Chapter 12
“I was a shepherd up there once, Saab. We were a happy family. I used to tend the flock and sometimes used to take my son along with me. It is good if you know the shortcuts in the hills. It can save a lot of time.” Rampal related to them. Nathan was getting more and more impatient and Rampal sensed that. But he took his time. “I also did business as a guide and built the guest huts myself. One day, three Englishmen came to my huts and wanted to stay. I was uncomfortable with the idea but conceded. They stayed overnight and the next morning I took two of them for sight seeing around the mountain. One of them was too drunk to wake up early. So I left him in the care of my wife and son.”
“When I returned in the evening”, Rampal was now sobbing and wiped his tears, my wife was lying outside my hut, dead, and the hut was on fire. The Englishman was gone. My son…” he almost choked on his own voice “… had perished in the fire.” He was crying now, hiding his face in his hands.
“What was your son’s name?” Nathan could not think of a better question to comfort the man.
“Tembul, Saab”, replied Rampal, sulking between breaths. Nathan wished that he would stop calling him ‘Saab’.
Dhiru, watching the whole episode came and sat by Rampal, next to the big table. He patted Rampal on the shoulder and asked “But, why shouldn’t we go there?”
Rampal, lifted his head from between his palms, his eyes were a pale red like that of a person who has not slept for a few days. And Dhiru saw something else in those eyes. Terror. Rampal shook his head vigorously and was breathing through his mouth. “He still lives, Saab. Tembul lives! He has a grudge on all of humanity. Anyone who goes into the jungle never comes back. They become a part of it. Like a creeper, supporting another… or like a root hanging from a tree or a branch or…he commands the jungle, he can assume any form, he is the jungle…” his voice grew hysterical and he let out a loud cry. “He died when he was alone and he will take anyone who is alone…”
Everyone in the office looked towards the table and then continued working. Parshuram came back from his place to the table and addressed Nathan “I told you, sir, this man is crazy. He lost his son in a fire up in the cottages and is unstable since then. Nobody goes up there now, although…”
“Don’t go up there, Saab, don’t…” Rampal interrupted Parshuram and held Dhiru’s arm in a tight grip, his eyes almost pleading.
Nathan figured that it was worth going back and giving it a try than to stay here any longer.
But instead of going alone they would do well to notify the police and go back searching. Dhiru and Nathan, after all, were not very familiar with the area.
“Where is the Police Station?” Nathan asked Parshuram.
Parshuram grinned and pointed to a small round table at the other end of the room, where two policemen sat sipping tea. It seemed that the post office served as a local helpline. And owing to the large size of the hall, there was no doubt about it…
They had wasted enough time already. He signaled Dhiru to come. Parshuram held Rampal and tried to placate him, who was still screaming and pleading his cause with them. Nathan walked in the direction of the policemen.
“Now?” exclaimed a surprised policeman, when Nathan explained their situation to him “It’s almost sundown! We have no chance of finding your students up there in the dark. It’ll take an hour and a half to reach the road, seventeen kilometers from here…”
“Don’t you understand, those kids could be trapped somewhere in the snow…”Nathan exclaimed to the two men, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
One of the policemen got up and laid a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Let’s be practical Mr. er…” but Nathan did not speak. In the short introduction when Nathan had explained his situation to them, he had far from remembered giving them his name. The man continued “It will take more than an hour to go up there, and the same to come back. Its five thirty already. Besides its going to be dark soon, how effective would your search be?”
Nathan knew that the man was right, but he did not want to believe him. He sat down on the stool next to the table. Dhiru had never seen him appear so desperate.
The man in khakhi threw another argument “And your vehicle” he pointed out of the misted glass at the place where Dhiru had parked their jeep “probably does not have enough fuel right now, to travel another seventeen…say forty kilometers back up to here.”
The other uniformed policeman joined in “We will leave early tomorrow, and conduct a more organized search…besides, who knows your students might turn up anytime…”
Nathan looked out of the window. It was getting dark. They had little choice. Parshuram came to their table…instinctively Nathan threw a glance in the direction of the big table. Rampal was sitting on the ground, his knees close together, and his head buried in them.
“Can we send a telegram to Palampur Post Office…?” Nathan asked Parshuram. The postmaster nodded gravely and said “Sure we can”. Palampur Post office was notified of the situation and Nathan and Dhiru were shown upstairs to the second floor of the Post Office. People began taking their leave. It was six in the evening.