Part 27

Part 27

That night Dr. Nixon was up searching for archives on naxals and news.  At dawn she hit the bed sighing gravely.  “Hope everything goes well!” she prayed.

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“Hey … somebody... help!” they heard the screams and everyone turned to look in the direction.  They couldn't locate.  “Help....!” came another scream... “Mayday...Mayday..!” Dr. Indroneel Ghosh looked at Dhatri suspiciously but she too looked confused searching around.  They saw the back pack!

“Jim....?” Ray Dev (Ravi) was first to recognize and they called back frantically.

“Jim? Is that you?” he called out loudly.  There came a scream in response.  “Help.....!” And Dhatri dashed to the edge.

“Look....!” she yelled and Ray was next to her. 

“Jim?” he called out.  Jim was on the ground some 50-60 feet down clutching his bums and screaming frantically.   Ravi gauged the cliff. 

The Rangers too were shocked to see Jim down there.  The cliff was steep and there was nothing to hang on. 

They had reached the mountain ridge and the vegetation was minimal.  The black basalt columnar structure made it horrifying.  Ravi lied down on the ground to look down over the cliff.  

“Help!” Jim was panic.  The rangers looked around.  One single uprooted dead tree perched precariously over the edge... one single little push and it would land on Jim's head. 

“Hey... we will do something..!” Ravi shouted back optimistically.  The rangers rummaged in their bags taking out nails and hooks .... All were useless for Jim.  They had a situation.

“Are you hurt?” shouted Ravi and Jim turned exposing his torn jeans and bruised bums, blood oozing out.  He was clearly in pain.  Fortunately his hip bones were strong enough to endure the dangerous slide. 

The team up the ridge was struggling and Jim was panic losing his hopes.  “You got to climb up...!” Maria too was flat on the ground surveying the situation.  There was no way Jim could climb up. 

“Rope....!” Dhatri yelled and everyone looked at each other.  They had forgotten...!!

“Wait...!” she said and moved away from them.  Everyone turned to Jim giving him some hope.  The Rangers trying their best to shout instructions to encourage Jim to climb up.  He was totally shaken with wobbling knees and was unable to do anything they shouted at. 

And they all saw the small figure inching closer to Jim.  Maria gasped.  “How did she?” she did not know.  Dhatri had reached Jim down sixty feet.  She made her way next to him in that tiny available space where Jim had somehow propped himself precariously.  The ridge cutting through further down several hundred meters into nothingness...!! The valley looked like a black hole.  Jim had only a few feet clearance to steady himself.

Dhatri had reached him from behind while he was howling frantically for help. 

She held his hand and everyone up above held their breaths.  Maria had gone blue holding her breath.   She exhaled in panic.  “Dhatri!” and looked at ghost like Indroneel.  He had lost his senses on the verge of passing out in panicky. 

Jim turned in fright and seeing Dhatri, clutched on to her for his life.  He hugged her in fright and she patted on his back. 

“How did she reach there?” Ravi saw a ghost in her.  He looked up at Dr. Koite who too had pressed himself on the ground and was looking down clutching his spectacles. 

“How did she reach there?” he asked bewildered looking little relieved.  The rangers too were shocked at her agility.  Jim had not left her.  She tried to pull apart his hands wrapped around her. 

“Stop...Steady...!” she said pulling his hands away from her body.  “Breathe....!” she told him to steady his breath.  “How did you come here?” he turned her to look at her back.  She showed sideways.  There was narrow layer of ridge which connected it to bigger clearance and the slope which would take them up again. 

“You came in through that?” he couldn't believe her and pulled her again in embrace.  She hit him on his back with all her might.  “Stop...!” she ordered pulling herself away.

“Jim... Jim.... Soorie had never stopped yelling in panic.  “Stop shouting...!” Dhatri looked up angrily cupping her mouth and bellowing back at her.  Pin drop silence prevailed.  They could hear a faint whistle of the eagle gliding and hovering far above and panic screeches of monkeys watching the duo. 

“Come..!” she turned to leave the same way she had come.  “No way!” Jim pulled her back.  “You are not going that way again...!” he hugged her to stop her.  She tried wriggling.  He was panic.

“We will wait for someone to airlift us!” 

“Send SOS message... get help!”  he shouted looking up at the hopeless people.

“I am your help!” she said and turned.

“No!” he momentarily had vertigo ...looking down into the deep valley.  Dizziness crept in.

“Rope?” Dhatri shouted a question looking up.  Everyone looked at each other.

“Ok.  M'am... I have a nylon rope in my bag front pocket” Dhatri yelled and Maria got up to retrieve Dhatri's bag.  She took out a bundle of bright florescent green thin rope used to hang washed clothes and showed it to Dhatri.

“Yeah... Tie a stone to it and throw it down.  “ Dhatri knew the forceful wind would sway the rope away.   Ranger did the needful and Dhatri caught hold of the hope. 

“I will tie you up with me and we will go!” she said somehow swaying with the whirlwind coming up from the valley.

