by Zoey Gong
“Tell me,” she said.
“You won’t like my answer,” he said. “You want me to say that I came to my senses and did the right thing. Or that I couldn’t be away from you. But those would be lies.”
Priya blushed. She knew that she was attracted to him, but she didn’t think he would be developing any feelings for her. They’d only just met! It would be crazy for him to throw his life away for her so soon.
“Then what is the real reason?” she asked. “I know you better than you think. You follow the rules and do as you’re told.”
“After I just saved your life,” Zayn said, “you continue to insult me?”
“I’m just stating the facts,” she said. “If you think that is an insult, well, that says more about you than me.”
“Hmm,” Zayn said. “Maybe. But the truth is, I realized I would be blamed for the fire whether I helped you or not. The British, they say that we Indians have the right to serve in the army, but they don’t really want us there. They will use any excuse to demote or discharge us. I was already there as a punishment. If you were successful in your attempt to destroy the armory and get away, the commander would want someone to blame. And that someone would be me.”
“I’m sorry,” Priya said.
“For what?” Zayn asked.
“For involving you in my mess,” she said. “I…I must admit that I don’t think Indians should be supporting the British Empire, especially the military. But I also don’t think I have the right to force people to act the way I want them to. I didn’t mean for you to end up a runaway and losing everything and having no way to support your family. If you wanted to take the risk on your own, I’d be very glad. But I’m sorry you were forced into this life.”
“I’m not a runaway,” Zayn clarified. “I’m a deserter. A traitor.”
“What do you mean?” Priya asked, suddenly alarmed.
“I deserted my post,” he said. “And I attacked my fellow officer. And I sabotaged the armory. If I’m caught, I’ll be executed.”
Priya stopped walking and her heart caught in her chest. “What?” she nearly shrieked. “Executed? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I knew what I was doing,” he said stonily. He turned to look at her as she stood planted to her spot. “Priya, I appreciate your passion. This fire that motivates you. But you need to understand what you are truly asking of people when you tell them they need to rebel against the British.”
“I…just…things could be better…” she stammered.
“Perhaps,” he said. “But do you know what will happen to that family if the rice is found in their home?” Priya didn’t respond. She didn’t want to know the answer. “I don’t regret what I’ve done, Priya. But, in the future, be careful who you ask to go on this journey with you.”
Zayn resumed walking, but Priya looked down at her feet, her face full of shame. She knew his words were not meant to wound her, but they still stung. In her fury, she had put many lives at risk, and she was sorry for that. She only hoped there was some way to atone.
“Zayn!” she called out as she ran up to him. He looked back and her and couldn’t suppress a smile. She was panting when she caught up with him. “I…I just want to say—”
“Seize them!” a voice barked.
Priya and Zayn looked up in shock as Zayn’s commander and the other soldiers came running out of the jungle toward them. Three men went straight for Zayn. Zayn tried to fight back, but he was quickly overpowered.
“No!” Priya screamed as she ran over and pummeled one of the men on the back with her tiny fists. The man turned and backhanded her across the face, sending her to the ground.
“Stop!” Zayn said as two men grabbed him by the arms and forced him to his knees. “Don’t hurt her. She’s innocent. I’m the one you want.”
“You are the deserter,” the commander said. “But she is no innocent.”
The man who Priya had cut with the knife stepped forward, half of his face black and blue from where Zayn had punched him.
Priya jumped to her feet. “I knew I should have killed you!”
“You don’t have it in you,” the commander said.
“Just watch me,” Priya said through gritted teeth as she stomped toward the commander.
The commander laughed as two more men grabbed Priya by the arms and forced her to her knees as well.
“You know, I rather like you in that position,” the commander said with a lick of his lips.
“Don’t you touch her!” Zayn yelled, but one of the men punched him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him.
“Shut up, both of you!” the commander ordered. “By the authority vested in me by Her Majesty the Queen, I hereby sentence both of you to death.”
Priya gasped. How could this be happening? After all she had been through! All she had survived! She was so close to going home! Her eyes scanned the tree line, looking for Nabhitha. Please, please, please, she begged silently, but she didn’t think the tiger would save her this time. There were too many men and they had guns. Nabhitha was no match for them.
The commander motioned to one of the men. “On your mark.”
“Sir!” the man said as he stood in front of Zayn and held his rifle up.
Priya screamed. “Please, no! Stop!”
“Look away, Priya,” Zayn said as he pulled his arms free from the men who were holding him and sat up straight.
“I’m sorry!” she yelled. “I’m sorry! Please, God! No!”
The crack of a rifle rang out in the air and Priya screamed again. But Zayn didn’t fall. There was no smoke coming from the soldier’s rifle.
Then the soldier sank to his knees and fell on his face.
“What the devil?” the commander yelled.
A chorus of yelling rang out as several Indian men ran out of the jungle, shooting rifles and swinging swords.
Priya and Zayn were immediately forgotten as the soldiers and the Indians clashed. Bodies on both sides fell. Priya had no idea what was going on, but she knew this was their chance to escape. She made her way through the fray toward Zayn. But a soldier got between them. Zayn grabbed the barrel of the man’s rifle with his hand, aiming it away, and then punched the man in the face, sending him to the ground. Zayn took the rifle and turned toward Priya.
