Parvati woke up to the sound of something crackling. Her head felt heavy and mind disorientated. She raised her hand to her head to stop it from spinning. She felt something sticky trickling down the side of her face that had pasted her bangs on to her forehead. She didn’t understand what was happening. She closed then opened her eyes to try and focus. But all was blurred around her. She shut her eyes and opened them again. There was an infinitesimal amount of improvement to her vision. She looked and felt around her, all the while keeping her right hand on her head, to stop the whirling sensation. It was day time and she seemed to be sprawled on the hot desert sand, hence her left hand kept on sinking in when she tried to heave herself up. Finally on the third go she managed to sit up and look around. She moved her right hand away from her forehead and saw with a nauseating view that the sticky substance on her forehead was blood, as her hand was covered in the red evidence. What had happened? How had she gotten this wound? She tried hard to remember as she looked around her to better understand where she was and jolt her memory into filling in the gaps.
There was smoke emitting from somewhere behind her. She shifted slowly to her right, not wanting the headache to worsen with sudden movements. And saw the source of the smoke and crackling sound: fire. She was a mere ten feet away from a burning motor-rickshaw. Had she been in an accident? Seemed like it? Carefully she got up and went closer to the rickshaw. If she had been in it, she wouldn’t have been in there alone, for ever since the goons had harassed her on her way back from getting her bridal outfit and Rudra, thankfully, had come to her rescue, she had made it a point to never go in one alone. She always made sure it was filled with other women and if possible with a friend or two of her own. As she neared the wreck, she glimpsed a man’s leg. Going closer she saw who it was. Bheema. And with sudden alacrity the memory came fleeting back.
Bheema had abducted her from the fair. She had struggled as he had shoved her into the driver’s seat with him and driven off. But she had managed to get the better of him a while into the drive and had driven the rickshaw off the road. Causing the accident. Oh gawd she hadn’t killed him had she? Nervously she crept closer to his face to check if he was breathing or not. But the air around them was so warm due to the fire she couldn’t tell if there was any air coming out of his nose, suggesting life. Anxiously, keeping her eyes on his face, to detect any sort of movement, she placed her trembling hand on his chest. It was heaving and she could feel his heart banging from the inside. She breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t killed him. That settled, she now needed to get as far away from him as possible. For glad as she was with the thought that she wasn’t responsible for his death, the fact that he was alive meant that she wouldn’t be once he revived, thus needing to be long gone before that happened. She knew Maithali had seen her and so was sure if she hadn’t already informed Rudra she would soon enough and then her Major-saab would have every soldier in the area, including himself, scouting for her. All she needed to do was be out of Bheema or any other of the Thakur’s mens’ sight until she spotted an officer.
As she got up to leave she felt a sharp pain in her side, she glanced down to see what it was when a hand gripped her left wrist. She turned in alarm to find that Bheema was awake. ‘Egh….No. Let go!’ She wrestled with him. But he held on tightly, even though he wasn’t completely awake yet. She shoved and clawed at his chest with her right hand finally hitting him hard on the side, which had been injured in the crash, making him let go with a yelp.
Freed from his iron grip she got to her feet, ignored the shooting pain in her ribs, lifted her lehenga and began running. She knew not where or what direction home was in, but knew she had to get away from Bheema. Rudra’s case and the soldier’s who had lost their lives to save hers’ needed her alive. The hot sand scalded her bare feet but she took no notice of it, she needed to get away. She needed to…she needed to…she needed….everything went black as her limp body landed on the very sand she was running on.
There was smoke emitting from somewhere behind her. She shifted slowly to her right, not wanting the headache to worsen with sudden movements. And saw the source of the smoke and crackling sound: fire. She was a mere ten feet away from a burning motor-rickshaw. Had she been in an accident? Seemed like it? Carefully she got up and went closer to the rickshaw. If she had been in it, she wouldn’t have been in there alone, for ever since the goons had harassed her on her way back from getting her bridal outfit and Rudra, thankfully, had come to her rescue, she had made it a point to never go in one alone. She always made sure it was filled with other women and if possible with a friend or two of her own. As she neared the wreck, she glimpsed a man’s leg. Going closer she saw who it was. Bheema. And with sudden alacrity the memory came fleeting back.
