Chapter 7

Part 7 [NOCOPY][MEMBERSONLY]

Shree: ha Ri waise ek…

Rathore: ek second, ye Ri kya hai? uska naam Riya hai, (sternly) senior hai tumhari!!...........................

Shree opens his mouth to defend and apologise.

Riya: are sir, mujhe koi problem nahi hai

Rathore: Riya tum inhe sar par mat chadhao

Riya sighs: mere sar par haina? Aapko takleef nahi hogi

Rathore: Riya…

Riya: sir case sir, pending hai sir (turning the other way) ha Shree bolo?

Shree’s gaze oscillates between her and the Chief : woh main keh raha thi ki uh… isse pehle aisa koi incident waha record nahi hua but, usually sab log woh bhoot waali kahani sunkar dar hi jaate hai. waha raat rukne koi gaya nahi

Riya: ha sir, but ek cheez aur ho sakti hai ki pehle koi gaya ho aur incident nahi hua isliye report nahi hua ya fir aise bhi ho sakte hai ki kisine dar ke maare report hi na kiya ho

Rathore ponders over the possibilities: hmm, ho sakta hai, waha jaa kar hi dekhte hai

He proceeded to pick up his gun when Riya spoke up.

Riya: sir I would suggest ki hum raat ko hi jaaye, after all woh chudail 12 baje hi toh aati hai…

Chotu: Kya?!?!!?

Rathore glares at him again.

Chotu: par sir chudail….

Arjun: Chotu!

He shuts up for good.

Riya: ha… toh uh main keh rahi thi ki agar hum usi waqt jaaye toh I think saboot milne ke zyaada chances hai aur agar na bhi mile toh bhi pata toh chale ki ye chudail aakhir hai kaun aur saara chakkar kya hai

Arjun agreed: Riya sahi keh rahi hai, din ke ujale mein jo saboot milne hai woh apne aap hi mil jaayenge, aur agar waha kuch illegal ho raha hai toh hume dekh kar hadbadayenge zaroor.

Rathore nods: theek hai toh fir, hum 7 baje niklenge, waha tak pahunchne mein bhi time lagega

Shree and Riya nod in agreement but Chotu is still frightened out of his wits.

The ETF departs at the designated time. Chotu silently chips away with Rathore and Shree not daring to go in front of Arjun.

On the way-

Riya flips a page of her diary: Arjun sir, aap bhoot mein vishwas rakhte hai?

Arjun: nahi

Riya: aur insaano mein?

He glances at her to find her looking back mischievously.

Arjun(turning to the wheel again): tum kuch zyaada sawaal nahi karti?

Riya closes her book: kya karu? aap hai hi aise

Arjun raises his eyebrow: excuse me?

Riya: matlab aapko dekh kar na aisa lagta hai jaise ki gehra kaala raaz chupa kar rakha hai…aur mujhe research karne mein bahot maza aata hai

Arjun: har cheez mein tang adana acha nahi

Riya: sir tang adane aur information lene mein bahot farak hota hai, main policewaali hun, journalist nahi

Arjun is amused with her answer. She smiles.

Riya: waise I hope waha aaspaas kuch khaane ko mil jaaye, warna main bhuki nahi jaag sakti

Arjun: woh tourist place nahi hai, waha kuch nahi milega, shayad ekad chai ki tapri ho

Riya furrows her brow: mujhe sunsan chai ki tapriyon mein vishwas nahi… please can you stop somewhere? Main kuch khareed leti hu

Arjun nods. Riya looks around and points at a roadside stall.

Riya: bhajiye!!

Arjun checked the side view mirror and stopped at the stall. He rolled down the window. Riya started ordering.

Riya: are bhaiya sunna zara

Vendor: ji madam?

Riya: ek plate vada pav, kandi bhaji aur, aur mirchi ke bhajiye…

Arjun: tum itna saara kha paogi?

