by Ruskin Bond
From far to the left, where the forest was still untouched, a herd of elephants moved towards the river. The leader of the herd raised his trunk and trumpeted a call. Hearing it, the elephant in the road raised its own trunk and trumpeted a reply. Then it shambled off into the forest, in the direction of the herd, leaving the way clear.
"Come, Teju, jump on!" urged Romi. "We can't stay here much longer!"
Chapter 5
Teju forgot about his milk-cans and pulled himself up on the cross-bar. Romi ran forward with the bicycle, to gain speed, and mounted swiftly. He kept as far as possible to the left of the road, trying to ignore the flames, the crackling, the smoke and the scorching heat.
It seemed that all the animals who could get away had done so. The exodus across the road had stopped.
"We won't stop again," said Romi, gritting his teeth. "Not even for an elephant!"
"We're nearly there!" said Teju. He was perking up again.
A jackal, overcome by the heat and smoke, lay in the middle of the path, either dead or unconscious. Romi did not stop. He swerved round the animal. Then he put all his strength into one final effort.
He covered the last hundred yards at top speed, and then they were out of the forest, free-wheeling down the sloping road to the river.
"Look!" shouted Teju. "The bridge is on fire!"
Burning embers had floated down on to the small wooden bridge, and the dry, ancient timber had quickly caught fire. It was now burning fiercely.
Romi did not hesitate. He left the road, riding the bicycle over sand and pebbles. Then with a rush they went down the river-bank and into the water.
The next thing they knew they were splashing around, trying to find each other in the darkness.
"Help!" cried Teju. "I'm drowning!"
Chapter 6
"Don't be silly," said Romi. "The water isn't deep—it's only up to the knees. Come here and grab hold of me.
Teju splashed across and grabbed Romi by the belt.
"The water's so cold," he said, his teeth chattering.
"Do you want to go back and warm yourself?" asked Romi.
"Some people are never satisfied.
Come on, help me get the bicycle up.
It's down here, just where we are standing."
Together they managed to heave the bicycle out of the water and stand it upright.
"Now sit on it," said Romi. "I'll push you across."
"We'll be swept away," said Teju.
"No, we won't. There's not much water in the river at this time of the year. But the current is quite strong in the middle, so sit still. All right?"
"All right," said Teju nervously.
Romi began guiding the bicycle across the river, one hand on the seat and one hand on the handlebar. The river was shallow and sluggish in midsummer; even so, it was quite swift in the middle. But having got safely out of the burning forest, Romi was in no mood to let a little river defeat him.
He kicked off his shoes, knowing they would be lost; and then gripping the smooth stones of the river-bed with his toes, he concentrated on keeping his balance and getting the bicycle and Teju through the middle of the stream. The water here came up to his waist, and the current would have been too strong for Teju. But when they reached the shallows, Teju got down and helped Romi push the bicycle.
They reached the opposite bank, and sank down on the grass.
"We can rest now," said Romi. "But not all night—I've got some medicine to give my father." He felt in his pockets and found that the pills, in their envelope, had turned to a soggy mess. "Oh well, he has to take them with water anyway," he said.
They watched the fire as it continued to spread through the forest. It had crossed the road down which they had come. The sky was a bright red, and the river reflected the colour of the sky.
Several elephants had found their way down to the river. They were cooling off by spraying water on each other with their trunks. Further downstream there were deer and other animals.
Romi and Teju looked at each other in the glow from the fire. They hadn't known each other very well before. But now they felt they had been friends for years.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Teju.
"I'm thinking," said Romi, "that even if the fire is out in a day or two, it will be a long time before the bridge is repaired. So I'm thinking it will be a nice long holiday from school!"
"But you can walk across the river," said Teju. "You just did it."
"Impossible," said Romi. "It's much too swift."