Bheema had abducted her from the fair. She had struggled as he had shoved her into the driver’s seat with him and driven off. But she had managed to get the better of him a while into the drive and had driven the rickshaw off the road. Causing the accident. Oh gawd she hadn’t killed him had she? Nervously she crept closer to his face to check if he was breathing or not. But the air around them was so warm due to the fire she couldn’t tell if there was any air coming out of his nose, suggesting life. Anxiously, keeping her eyes on his face, to detect any sort of movement, she placed her trembling hand on his chest. It was heaving and she could feel his heart banging from the inside. She breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t killed him. That settled, she now needed to get as far away from him as possible. For glad as she was with the thought that she wasn’t responsible for his death, the fact that he was alive meant that she wouldn’t be once he revived, thus needing to be long gone before that happened. She knew Maithali had seen her and so was sure if she hadn’t already informed Rudra she would soon enough and then her Major-saab would have every soldier in the area, including himself, scouting for her. All she needed to do was be out of Bheema or any other of the Thakur’s mens’ sight until she spotted an officer.
As she got up to leave she felt a sharp pain in her side, she glanced down to see what it was when a hand gripped her left wrist. She turned in alarm to find that Bheema was awake. ‘Egh….No. Let go!’ She wrestled with him. But he held on tightly, even though he wasn’t completely awake yet. She shoved and clawed at his chest with her right hand finally hitting him hard on the side, which had been injured in the crash, making him let go with a yelp.
Freed from his iron grip she got to her feet, ignored the shooting pain in her ribs, lifted her lehenga and began running. She knew not where or what direction home was in, but knew she had to get away from Bheema. Rudra’s case and the soldier’s who had lost their lives to save hers’ needed her alive. The hot sand scalded her bare feet but she took no notice of it, she needed to get away. She needed to…she needed to…she needed….everything went black as her limp body landed on the very sand she was running on.
‘This way sir.’ Aman guided Rudra as he drove like a maniac through the desert to the location where officers’ had radioed in the wreckage of a rickshaw not far from where the carnival had been set up. Aman held on to the dashboard and door handle for dear life, but didn’t say a word. He had thought his driving had been jerky while his right hand had been maimed, but that was nothing compared to the “joy ride” Rudra took him on now. He knew why Rudra had taken the wheel, to keep his mind off thoughts of not getting to Parvati in time, as the need to concentrate on the road would keep him from thinking of the worst. However, he was now regretting the decision of letting him for it didn’t seem like those thoughts were out of the Major’s mind but rather flashing init in neon lights making him drive roughly to save every valuable second. As each second wasted meant a second Parvati got closer and closer to her death. It wasn’t like Aman didn’t fear for her life, or that his heart didn’t stutter at the thought of what was in store for Parvati, but he knew with Rudra the feeling would be multiplied a hundred times more. May be he should have sided with Singh Sir, when he had suggested to keep Rudra off the case as he was too close to it and not fit for action as his right hand, although working again, was not back to full strength. But Rudra had heard none of it and had threatened to go rogue, looking for her alone without any back-up or BSD support if they tried to keep him out of the loop.
‘Like you said sir, she is not just my witness, but my wife too. You cannot expect me to sit at head-quarters here when her life is on the line. I am going, it’s up to you to decide whether I go wearing this uniform or the plain clothes in my wardrobe.’
‘Rudra-‘
‘Sir. If I may,’ Aman had intervened then. ‘I will go with Rudra sir, be his back up and his extra hand. You needn’t worry. We will get Bhab- I mean Parvati back.’ Aman assured his senior, with an extra curt nod that not only would he be Rudra’s extra limb but would keep him in check, making sure he didn’t go off the rails, for of course the case was too personal for him.
Thus the two had set off, on this rocky ride, where Aman feared his lunch may re-emerge in a very unappealing way. They jerked to halt and Aman thanked the heavens, for getting him and Rudra to the accident spot in one piece.