“We got to hurry!” she said looking at the darkened valley below.  She looked at the short three meter rope and coiled one end around his waist and held the other end in her hand. 

“Chalo...!” she ordered and he disobeyed.

“No..! I don't want to die..!” he sat down with swollen buttocks and whimpered.  She turned to leave.

“You are not leaving me to die here, are you?” he asked miserably.  She looked up at him.  Her eyes were unfocused... her fingers twitches... her throat went dry... she spoke in a ghostly voice....

“You are unwell....You are not well....” she could sense his discomfort, his pain...! Next moment she was at his back... running her fingers on his sore bottom.  He felt a surge of warmth entering his body.  She closed her eyes and the body temperature soared up... “You will be alright... “ she mumbled and surprisingly his pain subsided.  The warmth entered his body running through his veins giving him soothing sensation... soon his pain vanished and he felt nothing on his bottoms.... he stood like a statue with his eyes closed, calmness filling his heart.  Dhatri broke apart losing her balance with rising temperature...

“Water … water...” She mumbled in despair.  She was suffering.... she was enduring his pain.  They both were helpless.  She had passed out of her senses and he had ran out of water.

“Water... Water...” he shouted desperately and Soorie ran to get the water bottle.  Dhatri had hit the ridge column and sat down helplessly wanting water to revive herself.  Jim had regained his senses desperately wanting to do something to fetch water for Dhatri. 

“Jim... here... catch it...!” Yellled Ravi snatching the bottle from Soumya.  That was their last chance to revive Dhatri.  Jim had to do it and he did like an expert. 

“Pour...Pour...” she mumbled clutching her head with throbbing pain and he poured the water on her head.  Soon she regained her senses and opened her eyes with efforts.

“Thank you...!” she said gratefully and Jim gaped.

“What was that...?” he asked aghast.

“Nothing..I felt dizzy...” she avoided his searching gaze.  He clutched his bottoms...Nothing!! the swelling and Pain had gone, the bleeding had stopped... only the dried, healed bruise  on his bums itched...!! He looked ghostly.

“Are you alright?” he asked her concerned.  “Yes... Let us go!” she said getting up still feeling weak in the knees. 

“No... we will wait here!” he pulled her down again.  But she got up with determination.  She took the other end of the nylon rope and coiled it around her waist.

“Let us go... I will take you up there...~!” and Jim obeyed like a faithful pet…

The moved sideways to their right, Dhatri, followed by Jim with smaller steps pressing their bodies to the solid black columns of stone breathing lightly.

, in the middle of the breathtaking deep cliff.   Dhatri moved twitching her fingers for the grip in the slippery stone columnar walls and Jim followed her footsteps without a word..  The group above closed their eyes praying hard for their safety.  Dhatri was confident and Jim now, had full faith in her. 

“Om Namah Shivaya…. Om Namah Shivaya….” Indroneel kept praying…

“Inhale…. Hold your breath… Move!” Dhatri instructed in a bare whisper and Jim ensued.  They were dangerously parched against the stone with barely a foot of width under their feet. 

“Only few steps… few steps….” Dhatri encouraged herself and Jim.  She held on to the tiny gaps and holes in the mountainous steeps. 

Ninety five feet sideways like a spider sticking to the wall and they were back to a little wider clearing. 

“Stop!... Breathe…” she instructed Jim panting herself, clutching a stich in her sides.  Jim had no courage to look around.  He sat losing all his strength. 

“We got to climb up there…” she showed the steep slope with drying out grass plopping with the wind.  He looked up.  The group had disappeared behind the ridge.

“Ok!” he said panting.  The rope coiled around had tied them together.  She tried to untie the rope around her waist, now that they were out of the narrow ridge. 

“No! Please!” he pleaded stopping her.  She smiled, untying the rope around her.

“Chalo….” She said grinning.  “Chaalo…” he mimicked grinning back at her.

“Jay bolo Mahadev ji ki…” she howled and started crawling up the slope like an animal on four legs, using her hands and knees…. Jim ensued making sure they didn’t slide down again.  The fiftysix minutes drama ended when her head appeared above the ground and Ravi dashed to pull her up.

She had already climbed up and was on her feet bending down to pull up Jim.  He clung on to her and Ravi pulled him up.  Maria couldn’t stop herself and pulled Dhatri into a tight embrace.

“Don’t you ever do that again…. Risking your life!” She warned her tightening her embrace.  Dhatri smiled shyly.  Jim came forward to hug her again but she already had picked up her back pack and moved on.

“Monkey… “ Ravi grinned.

“Langur….” Dhatri retorted turning and thrusting her hands on her hips, sending waves of laughter and sighs. 

“Dhaa…!” Indroneel caught up with her.  She grinned.  He looked grave….

“You….!” He couldn’t complete.

“No!” Dhatri had cut him off and moved ahead with the Rangers. 

Jim kept clutching his buttocks trying to comprehend what he had experienced.  “She is an angel… ! My angel….” Jim had fallen for Dhatri, ready to do anything to win her…..!