The Curse Of The Goddess

by Ratan Lal Basu

  Chapter 14: Bhutia Riddle

  They stood motionless and watched the gigantic Bhutia with the sharp weapon standing in front of them like a demon. It would be sheer folly to try to trick this man, especially because of the weapon the single strike of which might cut off a man into two. Both Nil and Doma realized that they would have to surrender meekly and this Bhutia would then produce them before the notorious tantric. Chill streamed down Nil’s spine to think about his fate, being sacrificed to goddess Kali like a helpless goat. He could think no more.

  Namsell remained stand still, expressionless as if he was a lifeless zombie. Then to their surprise his face creased into a mild smile and it appeared affable. The smile intensified before bemused Nil and Doma and then the man burst out into loud laughter.

  'Young boy and girl, you seem to be worried and in haste. Anything happened up there?’ Namsell queried in a friendly tone.

  His attitude seemed friendly. These hill people cannot conceal their evil intensions unlike the crooked plains people. Both Nil and Doma now felt relieved and they related what had just happened.

  Namsell heaved a sigh of relief and said in an ecstatic tone, 'the notorious tantric has now lost all his powers. You have done what you'd been entrusted with by god. Now get away from this place without wasting time. The tantric's men must be in the look out for you. Drive straight to the caves without waiting at your shanti.’

  Namsell’s words seemed unreal to them. They got befuddled and stood motionless.

  'Move on without delay. His men are not far off.' Namsell said in a commanding tone.

  Nil and Doma jumped out of the tunnel into the clear track and started dashing down recklessly. They did not stop at the shanti and made right for the caves. Reaching the caves Nil fell down unconscious. When his senses returned he felt pain all over his body. Doma and Samten were seated alongside his bedstead. As soon as Nil opened his eyes Samten asked him to open his mouth and he dropped a herbal powder on Nil's tongue. It worked like magic and Nil felt his energy reviving. Then his mind got obsessed with Namsell. Who was this man, why was he spying on them and why did he give them opportunity to escape from the clutches of the tantric? He could not be the tantric's man. Did he then belong to a rival group? Nil could not make out anything. Doma and Samten too were in the dark about the mysterious behavior of Namsell.

  Nil wanted to have some talk with Shyamal. Reaching for his cell phone he found an sms. It was from Shyamal. He was coming to the caves very soon. Nil should wait there until he arrived. Nil got completely puzzled. For what purpose was Shyamal coming to this remote place? Nil could not make out anything and gave up thinking after confused speculations.

  The cell phone rang again to indicate receipt of another sms. It could be some advertisement he thought. He had almost deleted the message when he noticed the name of Rita. This was another surprise for him. She too was accompanying Shyamal.

  Nil’s head got jumbled as he could not make out anything of what had happened since they were detected by the tantric. Every incident appeared inconsistent and unreal and he thought it could be simply a dream. Samten confirmed that he too had got information that Shyamal and a Bengali lady was coming to this place and they had asked by a messenger to arrange for their travel from South Sikkim.