They arrived on the scene to find dusk falling and the rickshaw completely ashen.
‘Any bodies?’ Rudra asked curtly.
‘No sir. But we did find blood and these.’ He held up broken blue bangles. Rudra’s insides churned. Those were Parvati’s. He had seen them on their dressing table, on her bangle stand. The stand that had annoyed him every morning when he got ready for work, because every time he would pick his brush at least ten or more of the damned bangles would jingle and fall onto the floor. He felt a violent pang in his heart. He would never get irritated with the stand or the bangles again, just keep the owner of them safe, please… he looked up to the heavens with desperation in his eyes.
‘Erhmm.’ He cleared his throat. ‘You said you found blood.’ Rudra reminded the officer in front of him, forcing himself to focus.
‘Yes. Copious amounts in three places. First, right here next to the chakra.’ He walked them over to the extinct rickshaw. ‘Then there, a few feet away from the chakra. Where we found the bangles.’ He pointed out the place. Rudra’s stomach lurched, Paaro’s blood. She was wounded. He would skin Bheema alive, when found the rascal.
‘The third grouping of blood is a few metres away from here. The trail leads from the first grouping of blood. Come.’ He motioned for them to follow. They had walked about ten metres away from the debris of the crash when they came to the third blood pooling, which was the most out of the other two. ‘This is most likely the victims’. She must have ran from her captor, only to collapse here due to her wounds. I say plural because if you see there are two sets of pools. She was most likely injured gravely on her head and abdominal area according the way the blood is positioned here and here.’ He pointed to the two places, the space between them suggesting the wounded regions. ‘The running away and the injury, not to mention the afternoon sun, probably took a toll on her and she lost consciousness here. Her captor must have found her and carried her away some point later. From the evidence here it is less likely she would have made it – AARRGHHH!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! GERRROOOFFFFFMEEE!!’ The officer screamed in horror as Rudra attacked him.
‘Sir. Sir. SIR!!’ Aman cried out in a strangled voice as he pulled him back. ‘He is just speculating on the evidence presented….but we both know Bhabi is very strong. She won’t give up. She will fight. Look…the blood trail is evidence of how she was fighting…so don’t give up on her. Calm down we will find her.’
Rudra shoved Aman off and stalked away to the jeep. The trail had ended there, how were they going to find Parvati now? And if what the officer said was true…then she was running out of time…the blood didn’t give a very good impression of her condition…he may already be too la- NO. HE COULDN’T THINK LIKE THAT…AMAN WAS RIGHT. PAARO WAS A FIGHTER. SHE WAS FIGHTING. SHE HADN’T GIVEN UP…SHE HAD BEEN RUNNING TO HIM…SO HOW COULD HE LET HER DOWN. HE COULDN’T. NOT THIS TIME.
‘What the ****?!! How can you appoint such untamed officers like him?!! I get it she is his witness, but I was just telling him what the evidence suggests. My job is to tell it as it is, it’s not my fault his witness got caught. Witness or not…she is unlikely to be alive for her captor took her and as I understand he wants her dead…but if by some miracle she escaped him or he hasn’t killed her yet, she doesn’t have much time, the blood suggests that much!’ The officer cried out furiously to Aman, as he tried to calm him.
‘Look. You are right and you were just doing your job, I know. But what you don’t know is that she is not just his witness….she’s his wife too.’ Aman revealed.
‘What?!’ The officer looked up shocked. ‘No wonder. Why didn’t you tell me before, I wouldn’t have related my theory of her less than likely chance of survival in front of him.’ He defended, himself.
‘Sorry. I didn’t realize you didn’t know. As you can understand he is on a tight leash at the moment. What is your educated guess, from the amount of blood here…if she is still alive how much time is she likely to have?’
‘Pfff…I don’t know. 2 hours…three if you stretch it. But don’t get your hopes up. The trail has ended here. There were tyre tracks that lead up to the road from here but once on the road there is no way to know which way they would have gone.’ The officer patted Aman’s shoulder and walked away, making sure to put as much distance between him and Rudra.
