The Girl Who Stole an Elephant

by Nizrana Farook

  The older guard turned back to them and sighed. “Let’s see now. Stealing the Queen’s jewels; breaking into jail and releasing all the prisoners; causing damage and destruction in the royal compound; stealing the King’s elephant; bringing bandits into the village and finally setting fire to it.” He tutted under his breath. “You can kiss your lives goodbye.”

  Chaya felt numb. Next to her she felt Nour shiver.

  “I tell you it was me,” said Neel. “I made them do all of it.”

  “Oh, shut up,” said the guard. “You three are more trouble than it’s worth.”

  “Five,” shouted a man, pointing at Leela and Gamage. “Don’t forget the bandits.”

  A shadow passed over Leela’s face.

  The guard shouted out an order. “Men. Round them all up. We’re taking them to the King.”

  The guards surrounded them on all sides. They marched through Nirissa and into the King’s City, and the whole village seemed to follow them. The people held torches aloft, a braying mob shouting for justice. More and more people from surrounding villages joined them, alerted when the bell had rung. When Chaya, Neel and Nour entered the royal compound the crowd had swollen to a vast number.

  Leela and Gamage followed behind, also surrounded. Leela held her head high, walking determinedly ahead.

  “They nearly killed us in our sleep,” the crowd shouted angrily.

  “The traitors.”

  “Hang the lot of them!”

  Who would have thought the villagers would turn against them? Once the King saw them, everything would be over. They’d been caught with the Princess – the biggest threat to the King’s reign. Her army wouldn’t have a chance against the King’s men even if they advanced now. The villagers had made sure of that.

  As they were jostled in through the palace gates, Chaya looked behind her. The villagers filled up the promenade, just as they had a week ago at the pageant. The lion statue towered above them, ablaze with two giant torches on either side. A lone figure in purple stood there, watching. General Siri.

  They were pushed up the stairs by a band of guards. Nour clutched at Chaya’s hand. She was drenched in sweat, and Neel looked pale and ill. Chaya gasped when she saw the crowds below – a sea of floating torches on the palace promenade and lawns.

  “The crowd must stay there,” said General Siri. “Let only the children through.”

  The guards beat back the throng trying to follow up the stairs.

  “Back! Only the prisoners from this point!”

  General Siri considered them as they went up. “Who’s the girl in the middle?”

  “She’s the daughter of the merchant, Cassim,” said Chaya. “She’s completely innocent.”

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion.” He pointed at Nour. “How did you get mixed up with them?”

  Nour looked petrified. “I – I … I don’t know.”

  Neel stopped near General Siri too. “Chaya didn’t do anything either, sir. It was all me. I forced her to do everything she did. Please let her go.”

  Lovely, loyal Neel. The idea that he could force her to do anything!

  General Siri smirked, his bottom lip quivering like a leech. “You’re in no position to ask for anything. Take them inside. And who are these?”

  He was pointing at Gamage and Leela.

  “Bandits, General,” said a guard. “The children brought them to the village.”

  Leela stared straight at General Siri, but he hardly gave her a second look. He waved them away, saying, “Throw them into the dungeons too.”

  They all trudged past General Siri and into the inner palace complex. Tiny torches twinkled all over the dark courtyard, the amber flames reflected in the rectangular pools on either side.

  “Where are you taking us?” Chaya asked a guard.

  “You heard the General. To the dungeons for the night. The King will see you in the morning.”

  Neel gasped. “The King himself?”

  “Have you seen the crowd outside? This has become so big he’ll hear you out in person.” He shrugged. “I reckon it’s certain death.”

  Neel dropped his voice. “Listen, Chaya, they think I stole the jewels. I’m going to admit to everything else. I don’t want you to complicate anything by butting in.”

  “What kind of a useless friend do you think I am? Sorry, I can’t let you do that.”

  “Please, Chaya, listen to me. Leela’s been caught. Everything is over. At least you and Nour can escape with your lives.”

