What Maya Saw

by Shabnam Minwalla

‘It should be open,’ Veda shrugged. ‘Otherwise we can do this on Monday.’

  ‘No,’ Maya said in a strangulated voice. ‘Let’s try and finish this today.’

  ‘You don’t handle pressure very well,’ Veda commented.

  The girls entered St Paul’s in silence. Maya rushed ahead and trotted up the stairs, but her footsteps slowed as she walked down the long corridor. This was the first time she was entering the library after … after it all began. Those nasty horns, twisted and yellow-grey, flashed before her eyes and she felt unsteady.

  She stopped and pulled out her phone with numb hands.

  There was one message from the 8787 number. ‘How’s it going?’

  Frantically she wrote back. ‘Trying. Maybe a bit late.’

  The answer came seconds later. ‘Pratik leaving town at 4. Deadline fixed.’

  Maya bit her lip and waited for Veda. Then together they walked up to the library. The massive, carved doors were firmly shut.

  ‘It’s shut,’ Veda said. ‘Wasted trip. Could have finished my essay on reclamation instead.’

  Maya slumped against the wall. Her eyes filled with tears and the world blurred. Anger and sorrow roared in her ears. It was over. She had failed. She couldn’t save her father’s job. They would have to move to Goregaon. She would have to change schools. She would never see Sanath again.

  Through her misery, Maya heard Veda.

  ‘Hello, Professor Kekobad,’ she was saying into her phone. ‘Very sorry to disturb you on a Saturday afternoon. Our clue has led to the library but it’s closed. Is there any way we can enter?’

  ‘No. I think we’ll only be there 15 minutes. We’ll be discreet.’

  ‘No, no. I promise we’ll return the key immediately.’

  ‘No, no. If there’s anybody in the staffroom, we won’t take the key.’

  Veda pushed her phone back into her bag and shook her head in disgust. ‘Stop crying. I just spoke to Professor Kekobad. You probably don’t know this, but there’s a back entrance into the library from the staffroom. The key is in a drawer in the staffroom. If the staffroom is empty, we can take the key and enter from the back. Come on.’

  Maya mopped her face and followed Veda down corridors to the staffroom – which she realised was a long verandah scattered with plump, comfy armchairs. Doors along the wall opened into smaller rooms with tables and chairs, where the teachers could work, chat with their students and hold meetings.

  The verandah was empty, but there was no way to tell if the inner rooms were occupied. Maya and Veda tiptoed inside and peeped into the first room. Nobody.

  They scampered to the second room. Also empty.

  Only one more room to go. Feeling relieved, they darted past the last room and then looked at each other uncertainly. The room was empty, but the fan was clunking and an open laptop sat on the long table. A screensaver pirouetted on the screen.

  ‘Quick,’ Veda whispered and they darted to the far end of the verandah to a battered wooden desk. Chalk, dusters and markers cluttered the tabletop, but Veda reached into a drawer and pulled out a handful of keys. ‘Oh God, which one, which one?’ she wailed, looking around in terror. ‘I’ll be expelled if someone sees us. It matters to me, if not to you.’

  ‘Take them all,’ Maya said urgently. ‘Come on. Move. Where’s the entrance to the library?’

  Veda pushed a small door open and the two girls stepped into a dark, musty space about the size of a closet. This opened onto a flight of steps that took them to a polished door. ‘Here,’ Veda indicated with her hand.

  Maya stared at the heap of keys—about 20—in all shapes and sizes. Some looked too shiny and modern. A few others seemed too tiny to fit the large keyhole. Many were heavy brass keys, like the one that had led to the Zoology storeroom. Maya separated these into a pile, and Veda started trying them one after another.

  The fourth key worked.

  It turned in the lock with an efficient click, and the door swung open. Veda stepped into the library. Maya pushed the jumble of keys into a corner, took a deep breath and followed. All the windows were shut and though it was dazzling afternoon outside, here it was twilight.

  Veda walked into the silent space, staring at black and mustard stars on the floor and then at the cheap, blue plastic clock on the wall. ‘Aadil was right,’ she said. ‘But is that the clock? It doesn’t look that old.’

  Maya swallowed. The backdoor had opened into the far end of the library, amidst the shadowy cubicles where Amara had lurked on that first day. She recalled the clammy silence, the smell of books, the feeling that time was standing still.

