From the author's desk: Hello people, Thanks so much for your wnderful wonderful comments... here is the next update... and yeah.. do let me know if I am sounding kiddish... I somehow have a feeling coming in as if this story is so silly... PMs will be later after I update the other two as well.
One of the search teams which had gone in had returned back and they had brought some news.
"This should be a valuable clue…" One of the men from the search team told his comrade as they crossed the three men to reach to their camp tent.
Arnav and others tried to talk to the officer to see if they found the girls or if they got some clue as to where they could be.
The officer looked busy for some time and was trying hard to avoid the reporters who were thirsty for information. Finally the officer called the three men.
"Mr.Raizada, my search team found some jewelry in the jungle… an Anklet…can you please identify if this belongs to your sister?"
"My sister doesn't wear an anklet- it could not be hers" Arnav told the officer
"Oh then it could belong to one of the other two girls – We do not have their family here…I need to ask their classmates then"
"Can I see if it's Payal's?" Akaash asked the officer.
"Oh sure, if you can identify, it would be great, please come with me"
"Alright" Akaash told him as he and his friends followed the officer to the tent were they had setup their office temporarily.
Arnav and NK stood out when Akaash went it and scrutinized the anklet
"No sir, this is not Payal's" Akaash told him and was about to hand it over, when Arnav saw the anklet in Akaash's hand by chance.
He crossed the distance that separated him from his friend the next moment, snatching the piece from his hand
"This …..this is Kushi's" He said is a hoarse voice as Akaash and NK who followed him in stared at him in Surprise
"Are you sure?"
"I am very certain- I know this is Kushi's- where did your team find this?"
"In the Jungle" the officer told as he got his walkie talkie "Tushar, its one of the girls… can you come in here for a moment?"
A few seconds later a man in his uniform came in a saluted to the officer.
"Tushar, I think we need to follow the blood trail then…"
"Yes Sir, the team is ready to go in again- its getting dark, we would need dogs for sniffing – it would be difficult to get back otherwise"
"I have already asked for the dogs Tushar, the team will be here in a few minutes, you can go in then"
"yes sir"
They saw the man leaving the tent
"Thanks gentleman, you can wait in your camps- we will let you know when we get some news" The officer gracefully dismissed the threesome
"What blood trail are you talking about?" Arnav asked as a cold fear rose in him
"We found some blood near the place where this anklet was found. We have given that sample to the lab, they should be out with some results by now… we will have to see if it is one of the girl's or if it is someone else's"
"What if it is one of the girl's?"
"I don't know sir, it could be anything- we can't say… Any wild animal could have attacked them… or they could have got hurt- we don't know- we will hope for the best"
The officer got another call then and he briefly spoke into the phone.
"They have found the blood to be O +ve- What is your sister's Mr.Raizada?"
"She is AB+ve"
"Payal's is B+ve" Akash volunteered
Unexplained fear and panic rose in Arnav as he struggled not knowing if Kushi was O+ve when the officer tried to find out from her classmates and professor if anyone knew Kushi's blood group.
"I think Kushi's is O+ve" one of the students told the officer. I remember vaguely… I am not sure though"
Arnav shuddered as images of some wild animal tearing a screaming kushi and dragging her off haunted his mind.
He kept throwing his fist in frustration against the tree where the threesome stood. NK nudged Akaash. And the two exchanged glances. They had been doing this a lot for the past one hour after they found him so sure about Kushi's anklet and soon after his agitation when he kept muttering that it should not be her.
"Enough is enough" Arnav told as he took out his mobile and dialed someone.
"Whats got into him?" Akash hushed to NK "Is he worried about Kushi or Anjali?"
NK merely shrugged and smirked.
"Uncle?... uncle this is Arnav……No we didn't get any news yet….. yeh… Uncle one more thing…..What's Kushi's bloodgroup? ……No no nothing- just a precautionary measure that's all….
Yeah oh… Are you sure? Oh fine then(smiles)…. alright….thanks Uncle…Sure uncle….I will let you know"
Akaash and NK stood watching the new side of their friend as he finally finished his call with Shashi Gupta and smiled at them
"Its not her- she is B+ve" Arnav told them and then marched off to rely this news to the officer as the friends saw a spring in his step and stole glances at each other again.
***
"And if we are not virgins?" Kushi asked Jeanne
"They will kill you" came the reply
"Better than this wedding thing" Kushi commented as the other girls agreed.
