“All off their heads,” Tam suggested.
“Let’s walk about and see if we can find anybody… You suggested Ruth would look for a woman, Kakko.”
“Yeah but the motherly sort I had in mind are all tucked up in bed by now.”
But there were women. They lingered on the corners in twos and threes. It was quite obvious what their trade was.
“Actually, I guess these women are as likely to know as any,” said Kakko, thinking it over.
“Well, it’s up to you to ask,” said Tam. “They’re too scary for me.”
Kakko laughed. She walked to the nearest group, wondering if they would understand her when she spoke.
“Excuse me,” she began, “we’re looking for this girl.” She pulled at her T-shirt with Ruth’s picture on it.
Whether or not they understood her language, the girls certainly understood Kakko’s gist. They looked at one another and all shook their heads.
When Kakko turned, she found the boys surrounded by a group of prostitutes brandishing their wares. Tam seemed to be coping with the situation though. “Ruth,” he indicated his T-shirt, “have you seen her?” They giggled and shook their heads. “Your girlfriend?” one asked. Tam pointed to James. “She belongs to him.”
Kakko, however, had seen that one of the girls had not giggled along with the rest. In fact, she wore a particularly sheepish expression. Kakko approached her. “You know this girl,” she stated; it was not a question. The girl lowered her eyes. “She is in danger. She is very ill. She needs hospital – now… Can you take me to her?”
The girl shook her head. “Mayhi… No… La…” She looked frightened.
James had cottoned on to what was happening. “We will not hurt you.”
“I don’t think she is frightened of us,” said Tam. “You can take us to your house… We can pay…” He flashed a note.
This was easier for the girl. It would have the appearance she had got punters. And she wanted the money.
She led them up a narrow alleyway and through an open door. Inside they were immediately accosted by a madam who looked them over. At first her face displayed alarm but then it softened into a false smile. Her eyes alighted on the matching T-shirts displaying Ruth’s picture.
“You like Padma?” she said softly.
“We are looking for our friend,” answered Kakko, curtly. “Her name is Ruth and she was last seen near here leaving the Loft Hotel.”
“You sit down. I bring you soda… Padma, Ashish abees rabda,” she addressed Padma. The girl betrayed an expression of doubt. “Now,” said the madam in English. The girl left through the door through which they had arrived. A small boy took her place, looked at the madam and departed through an internal door.
Kakko was becoming impatient. “Ruth. She is ill and needs a hospital. Do you know where she is?”
Tam put his hand on her arm as if to calm her but kept his eyes on the woman. “We fear for her safety,” he said quietly.
The boy reappeared with three bottles of Coke on a small tray. Tam thanked him. The boy bobbed.
“You wait here. Padma will return.”
Kakko sat as patiently as she knew how but couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable. She was just about to ask the woman if things could be hurried up, when there was a noise in the doorway and two men entered. James and Tam immediately recognised him as the man they had met in the hotel but he was no longer wearing his suit.
“Hello, my friends,” he mocked with a broad but fake smile. “You have come to bring me money.”
Quickly suppressing the tingle of panic that had shot down his spine, Tam replied as calmly as he could. “You will have your money tomorrow. But Ruth needs the hospital tonight.”
“I don’t think so. You believe you are clever to come here but you are mistaken. You are most foolish. Now I have four captives to trade instead of one.”
Kakko ignored his words. “If you are holding Ruth, and if you have an ounce of humanity, you will get her to a hospital right now… My friends will pay you tomorrow.”
“No police,” assured Tam.
“Yes,” smirked the man, “you speak the truth – there are no police. So, you see, you have no power but to submit… Raj,” he addressed his accomplice.
“Yes, Ashish.”
“You take the girl, let her be with her friend. Tomorrow the price will be three times,” he mocked James and Tam. “As for you, I think it will be easier if you just disappeared for a while.”
Kakko sprang into action but Raj was ready for her. He was clearly trained in some form of martial art because Kakko suddenly found herself face down on the floor with her arms behind her back. She screamed in pain as the man twisted her joints.