  Then she remembered something else. ‘There’s a clock above the entrance. An old one that doesn’t work.’

  Both girls hurried through the thick gloom to the front of the library. There, just as she remembered, was the old-fashioned wooden clock with a pendulum in a glass case. ‘It’s one of those clocks that needs to be wound every day or every week or something,’ Veda said. ‘No wonder it’s not working. Nobody has the time to do all that.’

  ‘How do we reach the clock?’ Maya asked in a stricken voice.

  Veda threw her a strange look, marched off to a corner, and returned wheeling a tall sturdy ladder. ‘Libraries usually have library ladders to reach books on the top shelves,’ she said with a condescending nod. ‘Let me climb. I’m very used to this one.’

  Veda positioned the ladder beneath the clock and then climbed to the top. She pulled open the glass case of the clock and began probing.

  ‘Anything?’ Maya asked, heart stomping in her chest.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Nothing in the glass case?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Could it be stuck underneath or on top of the clock?’

  Veda allowed her fingers to rove and wander but the case was smooth and polished, without crevice or niche. ‘There’s nothing here,’ she sniffed, her fingers running along the side of the clock. ‘Nothing … what is this? Oh, only the thing used to wind the clock.’

  ‘Except that nobody ever winds this clock,’ Maya said slowly. ‘A key to a trunk that is never locked … a key to a clock that is never wound … Can you pull it out and take a look? Father Lorenzo seems to have been the master of hiding things in plain view.’

  Veda jiggled the metal key. It fit snugly into the side of the clock. A bit too snugly. ‘It’s stuck in here,’ she said, as she pulled, twisted and yanked. Quite suddenly, the key slid out, slipped out of her hand and tumbled down near Maya’s battered beige bellies.

  Maya crouched down, crossing her fingers tight. There, on the starry floor, was a metal key. An exact replica of the key they had found in the Zoology lab.

  They had found the second key.

  CHAPTER 35

  It was 3.40 p.m. when Maya and Veda crept out of the library into the staffroom. Maya dumped the extra keys into the drawer with a too-loud thump and turned to leave, but Veda stopped for a second to pick up an old, chunky key. ‘You never know when it may come in handy,’ she murmured as they tiptoed through the deserted staffroom and past the laptop with its hypnotic screensaver.

  Maya and Veda had just slunk out of the staffroom, when a voice stopped them in their tracks.

  ‘Hello. Are you looking for somebody? Can I help?’

  They whirled around—hearts slamming in chests—and then sagged with relief. It was just the English visitor. Professor Charles something. The one who had given them that talk on plague.

  He looked hot and disheveled and was holding a cup of canteen chai. Taking an uncertain sip, he dabbed his damp brow.

  ‘No no,’ Veda exhaled. ‘We were just looking for Radhika Ma’am.’

  ‘Oh,’ he replied, looking around helplessly. ‘Is she here? I didn’t realise that she comes in on Saturdays. I was hoping to find Father D’Gama. We are collaborating on a paper.’

  ‘Teachers come sometimes on Saturdays during the Summer School,’ Veda gabbled. ‘We need to meet the teachers to check on the progre
ss of our—’

  ‘Veda, we need to go,’ Maya begged. With every heartbeat, she could feel time trickling away. In the next 15 minutes, she had to get rid of Veda, contact the Shadows, give them the key and make sure that they saved her father.

  She grabbed Veda’s arm and tried to steer her away from the bewildered Englishman. But Veda was at her most unbudge-able. She stuck out her hand and shook his, which meant that Maya had to shake his icy hand as well before rushing away.

  Anger exploded in Maya’s head, hot and red. ‘Why were you wasting time with that man?’ she almost screamed, dragging Veda away. ‘You know it’s dangerous to be here with the key. We need to get out in a hurry.’

  ‘It was my chance to network … Oxford and Cambridge are my dreams …’ Veda panted. ‘Can you please slow down? How can the Shadows guess that—’

  Veda gulped. They had just emerged from the dark staircase into the diamond-bright quadrangle. Four silhouettes blocked their path. As their eyes adjusted to the glare, they identified Amara, Owais, Aniruddh and Minty.

  Amara had tied her black curls into a messy bun, and bounced on the balls of her feet, ready to attack.

