A Mystery To Be Solved

The five were back at school once again. The fun-filled, most adventurous summer vacation of their life was behind them now and they missed it a lot, but the memories they had made together were still quite fresh in their minds.

After so many decades, a family had been reunited. Ratan's granddaughter, Indu, was ecstatic to hear about him through her own daughter, and she hurried to the village as soon as she heard the news.

This joyful reunion was followed by the good news of the discovery of the old family heirlooms that had been safely hidden in the house for so long, and were revealed only because of five young adventurers, who had done the almost impossible task quite unknowingly! However, their feat earned them a lot of praise and affection, not just in the village but in their own city as well! What was more, they were each also gifted one part of the heirloom as a token of gratitude from the owner of the mansion, who had started looking as if he would burst with happiness, having finally got everything he ever wanted—the love of his family and the fulfilment of his responsibility to deliver the treasure to its rightful owner, namely his granddaughter, till Aisha reached the age of eighteen.

As for Aisha, the rude, self-centered girl really transformed herself through the course of the summer. The day school resumed, she met Avantika on her way to a class.

"Hey, Avi, I wanted to talk to you," said Aisha, earning a glare from Pooja, who was accompanying Avantika. Pooja and the rest of the gang weren't quite as forgiving as Avantika, but they did refrain from saying anything to her when their forgiving friend was around, on the remaining trip and even afterwards.

"Sure, tell me, what's bothering you?" Avi said quietly.

"My own actions of the past." Aisha said, with real remorse in her voice, which took both of them with surprise. She went on, "I admit I have been quite rude to you all and acted selfishly, especially with you, Avantika. But the only reason I did it was because you inspired me, and since I couldn't become like you, I treated you the way I did so that you would become like me. Even though you helped me so many times, I never once acknowledged it because I envied you...envied that you had so many true friends and I had none. But now I know why you have those friends and I don't, because being with you for so long, I have definitely learnt from the best," she said, chuckling nervously. "Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you and sorry, for the way I acted with you guys. My mother is transferring to Indore to be close to great-grandfather, and so I will be leaving this school in a few weeks to go with her to Indore. I really hope we can remain friends," she said quietly, and smiled a watery smile before turning to leave.

"Aisha! Wait," Avantika called out, and Aisha stopped. "I'm so glad you finally changed yourself. And don't worry, I forgave you a long time back, and I'm sure my friends would be most willing to forget everything and forgive you, too." She smiled at Aisha. "But remember, always be happy with who you are, and never again compare yourself to any one else. As for me, I'll always be your friend, yaar!" saying so, Avantika leaned to give Aisha a hug.

"Thank you," the girl said, her voice heavy with emotion, and unspilled tears glistening in her eyes.

"Hey! Why leave me out? What did I do to you both?" exclaimed Pooja and joined he two girls in a group hug.

Meanwhile, the quartet kept also in touch with Ratan ji, now their good friend, through a correspondence of letters. One day, however, Kartike suddenly remembered another event of their adventure, and shared his idea with the others. It was another question he had meant to ask Ratan ji the day they first met, but eventually forgot.

Why did they see a silhouette of a cat with glowing red eyes when they first came upon the mansion while in search of Aisha?

I guess, that would remain another mystery to be solved.