Heavy hearted, Aman walked back to Rudra who was leaning against the bonnet of his jeep. Pounding the engine with his good arm. Gulping Aman, approached him, ‘Sir.’ He halted in his pounding and straightened up. ‘I…uh…the officer, he said that there were tyre tracks near the area where the third grouping of blood was found, they lead up here to the road, but once on the road they disappear…so we don’t know which way the vehicle went. And…ummm.’ He swallowed the lump in his throat.
‘And? And what Aman? Whatever horrendous news you have just spit it out, no need to draw it out.’ Rudra ordered brutally.
‘Erhm…’ Aman cleared his throat. ‘And the officer says…that if…if Bhabi is alive then she most likely has only two-three hours, maximum.’ He mumbled the end bit, but Rudra caught it, trained as he was to have bat like hearing.
Rudra cursed loudly as he punched the car door viciously, causing Aman to flinch. His fist actually left a dent in the door, so that the ‘S’ in the BSD printed on the door became crooked. He howled in agony, although Aman wasn’t entirely sure whether that was for the bluish bruise that was forming around the blood that seeped from his left knuckles or whether it was for the same reason behind his bawled right fist: Parvati.
‘Paaro….’ Her name as a prayer. ‘Paaro where are you….’ his voice was low and forlorn with distress, so much so that it made the fine hair’s on the back of Aman’s neck stand. He wanted to console him, ease his agony, but didn’t know how. A hug or a hand squeeze was out of the question. May be a pat on the shoulder? Nervously, he edged his hand towards his shoulder, but before he made contact, he yanked it back as the thought of what to say once he had his attention stalled him.
The day was dying. She had already been missing for four hours and according to the officer she didn’t have more than two hours, if they were lucky then three. How was he going to find her? That too in the dark, for a few more minutes and the sun would be gone, just like she was. ‘Where are you Paaro….give me a sign…just one sign and I will move heaven and earth to locate you….just give me a sign….’ He pleaded to her.
As the sun sunk behind the sand dunes, departing for the day it shed light on something in the middle of the road. Something that glistened in its’ orange hue. Rudra straightened up, making Aman move back and give him room. He walked the three steps down the road and crouched to pick up a broken silver chain with a brown bead dangling at the end of it. He stared at it. Something about it was very familiar. And then it clicked.
‘Paaro.’ He said huskily. He toyed the chain over in his hands: had she left him a clue or had this dropped by mistake when Bheema and whomever he had called taken her away? There was blood on the brown bead. No she had broken this off herself. He knew it. If it had been dropped by mistake then the whole bracelet would have been there not just the one bead attached to the broken chain. ‘AMAN!!’ He roared. Immediately he ran over to him.
‘Sir?’
‘Look…you were right. She’s still fighting. Look she’s left us a clue.’ He showed the broken chain with the bead. He stared at it confused. The officer’s, like Aman didn’t understand, how this was lead, because they didn’t know. ‘It’s from her rudraksh. Her rudraksh binds together with this silver chain. She broke it…to leave us bread crumbs.’ Rudra said excitedly, renewed with hope at the thought of being able to find her.
‘Well then let’s get going sir. I take it we are to head in this direction.’ He pointed to the road in front of him. Rudra nodded.
‘Here you take the keys. I’ll keep a look out on the road to locate her next bread crumb.’ Rudra threw the keys at him and he took it too readily. Once in the car Rudra looked towards the west at the disappearing sun and thanked its’ dying rays for showing him the light, then urged Aman to turn the headlights on in order to be able to see Parvati’s next grain of hope.
‘Like you said sir, she is not just my witness, but my wife too. You cannot expect me to sit at head-quarters here when her life is on the line. I am going, it’s up to you to decide whether I go wearing this uniform or the plain clothes in my wardrobe.’