  Next to her, Aniruddh flexed iron hands with menace.

  Owais looked sleepy and amused. While Minty, frail and as sweet as sugar, hovered behind the others. ‘Weren’t you expecting us?’ she purred. ‘Why aren’t you looking pleased?’

  Maya looked around wildly, but there was no help at hand. The college was deserted.

  She backed into the wall as Amara sprang.

  Amara was dressed in black from head to toe, and as she approached her face contorted. Bony, jagged horns twisted out of her forehead. Maya opened her mouth to scream but the sound caught in her throat. She backed away from this monstrous vision, whimpering and shivering.

  ‘Give it,’ Amara hissed. ‘We’re running out of time.’

  Minty joined in. ‘Give it to us,’ she said in her little-girl lisp, taking small steps forward. She held out her hand, small and pink-tipped with a gold charm bracelet dangling from the delicate wrist.

  Maya gagged and turned away as the flesh on that pretty arm began to pucker and rip, as if attacked by an army of invisible maggots. When she looked again, the bracelet was dangling from white bones.

  With every breath, she could smell corruption and decay.

  ‘Give it … hurry …4 o’clock …’ the voices in her head, the voices of the needy chorus resounded. ‘Now … now … if we go to the grave we will take you with us … give it … GIVE IT TO US …’

  With stiff fingers, Maya fumbled in her pocket but Veda shoved her aside and ran towards the college gate.

  ‘Chowki—’ Veda tried to scream. But Owais got to her first, punched her in the stomach and clamped his hand on her mouth. ‘I think this one has the key,’ he drawled. ‘Amara, Minty, search her bag.’

  Amara snatched the vermillion, faux leather bag from Veda’s shoulder and unceremoniously dumped the contents on the quadrangle. A phone, a diary, hankies, tissue, a box of Nivea cream all tumbled onto the grey cement floor. ‘Be careful,’ Veda protested. ‘Things cost money, you know. Stop this. There’s nothing else in my bag.’

  ‘Really?’ Amara sneered, unzipping a small side pocket and pushing her fingers inside. ‘Then what’s this, sweetheart?’

  She held up a chunky brass key.

  Owais whooped, winked at Maya and strode away towards the canteen. The other Shadows turned to leave as well.

  ‘Wait,’ Maya called. ‘What about my father? What are you doing about that?’

  ‘Oh, there’s been a slight change of plans,’ Amara said, bringing her grotesque face close to Maya. ‘Pratik’s in town till Tuesday night. He can’t bear to tear himself away from …’

  ‘So what?’

  ‘So find us the third key by Tuesday, and all charges will be dropped against your father. In fact, Pratik will try and get him a promotion.’

  ‘But … but …’ Maya said, and her eyes filled again. ‘I kept my end of the bargain. You have to keep yours.’

  ‘Ooh, don’t cry,’ Minty exclaimed. ‘Your face will get all puffy and red. You’ll get dehydrated. Not a good look. Of course, we’ll keep our bargain. It’s just that the terms have changed a little.’

  ‘How can you … how can I trust you?’

  ‘You don’t have a choice, do you?’ Amara asked silkily. And she and Minty turned and followed Owais and Aniruddh out of the quadrangle.

  ‘You need me as much as I need you,’ Maya spat, quaking with rage. ‘Unless you send me a sign that you are planning to keep your end of the bargain, I won’t do a thing.’

  Minty turned to sneer, but her expression wavered when she saw Maya’s face. She paused, nodded and walked away.

  ‘Maya? What bargain?’ Veda was ashen.

  Maya turned to Veda with a sinking feeling. ‘I can explain,’ she said, starting to cry again.

  ‘Then do?’ Veda snapped.

  ‘My father works for the Purohits,’ Maya started. ‘Yesterday, when I reached home something terrible had happened …’

  The pitiful tale took five minutes to tell. Through each of those 300 interminable seconds, Veda stared with unblinking incomprehension. At the end she shook her head, ‘You call Aadil a traitor. You act like everyone is out to betray us. But all the time it was you. I just can’t believe it.’

  Maya bowed her head in shame.

  ‘So you told them we would be in the Zoology lab?’

  ‘No. No. I promise. I still don’t know how they found out.’

