Читать книгу The Tara Trilogy 3-Book Bundle - Mahtab Narsimhan - Страница 13

Tara’s breath came in gasps. The exertion of climbing the steep mountain trail with a heavy bundle was taking its toll on her.

Ananth climbed steadily, reaching out now and then to pull Tara over a rough patch. The narrow path snaked around the mountain and as the light faded, the climb became more treacherous. A bone-chilling breeze swept down the mountainside and straight into their unprotected faces. They shook with cold and exhaustion.

“How much longer, Ananth? I can-n-not-t walk anym-more,” said Tara through frozen lips.

“Just a little bit further, Tara. We’re almost there.”

Tara willed her mind to forget the pain raging through her exhausted body and kept going.

All of a sudden, Ananth shrugged off his bundle and jumped onto something.

“What is that?” asked Tara

“Dinner!” said Ananth, holding up something long that wriggled furiously. He swept his hand in an arc and dashed a hare onto the ground. It gave a small whimper and was silent. Tara gasped.

“Did you have to do that?” she asked in a pained voice. “We could have fruits or berries.”

“Do you see any fruits around?” asked Ananth.

Tara shook her head.

“Any berries?”

Tara shook her head again.

“Feel like eating grass?”

Tara made a face.

“We have to eat to keep our strength up,” said Ananth. “Packed any spices or salt?”

Tara nodded. “I’ve got some tandoori masala, and salt, too.”

“Good,” said Ananth. “At least we won’t have to eat it plain. Here we are,” he said as soon as a large rock, like an inverted V, came into view.

With their goal so near, an extra burst of energy seemed to infuse their limbs. They scrambled up the last few feet and reached a curtain of vines. It lay like a still, green veil on the face of the mountain. Ananth went up to the green curtain and, thrusting his hand through it, pulled it aside to reveal a large, black cavern.

“Throw the bundles into the cave, Tara, and help me collect some firewood.”

Tara chucked their bundles into the gaping darkness and turned to help Ananth. They collected armloads of dry wood and piled them up at the mouth of the cave. Finally, cold and exhausted, they crawled inside and lay down on the dirt floor to catch their breath. Ananth was the first to get up.

“We have to eat, Tara. Get up and help me cook the hare.”

He stepped out and brought in an armload of wood. The cave floor was dry. The light of the moon filtered in through the fronds, casting a silvery light into the dim depths. He found a couple of rocks at the entrance of the cave, which he positioned a few feet apart to roast the hare.

“Tara, do you have a knife, matches? Come on, don’t just lie there, help me!”

Tara gave a deep sigh, pulled a bundle to her, dug out the matches, knife, and packets of masala and salt, and threw them to him. It felt so good to be looked after for a change. In a few moments, Ananth had a fire going. He sat on his haunches and held his palms out to the flames. Tara rolled onto her side and looked into the flames as they reached out with wispy orange fingers to touch the low ceiling. The cave was perfect. It was small, cosy, and warming up nicely. As Ananth busied himself stacking the bundles neatly in a corner and laying out the bedding so that they did not have to sit on the hard floor, Tara gazed into the fire.

“If only we had found this two nights ago, Suraj would still be with me.”

Her voice quavered.

“Suraj is your brother?” asked Ananth, without turning around.

“My younger brother,” said Tara. “He had a high fever. I tried to stay awake but could not. When I woke up he was gone. I think wild animals ...”

She burst into tears at the realization that just a few hours ago his small living body had been close to her. Now she would never get to hug him, look into his laughing face, hear him say “Didi” in a hundred different tones depending on his mood.

“Tara, don’t think of the past. It hurts too much. I’ll be your brother now. I’ll look after you. I promise,” said Ananth, coming up to her and stroking her hair.

“Really?” asked Tara, gazing at him with a tear-streaked face. “You promise you won’t leave me?”

Ananth pulled a loose thread from his kurta and handed it to her, holding out his right hand. “Go on. We don’t have a rakhi, but this thread will do just fine.”

Tara took the thread and, with shaking hands, tied the flimsy cotton thread to Ananth’s wrist, completing an age-old ceremony of love between brother and sister. Then he went back to preparing the meal.

“So, why did you run away?” he asked as he began skinning and cleaning the hare near the mouth of the cave.

Tara sighed deeply. “To find my mother and my grandfather.”

“And you say they’ll be at the Devi Temple?”

Tara shrugged.

“That’s what I need to find out. I know he is still alive.”

“We will find him,” said Ananth. “We need him back.”

Ananth washed the hare with the water out of the animal skin and took it to the fire. He smeared the hare with the red tandoori masala mixed with salt, then skewered it from head to tail using a stout branch and laid it on the rocks.

“And your mother?” asked Ananth.

“She was special, too.”

“How so?”

“She could see into the future,” said Tara.

“Really?” said Ananth, sitting back on his haunches and gaping at her. “What did she see?”

“Many things, but not all of it was good.”

“Oh! Is that why ...,” asked Ananth, and his voice trailed away.

“Can we not talk about it right now?” snapped Tara. “Please?” she said, noting the hurt expression on Ananth’s face. “Since she left, our life has turned upside down.”

“Sorry,” said Ananth, staring into the flames. “But if you get it off your chest, you may feel better.”

A wonderful fragrance of roast hare was starting to fill the cave. Occasionally, the fire hissed and crackled as a globule of fat from the meat dropped into the red-hot embers.

“As soon as Mother and Grandfather disappeared, Father remarried Kali. I’m sure Zarku had something to do with Father remarrying even though we did not see him before Diwali night. Father allowed her to ill-treat us without a word in our defence. After I heard Kali plot with Zarku to kill us, we had to escape. And then I lost Suraj, my baby brother who I was responsible for. I let him die. What an unlucky person I am. I lose the ones that I love the most. Watch out, Ananth, or you’ll be next.”

Tara buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

“That is enough, Tara. Not a single word more,” said Ananth sternly. “What’s happened with your mother and brother is not your fault. You did the best you could. Look at me. I have lost both my parents. Am I not unluckier than you?”

Tara reached out and held his hand tightly.

“I am so glad I have you, Ananth. It hurts so much to go on living without my family. I wish I could die so we could all be together. I feel as much an orphan as you do. But,” she said, squeezing his hand, “I have you, my brother, and we’ll be all right together.”

“We’ll talk tomorrow. Now, eat this delicious hare I’ve cooked. You can’t let it go to waste.”

Surprisingly, Tara found that she was hungry. She gnawed at the meat, feeling spent yet light-hearted. After a couple of bites, Tara stopped eating and sniffed.

“Ananth, is this meat fresh?”

“Of course, silly! You saw me kill it in front of you. Why do you ask?”

“Then why does it smell rotten?” asked Tara, sniffing it all over. “I hope it does not have some kind of bone disease.”

A large shadow, then two, then three, fell across the wall of the cave. Tara and Ananth both looked up in horror.

Tara screamed.