Tam went to move but Ashish produced a nasty-looking blade. “Do as I say and no-one gets hurt!”
The madam produced some very glittery but effective handcuffs and a rope – accessories of her trade – and Tam and James were quickly immobilised with their hands behind their backs and ankles bound together.
“If you do not resist, I may allow you to live,” smirked Ashish.
Tam spoke softly to Kakko who was still struggling. “Go with this man. Ruth needs you.”
Kakko’s dignity was affronted. She was not only furious with this man but angry with herself for being overpowered so easily but Tam’s soft voice did the trick. He always spoke so much sense. If she allowed herself to be taken to Ruth, it would mean that she could nurse her. The worst-case scenario was that Dev’s family would have to part with a lot more money than they had originally agreed on. The best-case scenario was that the oaf that was good at combat was too thick to relieve her of her mobile phone in the front pocket of her trousers beneath the loose XXL T-shirt bearing Ruth’s image.
Kakko allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.
“OK. OK. You win,” she said crossly.
Raj shot her a toothy smile – or what would have been a toothy smile if most of them had not been missing – and dragged her to the doorway.
“Rugieh!” barked Ashish. “Wait! The shirt. Do not show that face.” He raised his hand as if he was about to remove Kakko’s top. Whether or not it was the wild look of defiance or her spitting, “Don’t you dare!”, he thought better of it. Kakko must be transferred from house to house quietly. There had already been too much noise; customers and girls were assembling on the landing above. Instead of touching Kakko, Ashish took Padma’s shawl from her shoulders and held it out to Kakko. “Cover yourself!” he commanded.
“Do as he says,” said Tam firmly. “Ruth…”
Kakko took the shawl. Some of her dignity – and her phone – were secured at least for the moment. “If your lackey tries anything on, I’m ready for him next time,” she said in imperious defiance.
Raj led her to the door. “You want see Ruth, you come quiet.”
When they had gone, Ashish resumed his fake gentleness. “She belongs to you? Perhaps we can tame her for you?”
“She does not need taming,” said Tam proudly, “she is the servant of the Divine Creator; she knows what is right and what is wrong, what is just and what is unjust. When you can tame the Creator, you will be able to tame her but not before.”
“You Westerners. You think you know God. It is in India that we truly understand the divine.”
For the first time since they had arrived at the house James spoke. “So you think the deities would approve of kidnap and abusing women? Which of them? Where is the karma in what you are doing? If you believed in the deities, you would know that you have no merit in their eyes. Kakko is holy – all women are vessels for the holiness of God.” He looked up at Padma who was standing in the corner shaking. She cowered with a mixture of fear, shame and the cold without her shawl. She was dressed very skimpily. “This girl meant well. She has a good heart.” He looked at the madam. “She needs a shawl.”
To James’s amazement, she went to the stairway and shouted up. A girl came down with a shawl and led Padma
away. There followed a silence that was so intense they could hear music from across the street. Then Ashish shrugged. He looked at the madam. “Dehikanah,” he said quietly. “You will be rewarded… If you behave yourself and your friends in the Varanasi Palace pay quietly – and no police – maybe you can go home… Their pockets,” he said to the madam. “Keep whatever they have – a gift for you.” Obediently, the woman relieved them of their phones and their wallets.
Meanwhile, Raj was leading Kakko through some more back alleys. He tugged her by the arm but something sharp was pressed into her back. She didn’t know what it was – but it definitely felt like a weapon. She thought about escaping but then remembered Tam saying: “Let them take you to Ruth.” He was right.
Kakko tried to memorise where she was being taken but everywhere looked the same. Then they entered a wider alley with a temple at the end of it. They left by an alley on the right about fifty metres before they got to the temple, and took the second doorway on the right.
