Abhirath frowned in concentration and nodded distractedly.
"But I don't know how to help in this one," she lowered her voice and told him as the children from the archery team started gathering around her and Abhirath in a semicircle.
He patted her arm and told her to follow his instructions. Surveying the group, he started identifying the kids who will stand in the bottom most line and the ones who would climb to the top. Counting the number of children, he formed a rough idea of how tall a pyramid they could build.
In the Track team's corner
Unknown to Mriga, Vindhya had been a mentor to the athletics team along with Yash. Though her forte was horse riding and sword fighting, neither of those had been included in the sports meet for the juniors. But Vindhya wanted to showcase her superior athletic skills and hence had volunteered to 'help' in the Track team. All during the practice and the meet, she has stayed attached to her group of children and not imposed herself even once upon Yash. After the first couple of polite interactions, he had relaxed visibly when he saw her relaxed attitude towards his presence.
Patience was a virtue and she knew that really well. For the past two weeks, she had not interacted or engaged into any conversation with Yash beyond the bare minimum. But now the unexpected turn of events had given her an opportunity to play the perfect damsel in distress. Human pyramid was now her favourite game!
Archery team
"Err, Abhirath, I am too heavy to stand on anyone's shoulders. Also, my balance is not my strongest point. I may end up making the team lose their coordination," she bit her lower lip, worriedly.
He shook his head and said, "Don't overthink it. I need you to stand in the second line to even out the numbers. More importantly, I am strong enough to carry your weight. All you need to do is focus on keeping your shoulders relaxed and in one position to keep the one above you stable. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
She compressed her lips hard to stop herself from protesting further. The shout from the podium indicated that the time had started for them to start the formation. The best pyramid would be adjudged on the basis of its height and holding time. For example, if two pyramids had the same height, the one who stood for longer period, would automatically win. If the pyramids had different heights, equal weightage will be attached to both height and time to calculate the final score.
It had been five seconds since Mriga had been standing on Abhirath's shoulders and a little girl was standing on hers. She could feel the trickle of sweat slide off her back in that seemingly long period. But thankfully she felt that they were stable enough and maybe could last for a while longer.
Suddenly she heard a loud shout from a far end corner but dared not turn even her eyeball to look in that direction. Eight seconds had passed and she could hear the kids above quiet and concentrating on their breathing as Abhirath had taught them all.
"He is a wonderful teacher," the unexpected thought suddenly came to her.
Now she regretted having refused his help on the first day when he had tried to give her pointers on her archer form. Maybe she will ask him when they finished with the meet.
"Aaaaccchhhhhhooooo…" one of the kids at the top sneezed.
And they all came tumbling down. Mriga shrieked in horror as she saw the entire line collapsing on top of her. There was nothing that she could do except wait for them to take her down alongwith.
With her eyes shut and a loud scream, she fell as well and was immediately crushed under someone's weight. Bracing herself for pain, she curled into a ball but realized after a moment that she wasn't getting hurt despite the kids falling down. Raising her head sideways, she saw that she was trapped under Abhirath who had shielded her body with his own and taken the weight of the falling kids on his back.
There was acute pain etched on his face which spurred her into action. She rolled from under him and tried to help him get up. He shook his head, grimacing in pain and gestured towards the crying kids. Reluctantly, she left him sitting on the ground and went to calm down and manage the scared looking kids. She delegated the task of carrying the injured children to the medical facility, to the ones who were unharmed with a couple of older kids who had come to help. After they had left, she rushed back to Abhirath and helped him get up. Slipping an arm under his shoulder. She tried to help him walk but staggered under his weight.
"Let me help you," Vandit came running to them.
She shot him a grateful smile while Abhirath only grunted in pain. Mriga was feeling terribly guilty. She knew that he had gotten hurt so badly because he didn't move from his position and took the brunt of the falling kids on her behalf.
Reaching the overflowing medical dispensary, she went looking for some help. Vandit made Abhirath sit on the porch outside the medical room and clapped Abhirath's shoulder with enthusiasm.
Looking at his friend wince in pain, he said, "Sorry, so sorry. I forgot about your injury for a moment. That's because I got carried away by your heroic act to save your girl. I was in the perfect place to watch what you did for her. I didn't know that you were the knight in shining armour types!"