When the tide turned .MithviFF-Part 17 updt Pg32

When the tide turned '..

Stunned he looked at Lakhan. He felt as if someone had punched him in the gut.

"What did you say ?", he hissed gritting his teeth.

Lakhan roared with laughter." Lakhan Takur replaced Datta Thakur's note with another one, ordering you to kill that girl from the city".

Prithvi felt his vision go black, Oh God, what had he done ! He had fallen into the deceitful trap laid by Lakhan .

He shoved Lakhan out of the way and leapt into the jeep, praying that some miracle would have saved her life. He drove like a man possessed, with scant regard for anything but reaching the spot where he had thrown her of the cliff.

He stood at the edge of the cliff and scanned the valley below, it was already dark and he could not see clearly. He slowly made his way down the slope, treading carefully over the slippery pebbles and loose soil. Suddenly he saw a dim glimmer, he bent down and picked up what turned out to be a jhumka ' her ear-ring !

Hoping against hope he hurried forward. He then found her torn sandals. Sending up another prayer, he forged ahead and suddenly stopped, in front of him on the rocky ledge,  her slender form was draped on the low branch of a gnarled tree. The tree had stopped her fall !

Slipping and sliding he made his way down. She was unconscious, bleeding from several cuts and bruises. Gingerly he felt her pulse, it was too faint for him to be sure. He placed his finger below her nostril and almost wept with relief, she was breathing !

With renewed vigour, he carefully lifted her in his arms and began the arduous trek back to the jeep. Placing her carefully on the passenger seat and fixing the seat belt, he started the jeep.

A few kilometers ahead the jeep spluttered and came to a halt. He cursed under his breath and got off to check what was wrong. On opening the hood thick smoke billowed out indicating overheating of the engine. Helplessly, he looked around; there he was in the middle of no-where with an injured girl and no help in sight. True to the forecast a storm seemed to be brewing and the winds picked up speed.

He walked over and looked at her; she was still unconscious and looked very pale. Suddenly he heard something, the faint sound of temple bells. Hope surged once again and he tried to fathom from which direction the sound came.

He picked up her limp form in his arms once more and set off in the direction of the ringing bells. Soon enough he was at the foot of a hillock, on which there was a small temple. He carried her up the stone steps and looked around to see if there was anyone around. There was no sign of anyone there. He sighed, the priest must have gone back to the village for the night, he assumed. He laid her down in a sheltered alcove and went around to check if there was some place they could rest for the night.

Behind the temple he was surprised to see a small cottage ! So the priest lived here after all, maybe he could help them. He hurried to the door and tapped loudly. When there was no response, he noticed that the door was locked. Sending a silent apology towards the heavens he lunged at the door and felt it give way.

As he entered he found a Spartan room with the bare minimum for a person to survive. Thanking his stars for small mercies, he ran around to bring her in the shelter away from the howling winds.  He gently placed her on the charpoy and covered her with a sheet. Looking around her found a lantern and lit it. The light from the lantern revealed a clay oven, some firewood, a few utensils and some tins ' provisions, he assumed.

He lit the oven and heated up some water from the well outside. Wetting his kerchief in the warm water, he gently wiped the blood off her face, arms and feet. By then she had developed a slight temperature.  He found some turmeric and applied it on the cuts. He lifted her salwar, where the iron trap had bitten into her leg and bathed the wound with warm water. He prayed she'll be alright till he can take her to a doctor. He began systematically giving her cold compress to get the temperature down.  He placed the wet cloth on her forehead, palms and feet. How long he sat there, he never knew and finally out of sheer exhaustion he dozed off.

He awoke with a start as he was being shaken by someone. He saw an elderly man looking at him questioningly.  Relieved that someone was there to help them, he explained his problem and apologized for having broken into the house.

The priest took one look at the girl and said that he could give him some herbal medicine for the wounds and fever.  In a short while he had gathered some herbs and leaves from his garden and made a paste of it.