Betrayals And Paybacks Page 3
She expected him to laugh with her but he looked back at her unsmilingly, a serious expression on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something more but suddenly he took her back into his arms, holding her tightly.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing…I” He stopped as his eyes fell on the open container of pulao that she had left there the previous night and the broken glass of water on the floor and he exclaimed, “What happened here?”
“Hmm… nothing. I got hungry in the middle of the night and well…then I was too tired to clean up.” She replied, avoiding his eyes. She wondered if she should tell him about that nocturnal visitor in the barn but it seems just so silly in the light of the day. Besides, he was already stressing about her staying alone. Also, she reasoned, this was her village, her home and there hadn’t been a crime, other than the stray incidents of a drunk creating a ruckus in the middle of the street or a petty thief stealing shoes from the village temple, for ages. In fact, she had teased Raunak a few times about it. Apparently, he had topped his class in the academy and could have got any posting he wanted. But he had come here and she teased him about loving the lazy pace in this remote village.
She went about clearing the mess and he helped her. She was aware of him watching her. He was a little more pensive than usual, as if there was something on his mind. But he said nothing and when she announced, she was going to freshen up, he just merely told her to hurry, as he was going to brew some tea.
She hadn’t bothered to dress up these past few days and had actually lived in t-shirts and sweats. But if she was going to go back to some semblance of normalcy, she had better start with looking after herself. She bathed and changed into a fresh pair of jeans and tunic. It was something she loved to wear since she moved into the city for her studies and had just continued wearing them in the village as well. She combed her long hair and piled it up on her head, clipping it into place. Critically, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were still a little red and puffy. So she added a dash of kohl to her large eyes and decided she looked presentable enough.
As she walked down the stairs, she could see Raunak in the kitchen pouring tea into two cups. On the table, a tiffin box lay open and she could see the neatly stacked sandwiches. He looked up and smiled at her, approvingly, “Come have breakfast.”
“Where did the sandwiches come from?”
“Mom sent them for you.”
“Of course. Hmm…I am hungry,” she said. She was hungry, after a really long time and the sandwiches looked appetizing. She thought of all the times she had sat here with Jay, joking, fighting and eating together. The now familiar pain was rising inside her and tears pricked the back of her eyes, but she blinked them away. Looking up, she found Raunak watching her and she gave him a tremulous smile.
He came around the table and drew her near, into the circle of his arms, “It will get easier, you know,” he murmured into her hair.
She buried her face into his chest, “I know. It is just so unexpected…so unfair.” Her voice sounded muffled.
“I know sweetheart, I know. But you will get over this. You are strong.”
“Yes, I will.” She looked up into his eyes, “I don’t know what I would have done without you. Thank you.” She kissed him then and he responded. She put all her feelings into that kiss, wanting to show him what he meant to her. It was quite a few moments, before they broke apart. His face was flushed and he looked at her in surprise.
“Something is different about you today,” he said, thoughtfully.
“Really, what?”
“I don’t know. It is as if you have decided…”
“….to live again?”
He looked back at her for a long moment, and lovingly smoothed a stray strand of hair from her forehead. He then bent down and planted a kiss there. “Whatever it is, I like the change. And I know you will come out of this stronger.”
They stood in each other’s arms and the steady beat of his heart was soothing.
“Just so long as you are with me. Never leave me, Raunak,” she whispered.
“Never! I promise,” he said emphatically as his arms tightened around her. “You are in for the long haul with me.” She could feel his smile. They stood like that for a long time and somehow she knew she was going to be okay. All that desperation of the night before just melted away.
“Come on, you need to eat,” he said, as if realising she hadn’t eaten yet. Gently, he pushed her into the chair and slid the sandwiches in front of her.
“Aren’t you going to eat too?’
“I already had breakfast. But I could do with a cup of tea,” he said, picking up one of the cups. He pulled up a chair opposite her and they sat in silence for some time, as she bit into the sandwich and he sipped his tea. Surprisingly, she found herself eating a whole sandwich, without feeling nauseous and drinking the tea.
“Hey, nice tea,” she smiled into his approving eyes.
“Thanks,” he lifted his cup in salutation.
She grinned back at him, “At least I don’t need to worry. I can always look forward to having a good cup of tea every morning.” She said teasingly.
“I am fairly a good cook too,” he replied.
“Oh good, I will leave the cooking to you as well,” for the first time in days it felt normal, she felt normal. Sitting here, joking and laughing with him.
“Anything for you, love.” Winking at her, he stood and leaned across the table, planting a soft kiss on her lips. “And while we are at it, I could also tell you what my other talents are.” He grinned mischievously.
She cupped his face with her hands and whispered back, “I am dying to find out.”
Just as he leaned in again, his phone buzzed. “Talk about timing,” he grumbled.
“You should answer that,” she laughed at his expression.
“Yeah, I should, sorry.” Reluctantly, he stepped back and looked at the screen. She saw a subtle change in his expression. “It is work. Excuse me,” He walked away into the living room and she went about clearing the dishes.
