Early morning, Kapilasena with bottles of milk rang the gate bell of the bungalow, as there was nobody to be seen. He called out Periyavar a few times. Nandana Menike was wake up by that noise. Since Periyavar had gone down the garden, she had to walk up the gate to open it.
"Bappe, are you going somewhere today…?" She asked Kapilasena when he was about to leave.
"Is Grandma sleeping still…?" Responding to her question with his body language, he was inquiring about Koinamma.
"Yes… still asleep because of the drugs… I didn't wake her up…"
Nandana Menike understood the urgency he had to meet Koinmenika.
"Feeding cows…?"
Nandana Menike was concerned about the provision of food for the cows in case Kapilasena went away.
"I tied them in the Peter's garden early in the morning after milking… His wife told me that she would give them some leaves…"
"Will it be evening when you are coming back…?" She was sure that he was sweating over to find out Yasawathi.
"Can't say exactly… if there's a big crowd at the Devale, it would take some time…"
"Devale…?"
"Yes… Ambale Devale… said to be a miraculous place…!"
If you go there being devoted your-self by refraining from carnivore diets and liquor consecutively for three days and tie a "Panduru" (offering), wherever she is, she is said to be brought back…" Kapilasena stressed being an ardent believer in that.
His words pacified Nandana Menike's confused mind to a great extent.
"Bappe, what about your breakfast…? Still with an empty stomach…?" Without her knowledge, the words came out of her mouth as she had the ability to prepare an instant breakfast for him.
"I'm going with Peter…" Nandana Menike guessed that he would be taking breakfast at Peter's place.
"I prepared meals for you too… There's Pittu with meat curry…" said Periyavar coming towards them.
Since Nandana Menike insisted him to take breakfast, he couldn't refuse it. Kapilasena didn't eat meat curry as he was going to the Devala. Periyavar with the help of Nandana Menike prepared coconut milk gravy. He had to wait there for some time till Koinmenika woke up. Long sleep had helped her to recover from her illness to a great extent. She thought she would be able to see her daughter's face within a few days as she observed Kapilasena's untiring efforts to locate Yasawathi. There was much hope about the arrival of Yasawathi along with the casting out of the power of the spell.
Bernard went out by his Volkswagen car about one hour after Kapilasena left. Shortly afterwards their departure, Nandana Menike heard the telephone ringing.
"Menike… Menike…" Periyavar came running from the second floor.
The call was from Sandra to Nandana Menike.
"Hello… Nanda…!"
"Hamu Nona…," She was highly pleased to hear from Sandra.
"Why do you call me 'Hamu Nona'…?" In an amiable tone of voice, she asked over the phone.
Nandana Menike smiled without responding.
"Did Bernard leave early morning…?"
"Yes, a few minutes ago…"
Nandana Menike heard Sandra heaving a deep sigh.
"What happened to your mother…? Why did she leave home all of a sudden…? Was there a family problem or a heated argument…?"
"No…"
"Then…?"
"Postman's aunty is said to have cast a spell on mother…"
"I don't believe in that black magic… How is your grandma…?" Sandra took no notice of what Nandana Menike said.
"Now look better…"
"Feel extremely sorry for her… How much does she mentally and emotionally suffer…?
There was an indication of sympathy and compassion embedded in her words.
She talked a lot of stuff about Australia with Nandana Menike. Since the wedding was on the following day, she elaborated more on it. She strongly believed that Bernard would go there even being late. Though Nandana Menike was well aware that Bernard would not be going to Colombo, she decided not to utter a single word about it. Though Sandra talked a lot about the wedding and other stuff, she didn't spare a single word about Nandana Menike's father, who was her brother. This created a big vacuum of doubt in Nandana Menike's mind.
"Did Sandra Hamu's brother come…?"
Eventually she was able to line up some words with much difficulty to get some clue about her father. Sandra pondered why Nandana Menike, when inquiring about Victor, didn't use the word 'father' to address him. The brief pause in her made Nandana Menike rather confused and unconsciously she heaved a long sigh.
"Day before yesterday he came… He inquired about you… will leisurely speak to you…"
Nandana Menike was wondering as to why he didn't have such regard for her whereas she had for her father.
Then, Sandra told her of Victor's idea of coming to Sri Lanka after three months, giving some sort of hopes for her to see him. But, in reality, Victor had not mentioned anything of that sort to Sandra. She found herself in a precarious situation as why Victor did not spare a single word regarding either Nandana Menike or her future. This seemed to be a puzzle for Sandra.