"I spy you" - 76

Vasupradha’s mind was in turmoil. What to do now? She felt that Amruta would be in trouble and needs her to be present.

She took some more minutes to think and looked out. As luck would have it, there was no one to mind the class during her absence.

She was very worried about Amruta. But she could not do anything. Added to this, a kid was little home sick and she had to give extra time to take care of the kid.

When the time came to close the school for the day, she was thankful and rushed home. Vaasu seemed to know her tension and kept silent.

She reached home and called Amruta. She was not seen anywhere.

She suspected that Amruta must have been taken a prisoner by SahishNu. Vasu was at a loss not knowing what to do.

Vaasu started making small noises which made Vasu to forget other things. She went to the kitchen and found that the food was prepared. Vasu frowned. The food was quite hot.

Does that mean Amruta was here all this time? Does that mean SahishNu did not come here immediately? Or did he come just before Vasu entered the house and took away Amruta? What would have done with Amruta? Suppose something had happened to her, what would happen to Vaasu?

The questions started swirling in Vasu’s head. But she removed her thoughts and fed Vaasu and after playing with him for a few moments, she put him to sleep.

She was not able to eat anything though she was hungry. She sat on a chair next to the bed of Vaasu and kept a hand on his chest so as to make him sleep well.

At that silent moment she heard a faint sound. Or was it loud enough for her to hear? She could not know. She got up quietly and went to the back of the house from where she was getting the sound.

When she saw the body lying in the bushes, she gasped for air. There, in the bushes, was lying Amruta’s body.

Body? She rushed nearby and found with a sigh of relief that Amruta was alive. She rushed back to the kitchen and brought a utensil full of water and sprinkled the water on Amruta’s face.

She whimpered and tried to get up. She was feeling the back of her head. Vasu touched the back of Amruta’s head and she found some blood stuck to her hand.

She forced Amruta to get up and slowly took her inside and made her to sit on the chair. With the help of an antiseptic lotion, she washed the back of Amruta’s head. The blow was bad. But not very bad to make her get admitted to the hospital.

Amruta opened her eyes and smiled feebly at Vasu. She tried to tell something. But Vasu tried to shush her. Amruta was eager to say something. “It is the same person. He attacked me again!”

Vasu could not believe her ears. What did she mean? Pushpahaasa? Was he the attacker? She was perplexed to even think further. The name hidden in her heart’s depth had surfaced again!!