A few minutes later he was back, looking a little distracted. “All okay?” she asked.
He gave her a vague smile and answered, “Yeah, I guess. Just work. Sorry, sweetheart. Got to run. I will see you in the evening.”
As she saw him to the door, he suddenly turned around and asked, “I was meaning to ask, did someone come to see you, after I left yesterday?”
She looked at him in surprise, “What!?”
He paused just outside the door, a thoughtful look on his face, “It rained yesterday evening after I left here for home. I remember because I almost got caught in it. So the prints must have been made later.” He was almost speaking to himself.
“What are you talking about? What prints?”
“Foot prints,” he pointed at the front porch. “There are dried muddy foot prints all over the front porch, going behind the house and towards the barn.”
She stared down at the ground in front of them. Sure enough there were dried footprints, rather shoe prints on the neatly laid tiles. So someone had been here. She hadn’t imagined it. “I am sorry. I was going to tell you….” She looked back at Raunak guiltily and found him watching her.
“Tell me what, Misha? Did something happen that I need to know?”
“Well, I thought I was seeing things in the night. Besides….,” she paused.
“Besides…?” he prompted.
“This morning you were already so worried about me that …” she tried to justify.
The clenching of his jaw told her that he wasn’t happy about it. But he calmly said, “I worry, okay. You are all alone here and …” he gestured with his hands, as if pointing out how lonely the house was.
“I have lived here all my life, Raunak. What can possibly go wrong? This is our village.”
He looked back at her steadily as if he was going to refute that but instead he asked, “What did happen yesterday, Misha?”
“And…did you see who it was?” Oh dear! Now, she really had him worried.
“No, it was too dark and by the time I could switch on the back lights, he was gone.” She said and then added hurriedly, “But hey, don’t look so worried. It must have been some homeless guy looking for shelter from the rain.”
But Raunak still looked unconvinced, “I dislike the thought of you alone here. Can’t you get somebody to stay with you, at least for the nights? Maybe Mausi could come and stay with you or I could ask mother to stay with you for some time?” Mausi was the woman who came in daily to do some of the household chores and help in the garden. She used to also help her father in the fields but now age had caught up with her and she only helped around the house. Misha was not really keen to ask the old woman to stay the nights with her, but she was not going to tell him that. She was convinced it was unnecessary anyway.
She moved closer to him and touched his face, “I will think about it, promise.”
“Yeah, okay.” She could see that it did not satisfy him. “Did they take anything? Did you check?”
“Stop worrying, will you? Ours is the safest village there is.”
He bent down and gave her a peck on her cheek, “Nevertheless, please be careful.”
Misha stood there looking after him till he disappeared around the bend on his motorcycle. Then before going back in, she decided to check the prints. Sure enough they went around the house and towards the back. The prints were of dried mud, like someone had walked in from the woods nearby. Whoever it was hadn’t been too bothered about leaving prints all the way to the barn. Carefully, taking care not to disturb the prints, she stepped around them and opened the barn door.
The floor of the barn was made of large, roughly cut black stones and there was a thick layer of dust on it. There were obvious signs of it being disturbed recently. It looked like someone had been moving around a lot, since the prints zigzagged in no particular pattern. Though, the stacks of books and the tools looked undisturbed, she couldn’t be too sure. Even the old shotgun, tucked away in one corner was still there. Her father used it to scare away the monkeys that sometimes came here to pick on the fruits in the garden.
She walked around the barn, trying to figure out what it was that someone would want in here. She hadn’t been here too often lately, even when Jay was around, so she couldn’t tell if anything was missing. It was just some old tools, a stack of the Bhagwad Gita and the old jeep.
Jay did not store anything of value here, of that she was pretty sure. This barn was never kept locked. So what was the guy looking for? She had told Raunak, it may have been some homeless guy looking for shelter from the rains, but it had long stopped raining when she had spotted the intruder. Also, it did not look as if anyone had slept here or anything. Just a lot of footprints going around the room. Thoughtfully, she picked up the shotgun and took it with her, remembering to lock the barn door behind her this time.
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Chapter 4
Vedant sat on one of the huge rocks on the banks of the river, Kaveri, staring broodingly into it. He wished he could talk to somebody. He had never felt so alone, in his entire life. Away from this place, he had imagined the day he would be able to come back. And he had always thought he would have a happy reunion with his brother and his friends. But this was nothing even close. Here he was back after eight years, sitting alone, grappling with questions he had no answers to.
Growing up, this very place had been fun. Even when he had lost his parents, there had been Jay and Misha and of course Tarun. Now with Jay dead and Tarun missing, he had only Misha to turn to. But he wasn’t sure she would welcome him back, not after what he had done anyway.
He stared down at the water. Usually, the river water here was clear and you could see the different coloured stones and a variety of fishes. Today though, the water was muddy. The river had probably brought down slit from upriver, because of the rains the previous night. It reflected his mood perfectly.
