A foreign company was entrusted with the mega project to construct a new road network through the boundaries of the range of mountains around the reservoir, for the roads that would be submerged under the construction of work of the Victoriya Reservoir. The Vegala Bodhiya, which was known to be a place of worship for ages, was to be removed from that place as it became a stumbling block to the construction of the new road network. Since there were many stories centered around the Bo- tree, particularly its miraculous power, the villagers didn't support the removal of it with the belief that it would bring harm to them. A foreign engineer sarcastically disregarding the rituals of the folk, attempted to uproot the Bo-tree; surprisingly when the bulldozer was moved close to the Bo-tree, the engine of the bulldozer stopped functioning due to a technical error, which nobody could comprehend. The villagers tried to take the engineer away from that job telling him of the miraculous power of the Bo-tree. Disbelieving the myths of the village folk, he again tried his best to start the bulldozer and remove it. He placed the blade of the bulldozer against the tree and accelerated it with full vigor thinking of disillusioning the mindset of the people there. Unexpectedly the blade slipped off and the bulldozer went out of control. The result of it was it ran out of the ground and overturned in the slope. Eventually the swollen-headed engineer lost one of his hands. That miracle was believed to be the result of the rituals Ambale exorcist performed at the Bo-tree. This news flew across the village in no time, and this news made Kapilasena respect and believe more towards the Ambale exorcist.
"Within three months Yasawathi is supposed to be back definitely… The power of the spell will be cast off… That's what the exorcist said…"
Koinmenika released a sigh of relief while combing Nandana Menike's hair looking for lice.
"The exorcist doesn't like to harm anybody… If the spell is returned, it will bring more harm to the people who did it… No excuse at all…"
Nandana Menike turned her head towards Kapilasena.
"Don't move child… you see…! Infected with lice…!" words came to her mouth without her knowledge.
"What they sow. they shall reap… None can stop… if our one comes it would be more than enough…"
It was a consolatory thought for Nandana Menike as Koinmenika had no grudges against Samantha's family.
"If the spell was cast off, we could have taken her home within a couple of days… but the exorcist doesn't like it… He did it in such a way that Yasawathi will be freed from all evil powers and with peace of mind she will be back causing no harm to anybody…"
Koinmenika again released a long breath as she thought she had to wait for another few more days to see Yasawathi's face.
"Punchi Amma…"
Kapilasena's tone drew Koinmenika's attention as she guessed Kapilasena had something special to ask. She turned a quizzical look at Kapilasena inviting him to come out with the matter he had to share.
"Without making the new door frames and window frames for the new house in Ulhitiya, what about reusing the door and window frames of the new home here….?"
She understood his plan of using the doors and window frames of the recently built home for the Ulhitiya home.
"Will Hamu like this to be demolished…?"
"If this goes underwater, somehow we have to…"
"Will this area really go underwater…?"
Koinmenika still believed that the area located at such a high elevation would not go underwater.
"How dare do you say so…? Didn't you see the sign marked near the tamarind tree on the upper road… just ahead of the spout…!"
"Though it is marked… who knows…? Besides, you see where the river is…?"
"Anyway, you just ask Hamu… if he says 'no' let's ask for the jack tree down the garden… near the fence…" He didn't wish to challenge Koinmenika's stance.
"Even if you are allowed to demolish the house, he won't give you a chance to destroy this fauna and flora…" Koinmenika expressed with firm confidence.
"All the trees that could go underwater are removed by the government. You see… all the coconut trees on either side of the river have already been cut down…"
Koinmenika looked at him with her eyes wide open being unable to believe what Kapilasena said was true or false.
"Yes, grandma…. I too saw the tress which is to be cut down have been marked with numbers…" Nandana Menike added more evidence to prove what Kapilasena said.
"These trees are not marked… May not come up to this…"
"No… No…, they mark the trees step by step. In another two three weeks' time these trees also will follow the same course…" Kapilasena educated the elderly woman further.
"Will we have to leave all these really…?"
