At The Threshold of Time

8.

Shivali decided to follow him. She knew it could be a lie. She knew that it was the middle of the night and that he was a stranger. But when she saw Ajay Pratap's back disappear beneath the hole, she found herself moving despite herself.

Her relatively smaller body slipped easily through and landed softly in a larger tunnel.

She got to her feet, crouching. Ajay Pratap was screwing open a wooden torch stuck to a holder on the wall. He was half bent, and he had to lay the torch against the tunnel wall before he managed to light it.

Pulling it up he turned to her, illuminating their faces.

'Does this really lead to the river?' Shivali whispered, her words echoing through the tunnel.

'How else do you think I found you there?' He grinned and holding his torch-holding arm outstretched and away from them, began skittering carefully.

Shivali followed him, stifling her urge to laugh at his efforts. As they made slow progress, Shivali marvelled in awe at the bare walls of the tunnel. The heavy dust filling it overpowered her nose and made them sneeze. The walls, though bare, were alive with crawlers of all sorts scattering away at the sight of them.

'Is this why you told the vaidyaji you found me in the city? Because he doesn't know about the tunnel?'

Ajay Pratap returned a strained grunt in agreement. Beads of sweat trickled down his bare back. He had forgone his shawl today.

'Bringing me back through this tunnel must have been a feat,' Shivali observed after a while. 'Did you drag me by my legs?'

Ajay half turned back, giving her a side eye and shook his head. 'I sent people to bring you back.'

That possibility had not occurred to Shivali.

After walking for what might have been two hours, Ajay finally stopped and sighed in relief. Putting the torch out, he patted it around the ground till it hit something solid.

He got to his feet, holding a bamboo stick about a metre long, and began poking at the ceiling. Just when Shivali gave up hope of ever finding the exit, a wooden plank came loose and fell to the ground with a muffled thud, making her scream.

Throwing the stick back onto the ground, he lifted himself through the hole and helped Shivali up.

The sudden gust of fresh air welcomed them to the clearing where Shivali had spent the night.

The sky was a soft midnight blue with white strips of clouds swimming languidly by.

Ajay Pratap stumbled up to the river and washed his face. Standing back up with his hands on his waist, he looked around, satisfied.

Shivali followed him. The cool splash of the river water washed the dust out of her nose and mouth. She felt more awake than ever.

They sat right at the bank, the river water flowing refreshingly between their legs and further down the slope.

The scent of wet soil and the peacocks crying hauntingly in the distance kept them quiet for a while.

'This might be the coolest thing I've ever done,' Shivali noted as she counted the pebbles in the water, breaking the silence.

Ajay Pratap smiled. 'I discovered this when I was eleven,' he explained. 'I was trying to escape archery class, I loathed the instructor,' he laughed softly. 'Father was outrageous when I refused to tell him where I had gone off to. I knew there had to be more of such passages, and found them too, but it took many years.'