by Bali Rai
Shanti asked me what we were doing and I shook my head.
‘I don’t know,’ I told her. ‘I was on my way here to find my father when the bandits got me.’
She looked around the shadowy hall.
‘Is this where they brought him?’ she asked.
‘Yes, the train to Lahore came through here some time ago. I failed him.’
I sat down and felt tears begin to pour down my cheeks. I’d been so caught up with escaping that I hadn’t had time to react. Now, I felt great waves of sadness coursing through my body. Shanti held out her hand.
‘We can’t stay here,’ she told me. ‘We’ll get caught. We must keep moving, Arjan. Once my master realises what I’ve done, he will send men to kill us.’
I knew she was right, but the pain in my chest wouldn’t stop. I wanted my dad. I was just a boy. How could I look after my family without him?
‘Come on!’ Shanti urged.
We left slowly, mostly because I held us up. Once outside, though, my determination returned.
‘We should follow the tracks,’ I told Shanti. ‘It will take longer but they work around towards my district. It will be safer than taking the back streets and alleys again.’
Shanti nodded. ‘That is where my master will send his thugs.’
I took her hand and smiled. ‘Don’t call him that any more. If something good has come from this terrible night, it’s your freedom. He doesn’t own you now.’
Her smile was wide and beaming.
‘You are a good friend, Arjan, ‘she replied. ‘The only one I’ve ever had.’
I hugged her and then we continued on our way.
* * *
It was half a mile before I saw it. At first I thought it was a mirage – my mind playing tricks on me. But it was real enough. I pulled Shanti into some bushes and put a finger to her lips.
‘Ssshhh!’ I said, my heart jumping in my chest.
‘What?’ she whispered.
‘Up ahead,’ I told her excitedly. ‘It’s the night train!’
Chapter Thirteen
Finding Dad
Confused soldiers surrounded the train, trying to get used to the darkness. They seemed to be searching each compartment and some were even on the roof. Others crawled along the track, searching the underside of each carriage. I thought quickly.
‘I have to get inside somehow,’ I told Shanti.
‘That’s impossible,’ she replied. ‘They will see you.’
I shook my head. ‘I can’t let them. I thought I’d failed but now I’ve got another chance. I have to help my dad.’
The tracks lay between two steep banks that were overgrown with weeds. We used them as cover and moved along the left bank, edging closer to the train. I felt the firecrackers in my pockets and the matches I’d taken when I’d started my journey.
‘If we let the firecrackers off, they’ll think someone is attacking them,’ I whispered to Shanti. ‘Maybe they’ll investigate and I can sneak down?’
Shanti didn’t seem convinced.
‘But it will be too dangerous,’ she told me. ‘They might shoot you.’
I told her my address and my mother’s name. ‘If anything happens to me, you go there and she’ll help you.’
Shanti shook her head. ‘No. We escaped together. Whatever happens now, we stay together.’
I nodded and pulled out the fireworks.
‘We’ll set them off along the ridge, back there.’ I said. ‘If we’re quick, we can light them and run across the tracks to the far bank. When the soldiers investigate, we can get onto the train.’
We edged back about twenty yards and stood the crackers on the ground, each one about two feet apart. Then I set out a second row, parallel with the first. I could light two at a time that way. Starting with the ones farthest away, I got out my matches.
‘Go now,’ I told Shanti. ‘Wait for me on the other bank.’
As she scampered across the tracks, I took a deep breath and lit my first match. The firecrackers had long wicks, so I managed to light several before the first two went bang. They were high-quality fireworks and the sound was almost deafening. White smoke billowed from them.
As the soldiers panicked and began to shout, I lit the rest and then hid in some bushes. All of them ran towards me, their rifles held out. I lit another cracker from my pockets and threw it further away from the tracks. When it exploded, the soldiers began to shoot into the gloom. I repeated my action three more times and then ran over to Shanti. In the darkness and confusion, we slipped past more armed men and made it to the train.