“We need to run,” he said.
There was suddenly more screaming as a ferocious roar rang out. Priya looked toward the jungle and saw men moving aside, dropping their weapons and running away as Nabhitha headed straight for Zayn.
Priya saw that Zayn had the gun pointed at her. Nabhitha must have thought that Zayn had intended to hurt her. Priya jumped in front of Zayn and held her arms out.
“Nabhitha!” she screamed. “No!”
Nabhitha stopped in her tracks, panting hard. She chuffed at Priya, but then lowered her head and growled at Zayn.
“He’s a friend,” Priya said. “He saved me.” Nabhitha did not seem so sure and remained in her attack pose. “Lower your gun,” Priya whispered to Zayn.
“Are you crazy?” he asked. “She’s going to eat me.”
“Lower it if you want to live!” Priya ordered.
Zayn dropped the gun, and immediately, Nabhitha’s mood changed. She raised her head and took a step back.
Priya looked around and saw that the men who were still alive on the beach were staring at them in shock.
“Run!” Priya told Nabhitha. “Go!”
Nabhitha did as she was told and fled the beach back into the jungle.
Zayn dropped to the ground, his hand over his chest. “I…I thought I was dead.”
Priya sighed in relief. “So did I,” she said. “I really didn’t know if she would stop or not.”
Then they laughed.
“She is a goddess!” someone said.
Priya looked back at the other men and saw that the Indian men were on their knees bowing to her. The few British soldiers who were still alive ran off into the jungle.
&nb
sp; “No, please,” Priya said, suddenly embarrassed. “I’m nothing. Please don’t.”
“Oh, Goddess Durga,” the men chanted, “who rose from the sea to vanquish evil, I bow to her, I bow to her, I bow to her again and again.”
Chapter Nineteen
Priya ran over and grabbed Zayn’s arm. “Come on!” she said. “We need to go. These people are crazy!”
Zayne stood up. “Go where? The soldiers caught up with us. More will come. We need a plan.”
One of the men who attacked the soldiers stood up and indicated that the rest of the men should stand too. They stopped prostrating themselves and went to work scavenging for supplies from the fallen soldiers.
“Please, do not leave,” the man said, holding out his hands in a sign of friendship. “What you just did…I’m sorry, we were so overcome with emotion. Come, join us.”
“Us?” Zayn asked. “Who are you?”
“My name is Krish Bakshi,” the man said. “My men and I have been fighting against the British for months. I don’t know who you are, but when I saw the soldiers try to kill you…Well, any enemy of the British is a friend of ours.”
The other men laughed and Priya held Zayn’s arm tighter, giving him a tug signaling that she still wanted to leave.
Zayn gave her a small nod. “We thank you for your assistance,” he told Krish. “But we should get moving. More soldiers will come for us and we just want to get home.”
“You won’t outrun them,” Krish said. “We found their horses tied nearby. That was how they caught up with you. If more will come, as you say, you will still die this day without our protection.”
“Is that a threat?” Zayn asked through gritted teeth.
“On the contrary,” Krish said. “It is an offer of friendship. Please, you look tired, hungry. We have food, water, and can offer you protection from the soldiers. Believe me, I would not threaten the girl who can control a tiger.” He smiled at Priya.
As Priya met the man’s gaze, she relaxed a little. She did not sense any malice from him. And even though she did not control Nabhitha, it didn’t hurt that he believed she did.
“I think we can trust him,” Priya whispered to Zayn.
“Are you sure?” he asked her. “We don’t know anything about him.”
“But we can’t keep running,” she said. “We need help.”
Zayn nodded and then turned back to Krish. “Thank you for your offer, friend. We will follow you.”
“Wonderful!” Krish said. “Come with me.” He turned and walked back toward the jungle, waving for the other men to follow. They all smiled at Priya when she caught their gaze, but she did not feel threatened by them. They seemed to look at her as a friend or daughter, not a piece of meat they would devour if given the chance.
In the jungle, they came across half a dozen tethered horses. Krish took the reins of one and handed it to Zayn.
“As our honored guest, please take one,” he said. “I would not have the goddess’s feet touch the ground for longer than necessary.”
“I’m not—” she started to say, but Krish cut her off with a laugh.
“Deny it all you want,” Krish said. “But I know what I saw.”
Priya pressed her lips but did not protest further. Surely Krish knew that she was only a girl. But he seemed to think it was hilarious when he made her angry, so she bit her lip.
Zayn climbed up on the horse with ease and then offered his hand to Priya. Her eyes went wide and she stepped back. “I can’t ride that.”
“I won’t let you fall,” he said, and her heart fluttered. She took his hand and he lifted her up on top of the huge beast. She nearly fell over the other side as she tried to find her balance, but he reached out and placed his hand on her waist. “Hold on to me,” he said.
Priya wrapped her arms around his chest, pressing herself against his back. She could feel his heartbeat under her hands, a calming steady rhythm. She sighed as she took in his scent, his warmth.
