When we were enjoying our proximity, the sound of footsteps were heard. I opened my eyes with a slight jerk and sae a shadow approaching us. It seemed like the woman's shadow, who threatened me earlier. "Oh no! She is coming this way. Where will u hide? If she sees u, she will kill u. Go and hide somewhere.",I panicked. "Keep quiet. I will hide somewhere. My plan will start now. So just keep silent.", he said with some confidence in his tone. I nodded and he his behind the huge drums placed .
The lady came in, saw the plate and grinned furiously. "So,u wanna die empty stomached... Ha!!!!! Anyways, ur wish. Now come on. The leader is waiting for u. If u spit the truth out, u will be saved. Or else, u would become a prey to death. So better spill the beans.",she ordered me. I was untied and the lady pulled me towards the door. I was nearing the door of the hut.
Suddenly, a huge bamboo stick hit her head hard, which made her to groan in pain. It was Laksh. But he quickly stuffed some cloth in her mouth,making the sound inaudible. The huge figure collapsed at once on the floor. Laksh pulled her inside. Fortunately, she was wearing a scarf, which covered her head. Soon, both exchanged clothes. Laksh wore her long skirt and her scarf, covering his face in such a way that only his eyes were visible.
We hid her in those huge drums,closed the lid and made our way to the leader. He held my hand and acted like pulling me. Soon, we were in front of that dacoit. One of them asked,"hey! Y are u covering ur face? U were alright before.". Laksh stammered at first. But managed then."ohhoooooo...... Actually, this stupid girl tried to scratch my face with a sharp bamboo stick. My cheeks were cut and bleeding. That's the reason, why am wearing this scarf.", Laksh replied trying to immitate a lady's voice. The dacoit was somehow convinced by the answer and ordered one of his men to get him a sharp dagger.
"Why do u order someone else when am here sardar! I will bring it. U stay there!", Laksh voluntarily spoke in order to work according to his plan. He stopped the other man and asked him to stay in his place. The dacoit nodded his head and Laksh walked swiftly to bring the dagger. Meanwhile, the dacoit untied me and asked me few questions about me, traveling in that route and our hidden cause. I repeated the same answer that I was innocent and knew nothing about them. In Fact, I was tired to repeat the same answer to different people at different times. I even said that they had killed the innocent driver. The dacoit started to beat me black and blue to get the answer what he expected. I started to make huge cries of pain.
Soon Laksh returned and shouted,"sardar!! What are u doing? However u r gonna kill that girl in just a few minutes. Why do u beat her like that? She is already feeble. If u beat her constantly, u would not be able to enjoy the feeling of her death. So just leave her." Again he was pleased with Laksh's words. So he left me and again asked those questions. I repeated the same. His blood was boiling high and his eyes were burning red. He asked for the dagger and Laksh gave it to him. The dacoit took it and started to walk towards me. I stepped backwards till my back hit against the bark of a tree. "U still have a chance girl. Tell the truth. I will leave u.",the sardar warned. "I have already told u that I know nothing. I am just innocent. I dont even know who u r before I met u.", I spoke in a low voice.