Still Koinmenika was obsessed with the idea that the vicinity in which she was living would not be submerged. She had no willingness to say good bye to her surrounding in which she had been living for two three generations.
"Why not…? Definitely we will have to go…. we don't have more than one year… Half of the dam is said to have already been completed…"
Koinmenika perceived the inevitability of staying there for long if the construction work of the dam had been expedited in that way. She guessed Bernard's change in behaviour, and stressful nature could have been as a result of that reason.
"Now, Hamu is not like those days… Even for trivial things, he gets cross… the reason may be that, I suppose…"
"I too thought of it Punchi Amme… what a colossal amount of wealth he is going to lose… How can he make up his mind…? I can't even imagine…" Kapilasena reacted to what Koinmenika said.
Nandana Menike raised her head to see someone removing the rails of the stile at that odd hour. She noticed Periyavar wiping out his sweat from the towel and briskly stepping towards Nandana Menike's house.
"At this time… of this evening…?" His arrival at that time of the day was a puzzle for Koinmenika and she stood up to see what the matter was.
"Why panting…? An urgent matter…?"
"No… no… Sandra Hamu gave me a call asking Nandana Menika to come to the bungalow tomorrow morning… she wants to speak to her…"
Periyavar looked very tired and sat down on the knee-high ledge to relax a bit.
* * *
Sandra's reactions were not very positive towards Bernard as he failed to attend the wedding. She purposefully avoided a few calls given by Bernard and that made Bernard rather upset. For some of the calls Sandra's mother responded. All the attempts taken by Bernard to explain the real nature of the issues turned into a futile effort as the mother-in-law also took the side of her daughter.
Bernard stayed at the bungalow until noon thinking Sandra would give him a call at any moment. Though he lifted the receiver to answer some incoming calls, all the calls were disconnected form the calling party then and there. Since he realized that Sandra was still cross with him, Bernard went out to attend to his work. After a short while of his departure, there was another call to which Periyavar answered. The call was from Sandra to Nandana Menike.
"Sandra Hamu…! How are you…?" There was a pause from the other end. Nandana Menike broke the silence impatiently.
"Tell me whether Bernard is at home…?" Sandra's tone seemed to be in a state of agitation.
"No, Hamu went out just now…"
From that point onwards, with a relaxed mind, Sandra started the conversation with Nandana Menike. There was something in progress, which Nandana Menike never expected. Sandra had met her first love, Shamal, the teenage lover at school. He too had attended the wedding. Sandra had learnt that he was still unmarried. He had requested Sandra to stay there as he was prepared to accept her and her future. As Sandra was fed up with Bernard's life style, Nandana Menike understood that Sandra was showing more interest towards Shamal.
"Sandra Hamu… isn't you coming back to Sri Lanka…?"
For Nandana Menike, her presence was a must from the moment her mother disappeared. Her future solely depended on the hands of Sandra. Koinmenika was repeatedly telling that to Nandana Menike on many occasions.
"Still I'm thinking of it…"
"Then what will happen to me…?" she couldn't think of anything else other than Sandra who was the only sister of her unseen father.
"Within three months, he would be coming to Sri Lanka. Then he will take care of you…"
Nandana Menike released a long breath to what Sandra said. She felt that all her hopes that she had for Sandra scattered so mercilessly.
"Nanda…. Don't worry… I am coming… You need not fear…" Sandra responded understanding her heart beat.
Nandana Menike remained silent as being unable to line up the words to articulate her present state of mind. Sandra thought not to let Bernard know of the news regarding Shamal.
"If Bernard asked whether I called you, say 'yes', but do not say anything about Shamal…"
"If asked, what you said…?"
Sandra surely knew Bernard would question Nandana Menike.
"If he asked you… tell him that I'm terribly upset as he didn't attend the wedding… Tell him I inquired more about your grandma's health and your mother's disappearance…"
The sound of the replacing the receiver denoted the feeling of loss of the association with Sandra. She felt the only salvation she had was going to be out of her reach. The dark clouds that were hanging over in the sky indicated a premonition of heavy rain. Before the rain she decided to go back home with her grandmother.