‘That was great!’ said Shanti.
‘Wait here, then,’ I said. ‘I’ll go and check each carriage.’
‘No, I’ll go first. If the soldiers see me, they won’t shoot. I’m only a girl.’
She was right and I nodded. ‘Alright. But the first sign of trouble and you run.’
The first carriage was empty, save for some suitcases and bags. In the second, we found food and medical supplies. I guessed that they were for the fort at Lahore, and had been sent from Delhi. The train was the main transport for soldiers across Northern India. That was why it was so heavily guarded. In the third carriage, there were wooden boxes, stamped with words in English, which I couldn’t understand. There were so many that we had to squeeze past them.
At the end, there was no door – only a metal ladder that led us onto the roof. We took it and made our way to the fourth carriage. Behind us, I could hear the soldiers returning. Shanti heard them too.
‘We must hurry!’ she whispered.
We ran through three more carriages, all deserted, until we found the one we were looking for. It had no windows and the side doors were bolted shut. It had to be the prisoner transport coach.
The only way in was through doors at each end. And at the first stood a young guard, no more than eighteen years old. We crouched behind more boxes and Shanti told me it was her turn to help. I wanted to stop her but she insisted.
‘I’ll lead him this way. Once we pass you, check the carriage.’
‘But what about you?’
She smiled. ‘I’ll meet you outside, at the top of the bank.’
Counting to three, she stood and ran to the guard, pretending to cry. ‘Help!’ she screamed. ‘Please!’
The guard looked startled but when he saw Shanti he didn’t raise his rifle.
‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.
‘I’ve escaped from some bandits!’ she wailed. ‘They are after me. Come quickly – you must protect me!’
The soldier looked puzzled. ‘What bandits?’ he asked.
‘They’re outside,’ she told him. ‘Please! If they take me, I will be killed!’
The soldier’s face changed. His eyes grew narrow and he raised his gun. ‘Show me!’ he demanded. ‘Show me these dogs that would harm a child!’
Shanti turned and led him past me. As soon as they were gone, I stood and ran into the carriage. It was full of men, most sleeping on the rough floor. When they heard me enter, some of them woke up, blinking in the darkness.
‘Dad?’ I whispered. ‘Dad – it’s me, Arjan!’
For a moment no one replied but then I heard a voice that made my heart leap.
‘Arjan – is that really you?’ came my dad’s voice. He sounded weak and tired.
‘Come on!’ I said. ‘We have to go.’
And then he was at my side, his turban gone, and his long hair a mess. The right side of his face was swollen and the eye bruised over.
‘What did they do?’ I gasped.
I took his hand and we ran out, followed by some of the others.
‘What are you doing here?’ asked my dad.
‘Never mind that now,’ I told him. ‘We have to leave before the soldiers come back.
At the door, two prisoners shoved past us and jumped down to the tracks. Before I could warn them, they ran towards the soldiers. I took my dad the other way, and we climbed the steep bank thro
ugh thick weeds and bushes. I heard whistles blowing, soldiers shouting and the crack of three rifle shots. Someone screamed and then I heard more soldiers.
Shanti tapped me on the shoulder, making me start. My heart was almost in my mouth with excitement.
‘What happened to the soldier?’ I asked.
‘He went to check some bushes and I hid,’ she replied.
‘You’re very brave,’ I told her. ‘For a girl.’
Shanti shoved me as my father looked on in utter confusion.
‘I don’t understand what’s happening,’ he said. ‘Is this a dream?’
Two more gunshots and the sound of a screaming, dying man told my dad it wasn’t a dream – or a nightmare.
‘Follow me,’ said Shanti, standing up.
I helped my dad up, angered when I heard him groan in pain.
‘Quickly!’ Shanti whispered, leading us away from the tracks and back into the city before more patrols arrived.
