The Deadly Conch (7 page)

It was Raka's turn to look sulky, but he did not say a word. Tara looked from the chief to Punditji, her heart unbearably heavy. She had imagined month-long festivities upon her return; being honoured and treated like a queen. The reality could not have been further from her dreams. Her eyes came to rest on the person who had started this.

Layla stood next to Sumathy, trying to act calm, but her eyes gave her away and Tara knew she was very happy. Raka tried to quiet the crowd and send them home. Slowly, the temple began to empty. Punditji was talking to the Panchayat, gesticulating in agitation. Tara strained her ears, but she could not hear a word of the whispered conversation.

“This is really bad, Shiv,” said Parvati. “What's happening … and why? We have to talk to Layla tonight. By attacking Tara in public she's causing a lot of tension and fuelling their superstitions. This is so wrong.”

“We told you she was evil, Mother,” said Suraj. His eyes shone with anger as he thumped his small fist into his palm. “Tara and I had warned you, but you wouldn't listen.”

Tara, Shiv, and Parvati gaped at him.

“What did you say?” said Parvati.

“When Kali was thrown out of the village, you offered to look after Layla, remember?” said Suraj. “We knew she was just like her mother. She always tried very hard to get us into trouble. It made her happy to see us sad. She's doing it again.”

Parvati drew in a shaky breath, but did not reply. Tara could only think of the ruined evening. Surely this was one more black mark against her. The last of the villagers were streaming out. The Panchayat and Punditji were still talking in whispers, glancing their way now and then. Layla seemed glued to Sumathy as they stood a short distance away from Raka.

Shiv herded them together. “Let's go home. We need to have a serious talk.”

Parvati called out to Layla. “Come on, Layla. We're all going home.”

Layla stared at them, blank-faced, as if strangers had asked her to accompany them home. “I'm staying here,” she said. “I have to talk to Rakaji as soon as he's free.

There are a few more things I have to tell him.” She stared straight at Tara.

Tara had to use all her discipline to hold Layla's gaze without shuddering or glancing away.
This is a child, a
mere child
, Tara told herself over and over again.
And
you can beat her. Be strong.

“You snake,” hissed Parvati. “I brought you up like my own daughter instead of an orphan. And this is how you repay me?”

“I have done nothing,” said Layla.

Her parents looked at each other and then back at her.

“You can stand there and say that?” said Parvati in a choked voice. “You're feeding the villagers lies about my Tara and turning them against her. She is your sister, after all. How can you do that to your own family?”

“
Stepsister
,” said Layla. “You may have taken me into your house,
Parvati
, but you never took me into your heart. I don't think I'll call you Mother anymore.”

Parvati gasped. “You ungrateful … lying … little —”

“I think you better go, Parvati,” said Sumathy. “Harassing a child is the last thing I'd expect from you. Especially a child who has no parents to protect her.” She put an arm around Layla who moved closer, a terrified expression on her face.

“We are — were — her parents before she decided to start playing these games,” said Parvati. “Since Kali left, I have brought her up as one of my own. I have no idea why she is telling these lies all of a sudden.”

“Let's go,” said Shiv, his voice grim. “I think we've heard enough. Layla, we need to have a talk, all of us. Either you come with us now, or you never come back.”

There was silence in the room. Tara realized that Raka and the rest of the Panchayat were suddenly standing beside them. Punditji had disappeared into his room.

“Are you threatening a child?” asked Raka. “You, Shiv? Don't you know better?”

“Raka, this is not what it looks like,” said Shiv. “I want to get a few things straight, as a family, and up until this moment I thought Layla was part of it.”

There was a huge sob. They all looked at Layla. “I don't want to go with them,” she wailed in pitiful voice. Her tears came thick and fast. “They'll punish me, for sure. Maybe even beat me up for saying bad things about their
real
daughter.”

Tara felt increasingly numb. There was a part of her that was horrified and yet she couldn't help marvel at the way Layla was manipulating the situation. Her stepsister had always been able to turn on the tears at will. Those tears had earned her many beatings from Kali.

“Don't be silly, Layla,” snapped Parvati. “We've never raised a hand to you. Ever!”

Layla ignored her. She slipped her hand into Sumathy's. “Please let me stay with you for a few days. I'm scared to go back with them.”

Sumathy looked at Raka. He looked at Tara, then at the rest of her family. He wiped his face and nodded. “Only for a few days. Until … until we sort all this out. I can't take every child into my house, but this is so unusual … all right.” He sighed deeply. “I still have to talk to the headman of Chandi Mandir about the well. We'll all have to find another source of water.”

The mention of water made Tara realize that she was parched and they could not draw water from their own well. They would now have to walk a few kilometres to the village of Pinjaur to get the water, and haul it back, pot by pot. It was going to be very hard and the villagers were going to hate her more than ever.

“Shiv, you have to knock some sense into Layla,” said Parvati. “This is going from bad to worse.” She took a sip of the hot ginger tea Tara had made for all of them.

Tara slumped against the wall of their tiny kitchen. Night trickled in through the bars of the window set high up in the wall, adding to the gloom. She sipped her own tea, feeling a river of warmth slide down her throat and heat up her icy insides. The little food she'd just eaten sat in her stomach like boulders.

