and heavily thunderous – it would probably start raining towards the afternoon and evening. One thing he had noticed was that the stream was muscling along swiftly, lapping hungrily at its banks.
He opened his sketch pad and started yet another portrait of Zara, but couldn’t really concentrate. This was his biggest chance, he knew, but would he be up to it? Would he actually be able to go through with what he had planned? Would he get away with it? Whatever, it would not really matter. What did matter was that hopefully it would teach them a lesson they would never forget – they would go through what they had made him go through. Follow the principle of an eye for an eye, Gandhiji had said, and the whole world would go blind. The trouble was that if you didn’t, you’d soon be the one without both eyes. It was time to strike back. Too bad he liked his enemy so much, but maybe that was an even greater test of his strength and resolve.
At two-thirty, Gaurav looked up from his sketchbook and cocked his head, as the unmistakable clatter grew louder. Flying swiftly through the valley were three Indian Air Force helicopters. He took out his binoculars and watched as they touched down on the large helipad at the house. Yes, he thought, he had to act today.
Raveena had the usual morning at school. She had shown the children the bird pictures yet again, which they drew, coloured and read up on. She finished off and went back to the rest-house as Monica returned from her tuition, complaining that Shroom had been wound up like a clockwork toy and had not been able to concentrate for a second. As they were getting done with lunch, they spotted the olive-green choppers make their way towards the house.
‘Oh, so that’s it,’ Monica said. ‘They have VIP visitors. No wonder Shroom was jumping around with excitement!’
Dr Sham and Anantram had spent the morning walking along the lower path, scanning the stream.
‘What do you think, Anant? They say he should be visiting shortly; in a day or two certainly.’
‘It looks good, sir. All reports say it’s raining very heavily to the north and will continue to do so – and that’s where this stream comes from; it’s sure to swell more. We can check this evening. Otherwise everything is ready…’
Then, in the afternoon, they heard the helicopters. ‘It will have to be tonight,’ Dr Sham said quietly. ‘Make final preparations. The heavy rain is a huge bonus.’
The PM’s flotilla of helicopters touched down one by one on the helipad at the big house at two-thirty-five. Two of them took off again nearly immediately; only one would remain at the helipad overnight.
Shroom watched as the commandos and people operating the radio and medical team disembarked; among them was a tall man with a crew cut, carrying a large box. He, along with several others, quickly disappeared inside the west wing of the palace. He would probably check it for bugs, she thought. Then the third helicopte
r landed and her great-uncle stepped off it, waving at her and the Geek Empress.
Like his sister, the prime minister was tall and spare, and his grey eyes lit up when he saw Rukmini waiting with Vijaya on the lawns. Ever since he had joined politics, his relationship with his elder sister had been slightly formal and stiff – she had always hated politicians with a passion. Certainly, she was not going to enter the field at any cost. (And like Megha, he too secretly thought that she would probably have made a better PM than him.) But she had looked after Rukmini wonderfully. He noted the little girl’s bright eyes and fidgety impatience as she waited for the helicopter’s vanes to stop, and smiled. He was highly amused by her penchant for secrecy and the secret agent ‘trip’ (as Vijaya disapprovingly called it) that she was apparently on. After the usual awkward greetings, they walked towards the house, Shroom glancing up at him from time to time, holding his hand.
He looked at her and nodded. ‘Well, Special Agent Shroom, I will debrief you at 1600 hours, regarding our little matter. I hope you have some minutes free?’
She clutched his hand, glowed and nodded.
At 1615 hours Shroom emerged skipping from her bade-mama’s room in the west wing and raced back to her room. The Geek Empress had gone in to chat with him now and her lair was empty. Shroom got on the phone. It was far too early to flash messages in Morse, though there was a strange yellowish tinge in the sky and a stillness in the air which signalled rain on the way. Already, the stream was running seriously fast and deep.
‘Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up…’ she muttered impatiently.
Gaurav was putting the finishing details on a sketch of Zara when he heard the phone ring. It stopped just as he reached the reception, and he sat down and waited. Two minutes later it rang again, and he picked it up. ‘Emerald…’
‘Special Agent Taklu?’ Shroom’s voice was hoarse with excitement. ‘This is Special Agent Shroom. Report at the perch at 1830 hours. Make sure you are not followed. Come alone. Tell no one. Burn this! Be there!’
‘But…’
Shroom hung up and grinned. He would be there. After all, he was her partner. This time round, with the top-secret news that she had, she would go alone, which meant she would have to give Snake-face and Flared-nostrils the slip again. Thank god bade-mama’s wing faced away from her room; she could easily climb out of the window unseen. The Black Cats stayed close to bade-mama, and the others – not too many here – also hovered around him, though she would have to watch out for those patrolling the grounds. It would be getting dark, so she’d better take a torch. It would certainly be dark by the time they returned, but she was not afraid – Taklu would escort her back.
At 1750 hours, Shroom opened her window and glanced at the grounds. With the PM in residence, the Gurkha hobgoblins would be more alert and she knew she couldn’t afford to be seen. And then she had a stroke of luck: she heard a shout from the guardhouse at the gate and the two hobgoblins at the front door charged off to investigate. Shroom quickly stuffed pillows into her bed and drew the duvet up. Anyone peeping in would think she was sleeping. Outside her room, her chaperones were settled in their chairs, playing rummy. Shroom had hung her big red and black ‘Do Not Disturb At Any Cost’ sign outside the door.
