Ficorpio
01 - The Strange Writing
It’s a lovely, clear summer’s day in 2018 and Billy is walking through the lower entrance of Settler’s Park. He is on his way to home after a tough session with his Kung Fu friend Danny. He likes to take a shortcut through the tranquil park. He lives at the higher end of Central Hill in Park Avenue that circles the historic St. Georges Park with its sports clubs and cultural institutions amongst beautiful vegetation, gardens and monuments. He is a fit, seventeen-year-old scholar and could not have wished for a better place to stay. Nearly every evening he runs five kilometers, twice around the park, before he showers and goes to sleep. He also regularly swims a few kilometers in the public swimming pool and also plays squash for the Crusaders that have courts at the back of the cricket stadium’s main stand.
He has almost reached the steep footpath between the lush growths of plants that extends all the way up to the upper end of the park where the main entrance is near his own home. He notices people in the picnic cove between the bushes near to the rock face. There are a giant tree and a picnic table that people can use. This is a remote part of the park and seldom will you find people here. He glances quickly in their direction. It looks like a grandfather and his granddaughter at the table under the tree.
Between them sits a man in black clothes and next to them there are two sturdy men standing. They look like wrestlers and they are looking away from the party at the table. They are scrutinizing him as he passes them. It’s a strange picture and Billy wonders whether they are bodyguards. They look menacing. Well, it could be stinking rich people that need to be protected. These bodyguards look professional and highly ready for any eventuality.
As Billy enters the bend before the path becomes steep against the hill, he realizes that nature is calling. It must have been all the water he drank during the practice session with Danny. Quickly he dashes into an opening in the bushes and relieves himself leisurely.
Then, a sudden scream from the direction of the people he has passed just yet. Then he hears a flood of words from different men’s voices and harsh words that are directed to someone. It sounds like a heated argument. Billy is startled when he hears the girls anxious yelling. What the heck is going on! He finishes and slowly and cautiously walks back and peeks to see whatever on earth is going on.
The man that was at the table is now holding the kicking girl tightly, whilst the other two are busy with the old man. It looks as if he is desperately trying to fight them off with his left arm while keeping something away from them in his right hand. Suddenly he tosses it away from him. It looks like a desperate attempt and it lands in front of Billy’s feet. Instinctively he picks it up.
He is still studying the small notebook he picked up when he hears the sickening noise of someone’s wind been hitting out. He looks up and sees how the old man is heavily assaulted by the two men as he falls down on the grass. They are kicking him deliberately with unnecessary brutal force while the girl screams hysterically and wrestles the grip the man has on her. Billy stands paralyzed and it is if he is living a dream. Then suddenly there is a knife in one man’s hand near the old man. As if in a dream Billy hears himself yelling: “No, don’t stab him, please …!”
The men’s heads jerk in his direction and they hostilely glance at him, still with the notebook in his hand. The one with the knife yells: “Give it here, lad. Drop it now and go!” He has an outlandish accent and his voice definitely indicates that he is not a South African.
Billy turns around and starts running away like a madman at high speed with the book in his hand. At this stage, he only wants to put as much distance between him and them as possible. There is no time to contemplate or process what is happening. He hears how they shout after him. He recognizes the original speaker’s voice: “Just drop the damn thing and we’ll leave you alone! Damn, we gonna hunt your little ass fellow. We gonna find you and …” But then Billy can’t hear the voice anymore. He has left them too far behind. Billy is at full speed running up the path.
**~
A family is leisurely sitting on a duvet on a lawn under a giant tree at the top end of Settler’s Park. Rene usually keeps this duvet ready for the first opportunity when Jack takes off from his long hours of work and then the family come over here to picnic. It is so peaceful here with the birds singing away in the trees. Sometimes they stroll through the park and again appreciate the beauty and tranquility. The park has three main entrances and stretches over 54 hectares on both sides of the Baaken’s River. You can enter the park through the How Lane entrance from Park Drive, or the Chelmsford Lane entrance from Target Kloof where the Guinea fowl trail starts from the third avenue in the Walmer area. It is a huge park and they feel privileged when they are able to enjoy it on a Sunday. There are many little footpaths between the botanic flora with many nice patches of lawn and picnic spots. The park has a rich variety of indigenous plants and shrubs with pools of water and rocks over streamlets. Along the footpaths, you will encounter all sorts of small animals including small antelopes.
Jack feels satisfied with himself while he smiles at his beautiful wife and daughter opposite him on the duvet. “What a wonderful Sunday in this tranquil park! I’ve been looking forward so much to be with my two lovies today. It was a strenuous week at work.”
Kadin, his beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter is flat on her stomach and is writing in her notebook. She stops, puts the pencil in his special place in the booklet and pushes the booklet at her back in the waist of her short denim trousers. She turns on her back and stares into the azure heaven lost in dreams of her own. Jack wonders what is ticking in her brain right now. She has the talent to frequently sniff out interesting historical facts from all over and writes it down in sharp, unique ways. Her head is always full of ideas. She is quizzical and busy. Her booklet is always with her and she notices people and her environment much better than does the ordinary man.
Rene stops scratching through the picnic basket and looks up: “Yes, my dear husband, it’s simply wonderful to be with you. Usually, you sleep and work.”
“What can I do when we need every cent of my overtime and I am so thankful for the opportunities?”
