CHAPTER 5
The next day morning welcomed them with heavy snowing. It was unusual to snow like that at that point of time. It was like the nature is against them in continuing the quest. Chand was looking restless. Abhay was lost in his thoughts. Suddenly a chilling sensation went through his body. He looked up. There was she, looking gorgeous in a light green t-shirt and khaki pants. It was not her beauty which caught his attention. But it was her strength of mind that amused him. He couldn't help but to look at her with his mouth wide open.
As Piya stood there facing him, she felt a sudden feeling of being betrayed. But her heart told her to forgive him as she recalled the tears she saw in his eyes.
"If I am in his position, I would have done the same". She thought to herself.
She slowly approached him and waved her hands in front of him breaking the trance. He stood up and looked at her hand. The blood was not flowing anymore. But the bruises were clearly visible. He felt ashamed of his behavior.
Abhay: "err… umm… I am sorry Piya"
Piya: "Don't be Abhay… I am sorry for the sarcasm I showed you"
Abhay: "No no… you did it right. I betrayed you. I was not supposed to expect better than that. But what I have done (looking at her bruises)… I was not supposed to do that…"
Piya smiled
"It's ok. You were forced to do that. Let's just forget about that. By the way I have something for you"
Abhay looked at her doubtfully. She just forwarded her hands towards him. In her palm, there was lying a small piece of metal. Confused by this gift, he looked at her. She started laughing and took him under the shade of a tree making themselves far away from others. She told him to hand over her the puzzle. He did it hesitantly. After arranging the puzzle, she slowly placed the piece of metal she had in the missing place. To the utter shock of Abhay, the metal fit well in that puzzle and they heard a 'click' sound. He looked at her bewildered.
"You… from where you got this?"
"Cool boy cool… I took it from a hair clip"
He felt that she was jocking him. He pinned her to the tree.
"What rubbish! Tell me clearly, from where you get it? I am not gonna buy your silly jock"
Piya: "You buy it or not, that's the truth. The hairclip is made up of gold and silver and it's my family heirloom. It was passed on to me by my grandma. She had told me that the hairclip has some power hidden inside. Of course, I didn't believe it. But… When I saw the puzzle, I felt I had seen the missing piece somewhere. Then when I went back to my tent and go through my bag, I found it"
He slowly released her hand and apologized for his behavior. She told nothing. She simply looked at him. Suddenly, they saw a gleaming light coming from the key. To their utter astonishment, it started rising and floating in the mid air. They both looked at each other. As they turned their attention towards the key again, they saw Chand standing at the other end. His eyes were red and a gleam of light was coming from his eyes and fell on the key. That means he was keeping it in the mid air!!!
Piya couldn't believe her eyes. Her heart and mind was contradicting each other. With a sudden courage, she stepped forward and tried to pull out the key
"Ouchhh…"
She creamed in pain. Abhay ran towards her and supported her from falling. Her hand had burned. She felt that her hand was gone. The pain was killing her. All the she could remember was Abhay's hands were wrapped around her as he looked at her panicked and she fall unconscious…
774