Originally posted by: karkuzhali
HIDING BEHIND
A
STRANGER
A Historical Romance by Lashy.
(Abridged)
Part 1. The Tornado.
Chapter 2. Aidabad.
'You have to stay back and take care of all this when I'm gone!'
Heera's empty glare drooped down till it fell upon the two artefacts nestled within her cold palms - a diamond ring and a small urn of ashes - precious artefacts that not too long ago formed the very identity and essence of Durga Bai
'I didn't even listen to your last words, jiji!'
'We beg you... save yourself choti baisa... if something happens to you, we will be orphaned!'' she recalled their pleas and cries as she lay grief-stricken beside her sister's still body 'Those murderers warned they'd be back for you... and you're the only person standing in the way of their ambitions!'
'With Kunwarsa away in Gujarat, you have no protectors... please stay with Maharaj Chitranjan till the situation here becomes safe! The Maharaj would find you a powerful husband, who would end this uncertainty and protect our future!'
'You may not be a fighter like your jiji... but, you're a survivor choti baisa!'
Prompted by the well wishers, Heera undertook her journey escorted by a few maids and bodyguards..
It was 10 days since they started..
The journey was not without risks or dangers.. They were assaulted on the way by some bandits , attacking and wounding her men.. It was Ma Bhavani's grace.., a stranger came there from nowhere.. On hearing him coming.. the bandits ran away. With his help, they are having a short sojourn here in this place , Aidabad..
Taking a much needed break from the woes and responsibilities weighing her down, the 16 year old had stepped out alone, a short while ago, in search of some peace. Her stroll had begun at the gardens, like she'd promised Gauri, her chief maid, but the sounds of a flowing stream had caught her attention at some point. Her disturbed mind seeking some form of respite from the anguish - in fact, any form of respite from the anguish - was lured by the music of water like a moth to flame. Unaware of where her quest for this evasive tranquility was leading her, she strayed adrift, crossing a large field lined with an extensive stretch of stables, till she reached an elevated spot. An elevation that displayed the dusky views, of what she assumed, was a canal.
'This will do' she'd thought, and crossed over a crude wooden footbridge, taking her place beside its banks ..
Yet, she hadn't found the tranquility she was after..
The familiar spreads of nature somehow reminded her of the home she'd left behind..
Even the gentle breeze that'd displaced her veil and thrown her hair back didn't calm her - it only served to remind how vehement her own breath was. The light spray from the stream drizzling upon her features didn't cool her temper - it only showed her how warm her own tears were.
Finding peace was no easy quest.
'How jiji? HOW am I supposed to find inner peace? Tell me...How am I going to achieve everything without your guidance? I need you... I want you with me, jiji... I WANT YOU BACK!'
Burying her face into her lap, she wrapped her hands around her knees, cocooning herself from the unknown, as she waged a few fights of her own. A fight with tears. A fight with fate.
Heera decided to end her tempestuous affair with nature for the night and so she resumed her return journey.
Traipsing up to the wooden footbridge, she placed a cautious step on each plank - one after another. However, three footsteps in and she recognised how unstable the structure was beginning to feel. The planks were creaking as though they were going to split apart, and oddly enough, the ropes were swaying far more than they swayed before. She wondered, unsure if she must retreat, or swiftly cross over by completing the remaining 12 steps.
Deciding to make a dash for the other end, Heera took her fourth and fifth steps in quick succession, but by the sixth one, any hopes that she might have had were quashed. The structure was clearly giving way and a further move, either way, was going to bring the platform down ! Stranded in the middle of a collapsing footbridge atop a gushing stream in the middle of the night, was a crisis she was least prepared for.
She could barely see anything through the darkness, so she had no idea about the depth of the canal, but from what she could hear, the currents were strong - too strong for a poor swimmer like her to battle. Thus, she was left with one lone option 'Help... somebody...' she shouted, hoping the alarm would alert her people when they came searching for her 'Help... I am caught...' but she'd barely finished her second sentence, when an unsteady plank beside her sunk down, sucking her feet into a trap, as it did so.
'Argh' she screamed, noting how her ankle was lodged in a narrow space between two sharp wooden boards, before looking up at the forlorn emptiness ahead.
Her world was crashing down and there was not a soul in sight to share her heartache, but she would not give up hope - not just yet. Wrestling with pounding beats and whirling scenes, Heera overcame the temptation to hurriedly yank her feet off. Tightening her clasp around the ropes with her shaky fingers, she carefully tried to wiggle the entrapped foot out.
