The Deadly Conch (18 page)

“I must go,” said Tara. “Mother will be so worried that I've disappeared for a whole day without telling her.”

“That will be the least of your worries,” said Yama. He looked at her gravely and shook his head. “Why must one so young bear such a heavy burden?” He said this last bit softly, as if he were talking to himself.

“What do you mean, Lord?”

“Nothing, Tara. But remember, you can tell no one about today — that I took you to the Underworld and allowed you to return. It's against the rules and would cause a huge uproar, here on earth and in the heavens. You understand?
Tell no one
!”

Tara nodded. No one would believe her, anyway, and if they did, another superstition would plague her — that she'd visited Death and would cause even more bad luck to befall Morni.

“Lord Yama?”

“Yes.”

“Zarku gave me some information and so did Kali. But there's so much to do, I don't even know where to start. Please, can you give me two more days?”

“No, Tara. As per the rules, I should not have let you return. But you have shown such courage and selflessness, rare qualities in adults, let alone children that I decided to make an exception in your case. Don't ask for a second more. You can't have it.”

Tara gazed at the forbidding face that had once terrified her. Yama's expression was still scary, but his eyes gave him away. Even though he was the Lord of Death, feared and reviled by all, he had a heart and it wasn't made of stone.

“Yes, Lord. And … thank you.”

Yama mounted his bull. “I'll see you here at the same time tomorrow night. Do not keep me waiting and don't make me come looking for you. Oh and one last thing …” He held out his hand. “I'll need the conch back.”

Tara stared at him for a moment. Then she slipped her hand into her pocket and drew out the pearly-white conch. The moonlight gave it a silvery luminescence. Tara clutched it tight. “Can't I keep it, Lord? I promise not to summon you again. I-I like having it with me.”

“No, it's time you returned it.”

Tara extended her hand very slowly, clutching the shell tight. Every muscle in her body rebelled against giving it back. Yama loosened her fingers, took the conch, and tucked it away into the folds of his dhoti. Stricken, Tara watched him.

“Tara, don't look at me this way,” said Yama. His voice was gentle. “You don't need this conch. You don't need anything or anybody. What you need to defeat Layla, you already have. You trusted yourself once and succeeded. Can you remember how to believe in your abilities once again?”

Tara could only stare at him, a maelstrom of emotions raging inside her. With a brief nod, Yama turned the bull toward the forest. For a moment she watched him go. The countdown had begun and fear paralyzed her. She could not move, she could not breathe. Twenty-four hours and so much to do.

She looked at Morni, knowing it would be for the last time. She gazed at the Shivalik Hills surrounding the village, shrouded in darkness.
No time to smell the night
flowers
, the ever-present little voice said.
Time to move
.

First she had to check on Suraj and her mother. Then she'd take care of Layla.

Tara sprinted to Ananth's hut, keeping to the shadows. Once again, the number of lit windows surprised her. Why were so many villagers awake? Low voices reached her as she sped past huts. Children bawled and mothers hushed them. Heat smothered the village and Tara longed for a cup of cold water. She arrived at the rickety back door of the courtyard, gasping for breath. The door creaked as she pushed it open.

“Who's there?” someone whispered.

Tara remembered that Ananth normally slept outside. “It's me, Tara. Er … go back to sleep.”

Ananth sat up immediately, staring at her as she approached. “Tara! Where were you all day? And why are you creeping around in the middle of the night? Where did you go? We've all been looking for you. Your mother is out of her mind with worry …”

“I-I went for a long walk,” said Tara. She perched at the edge of his cot, trying to catch her breath. “The fire and the situation with Layla was really bothering me and I needed to think.”

“All day?” snapped Ananth. He stood up and started pacing. “You needed to go for a walk in this heat? You're hiding something, Tara, and you better tell me what it is. You're in a lot of trouble!”

Tara stared at him, her mouth dry. “What kind of trouble? Has something else happened? How is Suraj?”

Ananth shook his head and Tara's heart spiralled down to her toes.