He let his eyes wander upriver, to his right. From here, far away, almost like some faded picture, surrounded by mist and clouds, he could see the rise and fall of the mountains. How many times in these past few years, had he longed to have a glimpse of those mountains? The river came hurtling down from somewhere up there and cut through the smaller hills and plains and flowed down into the village to his left. If he turned his head a little more to the right, he could see the small hillock on which the Heritage Palace Hotel stood, like some uneasy crown, surrounded with lush green tea gardens. When he had been younger, he would imagine the hillock to be the head of a king and the hotel, his crown. He was sure that if the king bent his head a little more, that crown would tumble down and fall into the river.
How he hated that place! Years ago, when his father had announced he was buying that old run down palace, he had wondered if his father had lost his mind. As children, they had heard stories of it being haunted by men who had been killed in its dungeons. But his father had been convinced that it was a good investment. He planned to convert it into a heritage hotel, he informed them. He was excited that he had got it cheap off the heirs of the palace, who were now settled abroad and wanted to wash their hands off it. It was a waste of money, maintaining the old crumbling place they reasoned and were ready to sell it off, at a bargain-able price.
It had meant shifting out of their village home and Vedant had resented that. He would have to leave his friends behind. It was a good three kilometre or so away from the village and you had to pass through a small patch of woods to reach it.
In a few years, his parents had passed away and now his older brother was missing. His best friend had allegedly killed himself by jumping off its roof. Maybe the stories had been true after all. Maybe the place was haunted. It was definitely jinxed.
His thoughts shifted to Jay. Jay had always had strong words to say about people who took their own lives. He believed only cowards did such things. And now, he would do such a thing himself, was almost impossible to believe. Something about the whole suicide theory was not right. Jay had lived a simple village life, loved by one and all. His happy-go-lucky and helpful nature appealed to everyone that ever met him, so what had driven him to the brink?
Deep in his own thoughts, it was quite some time before he realised someone was watching him. He looked around and spotted a small boy of about eight, squatting a few metres away from him, on another rock by the river. He had dark hair, oiled and slicked back giving him a neat appearance. He was staring at him wide eyed and as soon as Vedant’s gaze turned on him, he lowered his eyes. The front of his shorts and white shirt were wet, probably from playing in the river. Vedant watched him fidget around with some small pebbles, pretending to play with them. He waited for the boy to look back at him and sure enough in a few seconds, the boy stole a quick glance at him. He was a little disconcerted that Vedant was still watching him. Vedant smiled in amusement at the child’s discomfort. Nonchalantly, he got off the rock he was sitting on and just as casually walked over to him.
“Hi,” he greeted him softly. At first the boy appeared a little scared and moved uncomfortably away from him.
“You stay around here?” Vedant continued to talk to him gently, wondering who he was. There were no houses nearby as far as he knew. Was he lost? When the boy did not answer, he tried again.
“Are you alone? Have you come from the village?”
This time the boy nodded and pointed downriver. Vedant followed the direction of his finger and then it struck him.
“Ah, the temple! You have come from the temple.” This time the boy gave him a shy smile and nodded.
A lot of villagers came there to pray in the mornings and evenings. It was carved out of grey-black stone and was centuries old. It was another one of the tourist attraction here, known for its intricate carvings. Natives here believed that whoever said a prayer there was granted his or her wish. Th
ough Vedant never really believed it, he had visited it regularly as a child with his mother.
“Where are your parents, kiddo? Are you from the village or a tourist here?” Vedant tried to get him to talk. But the boy merely stared back at him as if he was trying to memorize his face. And then slowly getting to his feet, he stood in front of him and hesitantly started to make some gestures with his hand. Vedant stared at him, confused.
His nonresponsive stare frustrated the kid and he moved a little closer. He pointed in the direction of the Hotel and then at Vedant. When Vedant still did not answer him, he pointed at himself and then the temple. Was he indicating that he knew him or was he introducing himself?
“You cannot talk,” It dawned on Vedant that the boy was mute, though he understood everything that he was telling him. He bent down so that he was looking directly into his dark eyes. “I wonder what you are trying to tell me?” he ran his hands gently over the boy’s head and said, “I wish I could understand you, kid.”
The boy looked a little disappointed. For a few seconds, he looked a little lost and then he curled his small hand around Vedant’s finger and started to coax him to come with him.
“You want me to come with you?”
The boy nodded his head vigorously, looking relieved.
Vedant squatted down in front of his him and asked, “To the temple?”
The boy nodded again and again tried to coax him by tugging at his shirt.
Vedant sighed. He was not up to playing around with a kid at the moment, but at the same time he did not want to hurt the little boy’s feelings. “Listen. Can I come with you some other time? I have to go back home, you see. Besides it will be nightfall soon and you need to go home too.” He smiled at him, gently.
As if he agreed with him, the boy smiled back at him and let go of his shirt. He started to turn away, then suddenly turned back and gave him a tight hug. He then jumped off the rock, waved to Vedant and ran away, as fast as his little legs could carry him. Vedant watched him as he disappeared into the trees, feeling a little touched.