Palampur, a few weeks later...
Misty dawn broke in the sleepy village of Palampur as a young girl climbed up the terrace wall on the top floor of a three-storied villa. Gazing at the east in wonder, she inhaled the hazy mist deeply, then looked down the terrace. It was an impressive height, nearly thirty feet from here to the paved courtyard below. A fall from here would be her death.
As usual, she considered jumping straight to the bottom. The idea had always filled her with thrill. She had tried it once when she was nine. She had bullied a stable boy to station an old horse under the terrace and jumped on its back straight from the balcony.
It had caused chaos. The horse had bolted the moment she landed on it, then ran amok through their entire yard in panic before coming to a halt in front of her furious Dadaji.
What followed was obvious. She was grounded for the next whole week. Well, grounded was a funny word for it considering her room was on the top floor. The poor stable boy was never seen around again.
Her Ma was apoplectic. She was strictly forbidden to try the stunt again. Her Dad had kept mum, though she knew he was thrilled his daughter shared his passion for horses and stunts.
Sitting on the wall now, she swung her legs to the other side and grabbed a jasmine vine. It trailed past the corner post right to the ground. This was Ma’s passion, she loved flowers and had planted these creepers when she came to this house as a new bride almost twenty-five years ago. She would not have done so, had she known at the time her daughter would use them as stairs to the ground.
She started her descent trailing past the scented honeysuckle and half-bloomed jasmines. By the time she touched the ground, she was almost dizzy with the cocktail of heady scents. An impatient nicker fell on her ears and she hurried her steps. Aron was getting restless.
“Hush...be quiet Aron. You’ll wake the whole house.”
She nuzzled the horse’s mane and planted a kiss on his side. Aron returned the gesture by licking her face affectionately. Saddling him she guided him out of the stables towards the vast fields that stretched at the back of her house. Her Dadaji, Balwant Rai Sharma owned thousands of acres, including the hills and forests that stretched for miles.
As they rode towards the hills, her heart was thrilled with anticipation. Wind in her face and speed in her wings, that was all she craved for.
*****
About an hour later, a middle-aged woman knocked on the Oak doors of her mistress’s room on the top floor of the villa. It was 7 AM, the usual time for the young mistress’s pre-breakfast snack. A silver trolley stood next to her laden with food - pancakes, strawberry milkshake, scrambled eggs, and toast. Lots of butter and cream, apricot jam, and chocolate spread. It was enough food for at least three people. But she knew her mistress will polish it clean in a few minutes.
Shaking her head she knocked on the door again. There was no sign of movement from inside.
Making up her mind she pushed the door open and entered. The room was pristine, the huge circular bed in the center already made. A fresh morning breeze swayed the silk curtains hung on the open terrace doors as a young morning sun filled the room with a sparkling golden glow.
The room was empty though, its young occupant, as usual, was already up and about.
“Aditi?” Kanta called in a low voice, afraid to wake up the others at this ungodly hour. 7 AM was early enough for her mistress to be up, but the other members of the household had different ideas. Mansi madam and Ravi Sir liked to sleep in late. Their daughter Nehal was usually up but didn’t like to be disturbed in her yoga sessions. Their son Mohit was late to arrive home last night and would not wake up even if a bomb goes off in his ears. Her master Balwant Sharma though was an old, frail man. He had trouble falling asleep most nights. So whatever little he could catch in the morning was too precious to disturb.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Aditi...” She called moving to the bathroom, but it was empty. Sighing heavily, she moved to the terrace, just in time to see a young girl climbing up the wall. A clump of trailing vines hung low enough for her to catch a good hold. Practiced and sure-footed, she climbed like a cat, finally jumping over the terrace wall with feline grace.
Aditi Sharma, the granddaughter of Balwant Rai Sharma and the eldest daughter of the house, landed on the marble floor of the terrace with a soft thud. For a moment, Kanta watched her mesmerized, it felt as if the golden sunlight had taken the form of a vibrant young maiden.
“Good morning, Chachi...,” Aditi leaped crushing Kanta in a bone-crunching hug.
“Hrmph...hmmph...aarrgh!” The maid squeaked trying to extricate herself, but she had to endure it for another ten seconds before the girl loosened her hold.
“Yumm... Pancakes!!” Aditi squealed and was about to grab one when Kanta slapped her hand away.
“Wash those grubby hands first.” She chastised rubbing her aching arms. Golden sunlight or not, the girl had the strength of hard rock. “And I told you not to climb out of that terrace every morning. It’s dangerous. Why can’t you use the stairs like a normal person?” Kanta asked even though she knew the reason already. The room was at the back of the vast house. From there it took a long time to climb down the numerous stairs. Longer, if she had to tiptoe, minding her footsteps not to disturb the others. Climbing down the terrace wall was easy. It hardly took a minute.
“Because I am not normal. You should know that by now Chachi.” Aditi winked and ran to the bathroom to wash her hands. Kanta rolled her eyes. Normal, abnormal, semi-normal, she didn’t care. She wanted Aditi to rein in her wildness. One of these days, it would backfire. One of these days, she’d get into trouble.
“Don’t worry Chachi. I’ve been doing it all my life. I won’t fall and break my leg, I promise.” Grinning widely, Avani hugged her again planting a loud smack on her cheek. Kanta wiped it away furiously.
“You can at least wear something decent before jumping out on Aron. What if someone sees? What will people think?” She gave a horrified look to the very short shorts and a very cropped crop top that her young charge was wearing. Really, girls these days had no sense of propriety. In her day, this attire would pass as innerwear. For some girls, it still did, like Nehal in the other room.
“You know these are my favorite pajamas, Chachi. Dad got these for me when...” She stopped mid-sentence as a shadow passed her face.
Kanta nodded wryly. Of course. These pajamas were bought when the girl was fourteen. At the time, they were too big for her, so had lain in the cupboard unused. Now she lived in them.
“So how far did you go this morning?” Kanta asked, trying to shrug the images of two beautiful people that floated in her mind.
“Just around the field. The usual,” the girl answered casually.
Which meant she’d gone to the hills, Kanta pursed her lips. It was reckless, she wanted to snap but controlled her urge.
“Why can’t one of the grooms take Aron?” Kanta asked in irritation and glanced at the bandage covering the girl’s left thigh. The wound was healing too slowly, some days she could see red dots on the girl’s trousers. “That wound will open up again if you keep riding like this. You need to rest. What’s the point of being a doctor if you can’t even take care of yourself?”
Aditi shook her head. “It will heal when it does Chachi,” she answered gulping her milkshake. “And Aron wouldn’t let anyone else touch him. He prefers me.”
Yeah, right, Kanta sighed as she watched as the girl kept shifting her leg. Clearly, she was in pain. Her wounds took their own time to heal. Some didn’t heal at all. Some left ugly scars. Kanta knew there was no way around it, doctor or not.
“So what’s the plan for the day?” She asked placing a couple of painkillers next to Aditi's plate. Her mistress was an odd one. Some days she spent out in the fields or at the racing club riding Aron from dawn till dusk. Some days her city friends descended on her and she was swamped in a string of parties and picnics. Some days she was just reclusive and stayed in her room. Kanta wondered what she did on those days. She would see her medical books scattered around the room and old photos of her parents littering the place.
Aditi shrugged. “The Raisinghs have got some new horses. Grandpa Raisingh wants me to have a look at them.”
Kanta sighed. It was just as she expected. Aron had had his day’s exercise but her mistress's day had just begun. And it was clear she was looking forward to more horseplay.
***** *****