“He's in bad shape, Tara. And with the other incident that happened today, the vaid has refused to come and treat him.”

Tara didn't wait to hear any more. She jumped to her feet and raced through the kitchen to the front room. Suraj tossed and turned on his cot, muttering unintelligibly. Parvati was fanning him with a reed mat.

Tara knelt by his bedside. Seeing her younger brother this way made the room spin momentarily. His face was pale. The burns had worsened and oozed yellow pus and blood. He lay there looking frailer than she had ever seen him. Tara's skin crawled. He must be in so much pain!

Tara touched his forehead and jerked her hand back. He was burning up. The stink of blood in the small room was so overpowering, she almost retched.

“How long has he been this way, Mother?”

“Where have you been all day?” asked Parvati, her voice thrumming with anger. “Do you have any idea what I went through today?”

“I'm sorry, Mother. I needed to be alone for a while and so I went for a long walk.”

Parvati stared at her. The next moment Tara was on the floor, her cheek stinging with a slap. “Our house burned down, Suraj is very ill, Morni is going mad and you
went for a walk
?” Her mother's voice climbed higher with each syllable and yet she was sobbing.

Tara flushed and the words almost stuck in her throat. “I just needed to think things out. I'm really sorry, Mother. It was a stupid of me. I won't do it again.”

Suraj moaned and they both turned to him. In spite of the fierce heat, he was barely sweating. The fever seemed to have a very strong grip on him and showed no signs of breaking.

“Mother, you have to bathe him and bring the fever down. I'll get the vaid.”

Parvati picked up the reed mat and started fanning Suraj again.

“Mother, he needs water, not air,” said Tara, trying hard to keep her voice even. “What's wrong with you? Why are you still sitting here? We have to do something — quick.”

“There's no water available, Tara,” said a soft voice. Gayatri stood in the doorway, wiping her sweaty face and neck. “Not even to drink, let alone bathe in.”

“Ananth didn't bring any?” snapped Tara. “Why? What was he doing all day?”

“Tara!” said Parvati. “Watch your mouth or I'll shut it for you. You will not speak in this tone to Gayatri or Ananth.”

“I'm sorry, Mother. But at least Ananth could have brought water for us while I … I was away,” she said. Both women were leaning forward, listening to her carefully.

“He couldn't because the well at Pinjaur has been shut down, too,” said Gayatri, staring at Tara. “A dead dog was found in it this afternoon. The water is poisoned.”

Tara felt as if she had just been struck by a bolt of lightning. She looked from Gayatri to her mother. “How did this happen? Don't they have guards at the well?
Who did it
?”

“Why don't you tell us?” snapped Parvati. “Maybe you saw something while you were taking a daylong walk.” She glared at Tara, but her lower lip quivered. She bit down on it, her eyes swimming with tears.

“Mother, I didn't see … ohhhh …” Tara stopped as all the pieces of the conversation fit together. “You think
I
did it?”

“Where did you go for a walk in this heat? Did anyone see you? I know you're lying to me, Tara, so why don't you try telling the truth and then we'll figure out what to do next.”

The room spun as the enormity of the words sunk in. If her own mother suspected her, then she didn't stand a chance with the villagers of Morni, or the Panchayat. They would tear her apart. Why, oh WHY had she promised Lord Yama she wouldn't say anything about their journey to the Underworld? She took a deep breath and looked into her mother's eyes, willing her to believe.

“Mother, do you really think I'm capable of something like this? Especially with everything that's already happened?”

“That's what we can't understand,” said Gayatri. “It's just impossible. And yet … everyone believes that you're responsible for contaminating the well once again.”

“There's more to this, isn't there?” said Tara. There was a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach as she gazed at the two women.

“One of our large cooking pots was found abandoned near the well. It had our name on it. Since Suraj could not have gone for water …”

“But Mother, our house burned down! All our possessions are lying there in the open. Anyone could have taken the pot.”

“Yes, but since you're already under suspicion, they all think it's you,” said Parvati. “They think you're still possessed and that's why you're doing these crazy things, endangering the lives of everyone around you.”