The other men mounted the rest of the horses and they all took off at a slow pace through the overgrown jungle. They eventually came to a narrow path, and the horses were able to pick up speed. Priya worried that Nabhitha would not be able to keep up with them, but then she thought she heard a low, almost imperceptible growling emitting from the trees, so she was sure Nabhitha was nearby.
The light filtering through the trees cast shadows across her face that flickered by at an irregular beat. She closed her eyes and laid her head on Zayn’s back. She was warm and felt safe, and the shadows seemed to have a hypnotizing effect on her. Somehow, she soon fell asleep.
The sounds of laughter and chatting awoke her sometime later. She blinked a few times as they entered what looked like a makeshift village. The huts were actually British military tents. Priya thought that Krish’s men had stolen them. But there were not many, maybe ten, and they were all situated around a central bonfire. There were a few goats and chickens milling about. She saw a couple of women and children, but most of the people were men. As they entered the camp, she noticed that there were many men with guns standing around the perimeter.
The riders stopped and dismounted the horses, Priya and Zayn following suit. One of the men came along and gathered the horses to lead them out of the small camp.
“Welcome to our humble home,” Krish said, and Priya gave a polite nod of thanks.
“This is not a village,” she said. “What is going on?”
“Oh, the British burned my village,” Krish said matter-of-factly. “Killed my family and dozens of others. Most of the people here are survivors from villages the British have destroyed.”
“What?” Priya nearly shrieked. “Why? Why would the British do that?”
“It’s a long story,” Krish said. “Well, each of us has a different long story. It always begins innocent enough. People taxed to the brink of starvation, princes and magistrates stripped of power or position, children indoctrinated at the schools to betray their families and beliefs. One thing leads to another until the British kill everything you love and you end up here.”
Priya shook her head in disbelief. She knew that the British laws were cruel and taxing, but she didn’t know that they were going around murdering whole villages of people. As much as she hated the British, she almost couldn’t think that badly of them. She looked at Zayn and saw that his face did not show the level of shock and outrage hers did.
“Did…did you know about this?” she asked. When he didn’t respond, she punched him in the arm. “Did you take part!”
“No!” he said, flinching. “I…no. I was just a customs official until a week ago, you forget. But even then…I knew what was happening. I’d heard stories.”
“And you did nothing?” she screeched, punching him in the arm again.
“Priya,” he said pleadingly, shaking his head. She knew what he meant. It was “complicated.” Her head knew that, but she was still angry about it. But he was here now, so she couldn’t stay mad at him for long.
“I do not blame you, my friend,” Krish said to Zayn. “The British have been here for two-hundred years. We should have asserted ourselves a long time ago. But now, the way things are has become such a part of our lives, it is difficult to get people to see the need to fight back until they have lost everything.”
“That is what you are doing?” Priya asked. “Fighting back?” Her hopes lifted. They really were rebels! These might be the people she had been searching for. People like her who were ready and willing to take India back from the British.
Krish laughed. “We are mostly a minor annoyance, causing trouble for the soldiers when and where we can. But something big is coming.”
“What?” Priya asked, her eyes sparkling.
“Wait, goddess,” he said. “Patience. We will speak more tonight. But first, rest, wash, eat. My home is your home.”
At that, two of the women approached and led Priya away. She watched as some of the men offered Zayn a cigar and led him in anothe
r direction. The women took her behind a large muslin cloth that had been draped on a rope where there was an old metal wash bin filled with water. They helped Priya undress and get into the tub. They used soap to wash her clean, and for the first time in weeks, her skin was no longer caked with salt. They poured buckets of water over her head and used their fingers to comb through the tangle of knots. When she stood up, she was embarrassed by the muddy water she left behind, but the women just laughed. They knew the struggles of living in the jungle and near the beach. They gave her a new clean sari and choli to wear and burned the rags she had been wearing. It was yellow, much brighter than she normally would be comfortable wearing, but the clean silk was so soft on her skin she didn’t dare refuse. One woman gave her a handwoven slouch bag she could use to carry her few precious items. They then brushed and oiled her hair and plaited it tightly.
One woman pulled out a small jar of cocoa butter and ran it over the scars on Priya’s arm. She told them about her time on the ship and how Nabhitha had left her mark on her as a warning and a reminder.
“The girl with tiger stripes,” the woman uttered. Priya remembered that the ship’s captain had once called her the same thing.
“No wonder the men all think you are a goddess,” one woman said with a laugh. “And they don’t even know about you escaping from the shipwreck.”
“Please don’t call me a goddess,” Priya said, rubbing her arm. “I’m just a stupid, idiot girl who got herself kidnapped. I never should have left home.”
The other women giggled or tisked and sighed shaking their heads.
“We know you are not a goddess,” one of the women said. “But you are brave. You are strong. You have survived so much. We need a woman like you among us. A woman who can show other women and girls that they can fight back too.”
“You fight with the men?” Priya asked, intrigued.
“I do!” one woman who appeared to be middle-aged said with pride. “If I have an arm, I can raise a sword.”
“But most of us support the men in other ways,” a younger woman said. “They need food, their wounds need tending. We all play our part.”