The black lily- chapter 9

Chapter 9

A disappointment

When I emerged from the water, shivering and soaked to the bone, I was met by the expectant faces of two people I knew quite well. After offering detailed explanations (which were reluctantly accepted), I trudged off to change out of my wet clothes. When I emerged, I saw Hana and Malhaar staring at each other full-on. I sighed and leaned against my bike (we had rented a few to transport ourselves to the inner city). I had always felt like an outsider. Even though I lived in India, there were still a handful of people who thought that I should go back to Australia. I had given up on convincing everyone that this was my country and that I loved it as much as they did. I was born in a neglected village a few miles south of the bustling city of Mysore. I moved to Australia when I was five and grew up there. Both my parents were Australians. They had named me after the first thing that they heard just after I was born. The call of the robin.

“wanna leave? Or you good with staring at the beach?”, snapped Malhaar, “you know, while you’re at it, you could also take a nice walk and…”

“Don’t even finish that”.

We mounted our bikes (Hana was still complaining about how she had to hold onto Jennifer to stop herself from being blown off) and roared off.

The path to the jungle was an enjoyable one. It was a lovely road, full of hibiscus flowers. Lovely vines formed a canopy above.

“Enjoy it Hana”, I called, “you’re one of the lucky people who get to see Nicobar!”

She looked in my direction. She was elaborating upon her foul mood, but her voice was carried away by the wind.

Soon, (actually, too soon) we arrived at the jungle. We parked our bikes next to a tree and asked an old man who was sitting outside his hut to keep an eye on them.

“Aye, I will”, he said in his old kindly yet rough voice, “It's rare, Lemme tell ya, to see young kin like you over here. But are ya sure ya wanna go in there? That forest may be empty, but some creepy folks live in there.”

I wrinkled my brow. I didn’t know there was a population inside the forest.

“Thank you”, I told the old man, “We will make sure to keep out of their way.”

The man nodded. For the first time, I noticed how his eyes twinkled.

We walked into the forest. It was a rotten dirt path toward the edge. Now that we have some time, let me tell you what happened to Kabir. He is based in Arjun’s fortress and is one of the perimeter guards. The guards switch positions at twelve o’clock. We could enter through Kabir’s side of the wall at that time. He was the one guard who got the key to the cellar which was most heavily protected. I could bring down the guards from outside and Hana could crack the safe. Malhaar would wait outside as a lookout. It was a fairly simple operation. For a man of great secrecy and well you know, creepiness, his security was surprisingly lax.

“Ok, so we have this small you know tree-like bush that’s really thick sort of like an oversized bush that we can wait behind”, said Hana, “I’ll keep a lookout from above and you two can spy from below”.

Malhaar nodded mockingly. Hana took a deep breath and turned away.

“You don’t have to be so hard on her you know.”, I said rather reproachfully.

“Yes, I do.”

“people”, said a voice from above, “you do know that I can hear you. Right?”

I sighed.

“What really happened between you two?”, I asked.

“It’s a long story.”

“What you got an occupational hazard? I don’t see you rushing off anywhere.”

“I’m just not in the mood”, Malhaar replied, looking exhausted.

“okay”, I said with skepticism oozing out of both syllables.

“So, what else?”

“What?”, I asked looking through the binoculars and training them at the window on the top of an old building.

“I actually have something to say.”

“Oh sorry, am I stopping you?”

“I feel that ever since we met, we’ve you’ve never been open with me.”

“You think so?”, I snapped, “after everything I’ve done and all the money and time, I’ve invested in you? That’s what you have to say?”

“Money?”, she said in astonishment, lowering her binoculars.

“I’ve done some crazy things, Preet.”, I said shortly, “I’ve lost many friends just by choosing you.”

“Meaning?”, she asked patiently (not so patiently)

“Meaning, I’ve sold out on many people just to gain your trust.”

“Who?”

“It’s a long story”, I said sarcastically.

“Thanks”, she said slowly.

I nodded and continued gazing at my binoculars.

We were outside the fortress, cowering behind a measly bush. At exactly midnight the guards switched. In the gap, we ducked into the shadows and crept toward the wall.

So far so good I thought to myself.

I took the lead and began to climb the wall with Malhaar behind me. Hana below, was trying to hide in the shadows. When I reached the top. I took out a rope and tied it to a nail. Malhaar tossed it down to Hana, who scowled and started to climb.

We jumped down (by ‘we’ I mean I) and made our way towards the fortress. I looked about for a hole that might just be the cork cellar. On about the fifth round or so, Hana spotted the dark hole that had escaped our sight.

We slipped into the cork cellar one by one. Malhaar went first with Hana following her. I took a deep breath and jumped. I hit the cork on the bottom and grimaced.

I looked up to see Malhaar smirking at me.

“Not so graceful, eh?”

I got up and walked forward. It was a long, winding passage. After about what seemed like an hour, the passage finally began to curve upwards. I climbed up using some cleverly placed handholds and slowly pushed the lid open. The passage which the cork cellar opened into was deserted so I pushed up the lid fully and stepped out.

The two of them followed while casting anxious looks around the hallway. We crept down the passage, then another and another without encountering a soul. It was eerily quiet, almost like a trap. We turned around one last corner and finally reached the trophy room. Ignoring Malhaar and Hana’s puzzled looks, I pushed the door open. I walked straight to the blank wall and felt about for any slight bend or kink in the wall. I found one near the bookshelf which held some weird book-shaped trophies.

I pressed down hard and voila! The safe made its grandiose appearance in the room.

“Kabir”, whispered Hana and Malhaar nodded disapprovingly.

I fell back and let Hana do her thing. She started to work trying one combination after one combination. 2 minutes later she sprang back and yanked at the safe door. With that, it opened and……

The Black Lily…was not there.