Raj called and two men appeared. They looked interested but Raj barked an order and led Kakko up a flight of stairs and turned a key in a door on the first landing and thrust her into a dark room. The door was slammed behind her and the key turned in the lock. Kakko smelt Ruth before she heard her. It was the putrid smell of fever. Her breathing was slow and rasping. Kakko followed the sounds and found the girl lying on a mattress on the floor. As her eyes became accustomed to the dark, Kakko made out the form of an almost naked Ruth. A bowl of water and a cloth lay beside her. Someone had been attempting to wash her. Kakko filled the cloth with the water and dabbed at Ruth’s head. She was burning up. Kakko was more frightened than she had been at any time that day. Adrenaline and anger can drown out fear. Here there was no adrenaline in her system – just pure fear that this young woman was going to die and on her watch. All Kakko could do was bathe and pray. Despite the night hours, the room was baking hot. Kakko found the shutters. They were fastened tightly but not locked. She tugged them open and leaned out. It was at least ten metres to the ground and there was no way she could have got Ruth out in her condition in any case. The view was stunning – not. A blank wall stood less than five metres away. But, mercifully, a waft of cooler air blew through Kakko’s hair as she leaned out. She discarded the shawl and then rejoiced. How could they have been so stupid? She still had her phone! Raj was indeed the numbskull she had hoped. The fact was that both he and Ashish wanted her to go quietly; he was not going to risk a fight in the street – searching her was not worth it.
Raj returned to the bawdy house with the two other powerful-looking men. He untied Tam and James’s feet but left their hands still clasped behind them. If they tried to flee they would not get very far, even if they could escape in the first place. The madam led the way outside and then down steps into a dank, dark cellar.
To the boys’ amazement, after a few minutes, Padma re-appeared now wearing a thick shawl and bearing a tray with two bowls of some sort of hot soup. She had a key and released them from the handcuffs.
“I sorry,” she said. “Mrs, she is bad woman.”
“Don’t worry. You tried. Kakko is with Ruth. That is good,” said Tam.
What he didn’t know was that Kakko was already working out how to call the police and an ambulance.
Kakko told herself off. She had her phone but no useful numbers on it. Why hadn’t she entered Dev’s at the time? He had given it to her so he could phone her if they got separated. He might still do so but not for a few hours. Time was of the essence – Ruth was in a critical state. If only I could remember the number they used in New London when we needed the police, it might work here too. This might be a very different part of Earth, but it’s still the same planet. Then she remembered it: 911. She tried it. A woman answered in Hindi – she sounded official.
“Hi. Is that the police?” she tried. The woman replied in a language she could understand. “We’ve been kidnapped,” she stated. “We need an ambulance, too, urgently… My name? Yes, Kakko Smith. Erm… My nationality?” What is my nationality? I can’t tell them I am from Joh – far too complicated… “Er, yes, British.” That’s not a lie – Dad’s British. “I don’t know the address but it’s near a temple in the—”
The key turned and the door burst open. A man was fleetingly silhouetted against the light from the landing.
“No police,” he yelled and hit out in Kakko’s direction. She stepped back but was not quick enough to avoid his hand colliding with her phone hand. The phone flew from her grasp and clattered across the floor. The man followed it but it was lost in the shadows. Ruth moaned. The man swore in some Indian language. As he bent to search out the phone, Kakko pushed him from behind – hard. His head hit the wall but not hard enough to knock him senseless. He was not trained like Raj. He swung round and made a lunge for Kakko. She brought her knee up under his chin and as his head came up she gave him a clout across the ear with her two-handed swing. She felt his beard on the back of her hand as he fell sideways to the ground.
Kakko made for the corner to see if she could find her phone but as she did so a second assailant, whom she hadn’t seen come in, hit her with something hard. She turned but her legs gave way. A second blow swished over the top of her head but she didn’t notice it sweep through her hair as the world sank away from her consciousness. She fell alongside Ruth.
The phone, however, hadn’t broken. All this time the operator at the emergency headquarters was listening and the location of the call was being identified. And just then, at five o’clock precisely, an amplified call of the muezzin emanated from a loud speaker located in a minaret attached to the building opposite. The plain wall Kakko had seen was the external wall of a mosque. The police had all they needed: the location of the cell, and near a temple within metres of a mosque. The phone line remained open.