Riya: aap bhi toh khaayenge na thoda, bhuka rehna ke plan hai kya? Aur hai bhi toh drop kar dijiye, meals skip karna health ke liye acha nahi hota (she continues before he could protest) ek cutting chai aur ek adrak, nahi elaichi, nahi ad… dono daal do

Vendor: ji

Arjun: tum chai peeti ho?

Riya: shauk nahi hai, bas kabhi-kabhi

The vendor quickly prepared the paper plates: Munna dekar aa

A young boy comes down the footpath to hand them their meal. Arjun passes it to Riya who arranges it all on the dashboard.

Riya: haaye! (dipping a pakoda into chutney) bas baarish ki kami hai

The teas follow shortly after. Arjun gives one glass to her and is about to drink when she stops him.

Riya: are rukiye

Arjun raises his eyebrow. She removes a tissue paper and wipes the rim of his glass and then hers.

Arjun stares at her in amusement mv “kya ladki hai?”

Riya stuffs the tissue into the cup holder: ab peejiye

They quickly finish their tea and return the glasses so they could continue to their destination.

Arjun: kitna hua?

Vendor: 80 rupay saab

He lifts himself to remove his wallet but Riya beats him to it.

Riya: are rehne dijiye, maine nikal diye

She extends her hand to hand over a 100 rupee note. Munna takes it from the window

Riya: chutte rakh lo aur sun (winking) khud ke liye rakhna, unhe mat dena

Munna lights up: ha didi

Riya smiles. The window goes up again. Arjun starts driving while they eat.

Arjun: us din bhi tumne chai ka cup saaf kiya tha?

Riya: ha obviously

Arjun raised his eyebrow.

Riya: kya? Are saaf-safayi rakhna bhi toh zaroori hai

He shook his head in disbelief.

Riya: by the way, rokne ke liye thanks, warna main toh behosh hi jaati

Arjun: itni jaldi sarkar se medical kharche lene lage toh humara aadha budget, sava ho jaayega

Riya swallowed the bit in her mouth: sir, khadoos banne ki koshish mat kijiye, aap hai nahi aur waise bhi aap jis tareeke se famous haina woh sarkar ki chinta karke nahi, sarkar ki galti par danda maarne se aati hai

Arjun: acha, tumhe dar nahi lagta mujhse?

Riya: kyun? aap koi rakshas hai jo mujhe kha jaayenge?

Arjun: dande se bhi nahi?

Riya: agar galti ki hai toh danda padna chahiye warna law and order kis kaam ka?

The corner of his lips quirked into creating something like a smile. She smiles and continues to eat.

Riya: waise aapne abhi tak mere sawaal ka jawab nahi diya (he raises his eyebrow) insaano par vishwas karte hai?

Arjun: insaan par depend karta hai, samjhi ya samjhau?

Riya laughs: ache se samaj gayi

Fort-

The other three had already reached by the time Arjun and Riya arrived. They got down. While Riya went to the boys, Rathore and Arjun moved away in opposite directions. Chotu shook his head at their fire.

Chotu: in dono ke beech rehna matlab sher ke muh mein haath daalna

Shree: sach mein

Riya: ab unka toh woh khud hi dekh sakte hai, hum kya kare? Khair kab pahunche?

Shree: bas abhi 10 minute hui

Riya(looking around): caretaker nazar nahi aa raha hai

Chotu: idhar udhar gaya hoga, aata hi hoga, humne information toh de hi di thi (his gaze fell behind) lo aa gaya. Rathore sir! Arjun sir!

The ACP’s gathered around as the caretaker walked upto them draped in a shawl with a half burnt face and a lantern. Riya turned her face a little. Noticing her discomfort, Arjun steps near her.  

Caretaker: pata nahi kyun tum log marne ke liye aa jaate ho

Rathore: bhashan mat do, hume kya karna hai aur kya nahi ye hum ache se jaante hai, abhi bhi mauka de raha hun, saaf-saaf batao maajra kya hai

He shook his head: maine kitni baar kaha hai ki chudail hai andar, lambe baal aur nakhoon waali, maang se katne ka nishaan hai uske bayi kaan tak, usi safed saree mein bhatakti hai jisme uski maut hui thi (Rathore rolls his eyes) aadhi raat ko prakat hogi Chandramukhi, tum sabka khaatma karne

Chotu could control no more: khaatma?