Tara opened her mouth, but no words came out. So this is what Kali had meant when she'd said that Layla had made things more interesting back home.

“Ananth told me that a villager of Pinjaur saw a girl throw something into the well and run off,” said Gayatri. “It was in the middle of the afternoon and so hot that even the guard by the well was taking a break. The villager said he didn't get a good look at her face, but he remembers the clothes she wore. It was a parrot green shalwar-kurta with a yellow dupatta.”

“
You
have a green shalwar-kurta, Tara,” said Parvati “Everyone's seen it.”

Tara clenched her hands. The cuts throbbed viciously, bringing tears to her eyes. She unclenched them, breathing hard, trying not to run screaming from the hut.

“Why would you even
think
I could do such a thing?” said Tara. “Because I like being thirsty? Because I want to walk even farther away to haul back a heavy pot of water? Or is it because I hate Morni so much that I want to make its people suffer? I didn't do it, Mother. Layla or someone else in this village is framing me. I have to get to the bottom of this. We have very little time.”

“Rakaji was here earlier today, asking for you,” said Parvati. She smoothed the wisps of hair that had escaped from her plait with shaking hands. “I said I didn't know where you were and he looked at me in a funny way. Tara, do you realize how bad this is? It's not safe for you out there. Gayatri, Ananth, and I are probably the only ones who believe you might be innocent.”

“I know,” said Tara. “But I have to get the vaid. Once I know Suraj is all right, I'll go and explain everything to Rakaji. He'll know I'm speaking the truth.” She tried hard to smile, but it was impossible. She was tired and thirsty and so very scared that all she wanted to do was sit and bawl her eyes out.

“I think you should listen to your mother and stay here,” said Ananth. “You're safer indoors. The villagers are in a very ugly mood. I'll take over whatever needs to be done outdoors.”

Ananth had appeared so suddenly that Tara suspected he had been standing just outside, listening to both women berate her. Anger twisted her guts. Instead of helping her, he was siding with the adults.

“And let Suraj get worse? No!” said Tara. “If you wanted to help, you would have done it ages ago instead of waiting for me to return. You're useless!”

Ananth's eyes flashed and a vein throbbed in his temple. “You think you're smarter and braver than everyone, right? You always like to do things alone even when someone offers to help. Well, not this time, Tara. This time, you're in deep trouble and time is running out.”

Spit flew out of his mouth as he spoke. Gayatri was desperately trying to shush him and pull him away, but he brushed off her hand and glared at Tara defiantly.

Anger and sadness filled Tara, making it difficult to breathe, or speak.

“You have no idea how right you are, Ananth,” she finally managed to say. “My time
is
running out.”

— seventeen —
Hated and Alone

T
ara stepped into the night. A searing wind swept down from the Shivaliks, creating dust devils around her. Visions of a tall glass of cool water taunted her and she clamped down on it before the image drove her mad. She had more important things to worry about.

She strode towards Prabala's hut, occupied by the vaid in his absence. She deliberately kept to the shadows, not keen on meeting anyone just yet.

The contamination of Pinjaur's well had to be Layla's handiwork. She had to be stopped and Tara had less than a day to do it. With a jolt, Tara remembered what had been bothering her ever since Gayatri had mentioned this latest incident. Layla had the same green outfit as Tara. She rarely wore it these days because Tara's had been stitched first, but she was sure Layla had worn it yesterday and destroyed it by now!

Tara seethed quietly. Layla could not have thought of this by herself. It had to be Kali. And there was no way to stop her except to kill her. Lost in thought, she hurried on, praying that the vaid would agree to come at this late hour.

“Try the well at Ramgarh and see if they'll let us have some water,” a woman said. “I'm dying of thirst. What bad times we're going through; it seems as if Kalyug is upon us!”

“Enough, woman. Go back to sleep,” the man replied. He stepped out of the hut and walked straight into Tara.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn't see you —”

“
You
!” the man said. “Don't you dare come any closer. I've had enough bad luck to last a hundred lifetimes.”