"I have a better plan- I am going to tell them that you are virgins" Jeanne told the girls
"for what? Getiing us prospective groom and turning us into sautanis?" Anjali asked her sarcastically
"NO, to buy you all time" Jeanne told her
"We don't get you, how will this buy us time?" Payal asked her
"if there is'nt going to be a wedding they will kill you right away before sunset- if there is going to be a wedding- they would prepare for a grand fight inviting any man who is interested- the one who wins will wed you tomorrow by sunrise"
"So do we get an entire night to escape?" Anjali asked happily
"No…The man who wins this evening then gets to be with you all in the night"
"What?" Kushi screamed "you said the wedding happens in the morning"
"Yes, but the wedding happens after consummation" Jeanne explained as they heard knocks at the door.
Shock coursed through the girls
"This is worser than killing- tell them to kill us off" Payal told Jeanne. The other two agreed. By this time, Anjali had started to weep silently.
"Don't open that door" she pleaded with Jeanne.
"This is not done… simply not done…. " Kushi whispered to Jeanne "you told us that you will help us escape"
The knocks at the door got violent and urgent.
Jeanne looked at the girls
"Do you trust me?"
The girls looked at her for some time before they nodded.
"I am going to open that door and tell them that you are virgins… I shall tell you all what to do to escape from here at the right time"
The girls saw as Jeanne went and opened the door. The Ladies who were sent out stood there as Jeanne told them something and they nodded towards the girls and then they made some weird noise with their tongues and went out to the dais where the men were gathered.
The girls stood in the cottage hearing some cheers from the crowd. Jeanne came in again after a few minutes to see the girls standing against one of the walls of the cottage looking very scared at the floor where a Monkey sat snarling at them.
The search team stood around the area where the anklet was found, a team of men with dogs were there too.
The officer stood there as another man marked the area where they saw maximum blood spots and then the bloody footprints vanished into the mud thereby.
Arnav and his friends stood there as the men kept analyzing what could have happened.
"Sir, I suppose that there was someone here who was hurt and the girls stopped here to help that person. Maybe it was a tribal and as you know, out of fear, the person should have started running and the girls should have chased that person to treat him" one of the men in the search team told the officer.
"But this place is half a mile from the cottage where the girls were working" the officer pointed out
"The girls could have lost their way" someone else pointed out.
"For now we have only this blood trail- we will try and follow where the dogs take us" someone else suggested.
Just then Nk found something glittering in the ground a little away and bent to pick it up.
This gained everyone's attention.
"This is my compass dial" NK declared "I had given it to Anjali"
As Arnav looked on NK continued
"You remember Arnav? She asked you for one and I told her to take mine? This is my trekking compass- its broken now"
Arnav nodded as he recognized the compass dial too.
"Yes Officer, he is right, this was with my sister – she must have dropped it"
The officer took the compass dial in his hands and he too observed it was broken
"This explains why the girls lost their way" he commented. "Alright team start now. Try to find something before sunset today" the officer commanded his search team as the dogs along with the trainers went towards the direction of the blood trail
"But officer, we found the dial on this side… may be they went this way…" Arnav told the officer
"you found it here on the foot of this steep slope.. Do you intend to tell me that the girls might have successfully climbed this steep slope? Sorry but we are following the blood trail." The officer told him "this is more of circumstantial evidence and that is definite evidence"
Akaash pointed out to Arnav where the muddy slope had indications- footsteps which had tried to climb up there and had slipped.
"Yes, may be" Arnav told the officer
"Look Mr.Arnav- this is why I asked you all to wait there- I didn't let you come with us… till this far was fine- I can't let you after this- please go back to the camp…"The man told him curtly and irritatingly
"Jayanth, Have'nt I asked you to keep an eye on these people? Take them to the base camp." The officer told as he went further away to check what the experts had to say about some streaks on blood and foot steps.
The one called Jayanth came near them
"please co-operate with us sir, please come with me"
Arnav, Akaash and NK had no other go but to follow him. Then Akaash saw Arnav removing his watch and throwing it away on the other direction and looked at him curiously. Arnav winked at him and then exclaimed suddenly
"Hey Akaash, isn't there something over there?" Arnav asked pointing to his watch.
This drew Jayanth's attention. They all went towards that area and Jayanth called the others along with the officers, while they were busy with the new find, Arnav sleekly pulled his friend's collars and disappeared behind that steep slope.
To be continued
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