Rathore: theek hai tum jaa sakte ho, thank you

The caretaker muttered curses at them as he left for his guarding place.

Shree: sir ye bhi mila hua ho sakta hai

Rathore: hmm, agar gadbad nikli toh definitely mila hua hoga

Riya mumbled under her breath: mujhe toh ye khud hi gadbad lag raha hai

However, Arjun’s sharp ears catch her words turning his head to her.

Riya lowers her gaze and whispers: woh hume kaise dekh raha tha, jaise ki woh khud hi koi bhoot ho

Arjun shook his head.

Shree: sir ab kya?

Rathore: kuch nahi, wait karo (glancing at his watch) sirf 9 baje hai, 11 baje andar jaayenge

Shree nodded. He exchanged a bored look with Riya. They glanced at Chotu.

Riya: kya hua Chotu? Tumhara chehra kyun utar gaya?

Chotu: yaha sirf chai ki tapri hai thodi door par, bhuk lagi rahi hai

Shree: ha mujhe bhi. Sir, waise bhi wait kar rahe hai, atleast chai biscuit kha le?

Rathore nodded. The team walked a few metres away where a stall was selling tea.

Shree: bhaiya, 5 ch…

Riya: are nahi mujhe nahi chahiye

Shree: acha 4 chai….

Arjun: cutting

Shree: huh? Uh, 3 chai aur ek cutting, aur biscuit de dena zara

Vendor: ho sahab

He distributed glasses and picked up a few biscuits from the open tray. Chotu glanced at him and grabbed the entire tray from the table.

Shree: biscuit toh lele

Riya: nahi yaar, mera pet bhara hua hai

Chotu: lunch ke baad abhi tak pet bhara hai tera?

Riya giggles: are nahi yaar, main aur Arjun sir raaste mein kha kar aaye

Shree/Chotu: KYAA?!?!?

Rathore stopped the glass at his lips. He stared at Arjun who was unfazed. Either he had gone deaf or was conveniently ignoring the conversation, calmly sipping his tea.

Riya: ha itna chilla kyun rahe ho?

They looked at her in pure mistrust.

Riya: aise kyun dekh rahe ho?

Chotu: kya khaaya?

Riya: vada pav aur bhajiye

Shree and Chotu glanced at the biscuit in their hands thinking of a hot, steamy vada pav that they had missed.

Rathore mv “Arjun ko kabse in cheezon ki fikar honi lagi? Duty ke time toh bhuk pyaas sab bhul jaata hai ye (his gaze shifted to Riya) ya fir sirf Riya ne khaaya? Lekin usne kaha ki woh aur Arjun dono kha kar aaye, aisa kaise?”

He looked at Arjun from the corner of his eyes but he had the same stoic expression as ever. He sat on the bench sipping the tea mv “ekto iski shakal par kabhi bhi kuch dikhta nahi, khadoos kahin ka.”

The trio chattered their way out of boredom till 11 pm after which Rathore led them to the fort. Shree connected them with bluetooth sets.

Rathore: spread out, chapa-chapa dekho yaha ka, aakhir pata toh chale ki ye bhootni aati kaha se hai.

They nodded and started exploring different areas of the fort. The hands of the clock inched closer to the top. The five of them were all in five different directions.

Riya steps down to a lower courtyard. Smoke starts building up

Riya: sir! yaha west wing mein dhua hai

Rathore: stay sharp Riya

Riya: ji main

Her words die at her lips as a lady appears a few feet away from her. Dangling in the air, face covered with hair. Riya froze.

Rathore: Riya?

Using her long fingers, she shifts her hair to reveal a cut face.

Riya screams. The boys rush in. The ground slips from beneath their feet as they see the ghost…………………..