The Journey To Sterkfontein

9.Trapped

Aarti's POV
Everybody looked in the direction from where the voice came. There was a man sitting on a white horse. He was wearing cowboy's dress.

"Kon ho tum?" Zaan asked in a firm voice.

"Miya, is waqt yeh sawal zaruri nhi... yeh jana zaruri he ke ap log yaha kya kar rahe he?" He said getting off from the horse.

"Ham anjaan logo se baate nhi karte" I said. He looked at me.

"Hame bhi koi shauk nhi he apna waqt barbaad karne ka, ham toh bas ap logo ki madat karne aye the..." he said.

"Kesi madat?" Zaan asked.

"Ya toh ap bewakoof he... ya toh phir bewakoof bane ka natak karte he. Kya apko sach me nhi pata?!" He asked in disbelief.

"Dekho... sidhe sidhe baat karo hame aur bhi kaam he!" Diksha said.

"Apka yaha rukhna khatre se khali nhi he! Yaha paas me ek jualamukhi he!" He said.

"Kya?!" We shouted in unision.

"Yeh kese ho sakta he?! Google Maps par you nhi aya kuch!" I said.

"Hame kya pata! Yaar ab kya kare?!" Diksha said.

"Aap log bohot kismat wale ho... woh jualamukhi shaant he kuch mahino se... hame nhi lagta ki koi pareshani hoghi... lekin jaha aap jaa rahe ho... gufa me, uske bohot nazdik he" the man said.

"Tumhe kese pata ke ham kaha jaa rahe he?" Zaan asked. He smiled.

"Kyu ki Boss ne hame bheja he apki madat karne ke liye" he explained. We were suprised...

"Hame pehle kyu nhi bataya tumne?" I asked.

"Aap bolne deti tab hi batate" he aswered.

"Toh iska matlab ke tum hame leke jaoghe waha tak?" Diksha asked.

"Bilkul sahi farmaya" he said.

"Yeh kesi language he tumhari?" I asked.

"Mohtarma, hamare purvaj esi hi baat karte the... hame hamare mata pita ne ese hi baat karna sikhaya he, lekin ham angrezi me bhi bol sakte he" he explained. We nodded.

"Toh tum bhi ek paleontologist ho?" I asked. He nodded.

"Ab toh apna naam bata do?" Zaan asked.

"Hamara naam Rohit he" he said. What a nice name!

"Acha toh ab chale?" Diksha asked. We agreed and started walking. It was still very hot. Rohit had some water and food that we decided to eat in the cave.

Suddenly some clouds covered the sun.

"Lagta he bheyanak tufan ane wala he..." Rohit said.

As he said that it started raining cats and dogs. In minutes it became dark.

"Jaldi bhago!! Woh dekho ham kitne nazdik he caves ke!" I said pointing to the visible cave.

We all started running as fast as possible. It was becoming worse every minute.

Finally after running for 10 mins we reached the cave. We entered it. We were all wet. Outside was lightning and that was causing thunders.

I was so scared... Rohit noticed that.

"Aap chinta mat kijiye yeh kuch deer tak esa rahega phir sab pahle jaisa ho jayega" he said trying to calm me a bit. I nodded.

It was nearly from half an hour that we were watching the rain. It was becoming worse instead of stopping. I looked at Rohit. He was also looking at me. He was looking worried.

"Rohit, kya hamesha ese hi tufan aata he yaha?" Zaan asked.

"Tufan ata he, par thodi deer ke liye, is baar kuch alag he..." he said in a worried tone.

As he said that, a lightning directly hit the entrance of the cave... after some seconds stones started falling... they continued falling till the entrance, that was the only way of exit, was covered with big stones... we were all numb. Nobody was moving... we continued staring at the stones that prevented us to see outside for at least 5 mins. We could still hear the thunders outside...

"Yeh kya ho gaya?!" Zaan was the first to speak.

"Ab ham kya karenghe?! Yahi ek rasra tha bahar nikalne ka!!" I said panicking...

"Dekhiye, hame shanti se kaam karna hoga. Kyun ke jaha ek rasta band hota he, waha se ek aur rasta khulta he" Rohit spoke.
We were still panicked.

"Lekin agar ham hamesha ke liye yaha trapped reh gaya toh?!" Diksha said.

"Esa kuch nhi hoga Diksha! Be positive" Zaan said. She nodded.

"Hamare paas wakt kam he... hame caves ko explore kar lena chahiye sabse pehle" I said looking at the way that took us inside.

"Haan, Mohtarma bilkul sahi keh rahi he... hame andar jaa kar dekhna chahiye..." Rohit said.

We started walking.

"Yaar yaha toh bohot andhera he... Zaan torch nikalna" Diksha said. He took out the torch from his bag and gave it to Diksha. She turned it on. Now we could see some things.

We continued walking and stopped at one point. There were two ways.

"Yaha toh do raste he... ab konsa chune?" I asked.

"Right chale kya?" Zaan suggested. We nodded and went in the right way. I was walking in from of everybody. Suddenly my feet slipped and I was about to fall when Rohit grabbed me from my hand. I screamed.

"Aap thik he na?!" Rohit asked. I slightly nodded.

We looked down. There was a very very big hole. It was really very dark. It was very scary.

"Yeh toh bohot zada deep lag raha he!" Zaan studied the hole.

"Yaha we toh ham nhi jaa sakte... wapis chal kar left way chalte he aur dekhte he kya hoga" Diksha said. We agreed and returned from where we came.