Fighting off his need to sleep, Arul called Navira over. ‘Help me with these sacks,’ he whispered. ‘I have an idea.’
Navira helped Arul drag a number of sacks under the window until they had a pyramid shaped stack that reached halfway up the wall. ‘Can you please tell me what you’re up to?’ Navira whispered.
Arul didn’t answer her, instead, climbing on top of the stack with a grunt and peering through the small window. The night was dark and fragrant with the aroma of flowers, a guard snoring directly beneath the window. Beyond lay a stretch of grass bordered by a thick stand of ginger plants.
Arul turned to Keeran. ‘Psst! Go stand by the door. Warn me if someone’s coming.’ Keeran nodded and jumped up, a mouse fleeing with a squeak at the sudden movement.
Arul hopped off the sacks and studied Navira. ‘What?’ She asked.
‘Think you could fit through that window?’
Navira tilted her head and stared at the barred opening. ‘Hmm…maybe. It’s quite small.’
‘Okay, but that’s not all. See that iron weight over there? They use it to weigh grain. We’re going to use it for something else.’
Navira went over and hefted the iron disc. She placed it on the pile of sacks and looked at Arul curiously, hands on her hips. ‘What exactly am I doing with this?’ Arul leaned forward and explained his idea in a whisper.
Ori had woken up and now stood near the window watching Navira climb the sacks. After Arul handed her the weight, Navira manoeuvred the top half of her body through the iron bars with some difficulty. The held the iron disc in her hands, positioning it directly over where she figured the guard’s head must be. It was a calculation that could go horribly wrong.
She let go of the heavy disk.
There was a sickening thud.
Arul listened hard.
Nothing.
Navira pulled her arms back through the window and sat down, her face a little shocked. She tapped her head and nodded to Arul. ‘The guard’s knocked out.’
Keeran grinned and rubbed his palms together. ‘Yes!’
Arul climbed onto the sacks and pushed at the bricks under the window. He kept shoving until his arms ached, then motioned for Keeran to take over. Ori followed Keeran, and the bricks started giving way bit by bit. With a final shove, several bricks tumbled onto the soft ground outside. Arul looked at the ragged outline of the broken window. It seemed big enough for them to pass through. He motioned for Navira to go first, watching her huddle on the broken ledge before jumping into the dark.
Keeran followed.
Ori looked at the window, already knowing how painful the next few moments would be. ‘It’s too small for me, Arul.’
‘We’ll widen it.’
‘No Son. We’d need a hammer.’ He held Arul’s shoulders. ‘I have to stay. But you must leave. Right now.’
Arul looked at his father with tears in his eyes. ‘I can’t leave you! Not now.’
His father wiped his eyes and gazed back at him Arul. ‘Get away from Sailem. As far as you can. Kapilan has corrupted this village for his own gain and convinced everyone that we’re criminals. He’s framed Guru Pari and I because we’re the only ones that’ll stand up to him. He’s trying to make himself into some kind of village-king.’
Arul clenched his fists. ‘What about the Royal Scouts?’
‘Kapilan’s misled them, and they seem more interested in their mission than village politics.’ Ori stood back. ‘You need to go. Now!’
Arul hugged his father hard. ‘I will find you, Appa. Wherever they take you, I’ll come for you.’
‘I know you will, Arul. I know.’ His father blinked away tears. ‘Your Amma would be so proud of you. Remember. I’m not in this prison. Not really. I’m with you wherever you go.’ He put a finger over Arul’s chest.
Arul didn’t want to lose his father just like he’d lost his mother. The very thought tore him up inside. He choked back the pain, shoving it down with great effort. What he did next was the most difficult thing he’d ever done in his life.
He turned away from his father, his face twisted in grief. Climbing up to the window ledge, he looked back into the storeroom. The last thing he saw was his father’s anguished face, half visible in the dark. ‘Arul! I’m so sorry. I should have told you about your Amma long ago,’ his father said.
‘And now it’s too late,’ Arul whispered to himself. With a sob, he leapt into the night.
He landed next to the unconscious guard sprawled on the grass, spotting Navira and Keeran crouching behind the ginger bush, their anxious faces peering above the pointed leaves. Navira squeezed Arul’s hand. There was nothing more to say. None of them knew when they would see their families again.