"Uhhhh!!!! Sardar, one of our gang members is calling me. I have to go. So, if u give me permission, I will go now.", Laksh said and waited for the dacoit to respond. Dacoit Singh nodded and he left as fast as he can. Here, the heartless beast was going to kill me. He raised his hand high, so that he could stab me in my abdomen. When his hand was raised as high as it could be, a needle, which came flying from a long distance, got embedded on the nape of his neck and he suddenly fell unconscious. I was just frozen at that moment. But I got back into my senses and turned my eyes to the direction from which the needle tore the layers of dense air. It was him. My one and only ray of hope. My hero.... He did it. He saved me. How happy I was then!!! But soon the good vibes vanished. Many of his goons approached him and prevented him from collapsing on the ground. They tried to revive him. But they failed. Laksh returned as fast as he could and said as he panted,"oh my bhagvan! How did this happen to our sardar? See, there is a needle embedded on his nape.", he pointed that arrow and slowly pulled it out, made a huge scream. "Hayy my bhagvan! This needle is being fed with a deadly venom. This causes sudden death of the victim and this doesn't have an antidote. Oh my bhagvan!! We have lost our superior. What shall we do?" Crocodile tears rolled down his eyes. One of the goons asked,"is there no other way to save our sardar?". Laksh nodded his head horizontally. He added," he is gone forever now. As we have lost our sardar now, we will have to appoint a new leader to head us in our battle. Pls choose the next sardar among yourselves. Hope his soul rests in peace.", saying these, he pushed them in a pit of confusion. Who will be the next leader? Everybody's thoughts made a turn to that side leaving the last rites of their sardar. Some started to fight for power.
Laksh's plans were boring him fruits which he expected for. His plan was going on perfectly. Later, he went to those people and said,"may I have your attention please! As our sardar has passed away, we will have to appoint a new leader for ourselves. But, before that we need to perform the last rites of our sardar. So please cooperate to complete it and help our sardar's soul to rest in peace." All the goons nodded and the last rituals were performed. The real fight began. They started to pull each other's collar and fight. Seeing all this, Laksh ran into the sardar's room and returned with a parchment in his hand. He shouted,"stop right there people. I have something to tell you all. Our sardar has left his will in his room and fortunately, my eyes have caught it. According to this will, the one who dugs out the dagger from the earth will be the next leader. The dagger is being hidden right at the foot of the great banyan tree near the stream. So, the one who finds it first, will be the leader. Now stop fighting and get to work people." Everyone rushed to the place and started to fight there.
Soon Laksh executed his plan. As all gathered together in a place, Laksh pulled a strong rope, which was tied to a dense net. As the rope was pulled, the net rose from the ground enclosing everyone. The dacoits fell into the hunter's (Laksh's) trap. Everyone started to scream out loud. Laksh appeared in front of them and showed his true self and called the police, they arrived and they all were arrested. Then, Laksh came to free me and we left the place. He took me to his car and we swifted past tall and dense banyans, bamboos, neem,mangroves and many wild shrubs.
I remained silent for more than half an hour. Not having any patience left in bearing the building-up silence, he cleared his throat and spoke out, "won't u say anything? Am used to ur silly talks. I cannot see u being so silent. And moreover, if u remain silent like this, I may feel dizzy. So come on. Talk.", he seemed to order me. "Hunhh!!!! What should I talk? How did u know that I was here? How did u get to me? Tell me na!!", I showed more eagerness in knowing that. He narrated the whole story and I listened to him keenly. We drove for sometime and then stopped for a halt. We had to stay at a place to keep ourselves warm and healthy. Because, we had a long way to travel. So, we stopped at a cave. We lit up the bonfire using a matchstick and some firewood available. The night grew darker and colder. We had to make something more to keep ourselves warm. So, he arranged for some hay that was available nearby. A bed was made and I cuddled on it. I was getting bored and I asked him to play some songs on his phone. He played some songs and we enjoyed the weather as well as the songs. After some time, a romantic song called pehla pehla pyaar hai came in the lineup. Suddenly the atmosphere got heavy. Our eyes got locked and were not ready to retreat from that lock. My cheeks were flushed with deep red color, entire body feeling jitters. I could see him in a similar state to that of mine. How embarrassing was that! And how magical was that! Words would go short in explaining the apt situation. As time went on and on, the weather forced us to stay as near as possible. So, we stayed near the mouth of the cave. Maybe nature expected some romance between us. But are we gonna fulfill nature's wish?
To be continued..................
Soooo Sry for the very very late update. I hope no one throws stones at me for this late update. I hope u all enjoy. If u feel that this was worth the wait, please go and cast ur votes. Ur valuable comments will be entertained. I will try to update it asap.
Love- Saimaha