When Ashish returned, soon followed by Raj and his henchmen, there was a noisy row. They all came into the room in which Kakko and Ruth lay unconscious. The first guard had been dragged out into the corridor. He was in a poor way but that didn’t stop him from being further beaten by Ashish – all within hearing of the phone which had now been totally forgotten.
Ruth stirred. Ashish’s anger abated. The situation was still in hand. And Kakko being unconscious was a bonus. He closed the shutters and they all withdrew from the room and the door was locked again. Ashish left the two big men outside to guard it, just in case this wild woman recovered.
Ashish went to clean himself up. He smiled to himself – he now had four people to trade.
***
Zoe woke at the call to prayer. It was not from the same mosque that Kakko would have heard had she been conscious. She found Dev already dressed.
“Where’s Kakko. Where are the others?”
“Gone to look for Ruth. James couldn’t rest.”
“Sorry, I was just pooped.”
“No. I’m glad you slept. They shouldn’t have gone. It was far too dangerous – but you know your intrepid friends. I hope they’re alright.” Dev explained about the contact and the ransom.
“My father and his brother are flying in – any time now. As soon as we know Ruth is safe, we’ll send for the police. When my father arrives he will take charge. He tells me I’m too young to conduct this sort of thing.”
“You are. You need experience. Older heads are important sometimes.”
Dev’s phone rang. It was his father and his uncle. They were on their way from the airport.
***
Ashish had just finished combing his beard in front of a bathroom mirror when the police arrived. Before he got to the door, half a dozen men swarmed up the stairs. Kakko was just coming to when the door burst open again. This time it was men dressed in uniform.
An officer who seemed to be in charge demanded Kakko’s name.
“Kakko Smith,” she said. “This is Ruth. She needs the hospital… Thank you for coming. How—”
But she didn’t finish her sentence. A doctor came i
nto the room, ordered the shutters be opened and that the half-dozen gawping policemen leave. He felt Ruth’s brow, looked into her eyes, felt her pulse and listened to her chest through a stethoscope. Then he opened his bag and pulled out a syringe, plunged it into a bottle of clear liquid and injected it into Ruth’s neck. Kakko looked away. Injections were not her cup of tea.
“What about you?” asked the doctor. “Let me look at that blow.” Kakko tried to protest but was too groggy to resist and found herself the victim of a needle, too, when she didn’t know what tetanus was.
Two men in a different uniform came into the room with a stretcher.
Fifteen minutes later, both girls were in emergency bays in a local hospital. A policeman was sitting beside Kakko’s bed taking notes.
***
Meanwhile, Dev and Zoe had no idea that Ruth had already been rescued. Dev welcomed his father and uncle when they arrived at the Varanasi Palace.
“Now, my son, you must tell me it very carefully before we meet this man. A young woman’s life is at stake.”
Dev explained about the other three heading out on their own. Needless to say, Dev’s father was angry. Dev protested that he hadn’t been able to stop them. “James was desperate,” he said, “and you know Kakko – no, sorry, you don’t know Kakko…”
“Take it from me,” Zoe came to his rescue, “it would take an army of Devs to stop her.”
“We must hope they haven’t been picked up by this gang,” said Dev’s uncle.
But just then they were approached by two policemen. They appeared to know all about the case. Zoe, Dev and his father quickly learned that everyone was safe – the only concern now, it seemed, was proving that they were not all involved in the kidnap.
***
What delighted Kakko the most was when the doctor confirmed that Ruth was on the way to a full recovery. “It is a good thing you found her when you did,” he said; “she may not have survived much longer.” After that, Kakko would not hear any talk of foolhardiness, and defended to the hilt James’s decision to go out that night. Tam sighed – he could almost hear Kakko relating everything to her family back in White Gates Cottage.
The Spark (White Gates Adventures Book 4) Page 22