His last wish 5

            Chapter 5    

          The confession

Satish reached the river bank where he met the sadhu the previous day. He was new to this place it seemed and was known as kanthi baba. People respected him and thought he was a good man knew to deal with spirits. They gave him food sometimes. He stayed in the cremation area near the river bank. It seems that he did not speak much but anyone asked him anything he would tell them by raising his finger. If the work would be done he would raise his index finger or else his thumb.

                       Satish was quite doubtful about the whereabouts of this person. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did anyone not see him before? He started looking near the cremation area and finally found him. He was sitting with his eyes closed as if meditating. Satish looked at him with contempt.

                          " Namaste, I heard that you can tell anything.. very high knowledge .. so tell me what happened to Bimla.. or rather Champa in Bimla", smirked Satish. The sadhu opened his eyes and looked at him. He raised his index finger at Satish. " Hmm.. let me guess .. Bimla is possessed by Champa.. right?". He calmly raised his index finger again..

                       Now Satish was really mad at him.. he was about to say something but he did n't. He turned back in a fit of anger and was about to leave when he heard, "Chandranath has sent you for Bimla.. sin .. they have to pay for it", said sadhu showing his teeth in a saddist smile. " I knew it.. its you... Il get back to you soon", said Satish and left.

                             Satish came back and at night slowly creeped out of Birju s house. He decided to hide near cremation area to keep an eye on the sadhu. When Satish reached he saw that sadhu was sitting infront of a bonfire and was chanting some words throwing ghee and ash into the fire. The man was himself clad in a black dhoti, bare body full of ash probably sitting over something.. not very clear. His eyes were fiery red and he seemed to be summoning someone.

                            Soon he heard footsteps behind him, someone was coming there. Quickly he moved away and kept looking. As she approached he could see her face. "B.. B..", he put his hand over his mouth. " Why ? Why do you call me? Pappa.. pappa.. when will I go home.. you told me you will let me go.. I feel a lot of pain. Please let me go pappa .. stop calling me. Why are you punishing Bimla. Dont take revenge pappa.. I want to leave.. please .. let me go", said Bimla. Satish was confused but he kept listening. The sadhu raged in anger and guilt, " Nooo.. noo Champa.. no my child .. he killed you... He killed you.. I want revenge.. I want to be with you my daughter.. my little baby. You dont know what I had to go through to bring you back. Take... Take this .. don't you feel hungry". He forwarded her something which was alive and moving and probably was a goat. She almost snatched it and bit its neck off at once. The creature did n't even get a chance to express pain before which it had become food. Satish kept staring in stupifying horror. It was so cruel and evil to kill an animal mercilessly.

                     He now understood the whole thing. This man had some revengeful reasons to call Champa's spirit in Bimla. He had to know what was the connection. The next day he spent talking to different people. This time he had a plan. That night after dinner he left and reached kanthi baba s abode. When the sadhu had completed summoning Champa, he confronted him. He stood up, looked at Satish and raised his hand. He found himself carried away in thin air and fell near a rock. " Go away... else you shall die like your father.. you dont really know me", roared the sadhu.

                       " Ok .. Sitaram ji.. let me tell you one thing. Last night I have seen everything and it wont take me long to bring people here and get you kicked out. If they get to know that you are worshipper of evil and black magic they will kill you instead of the innocent girl you have targetted. Oh yes! I have also sent a message to the nearby police station. If anything happens to me they will surely find you out first! So, I think you better shut up and listen to me or rather co operate", stopped Satish.

                                " Ok... what do you want?," said sadhu calmly now. " I want to tell you a story .. raise your index finger sadhu Sitaram if am right.. There was a family 25 years back in which lived a father, mother and their little girl Champa. She was loved by all but one day she came back home and in the evening became very restless and started having convulsions. Her body would twist in different directions and she would suffer from fits which would subside on taking medicines prescribed by doctor Shikhar Ghosh but that night an animal would go missing. This happened at every new moon night consequently on three to four occasions.

                       People thought Champa's illness as evil spirit and used to blame her for the animals stolen from their farms and houses. They knew she never went out of the house during these fits but they thought she had some supernatural powers. Even doctor did not find any definite cause for these fits. He had told them to get some tests done but it was difficult to go to the city for that. Then, you and your brother, Gitaram had a fight and got separated. Oneday, she went to her uncle s house and the situation worsened at night and had to be taken to the hospital but it was too late. Your brother was afraid to tell you and your wife since you would blame him. So, he hanged her body from a tree nearby and left. He inflicted a wound in his hand and told everyone that Champa bit him and ran into woods.