  “No,” said Chaya. “Never.”

  “You have so much going for you. I’m just a poor woodworker. As long as my parents are provided for no one is going to miss me.”

  Tears were falling freely on Nour’s cheeks as she listened.

  “That’s not true,” said Chaya. “And you know it.”

  “Chaya, please.”

  Chaya tried to stop the sob that was threatening to escape. “When have I ever listened to you, Neel? I’m not about to start now.”

  Neel looked at her sadly. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

  Light and shadow criss-crossed the blue-tinged stone walls as they went through to the dungeons. And far below them the crowds waited.

  The guards fanned out all over the place. There would be no escaping now.

  They were finally at the mercy of the King.

  The long stone pavilion stretched out in front of Chaya, pillared on either side with thick columns. Through them a pond rippled in the sunshine, three purple lotuses peeping out of the centre of it.

  Neel and Nour stood on either side of her. And beyond them stood two guards, spears pointed towards them.

  In front of them was the King. He was on his throne of gold, a servant boy on one side fanning him with a giant ola leaf. An armlet of blue sapphires and cat’s eyes encircled the King’s muscular upper arm, the jewels bigger than any Chaya had seen. He leaned forward and looked down at her. He wore his hair tied up in a knot on his head, ringed with a band of gold.

  He couldn’t look more different from Leela.

  Leela, who was imprisoned at the moment in the King’s dungeons.

  One of the guards holding the spear looked at Chaya from the corner of his eye. He was very young and there was something vaguely familiar about him.

  “So.” The King’s hooded gaze travelled over Chaya, Nour and Neel. “Am I to believe that these are the cause of so much chaos in my kingdom?” He leaned back on his throne. “Three children?”

  “That’s right, Your Majesty,” said General Siri from where he was standing on the left of the throne. Alongside him sat a row of important people in gilt armchairs – lords of the different provinces of Serendib. “The boy has just turned thirteen – hardly a child.”

  Chaya glared at the General. As if that made any difference.

  “And the girls outwitted a whole battalion of guards to release him from prison?”

  General Siri went red. “It appears so. The girl in the centre is a cunning, devious child who’s caused no end of trouble for her village.”

  “I see,” said the King. “So this is her. The girl who stole an elephant.”

  “That’s right, Your Majesty,” said General Siri. “She’s the daughter of the headman of Nirissa.”

  “Ah,” said the King. “The man who claims to know nothing about anything.”

  “That’s because he doesn’t,” said Chaya. “He hasn’t heard a word from me since I left.”

  General Siri silenced her with a look. “They had help as well. Two bandits they led into the village were captured with them.”

  “Good,” said the King. “They’ll have the same punishment.”

  “May I speak, Your Majesty?” came a voice from the back. Chaya turned to see Aunty, along with the rest of the villagers of Nirissa, who had been given special dispensation to stay and watch.

  The King waved a hand at her.

  “My niece,” she said, her voice breaking. “Please, Your Majesty. She’s be
en very foolish. But she’s just a child. Please forgive her. I’ll make sure she is punished and will never do such a thing again. I will take her away, far away from here so she doesn’t cause any more trouble.”

  “I don’t think so,” said the King. He rested his arms on the sides of his seat. “She must answer for her crimes.”

  “Your M—” began Aunty.

  “Silence!” said General Siri. “Don’t answer back to His Majesty if you know what’s good for you. This isn’t only about the jewels. People would have died yesterday if we didn’t get to the village when we did.”

  “Who’s the other girl?” The King clicked his fingers at the servant boy to fan faster.

  “A curious story,” said General Siri. “When Her Majesty the Queen got her jewels back she noticed something strange. The jewels were in an expensive drawstring bag, the type of material of which is not to be found in this island.”

  Chaya’s heart sank. She’d put the jewels in her pouch when she stole them, until she packed them into Neel’s box. But when Nour brought them back it was definitely in a drawstring bag, all transparent geometric silk with a pretty ribbon.