Chapter Fourteen
Showdown
The rest of the journey was slow and I was beginning to get tired. My dad could only limp. We had to hide several times, to avoid being seen. Not only were we running from the soldiers and the police, we had The Bull’s thugs to think about too. By now he would be searching every street for us, according to Shanti.
I wondered what we would do, even if we did make it home. My father was a wanted man, and if we stayed in Amritsar it was just a question of whether the police or The Bull would get us first.
Soon we were on familiar ground, as we skirted the marketplace. We didn’t cut through, though, because I’d spotted some shady-looking men.
‘Bandits!’ I whispered to Shanti and my dad.
When she saw them, Shanti’s face went pale. ‘His men,’ she said in disgust. ‘I recognise them.’
I looked at my dad, who seemed to be close to passing out. A dark patch was growing on his side. When I touched it, I saw blood on my fingers.
‘Dad?’
He shook his head. ‘They wanted me to give them information,’ he whispered, his voice hoarse. ‘I tried to tell them I was innocent but…’
Shanti turned her head suddenly. ‘No, God, no!’
‘What’s the matter?’
Shanti’s eyes filled with tears. ‘It’s him! The Bull!’
He stood by the far end of the market square, carrying a kerosene lamp in his left hand. In his right was a length of thick rope. On the end of the rope was the nastiest-looking dog I had ever seen.
It had huge, powerful shoulders and a long snout, filled with sharp teeth. Its front paws were massive, almost too big for its body. It snapped and growled and The Bull’s men seemed scared of it.
‘He calls it Death,’ she told me. ‘I’ve seen it rip out a man’s throat before.’
We were in serious trouble. Once the dog caught our scents, we were finished. We couldn’t outrun it or its master. Not with my dad as injured as he was.
That was when I felt the air around us change. It grew thicker and warmer, and carried the scent of mangoes and fresh cream. Even before she appeared, I knew she would. Heera…
‘I had a feeling we’d meet again,’ she said. ‘What is it about you and dogs, Arjan?’
‘Heera!’
She smiled and looked at my father. ‘You need attention, Mit Singh,’ she told him. Then she saw Shanti. ‘Hello, child. Aren’t you a pretty thing?’
She saw a line of dirt on Shanti’s left cheek, reached out and wiped it away. I thought Shanti would react but she seemed mesmerised. I looked back to the bandits. The Bull had them searching now, and he was giving the dog fabric to sniff.
‘That’s my top,’ Shanti told me. ‘The one I left behind.’
The dog’s growl echoed in the empty square. It lurched from its master’s hands and started to follow the scent trail. As it came closer, I could see how big it was.
‘We must run!’ I said to Heera.
She shook her head and told us to get behind her. Then she knelt down, just as the beast approached our hiding place. Behind it, the bandits continued to search too. The dog stopped ten yards short of us and bared its huge teeth but Heera was unfazed. Shanti began to sob, her hands shaking. I pulled her behind me.
‘If it attacks, you run,’ I whispered to her.
Heera took something from under her shawl. It was a simple tin whistle. She put it to her mouth and blew. I heard no noise but the dog seemed to. It cocked its massive head to one side and looked puzzled.
Suddenly, more dogs began to bark. A pack of them emerged from a lane across the square from us. I saw the leader – the same dogs that had cornered me earlier that night. The largest one snarled, and the others sprinted in our direction. The bandit’s dog sensed them. It let out a low, deep rumbling growl and turned to face the stray pack. Within seconds it was surrounded – the strays biting and tearing at it. I heard The Bull call for a gun from his men.
‘Come,’ Heera told us. ‘No one else will harm any of you tonight. You have my word.’
She put my dad’s arm around her shoulder and we entered the dark alley where I’d first encountered her. I had so many questions but first we needed to be safe. The door to her dwelling was unlocked and we rushed inside.
‘Lock it,’ Heera told me.
The padlock was old and rusty and I wondered if it would keep the bandits out.
