Chapter 2:
The Difficult living!
Andy and Rani started living in the abandoned village. Initially they were frightened and were awake all night as they could hear faint noises. Whether it was for real or imagination it was hard to decide. Nobody or nothing attacked them or haunted them during nights or day. Slowly they started settling down there. There was no human being within the radius of 10 miles. They chose the middle house made of stone with a patch of land in the barn. It looked as if something could be grown in them.
They cooked using the firewood. Initially it was very hard for Rani to get it lighted. As the days ran by, she mastered the art of lighting a firewood. Sometimes they used to visit the neighboring villages for their essential commodities. There they got not only provisions but got some news of the pandemic too. The news was not encouraging. It seemed as if that Covid virus had come to stay. No vaccination was invented yet. Every country was trying their best to come out with one.
Rani and Andy were worried about the alarming way their house fund was decreasing. Since both had no income, they had to barrow from that fund which they had kept aside for their dream house. Hours together they discussed about the pandemic. They wanted this to end and longed to get back to the city where they could talk and mix with other people most of all earn money!
Sometimes Rani felt depressed, at those times it was Andy's job to boost her spirits. Even though Andy pretended as if everything was going on correctly, he did not feel so. His hope was decreasing day by day. What if they were stuck here forever? What if they encountered a medical emergency? What if all their money were used? He could not sleep because of the worries. There was something else too about which he was worried.
In the barn some vegetables had come up. Eggplants bore quite a few vegetables, the greens were also coming along nicely, ladies finger plant was laden with flowers which was a promise that soon the vegetable will be available for consumption. Andy had really worked hard in the garden. Rani helped too, but still it was mostly Andy.
When Andy was brushing his teeth near the garden patch, he saw there were signs as if someone was plucking the vegetables. Andy got worried as only they lived in that abandoned place. He decided to check it. As a way he counted the vegetable and flowers. There were 6 big eggplants and 4 small ones. The ladies finger plant had 12 flowers in total.
The next day morning Andy again counted the flowers and vegetables. To his horror he realized that only 2 of the big eggplants were there and 8 flowers okhra finger. Other vegetables and flowers were gone! He closely watched the plant bed but nothing could be seen. No footsteps could be seen because of the desert sand beyond the green patch. He started worrying about their safety. Whether it was advisable to stay in that village? What if someone was watching them? If so, what might be their motive? Now in these difficult times even a bag of flour was worth stealing. They had a little box of cash too! Leave alone all those! Men are not to be trusted. Andy was a single man with no skill in fighting. What would happen if a group of men attacked them? How would he protect Rani's honor? Probably all the ladies who committed Jauhar wanted Rani to be one of them! Might be they are playing this game. Andy longed for a break. He wanted worry free and nightmare free nights. He loved Rani and vowed to protect her whatever it took.
Andy worked out a strategy to find out who was messing with green patch. He would pretend as if he was asleep. But the moment Rani fell into slumber, he awoke and listened for any sort of disturbing noise. He carried out the plan that night itself. He was outside hiding in the garden. The halfmoon was giving a faint light. Nothing to be seen but he could hear muffled noise. That could be the wind blowing away in the sands. He concluded as the work of jackals or fox roaming in the sands. He did not bother to look after that. He dared not get out of the house.
Since that day 3 months passed! Nothing happened. Now Andy gained back his confidence about the place, started roaming around the place during late evenings. He thought he saw some weird objects moving, but he concluded it as hallucination in the desert. Rani and Andy started kind of enjoying their solitary lifestyle. Every morning Andy got up and fetched water for the day's use. He also worked on the patch of vegetables and plucked them whenever they were ripe. Rani maintained the house neat and clean, made nice dishes out of the limited ingredients available. They even had a barbeque evening outside their house. They made a barbeque oven with firewood surrounded by three big stones. They had barbequed eggplants, nice rotis and greens along with desert beans. Rani produced a kind of sauce made from tomato and pepper. It tasted heavenly.
They were feeling full and content. The smoke from the oven made them feel sleepy. Rani was busy getting all dishes inside the house and making the bed. The fire was glowing red, the moon was slowly rising in the sky glowing like gold as it was a full moon day. This was the first time Andy and Rani stayed out till the moon rose. Andy wanted to stay out and watch the beautiful moon. The fire in the oven was glowing red with smoke the aroma of barbequed food along with smoke was enjoyable. The warmth from the fire was very comforting against the chilly air of desert night. Andy stretched himself on the sand! All was quiet, too quiet may be!
Andy's eyes closed automatically as he was tired and sleepy. But something he thought he saw made him wide awake and sit up. The full moon was shining on the sands of the desert. The desert looked like it was made of quicksilver. I looked as if the desert was trying say something to Andy. Something was afoot, he felt it in his bones. Fear gripped him, but with determination, he looked around. Nothing! But…. there was…...there was something moving at the entrance. Not one thing…a small group….it looked like it was made of loose pure white cotton.
Andy's heart started beating very fast. He focused on the entrance. Now he was able to see 2 of such figures. His heart turned into lead and was struggling to breath. What could be that? The number seemed to be increasing by the minutes. Were they ghosts? Or someone dressed like them? What were they doing at this hour in this abandoned village? So many questions came rushing to his mind. He wanted to go inside the house and curl near Rani for comfort. But his feet seemed rooted to the spot. Fortunately, those figures did not notice Andy. They were busy watching the opposite direction. Andy gathered courage and stood up to run. As he turned toward the house his he saw one such figure stood staring in front of him. His heart came to his mouth.