Arul inhaled the spicy aroma from the crushed leaves as they crawled through the bushes. It reminded him of a ginger infused dish that his father regularly cooked on sani-kizhamai; his rest-day. He swallowed hard, his chest aching. Then taking a deep breath, he pointed east to where thickly forested slopes rose towards the mountains. They kept low and ran into the trees, silent as ghosts.
High on the slopes, the teens shivered as they watched the village. Sailem glowed with a handful of dim lamps, ignorant of the outside world and full of self-importance. Behind them the mountains rose in a series of hulking shapes that towered into the black sky. ‘Now we wait,’ Arul said, his face full of grief.
The hours crawled by uneventfully until Keeran rubbed his empty stomach, sniffing the air and crawling off a short distance. After a little while he whispered for Arul and Navira to join him. They found him next to a gooseberry tree, cramming the green fruit into his mouth. ‘How could you smell them?’ Navira asked, a little awestruck by his foraging ability.
‘I dunno. I was hungry,’ Keeran replied, sending bits of fruit flying out of his overstuffed mouth.
‘We’ll wait up here until they take Appa from Kapilan’s house. We need to go back for our weapons,’ Arul said.
‘Why?’ Keeran asked with a full mouth.
‘Because we’re going to rescue Appa.’
Keeran spat out his fruit and began hyperventilating.
An hour before dawn the sky lit up with a faint grey wash, a lone sparrow tweeting in the trees. Then a rooster crowed, the sound of clanking pots drifting up the mountain as the village began to stir. The teens heard shouting as Arul’s eyes focussed on Kapilan’s house. ‘They’ve found the guard!’ He hissed.
‘Boy, mustn’t he have a sore head,’ Keeran said.
They heard Kapilan’s high-pitched yelling. Navira chuckled. ‘Imagine the trouble that liar’s going to get into with the Royal Scouts!’ More villagers swarmed around the house in a great commotion, so the teens moved higher up the slope, concealing themselves behind a large stand of deodar trees, the smell of resin heavy in the air.
Some villagers half-heartedly searched the lower slope of the mountain before moving north. ‘I bet they think we’ve made a run for the jackfruit plantation,’ Navira whispered.
‘Now we wait,’ Arul said with a gloomy face.
Dawn came swiftly in a haze of purples and reds. Much of the village was enveloped in a heavy fog, drifting between the houses like clouds between mountains. Arul spied the Royal Scouts approaching Kapilan’s house with a group of villagers. Minutes later they walked out with his father.
Keeran held Arul’s arm, sensing that his friend might do something stupid. Arul gritted his teeth, watching his father walk into the fog and out of sight. ‘Get ready to sneak down there. Get your stuff and grab some food. It’s a long way to Ailas.’
‘What!?’ Exclaimed Navira and Keeran at the same time, searching Arul’s face with uncertain eyes.
‘We’re going to Ailas?’ Navira asked.
‘I thought we were going to rescue your Appa here in Sailem!’ Keeran said, his voice tense.
‘Shh! Listen to me!’ Arul hissed. First, they’re taking Appa to Ailas right now. No time for a rescue here. Second, Guru Pari told us to meet him in Ailas. With his help we can free Appa. Maybe rescue him.’
‘But I don’t want to go to Ailas!’ Keeran whispered.
‘Would you rather go see your parents and explain things to them?’ Navira said. ‘Why you ran off in the middle of the night and why you’re under arrest now?’ Keeran cursed softly and scrambled to catch up with Arul, now crawling downhill towards Kapilan’s house.
The house was empty and silent, all the guards having followed the Royal Scouts. The teens crept up to the back wall under the broken window, then around the house to a side door. Arul poked it with his finger, Navira wincing as it creaked open on rusty hinges. ‘They certainly left in a hurry,’ Keeran remarked.
They entered the darkened interior and waited a minute for their eyes to adjust. In the kitchen, they found their packs and cloaks in an untidy pile. ‘Ugh! My cloak is still wet!’ Navira complained.
Arul put his finger to his lips. ‘Shh! They’ll dry in the sun as we walk.’
Leaving Kapilan’s house, they kept low and made for the outskirts of the village, the dawn fog concealing their movements. They made a wide detour through the vegetable gardens until they reached the stream. The villagers normally used it for washing and drinking, but at this early hour it was deserted.
Arul stopped and closed his eyes. Jaya, are you there?
‘What are you doing, Arul? Have you gone mad?’ Navira hissed.
Arul merely smiled and motioned for them to wait.
Jaya, come here! He repeated in his mind.