‘Rudra-‘
‘Sir. If I may,’ Aman had intervened then. ‘I will go with Rudra sir, be his back up and his extra hand. You needn’t worry. We will get Bhab- I mean Parvati back.’ Aman assured his senior, with an extra curt nod that not only would he be Rudra’s extra limb but would keep him in check, making sure he didn’t go off the rails, for of course the case was too personal for him.
Thus the two had set off, on this rocky ride, where Aman feared his lunch may re-emerge in a very unappealing way. They jerked to halt and Aman thanked the heavens, for getting him and Rudra to the accident spot in one piece.
They arrived on the scene to find dusk falling and the rickshaw completely ashen.
‘Any bodies?’ Rudra asked curtly.
‘No sir. But we did find blood and these.’ He held up broken blue bangles. Rudra’s insides churned. Those were Parvati’s. He had seen them on their dressing table, on her bangle stand. The stand that had annoyed him every morning when he got ready for work, because every time he would pick his brush at least ten or more of the damned bangles would jingle and fall onto the floor. He felt a violent pang in his heart. He would never get irritated with the stand or the bangles again, just keep the owner of them safe, please… he looked up to the heavens with desperation in his eyes.
‘Erhmm.’ He cleared his throat. ‘You said you found blood.’ Rudra reminded the officer in front of him, forcing himself to focus.
‘Yes. Copious amounts in three places. First, right here next to the chakra.’ He walked them over to the extinct rickshaw. ‘Then there, a few feet away from the chakra. Where we found the bangles.’ He pointed out the place. Rudra’s stomach lurched, Paaro’s blood. She was wounded. He would skin Bheema alive, when found the rascal.
‘The third grouping of blood is a few metres away from here. The trail leads from the first grouping of blood. Come.’ He motioned for them to follow. They had walked about ten metres away from the debris of the crash when they came to the third blood pooling, which was the most out of the other two. ‘This is most likely the victims’. She must have ran from her captor, only to collapse here due to her wounds. I say plural because if you see there are two sets of pools. She was most likely injured gravely on her head and abdominal area according the way the blood is positioned here and here.’ He pointed to the two places, the space between them suggesting the wounded regions. ‘The running away and the injury, not to mention the afternoon sun, probably took a toll on her and she lost consciousness here. Her captor must have found her and carried her away some point later. From the evidence here it is less likely she would have made it – AARRGHHH!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! GERRROOOFFFFFMEEE!!’ The officer screamed in horror as Rudra attacked him.
‘Sir. Sir. SIR!!’ Aman cried out in a strangled voice as he pulled him back. ‘He is just speculating on the evidence presented….but we both know Bhabi is very strong. She won’t give up. She will fight. Look…the blood trail is evidence of how she was fighting…so don’t give up on her. Calm down we will find her.’
Rudra shoved Aman off and stalked away to the jeep. The trail had ended there, how were they going to find Parvati now? And if what the officer said was true…then she was running out of time…the blood didn’t give a very good impression of her condition…he may already be too la- NO. HE COULDN’T THINK LIKE THAT…AMAN WAS RIGHT. PAARO WAS A FIGHTER. SHE WAS FIGHTING. SHE HADN’T GIVEN UP…SHE HAD BEEN RUNNING TO HIM…SO HOW COULD HE LET HER DOWN. HE COULDN’T. NOT THIS TIME.
‘What the ****?!! How can you appoint such untamed officers like him?!! I get it she is his witness, but I was just telling him what the evidence suggests. My job is to tell it as it is, it’s not my fault his witness got caught. Witness or not…she is unlikely to be alive for her captor took her and as I understand he wants her dead…but if by some miracle she escaped him or he hasn’t killed her yet, she doesn’t have much time, the blood suggests that much!’ The officer cried out furiously to Aman, as he tried to calm him.
‘Look. You are right and you were just doing your job, I know. But what you don’t know is that she is not just his witness….she’s his wife too.’ Aman revealed.
‘What?!’ The officer looked up shocked. ‘No wonder. Why didn’t you tell me before, I wouldn’t have related my theory of her less than likely chance of survival in front of him.’ He defended, himself.