                       Finally, after a long search Champa was found hanging from the banyan tree near the river. This was really pathetic for you and your wife. The happy family of Sitaram Das was over. His wife was so shocked she had fever and passed away even before Sitaram recovered from the stress of loosing his lovely daughter", Satish told sadhu.

                         Sadhu kept listening .. tears rolled down slowly. He looked up at Satish raising his index finger and said, " Noooo.. nooohhh.. hh ..hhhhh.. he killed her.. he he .. ahuuuhaaa..aaaaaa". " Wait.. its ok relax..then tell me what happened?", asked Satish. Both of them were silent for some time.

                        " Bidi?", asked sadhu. Satish handed him a cigarette and his lighter. He lit it and gave a light pull and released the smoke. " My father Guniram died without leaving any will.. after his death my brother Gitaram and I had a huge fight.. he told me that he wanted his share in the property so that he could start his own business and stay separately. I did n't want that .. we were a family and I wanted us to be together. I forced him not to leave home. I told him I will not give him anything if he leaves the house. As the elder brother I had decided his fate. He could not object. Hah! I did not know what a big mistake was that. He would do this to me... had I known for once.. I would have given him everything .. I wanted my family more than anything else.

                       He started planning from the next day. I dont know who gave him this idea. I did not have the slightest idea what he was doing and bouma .. how could she?", he was sobbing. " So, you mean to say that he killed your daughter for your father s money. How would you prove it?", said Satish. " Kachila seeds .. she would make it into a paste and mix it with Champa s food. Champa would frequently fall sick.. she had convulsions and twitching.. restlessness.. We showed to doctor saab. He could not find any definite cause. I did n't know about it. Oneday I came home and went to the kitchen to take some achar. I saw something paste like on the ground examined it and immediately understood what was going on. I called my wife and asked who went into the kitchen that day .. she told me choto bou did.

                       I went out and slapped Gita, " Gaddar.. Saitan.. get out.. get out now". I went to his room and threw all his goods out of the house along with his wife. He looked at me fiercely. The next few days was very good.The problem had ended. We again started living happily. Then came that terrible day. I came back home from the farm and saw my wife was looking at me with eyes popping out, hair flying here and there, sweat beading all over her face. " What happened? Tell me?", I said. She told me that they could not find Champa anywhere. We started searching for her and did not leave any stone unturned but then at night .. around 2 when we were back and sitting with our hands on our foreheads .. they all came and took us to the place. My Champa was hanging from a tree. It was a horrible sight as if she had suffered a lot before dying. She was hanging, her body was bent like a bow, hands and feet were twisted, eyes were popping out, her hair was all over her face and tongue was out. I  dont know when she was kidnapped and murdered like this. Infront of that tree they found carcasses of many dead animals which belonged to them. There was also a dead body which was torn apart. It was daktar .. all were afraid of her. I told everyone to send her body for postmortom.. but all in vain. They were provoked by him that she was evil .. they burnt down the tree along with the dead body. I did not even get a chance to cremate it. They started using slang and beat us too. Your father got to know about the incident but he was too late .. police came when the body was fully burnt. They found her finger prints on the murder weapon of Shikhar Ghosh. They could not examine her body. It was burnt down to ash. The case was closed saying that she killed daktar and committed suicide".

                         " Hmm.. so nothing could be proved. Champa was poisoned by Strychnine seeds which was mixed with her food. They made a very clever plan. They knew that if Champa was proven to be possessed by evil the people would drive you and your family out of the village. Your brother would get possession of the house and farm. He used to make an animal disappear from the village to prove that she is causing harm. Then oneday, when you found out and threw them out, their plan was spoiled. So, they took her with them which was easy since she thought her uncle loved her and gave her an overdose and killed her.. or may be they wanted to give an adequate dose for seizures but the situation worsened this time. They hanged her from the tree. I think daktar was with them in this so they called him there and murdered him as well with a knife which had her finger prints.This was followed by what you said. Now, you have learnt black magic from somewhere and summoned Champa back through Bimla who is your enemy s grand daughter. Gitaram has a son and you wanted a girl child for this suffering since your daughter had suffered. Another reason may be that it took you few years to learn the art of summoning spirits after which you did this to Bimla", concluded Satish.

                  They both stood in silence for sometime. " Babu, please go away. I dont want this anymore. I know .. I have punished an innocent child for the fault of her grandfather who has died today. Its too late.. its too late.. now they will kill her... like Champa", said sadhu his eyes gleamed and there was a sly smile on his face. Satish suddenly got up and started running towards Bimla s home and on the way he heard some commotion.