She shouldered her backpack, climbed out of the window and rapidly shinnied down the ivy creeper, landing neatly outside the verandah. The Geek Empress was probably still with bade-mama and Tinku was nowhere to be seen. In the garden, Shroom had no problem getting away unseen. She was up the flower and fern bank like a monkey and flitting her way along the stream, which was now running quite close to the stone wall, towards the bridge. She ducked behind some bushes as she approached the bridge. There were half a dozen guards on the bridge, with their backs to her, handling a big pole. Then she saw what had happened: a large pine branch had got wedged under the arches of the bridge and the men were trying to free it and send it on its way. There was a sudden shout and a cheer, and the men stood back as the branch slid under and was borne away at top speed. They dispersed, four going back into the grounds and the other two disappearing into the guardhouse. Grinning, Shroom crept up. She had thought she would cross via the river rocks but the stream was running high and swift, foaming over them angrily. She shot across the bridge, jumped into the muddy ditch at the far end, and scuttled away just as one of the men emerged to take his position outside.
It was almost dark by the time she reached Shroom’s Perch, and from the north-west a vast flotilla of clouds was sweeping through the valley at an alarming speed. But Shroom was just too excited to notice or bother. So she didn’t notice that in places the stream was running so high that if it continued to do so, the lower path to the perch would be submerged. But she just couldn’t wait to see the expression on Taklu’s face when she gave him the news…
At Emerald Eden, Gaurav was thinking about his meeting with Shroom after she had called him. His heart began thudding. If Shroom was alone, maybe this was his chance… She had played into his hands. No one here would know where he had been. But Megha and his mother might return and find him missing. As if on cue the phone rang again.
‘Yes?’
‘Gaurav, is that you?’ It was Ajay.
‘Yes.’
‘Listen, we’re stuck in Haldwani. I don’t think we’ll be able to make it back tonight. There have been major landslides and the roads are closed…’
‘Oh, okay…’
‘Mohan will organize your dinner. Sorry about this…’
‘No problem.’
‘Here, speak to your mother.’
‘Gaurav, are you sure you’ll be all right by yourself? You could hop over to Monica and Raveena’s if you like…’
‘Mom, I’ll be fine, really. It’s no big deal.’
‘Okay. Mihi sends you her love. Take care.’
‘Bye.’
He put down the receiver and stared at the cloudscape ahead. This was it: it seemed to be preordained. His big chance. If Shroom came alone to the perch, he could be over and done with this. Rani’s death would be avenged at last… and the huge millstone around his neck would be gone for ever.
He took the head-mounted torch and set off. Ah, but if the PM was here… That’s what Mohan had excitedly told him before leaving – he’d heard that the PM was due, and then later the three helicopters had clattered past. So there would be more guards around. Well he could take the upper track to the perch, and Shroom had mentioned that there was one narrow path just across the gates of the estate that linked up to it.
He found the path easily enough, and soon found himself on the narrow upper path. It was already a dim twilight: blue-grey, darker and murkier than usual for the time of day, with granite clouds drifting over and misting up the trees. It was perfect for what he had in mind. He thought of Rani and Zara – he’d lost them both, thanks to that man, thanks to them all. They and their utter arrogance and disregard for anyone except themselves. Well, they would pay. He swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. Come what may, it had to be done.
Shroom’s Perch was nearly completely obscured by clouds by the time Gaurav reached. He wondered if Shroom had come. There was no sign of either Savita or Gudiya, which made it perfect. Gingerly, he made his way across the narrow ridge; the view from both sides was just a mass of grey fog and cloud.
She was there, sitting on a rock, beaming from ear to ear, her face pearled with fine silver droplets, her eyes sparkling and bright. She was dressed in her favourite blue denim dungarees, a red shirt and denim jacket, and had her little yellow backpack strapped on.
‘Special Agent Taklu.’
‘Special Agent Shroom.’ Gaurav saluted automatically.
‘I have a top-secret message for your ears only.’
A heavy cloud suddenly enveloped them, and she vanished.
‘Shroom…?’
‘I’m here…’ Her voice emerged from the muffled whiteness. ‘Come on, we’d better get back into the trees. It’s
going to pour any minute and you shouldn’t get wet. Did you bring a raincoat or umbrella?’ It was so ridiculous – what was he saying?
‘No, I forgot. Now do you want to hear the news?’
‘Yes. But let’s get under cover first.’ A cold wind was buffeting them, and the cloud was getting thicker. Needles of icicle rain were slanting into his face. ‘Here, take my hand…’
‘Okay.’
Her cold little hand slipped into his. Carefully leading her, Gaurav made his way back across the ridge and then at its narrowest point, where the path spiralled down to the waterfall, he stopped and turned around. It was now, or never. One shove, a hard push, and she’d be gone, tumbling into mid-air and down into the waterfall 500 feet below – with maybe just a scream that the wind would whip away for ever… And then they would grieve for her, Shroom: the little girl who had fought her illness so courageously, but then fell off a mountainside just like that. How tragic… just like Rani’s death.
‘Taklu, you’re very quiet. Why have you stopped?’ She tightened her grip on his hand.
‘I can’t see ahead. Maybe we should just wait here till the cloud moves.’
‘Anyway, let me tell you…’ She tugged at his hand.
Suddenly he saw the ghostly oval of her face emerge like a vignette from the surrounding whiteness. She moved close to him and stepped up on a rock so she could reach his ear. They could have been the only two people in the whole world.
‘Bade-mama wants to meet you tomorrow to personally say sorry,’ she whispered. ‘He says he has a surprise. But he didn’t even tell me what it is – can you believe it!’
He recoiled. Too bloody bad for bade-mama. He was too late. Besides, it took a little girl to make him apologize: a beautiful little girl whom Gaurav had to kill. The lesson had to be driven home; he couldn’t retract now. The surprise – terrible as it would be – was going to be theirs.
‘Oh, is that so?’ he said.
