Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

24 hours later…

Ali, Pooja and Huda were all playing carom with Ali's younger sister when they heard a knock on the door. Thinking that it must be one of his mother's friends, Ali asked Gul if she could go and answer it, promising not to continue the game until she came back. The four of them were home alone, as the rest of the family had gone to visit his married sister's house. She rushed off, not wanting to be away for too long. Less than a minute later she was back.

"Bhaijaan, it's for you." She told him sweetly, and sat back down at the carom table.

Confused, Ali headed towards the door. He couldn't think of anybody that would be coming to visit him unless it was one of his old school friends.

Ali stopped, staring at the open door in amazement, and especially at the person standing there.

"Chief!" Yudi exclaimed happily, "Aren't you going to invite me inside?"

"Of course…" Ali said, still having no clue why Yudi had turned up at his house.

But Yudi just walked inside, a small backpack slung over one shoulder and headed to the room where the rest of their friends were.

"Guys!" he called out, "A rainy day, carom, all that was missing was me!" And he sat down to play.

"Uh, Yudibhai…" Ali started, "It's wonderful for you to visit my home, but what are you actually doing here?"

"Well…" Yudi drew the word out as he spun a carom piece around. "Huda told me that he was coming to visit you, and I thought I might as well come and join the fun too."

Suddenly, a thought struck Huda. "So Yudi, don't tell me that you're fine with your sister's boyfriend disappearing with my fiance."

"Chill bro," Yudi told him calmly, "If Neelu doesn't have a problem then why should you? If you haven't understood the bond between Naina and Alekh by now then you never will." And he turned back to the game.

Twenty minutes later, when Gul had brought them some chai and pakoras, Yudi suddenly spoke up again. "By the way guys, if anybody asks… then I arrived here at about midnight last night."

"Yudi, what are you talking about?" Pooja asked him, "You only got here twenty minutes ago."

"Still, Pooja. Just remember that I arrived at midnight last night."

Pooja shook her head as if she was having trouble working out what Yudi was trying to say.

They spent the rest of the day pleasantly, until around 2pm there was another knock at the door.

This time Ali was certain it couldn't be for him, all of his friends that weren't currently missing were sitting in this room. But one minute later, Gul came into the room. "Bhaijaan, it's for you."

Pooja and Huda gave each other curious looks, wondering who it could be this time. Yudi was the only one who seemed to not care who was at the door, not even looking up from the magazine he was reading.

Ali returned to the room, but he wasn't alone. Along with him were two army officers, one of whom was Abhimanyu Rai Chauhan, the other was female.

"So…." Abhimany drawled "The gang's all here."

"Abhimanyu Sir, what are you doing here?" Pooja asked, confused as to why he had turned up at Ali's house.

"Well," he started, staring at them with a look that bordered on suspicion. "Somebody will be visiting all of your houses today, we hadn't known that you were all here."

"But why, Sir?"

"I'd like to ask where you all were at 3am this morning." He then stood back and looked at them, waiting for an answer.

Ali wasn't sure why it was that he remembered Yudi's words from earlier, but something told him he shouldn't reveal that Yudi hadn't been with them. "We were all asleep Sir, why?"

"All of you? Why is everybody currently at your house, Ali Begh?"

"Well Sir, Pooja is staying here so that she could get to know my family. And Huda arrived because he wanted the support of his friends at the moment."

"And you, Yudi?"

"Well when Huda said he was coming here, I thought I might as well come too. After all, he needs his friends right now. I arrived quite late last night, Sir." He turned to his friends then, "What time was it guys, about midnight right?"

Ali was amazed at how well Yudi was lying, this couldn't be the same boy who had failed Dr Mishra's lie detector test in first year.

"Oh really." Abhimanyu looked suspicious, but moved on yesterday. "So Huda needs support at the moment, I had heard, Huda, that your fiance Naina Singh is currently missing, that she's vanished."

Huda didn't like the tone in Abhimanyu's voice, but he answered anyway. "That's right, Sir." He told him, and then added more confidently than he felt, "But she'll be back any day now."

"And where's your other friend, Alekh Sharma, has he gone missing as well?" Abhimanyu asked them, Huda was about to speak up when Yudi interrupted him.

"Where did you get that idea from, Sir?" he asked, "Alekh's not missing, in fact he's gone with my sister Neelu for a holiday before he has to join duty."

Huda tried not to look shocked, this wasn't what he'd been expecting, and it certainly wasn't true.

"And can you prove this?"

"Well, Sir. You can always call my sister and ask her, but she doesn't always pick up her phone. I think he'll be bringing her back in a few days anyway."

"If you don't mind, Sir." Ali interrupted, "Why are you asking us all of these questions?"

"Because, Ali." Abhimanyu told them, his eyes narrowing, "At 3am this morning, some people helped Captain Rajveer to escape while he was being transferred to Jammu."

Pooja gasped, although it sounded more happy than shocked. The rest of them looked at Abhimanyu with genuinely dumbfounded expressions.

"We know that one of the people who helped him is Naina Singh Ahluwalia," he told them, "So don't even try to make excuses for her. At the moment we don't have proof as to who the others were, but as you're all here and if Alekh is also accounted for…" He seemed like he doubted this last point, but he couldn't argue when he had no proof. "Anyway, if you see either Naina Singh or Captain Shekawat, you are to inform Military Intelligence immediately, there are orders to arrest both of them on sight. If you see Alekh Sharma then tell him we're waiting to talk to him. That's all for now."

Abruptly he and the other officer left, Huda couldn't react he was so shocked. Naina had helped Captain Rajveer escape… she was now a wanted criminal in the eyes of the law. He couldn't believe she had done something like this, and she couldn't have done it alone. But who had helped her? Yudi had said that Alekh was with Neelu, but Alekh…

Turning to Yudi accusingly, Huda began to question him. "Look Yudi, tell me now and tell me clearly, what the hell is going on here."

And a broad smile spread across Yudi's face.