  ‘But you told them today that we would be here around 4? So that’s how they knew where and when to find us. I’ve really been a fool.’

  ‘No. I didn’t tell them. I was going to message them after you left. I was as shocked as you.’

  ‘So maybe you didn’t tell them, maybe you did. I don’t know. But why didn’t you tell me what was happening? I thought we were a team.’

  Maya shook her head wordlessly, and mopped her eyes. ‘Sorry,’ she said in a small voice. ‘I was too ashamed. I know you are too upright to ever understand but ... I’m sorry.’

  Veda ignored the apology. ‘If you didn’t tell them we were here, how did they know? Nobody else knew.’

  ‘Aadil knew,’ Maya said, and then bit her tongue.

  Veda gave her a filthy glare, dusted her kurta and thundered towards the door. ‘You are despicable,’ she shrieked. ‘I really think you are spending too much time looking into the snaky brains of the Shadows. You are becoming just like them.’

  Maya knew she should go home. Instead, she collapsed against a column of the sun-baked quadrangle and avoided the reproachful gaze of the gargoyles. She felt drained – reduced to immobility by the stench of death, by Veda’s disappointment and by the Shadows’ casual betrayal. ‘Nothing can ever be right again,’ she thought, too preoccupied to hear the approaching footsteps.

  She jumped when a warm, rough hand enveloped her damp, soft one. ‘What—’ she squawked, eyes flying open. ‘Ohhh …’

  Maya found herself staring at Sanath, who was looking down at her tear-streaked face with a small smile. ‘Another lousy day? Can I do anything to make you feel better?’

  Maya tried to pat her hair into some sort of order and to scrub the telltale marks from her face. But it was a losing battle.

  ‘Tell me you are not a Shadow. Tell me you are not an agent of the Shadows. Tell me you like me.’ The thoughts rushed into Maya’s head. But all she managed to utter was, ‘I’m fine.’

  Sanath clasped her hand in both of his. They were beautiful hands, strong and sinewy. ‘No. You’re not fine,’ he laughed. ‘I was going to ask you if you were free to go for a movie. But I’m scared of one more rejection. So instead I’m going to ask you something else. Will you come with me to the social on Tuesday?’

  Maya felt the heat on her cheeks and the swelling of her heart. But she must play it cool – those were the rules of the game according to every single teen-
lit book ever written.

  ‘Umm, I haven’t bought shoes yet,’ she shrugged and then laughed at his bemused expression.

  ‘So come in slippers. Or come barefoot. Please?’

  ‘Okay,’ Maya said, realising that she was quite unable to say anything else. ‘I’d love to come.’

  ‘Great,’ Sanath said. ‘Shall we say, 7:30 at the college gate?’

  Maya nodded and stood up.

  The stink of decay still lingered in the air. Her father was still in trouble. Veda still despised her. But, all of a sudden, things didn’t seem so bad.

  CHAPTER 36

  After dinner, Maya sat at her desk. Her phone was belting out a stream of golden oldies. Songs that had once seemed silly and candy-flossy now seemed laden with wisdom. Between the shalalalas and waawwaaaw, Maya’s thoughts ping ponged wildly.

  ‘I need to find the other key.’

  ‘I have nothing to wear to the social. But should I be going shopping with Lola? When things are so bad at home?’

  ‘Lola didn’t know anything about yesterday so she couldn’t have told the Shadows that we were at St Paul’s with the second key.’

  ‘But then how did they know?’

  ‘Aadil? He’s actually not so bad …’

  ‘The third key.’

  ‘Sanath’s hands are warm. Not corpse-like at all. Not cold and waxy ...’

  ‘Can I trust Sanath?’

  ‘Anyway I want to go to the social with him. And I’m going to take a picture with him and make it my DP. Won’t Priti and the Sanayas and Riana be jealous when they see it? Maya-the-Geek will become Maya-How-On-Earth-Did-She-Do-It.’

  ‘But will I even see those girls again … if the job goes and we have to move out, I’ll have to switch schools …’

  ‘But at least things are better today. Papa looked calmer after getting the call saying that the inquiry is being delayed and that they are looking at other possible leaks. I wonder if it’s because of what I said to the Shadows.’

  ‘I need to find the other key.’

  ‘I don’t even know where to start.’

  ‘Back to the chapel. Back to the first list.’