Many cautious attempts later, she was free.
Alas, the joy was short-lived.
The gentle tussles were greater strain than those ropes could take. Thus, split they did. The first one ripped, causing the structure to swing recklessly over the waters below. And when the next one split, it brought the entire footbridge down with it, plunging her into the stream beneath.
The force with which the coldness hit her face and then sucked her under, rendered her senses momentarily numb. Immediately fighting off its paralysing effects, Heera pushed her face up through the oppressive tides, before her lungs could start filling up with liquid.
'Pleas... Some... one sav... me...' her screams for help muffled, she whipped her hands and legs in a frenzy, struggling to stay afloat for as long as she could. But it was not long before the rapids pulled her below again.
Several such struggles later, she had worn out her resilience.
Just as her distraught mind began dreading the possibility that she might vanish into oblivion something abruptly happened. Something that stopped her body from being washed off.
It was a steely grip around her elbow.
Heera frantically clung on to her captor's clutches, with no intention to let go of the sole refuge she had.
Recognising even in that dazed state that the one who towed her so harshly, could not be a gentleman, the desperate young lady prayed that the rescuer was not, in reality, out to harm her. But he had thrust her somewhere close to the edge with glaring indifference and turned around to tend to the base of the footbridge - like the terrible accident had not even happened.
Heera was still in shock, her feet still hadn't found their footing in running water and the tall banks were proving too slippery to hold onto. Therefore, without much thought, she did what a survivor would - clenched the furrows of his broad back for support.
He jerked his shoulders, freeing him of her grip. But that, in turn, compelled her unbalanced body to react adversely. Lunging forward to stop herself from sinking, she caught onto the next thing she could hold onto - the cummerbund that wrapped around the many ridges of his well-sculpted ribs.
Aggravated by her presence and her actions, the boorish man briefly stopped the repair work, and pried her fingers out of his cummerbund 'What do you think you're doing?' his pitch echoed like a roar, though he kept his tone low. And curt. And deep. And thick. And dominant.
'The voice...' her startled eyes slowly widened
'WHAT are you doing?' he grit his teeth..
Removing her tight clamp from around his arm like it was child's play, he spun around and probed into her eyes.
She now came to face with him for the first time - her lungs that were still gasping for air, pitted against his unshaken breath.
'He IS the stranger...'
'Are you blind, or are you plain bizarre?'
*** ***
Barely few strides on, and Heera stopped in her tracks - she recalled how she'd done something else that she hadn't done lately.
Sometime earlier, she had almost smiled.
Her mind blank at first, feelings of bewilderment slowly started seeping in, succeeded by a pang of regret. She looked up to the dark skies, wondering what could have made her momentarily overlook her current frame of mind 'How? And why?' she asked herself the question, over and over. But ultimately, the only explanation she found was a vague one, which she settled for 'By seeking some peace, you wanted to forget about your problems briefly Heera... instead, a temporary spell of distraction helped you achieve that!'
*** ***
Once the third cord of her choli had been twisted into a neat knot, Heera gently flung the long lengths of her damp tresses behind her shoulders. Leaning back upon the low chaise, she let the bevy of maids flurrying around her, carry on with their tasks.
'I still fail to understand...' the chief maid resumed the subject that hadn't been resolved so far 'What was the need to wander off? You should have seen the uproar the guards raised, when they couldn't find you in the gardens or in the meadows...'
'I was preoccupied... lost...' she replied
'By the way... what made you decide to swim at such an ungodly hour?'
'Swimming? I said I went for a dip...' she corrected - and did it so smoothly that the tone tricked all the maids into believing her story. Well, all her maids, but one!
'A dip?' Gauri asked, closely observing Heera's reactions in the mirror - but before she could probe any further, the other maids had chipped in
'We were so worried, baisa...'
Heera let out a deep breath 'I realise I have put you all through a lot of trouble... please excuse my reckless actions... I'll take care not to be so negligent again...'
However, Gauri remained unconvinced. As she set aside the dhoop holder and began plaiting the lengths into a loose braid, many doubts lingered in her mind.
Well, the Harka Bai, who was seated upon that chaise now, somehow appeared less demoralised than the Harka Bai who'd left the haveli a short while ago. And she couldn't help but wonder what had brought about that change?
Jhanak