“How can I argue with a child?” said Shiv. “Besides, the villagers are already starting to believe her. She's played the right card by preying on the villagers' superstitions.”

“I can go and beat her up!” said Suraj. “I never liked her, anyway.”

In spite of the worry ballooning inside her, Tara had to smile. Suraj looked so indignant as he waved his fist in the air. So different from the woebegone boy she had rescued from the cave. Involuntarily, she glanced at his forehead. It remained unblemished and flat.

“I will, if you want me to, Didi,” said Suraj. “And after that, Mother, you can punish me for beating up a girl. I won't mind.”

“Suraj, I don't want any talk of violence in this house,” said Shiv. “We've seen enough of that when Zarku was around. If you must beat someone, do it with your head, not your hands.”

“There is one person whom the villagers will listen to,” said Parvati. Her eyes sparkled in the orange glow of the kitchen fire. “Prabala.”

A little firework of joy exploded in Tara's heart. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it before? “Where did he go, Mother, and when is he coming back?” asked Tara.

Parvati sighed. “That's the problem. When Father goes off for meditation, he very rarely gives an exact location. He said he was going to the Bhakti Ashram in the Himalayas. As for coming back, it could be days, months … even years.”

The firework fizzled out. Tara clasped the hot cup of tea tighter, but it was no match for the deep chill spreading inside her.

“Then I'll go looking for Prabala,” said Shiv. “We need him here, with us. Once the Panchayat of Chandi Mandir hears about the contaminated well, things could get ugly for all of us. Especially with Layla continuing to spread lies about our Tara. That's what she's probably doing this very minute.”

“She said she was going to make me suffer,” said Tara suddenly. She had not confided in her parents earlier, not wanting to worry them, but now she couldn't keep this to herself any longer.

In the dying embers, she saw the enlarged whites of their eyes, their grim expressions as they stared at her, aghast.

“Is she going to kill you, Didi?” asked Suraj. His face crumpled.

“Not if I can help it,” said Tara. With a huge effort, she smiled and ruffled his hair. “Hey, don't you have any faith in your sister? I defeated Zarku. Layla is a little chicken in comparison. If I wanted to, I could fix her like that!” Tara snapped her fingers. The click was loud in the quiet kitchen. They heard the faint tinkle of Bela's bell as she moved around restlessly.

Suraj hugged Tara tight. “I wish Layla would go away and never come back,” he said.

“Let's all sleep on it and talk in the morning with a clearer mind,” said Shiv. “Tara, from now on I want you indoors at night no matter how hot it is.”

Tara nodded, not really paying attention. An idea was pushing up through her mind like a magic weed, growing taller and stronger by the second. She couldn't wait to put it into action.

As Tara sat up slowly, the cot creaked. She froze, an excuse ready at her lips. But no one stirred.

Watery moonlight spotted the floor. Tara watched the silver discs appear and disappear as clouds moved past the face of the moon. She was reminded of the night, a little more than a year ago, when she had seen the black cobra— her mother in disguise — come up to them. How scared she had been when the snake had kissed Suraj first and then her. And now she was scared again. Of a child this time! She shook her head; she had braved worse dangers than a spoiled, vindictive girl. She would get the better of Layla. And Ananth was going to help her. He would know what to do.

She tiptoed to the kitchen, turned around at the threshold, and looked back at the sleeping faces of her family. After such a long time they were together again, and they deserved some peace and happiness. She was going to see to it that they did.

Tara slipped her feet into her mojris, unhooked the metal clasp securing the back door, and ran out into the warm night, praying that her plan would work.

— six —
Whispers in the Night

D
arkness shrouded Ananth's home. It was long past midnight and he was sure to be asleep. Tara tiptoed up to the mud hut and peered in through the nearest window. Darkness peered back at her
.
But she knew their home so well, that even without any light she knew how the cots were positioned and where Ananth would be sleeping.

The cloudy night did not make things easier. Tara waited, trying not to drum her fingers on the windowsill, until the moon wrestled free from the clutches of the dark clouds and showed its face again. Its weak light illuminated the inside of the hut and her breath caught in her throat. Ananth's cot was empty. His mother was fast asleep.

Where was Ananth and what was he doing out of bed this late at night?

Tara sank to the ground, her mind whirling like a leaf in a hurricane. Ananth had barely talked to her these last few days. She missed his teasing, his smile, but especially his protectiveness toward her ever since she had braved many dangers to bring him back to life.

She remembered their escape from the forest when she had tricked them all into going off without her. Had there been fear on Ananth's face or annoyance as the boat shot away? And the evening of the feast when she had recounted her adventure for her friends, he had been absent.

A thought struck her — was he really busy or was he avoiding her? Now that she had thought about it, she had to get to the truth. Immediately. She couldn't live for one more moment with this on her conscience.

Tara stood up and wiped her damp forehead with her palm. Her kurta was plastered to her back and she reeked of sweat. If only it would rain! So many clouds in the sky, but not a single one lingered. They all rushed past, probably to another village that was worthier of their life-giving water. Was Morni really going through a bad time because of her?