‘Don’t worry about them,’ Heera said to me. ‘No one enters this house without my permission. The Bull can wait for another day. He and I will have our reckoning when Fate decrees it.’
How did she do that – understand what I was thinking? And was there anyone in Amritsar she didn’t know?
As she tended to my father’s wounds, she told Shanti to light another candle and make some tea.
‘We’ll wait here until they leave,’ she said. ‘And I will answer those questions, Arjan. After tonight, this city will cease to be your home.’
* * *
Later, as both Shanti and my father slept, I sat with Heera and drank more tea. I was weary but I couldn’t rest.
‘What happened to the teenager you freed?’ I asked her.
‘Oh, he’s safe. He is back with his family.’
‘But why did you help him?’
Heera blew on her tea before replying. ‘He is an innocent, just like your father.’
‘And you saved him?’
Heera shook her head. ‘I just did what people like me do,’ she said, confusing me.
‘What are you?’ I asked. ‘A witch?’
Again, she shook her head. ‘No – I’m not a witch,’ she said, smiling. ‘Though many people call me such names.’
‘So what then?’
She put down her cup and looked into my eyes. ‘I watch over people in this city,’ she explained. ‘That is all.’
‘Like a guardian angel?’
This time she laughed out loud. ‘I have no wings. But something like that.’
‘You never answer a question properly. Why?’
‘Why not?’ she told me. ‘Besides, you need to listen.’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Listen to what?’
Heera picked up her cup and took a sip.
‘Your family must leave Amritsar,’ she said. ‘You know this, don’t you?’
I nodded. ‘The bandits and the police will come for us.’
‘The British too,’ she added. ‘It’s unfair but that is the way of Life sometimes.’
‘Where will we go?’
Heera found a pencil and a scrap of paper. ‘Do you know exactly where your father’s ancestral village is?’
I shook my head. She began to draw a map, marking out various places. When she was done, she gave it to me. ‘You will follow this and leave the city, as soon as we get back to your mother.’
‘But…’
She shook her head. ‘In two days’ time many people will die here. Hundreds of people. In the confusion, people will think you died too.’
‘Why?’ I as
ked, my eyes wide.
‘It doesn’t matter why,’ she replied. ‘It cannot be stopped.’
‘How can you predict such things?’
Heera put a hand on my face. It felt smooth and cold.
‘I can’t say,’ she said. ‘All that matters is that you take your mother and your new friend to safety. That is your task, Arjan. Are you ready for it?’
I nodded.
‘Good,’ she said. ‘This journey is almost over, my son. Now you start a new one. You must be brave and strong, Arjan. Your family will need it.’
We spoke some more and then my father opened his eyes. Heera explained what was happening and he nodded in sadness. I watched Shanti sleeping with her hair splayed out behind her, and wondered what Heera had meant. Why would I need to be strong for my family?
‘Wake her,’ Heera said to me. ‘We must be at your house by sunrise.’
Chapter Fifteen
The Next Journey
So here I am. Packing with my mother. My father’s injuries are worse than we thought. He is too ill to come with us. Heera is watching over him. When he’s better, she will bring him to us.
Mr and Mrs Khan are sobbing now, and my mother is too. The sun is close to rising, and all around us people are preparing for work. It feels like any other day but it isn’t.
Eventually, we set off. My mother sits next to me, wrapped in a blanket, as I guide the bullock and cart eastwards, away from the city and from the life we had. Shanti is hidden beneath more blankets in the back. The bandits will look for her. We cannot risk her being seen.
Heera has warned me that our journey will be dangerous. It will take many days and we will be travelling through open country. There will be more bandits and army patrols – more danger. She has told me to be brave – to be a man. I don’t understand why, but I trust her. My heart is heavy and my stomach churns but I can’t let my fears stop me. With my father so sick, I have to stand up. I must get my family to safety.
The night run is over. It is time for the next journey to begin.