‘Sorry. I didn’t realize you didn’t know. As you can understand he is on a tight leash at the moment. What is your educated guess, from the amount of blood here…if she is still alive how much time is she likely to have?’
‘Pfff…I don’t know. 2 hours…three if you stretch it. But don’t get your hopes up. The trail has ended here. There were tyre tracks that lead up to the road from here but once on the road there is no way to know which way they would have gone.’ The officer patted Aman’s shoulder and walked away, making sure to put as much distance between him and Rudra.
Heavy hearted, Aman walked back to Rudra who was leaning against the bonnet of his jeep. Pounding the engine with his good arm. Gulping Aman, approached him, ‘Sir.’ He halted in his pounding and straightened up. ‘I…uh…the officer, he said that there were tyre tracks near the area where the third grouping of blood was found, they lead up here to the road, but once on the road they disappear…so we don’t know which way the vehicle went. And…ummm.’ He swallowed the lump in his throat.
‘And? And what Aman? Whatever horrendous news you have just spit it out, no need to draw it out.’ Rudra ordered brutally.
‘Erhm…’ Aman cleared his throat. ‘And the officer says…that if…if Bhabi is alive then she most likely has only two-three hours, maximum.’ He mumbled the end bit, but Rudra caught it, trained as he was to have bat like hearing.
Rudra cursed loudly as he punched the car door viciously, causing Aman to flinch. His fist actually left a dent in the door, so that the ‘S’ in the BSD printed on the door became crooked. He howled in agony, although Aman wasn’t entirely sure whether that was for the bluish bruise that was forming around the blood that seeped from his left knuckles or whether it was for the same reason behind his bawled right fist: Parvati.
‘Paaro….’ Her name as a prayer. ‘Paaro where are you….’ his voice was low and forlorn with distress, so much so that it made the fine hair’s on the back of Aman’s neck stand. He wanted to console him, ease his agony, but didn’t know how. A hug or a hand squeeze was out of the question. May be a pat on the shoulder? Nervously, he edged his hand towards his shoulder, but before he made contact, he yanked it back as the thought of what to say once he had his attention stalled him.
The day was dying. She had already been missing for four hours and according to the officer she didn’t have more than two hours, if they were lucky then three. How was he going to find her? That too in the dark, for a few more minutes and the sun would be gone, just like she was. ‘Where are you Paaro….give me a sign…just one sign and I will move heaven and earth to locate you….just give me a sign….’ He pleaded to her.
As the sun sunk behind the sand dunes, departing for the day it shed light on something in the middle of the road. Something that glistened in its’ orange hue. Rudra straightened up, making Aman move back and give him room. He walked the three steps down the road and crouched to pick up a broken silver chain with a brown bead dangling at the end of it. He stared at it. Something about it was very familiar. And then it clicked.
‘Paaro.’ He said huskily. He toyed the chain over in his hands: had she left him a clue or had this dropped by mistake when Bheema and whomever he had called taken her away? There was blood on the brown bead. No she had broken this off herself. He knew it. If it had been dropped by mistake then the whole bracelet would have been there not just the one bead attached to the broken chain. ‘AMAN!!’ He roared. Immediately he ran over to him.
‘Sir?’
‘Look…you were right. She’s still fighting. Look she’s left us a clue.’ He showed the broken chain with the bead. He stared at it confused. The officer’s, like Aman didn’t understand, how this was lead, because they didn’t know. ‘It’s from her rudraksh. Her rudraksh binds together with this silver chain. She broke it…to leave us bread crumbs.’ Rudra said excitedly, renewed with hope at the thought of being able to find her.
‘Well then let’s get going sir. I take it we are to head in this direction.’ He pointed to the road in front of him. Rudra nodded.
‘Here you take the keys. I’ll keep a look out on the road to locate her next bread crumb.’ Rudra threw the keys at him and he took it too readily. Once in the car Rudra looked towards the west at the disappearing sun and thanked its’ dying rays for showing him the light, then urged Aman to turn the headlights on in order to be able to see Parvati’s next grain of hope.
*****
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