  General Siri cleared his throat. “Perhaps the cinnamon peeler’s son had a spare one lying around his house? Or Headman Sarath collected his wages for a year and got one of the silk merchants to bring one back from his next trip? Can someone explain?”

  Chaya gulped. Poor Nour. She had nothing to do with the robbery. Although it was telling that the Queen hadn’t even noticed the missing cat’s eye pendant that had paid for Vijay’s treatment.

  “I – it’s mine,” said Nour. “The bag was mine. But I didn’t steal the jewels.”

  The King looked furious. “Why would the jewels be in your bag then?”

  “I didn’t, Your Majesty.” Nour took a deep breath. “It’s a long story. But the jewels were put into a wooden box in Neelan’s carpentry workshop, then I bought the box and took it home. Then I put the jewels into this bag and left the box on my dressing table. And then Chaya stole the box from me. Then I went back to the workshop with the jewels in the—”

  “ENOUGH,” shouted the King. He stood up in a rage, spitting out his words and his eyes bulging from their sockets. “Do you take me for a fool?”

  Everyone shrank back at the King’s outburst, except General Siri, who didn’t even flinch.

  “It’s the truth,” said Chaya. “Ask her father. Or the carpenter, Kumar. They were both there when Nour bought the box.”

  “The merchant Cassim is out of town,” said General Siri. “Looking for his daughter. As he has been since she went missing.

  “In any case, I recall seeing both girls at the carpenter’s workshop when the boy was arrested.” He turned to the King. “The girl denies the charge. Even though the evidence is clear that she’s involved.”

  “I sentence her to death,” said the King.

  “You can’t do this!” said Chaya. “Nour is innocent.”

  “Please, Your Majesty—” started Neel.

  “Keep quiet, both of you,” snapped General Siri. “Don’t speak out of turn to the King.”

  “But she’s innocent. She did noth—”

  “I told you to shut up.”

  General Siri unrolled a document and read from it. “You, Neelan, son of Ram the cinnamon peeler, do you admit to breaking into the palace and stealing the Queen’s jewels?”

  “Yes, sir. All on my own.”

  “Do you admit to leading two criminals into Nirissa village with the intent to damage and loot?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  General Siri folded up the document.

  “I sentence the boy to death,” said the King.

  A fire danced deep in Chaya’s chest. The King had made his decision so quickly, without an ounce of feeling. A cry came from somewhere. Neel’s mother was sobbing from the back, in the crowd of villagers along with Aunty.

  “You, Chaya, daughter of Headman Sarath,” said General Siri, reading from a different document. “Do you admit to helping Neelan, son of Ram, escape prison?”

  “Yes, but only because he shouldn’t have been—”

  “I told you to shut up. Just answer the question. Do you admit to leading two criminals into Nirissa village with the intent to rob and destroy?”

  Chaya gulped. “The fire was an accident—”

  “Do you admit to stealing the King’s elephant?”

  “That, yes. Totally.”

  General Siri looked at the King. “The girl has admitted to all charges against her too.”

  “No, I—”

  The King’s voice rasped out his verdict. “The girl dies too.”

  On Chaya’s left the guard with the spear sighed and closed his eyes.

  The King flicked his hand. “Get them out of my sight, and do it now.”

  “No!” yelled Chaya.

  Hands grabbed at the children as a guard tried to bundle them away out of the pavilion.

  “Wait!” Chaya struggled against them. “We want to see the bandits’ trial too.”

  “Let them stay,” said General Siri. “Though I’m warning you,” he addressed Chaya, “nothing is going to change for you.”

  The crowd behind them whispered among themselves, as two ragged people were brought into the pavilion by a cluster of guards. They weren’t putting up a struggle, but walked freely towards the King. It was Gamage and Leela. Her head was held high as always, and her eyes were fixed on the King as she came up the wide stone steps. In spite of her raggedness there was something majestic about her small figure, making its way surely towards the front of the pavilion and the King.