A black shape streaked from a clump of tall grass and leapt onto Arul, tail wagging furiously. Navira crouched and hugged Jaya with all her strength, studying Arul with wide eyes. ‘How did you call him without saying anything?’
‘I’m not quite sure,’ Arul said. ‘I just thought it.’
‘You mean you and Jaya…’ Keeran’s mouth hung open. ‘With your minds?’
‘Guess so,’ Arul replied.
‘Is that even possible?’’ Navira whispered to Keeran as she patted Jaya’s broad head.
The teens crossed the stream and followed it east down the valley, only hiding once when a woman emerged from the fog to dip her clay pot into the water. They soon left Sailem behind, the land sloping downhill as they followed the watercourse.
Arul turned to Navira and Keeran. ‘We’ll follow the stream to Karur Village. The Scouts will take the trail parallel to us, and since they don’t have horses, we should be able to keep up with them.’
Hours passed as they trekked in silence, the cool damp fog pressing their faces. Climbing a rise above a mango grove, Arul paused and looked over the unfamiliar landscape surrounding Karur Village.
Maybe it’s better if I leave Sailem. I never really fit into the village, now that I think about it. They never let me forget that my Amma was an outsider. They never accepted me.
Deep bitterness washed over Arul. It was worse than being angry. He felt as though he was lost on an endless field of ashes. Jaya quietly sidled up and allowed Arul to hug him tightly. His wolf always seemed to know when he was hurting inside.
Arul saw Keeran and Navira looking in the direction of Sailem with wistful expressions. He smiled at them half-heartedly, knowing that a current of great change had caught them like leaves in a river, sweeping them to some unknown destination.
I wish Guru Pari were here. I feel like I’m walking blind into the night.
Arul trudged onwards with a heavy heart, conflicting emotions surging and ebbing inside. The murmuring stream was their constant companion for many miles through shady woodlands and bright green plantations. The teens gazed at the water as it flowed through stands of tall reeds, always moving towards the distant ocean. The ocean which so terrified Arul in his dreams.
Great stands of banana trees filled the land, their huge green leaves unmoving in the still air. The odd farmer threw curious glances in their direction before returning to their labour. Yellow lizards scurried underfoot, and on one occasion the teens paused to let a cobra pass, golden and majestic.
As always, Keeran managed to find something to eat. They gorged on sweet bananas, tossing the yellow skins aside and watching black ants greedily swarm over them. Arul looked anxiously in the direction of Karur, cicadas chirping noisily in the midday heat.
We might catch the Scouts on the road after Karur, although I don’t know how we’ll defeat the Royal Guards. Everything’s stacked against us.
By day’s end the stream led them to Karur, a larger village than Sailem and the last settlement before the plains.
We can’t enter the village. The locals will betray us because they fear the Royal Scouts.
Arul voiced his thoughts to Navira and Keeran. Navira nodded towards a grassy hill rising above the jungle. ‘What about that hill to the north? We can watch the entire village from up there.’
Arul took a deep breath and nodded. ‘We have a few hours until dusk, so we’ll make camp and keep a look out for Appa.’
They left the path and climbed the hill, black volcanic boulders scattered on its slopes like the remains of some ancient city. From there the entire village of Karur lay below them like a map, haphazard and untidy, as though its folk didn’t care much about things. Piles of refuse lay in fly-infested heaps and the huts seemed badly maintained.
That’s how our village will look after Kapilan is headman.
The valley was much wider than around Sailem, and Arul could make out green plantations stretching for miles to the south. The teens threw themselves down on a patch of soft grass at the very top of the hill, Arul idly watching a flock of screeching mynas in the trees below. ‘The sitting around part is much better than walking,’ Keeran grunted as he massaged his feet.
Like a pool of molten bronze, the late afternoon sun turned deep yellow, its golden light falling onto the hill. Navira studied Arul for a moment. ‘Keeran and I will take watch tonight. You look terrible. Go to sleep.’
Arul nodded, lying back and untying his sandals, the tension of the past days tensing his shoulders like rocks. Exhaustion cloaked him like a warm blanket, and soon he was fast asleep, his dreams swiftly descending, terrible and disjointed.
He stood by a glassy lake that reflected the surrounding mountains like a mirror, his eyes finding a small island in the middle of the water. A white marble statue of a woman stood alone on the island, a gatekeeper to somewhere else. He kept trying to see the face of the stone figure, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see her face. Terrible anguish gripped his heart.
Then something shook him awake.
It felt like an earthquake.