At the top of the banyan tree, Shreyas put up a belt. On another tree, he put up his sister's school belt.
He took a swing and reached the two girls as they reached the ground.
"We are down, Leena." Lisha said, "and well hidden."
"Yes, this jungle is quite dense." Shreyas added.
Leena opened her eyes –"I smelled choloroform. Their struggles and noises quieted down. Probably, they fainted," she sobbed.
"It is okay. We can get them out. Hey Leena, our Bio Minipower , you may never get another chance to view the flora and fauna, you enjoy from up top. So relax…," Lisha said.
She continued -they have more physical strength than us. Right now, we cannot take them with us... they are unconscious. Leena shot her a blank open-mouthed look. She was petrified.
Shreyas pacified her -But don't you worry. We will get help for them. If only we safely get away, then we can ensure their safety and ours.
Lisha asked suddenly –Why has the minivan stopped? Are they searching for us?
Leena timidly answered -Oh, well.. I punctured one tire, I guess. I opened valve cap and thrust a pair of scissors into the tire. The toll booth people are supporting them.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves and branches. They looked around and were for a little time. "No footsteps nearby," Lisha said.
I will just make an SOS sign. Do any of you girls have chart paper? -Shreyas asked.
No! No! -They both nodded their heads.
Leena suddenly said -Poison Ivy around us. Do not touch or step on it.
Ok. Ok – the bro and sis agreed as Shreyas wrote 'S','O','S' in red on 3 pages that he tore from the copy.
"You are going to relax and enjoy your flora and fauna as we go up top. Watch around. Hold me tight. "Lisha stressed.
"Ok." Leena nodded.
Lisha tied the dupatta around them. Three of them went up swinging by banyan roots to a high spacious branch that hid them well. Shreyas went up on top. He found a thin partly grown banyan root of around 150 cms. Making holes in the papers, he pushed up the SOS sign in the root. SOS was hanging up in the air.
With binoculars, it could be seen properly.
Two men were changing a tire. Another two men came running on the road in his direction. But they were far away and there were no banyan roots near to them. They found themselves staring at a stiff cliff. Shreyas was looking around him, he saw the men and left.
To get to them, they would have needed an extremely long stick to catch hold of a banyan root. As they were heavier and bulkier than the teens, they could not swing from the torn cloth. Besides, it was uncertain that the men could swing.
He reached the girls. They are changing a tire. "There is a river nearby. Let's go in that direction."
Leena was still frightened but she started enjoying the beauty around her when swinging. Though still very frightened, she enjoyed the aerial view of flora and fauna.
They reached the river.
It was darker and there was eerie silence followed by the chirruping of crickets, pecking of woodpecker and some wild ducks wading in the water on their arrival.
They had never been unsupervised so deep in the jungle, by themselves. It was scary. Were there carnivorous wild animals? Were there snakes? Are they lost? If they get lost, then how can they save their friends? A million thoughts flashed through their minds.