  The King hardly looked at them. “Get this over with quickly,” he said to General Siri.

  Gamage stopped to the left of the trio, but Leela walked on, to stand just in front of the King.

  “What are you doing?” yelled General Siri. “Stand back from the King.”

  The King looked up in surprise.

  “Hello, brother.” Leela smiled up at him. “It’s been a long time.”

  The King started, and a look of wild panic flashed across his face. In a millisecond, he had composed himself.

  “How dare you!” he said. “Guards, take away this woman who speaks to me so freely.”

  “Surely you recognise me, brother?” Leela was unperturbed. “Twelve years is a long time, but you must have known this day would come.”

  A silence fell over the audience hall. Everyone stood mutely as if watching the Thursday-night drama at the village square. General Siri looked from the King to Leela and back again, as if trying to understand what was happening.

  “What are you doing?” bellowed the King. “Seize her, now! Both of them.”

  The King’s outburst galvanised the guards into action. They jumped forward but Leela held up her hand.

  “There’s no need for that. I’ll come quietly. But you need to listen to me first.” She turned to the crowd. “I am the King’s half-sister, daughter of your old King. I came back, not to cause trouble, but to help my people.”

  Behind them the villagers looked astounded. Princess Leela? Her name rippled through the crowd, incredulously at first. Then, reverently.

  “They don’t need your help!” shouted the King.

  Leela was unruffled. “That is not for you to say.”

  “Do you,” General Siri sputtered, “do you want them taken away now, Your Majesty?”

  “Be quiet, General,” said Leela. “I won’t be long.” She addressed the people again. “We don’t have to live like this. In fear all the time, with everyone only fending for themselves. I’m here for you.”

  “You!” The King laughed mirthlessly. “You think the people are going to listen to you? They know that what’s good for them is a strong leader who will rule with an iron fist. Not you. They will never accept you.”

  “There is no they or me, brother. There is only us.”

  The villagers muttered among themselves. They seemed unsure and s
cared.

  “What are you waiting for!” The King paced to the end of his platform and yelled at General Siri. “Take them away. All of them! Put them to death at once. And anyone who’s caught agreeing with a word this crazy woman has said,” he glared at the people threateningly, “will be dead too.”

  The children were hauled out first.

  “Good riddance,” whispered a villager as they were dragged past. “Our troubles will be over at last with you gone.”

  “You don’t have to do this!” yelled Chaya. “Why do we have to be ruled by someone everyone is scared of? We can put this right together.”

  “Keep quiet, thief,” said a woman. “Don’t make the King angrier than he is already.”

  “Neelan,” wailed his mother, and she tried to clutch him as they dragged him past.

  “We were only going to help you.” Nour’s face was streaked with tears.

  “Why do you think Chaya rang the bell?” said Neel. “That brought the King’s men and they put out the fire. We could have run away but she saved the village instead.”

  A couple of the villagers looked confused, and chattered among each other. “That couldn’t have been her,” said one. “The plinth is broken – she couldn’t reach the bell.”

  “She stood on the elephant,” said Nour. “Think about it; no one else could have rung it.”

  “We don’t believe you liars,” said the woman with the baby from earlier. “Steal is all she’s ever done. Don’t think we don’t know, just because she hasn’t been caught before.”

  “And now she’s trying to be a revolutionary.” An old man cackled and people around him joined in.

  “Yes, I’m a thief!” Chaya yelled with all her might, for all her taunters to hear. “But you know what, my thieving paid for your roof, Chathura.”

  Chathura looked startled, and there was an “Is that true?” from someone close to him. He nodded slowly.

  “And you, Sumana.” Chaya jabbed her finger at the people she’d helped as a guard pushed her roughly through the crowd. “My thieving paid for your son’s books, and Vijay’s leg and David’s vegetable cart.”