Kadin is shaking her head. She turns to her dad and gives him a nice frown: “It’s true, dad. Mother is right. You are working yourself to the ground and we seldom see you.”
Jack smiles with love in his eyes. “Times are tight, Kadin, and even if you are always first in your class at school and your marks optimum, it doesn’t mean that you will get a bursary. The political situation in South Africa is bad as far as this is concerned. We don’t even know whether you will be admitted to one of the universities in South Africa. Maybe you’ll have to be enrolled at an overseas university due to the discrimination in our land. We simply have to put money away for your future, my dear daughter, even your mother works hard when she has the opportunity. It’s not me only.”
Kadin stands up and with determination scolds them: “Please! You are sacrificing too much of your lives for me. You really don’t need to save for my university fees. I am going to get a job and can study part-time and graduate just a little later. What must I do that my darlings just will understand?”
Jack waves his forefinger from side to side while he argues against her point: “Never, my dear child. You have so many talents and you do brilliantly in everything you tackle. We are doing the world an enormous favor to invest in you. When we are somewhere in the future down and out, you can repay us. Okay, lovey. Just leave it.”
Rene takes her hand and smiles towards her: “Kadin, you are the light of our lives and you will understand when you one day have children of your own. We must make the most of your talents. You are simply the best with everything in your school.”
Kadin gets nature’s calling: “Excuse me, please. I have to go to the public toilet. You can have alone-time while I am gone.” She gives them a naughty wink.
Jack returns her wink and explains: “Just make sure the real you comes back from the toilet.”
“That’s a meek one this, dad …” She sticks her tongue out before she turns and disappears in the path that leads to the toilets.
Jack’s eyes follow her when she leaves with her brown hair hanging over her shoulder and once again he realize how beautiful she is. His eyes are still following her while he says: “Rene. She is becoming an adult and can easily be passed off as a model and I shudder when I think of the day that she sheds her tomboy bravado and starts to be interested in boys.”
Kadin enjoys walking under the vegetation that grows like a green roof over her head. She listens to the unique singing of a little bird somewhere nearby that fascinates her. She decides to look for him. Cautiously she enters an opening between plants and trees. Then she sees the beautiful, colorful species and in wonder admires the way in which he turns his little head erect when he sings his song with the puff of his neck. How exquisite is this little fellow!
Suddenly the little bird is startled and quickly flies away. The sound of heavy footsteps comes from downwards as someone is running up from the lower part of the park. She opens the plants to peek through inquisitively and looks down on a part of the path that with a stiff gradient leads to the lower part of Settler Park. She is just in time to see a young man suddenly halts his frantic flight and quickly hides something between the shrubs. He looks familiar and she wonders where she had seen him before. He then jumps to his feet quickly and runs along the footpath to the top and disappears from her sight.
She now hears heavier footsteps like soldiers that run with boots. Two hefty men in black, built like locks in a rugby team, run past her and also vanish along the footpath. The expressions on their faces are something between brutal anger and urgency. Did the boy hide something valuable that belongs to them between the bushes?
She steps out of the bushes and walks towards the connection between two footpaths and further on to where the boy hid something. She looks back along the footpath and listens. They are all gone and it is dead quiet. She bends over and scratches between the bushes. She finds the notebook that looks very much like her own. She doesn’t know why, but suddenly her heart starts to beat faster. She puts the booklet in her front pocket and hastens to the toilets.
The place is quiet. There is no one. She goes into the nearest toilet and locks the door. Inquisitively she takes the booklet out of her pocket. She pulls her pants down and sits down on the toilet. She smiles happily. There is toilet paper. She forgot to bring her own.
She opens the booklet and frowns amazed. What is this? Someone had written, probably with a pencil; in the book but it makes no sense at all. It’s strange writing that she hasn’t encountered during her life. It’s not an alphabet. She turns the pages and sees three are writings on different pages. What on earth is this? She is flabbergasted.
Suddenly guilt overwhelms her when she thinks about the boy. Her inquisitiveness caused her to transgress because it is not her property. She will have to find a way to return it to the owner. She doesn’t know what is going on or why the men chased the boy, but they are looking dangerous. What will happen if they catch him and they all return and they don’t find the booklet? She realizes she made a mistake. What if the boy returns and looks for the book? She only knows that she is yearning to know what is going on.
She thinks of a way out, gets her own book out, writes a message, and tears the page from the book. “My name is Kadin and I have your booklet. Meet me downstairs in the reference section of the city library on Monday at four-o’-clock p.m. I dearly want to give it back to you if I may.” She will put the note where she found the booklet and hopefully he will return and find her message.
When she returns to her parents, she shows the booklet to her dad. “Watch dad, someone lost this booklet in the park. What is this funny scribbling? Have you ever seen something like this before?” She doesn’t relate to them the full story. She doesn’t want to upset them.
Jack takes it from her and studies it. His eyes mirror his surprise. “What dad, do you know what it is?”
Jack tries to explain what is bothering him. “I could have sworn that it is Sanskrit but it is weird that someone should have scribbled with a pencil in such a booklet. This is really strange. Must be a student in philosophy from the University of Port Elizabeth that tried to memorize or decipher it. That’s all that makes sense to me. Although it doesn’t make complete sense because Sanskrit is difficult and they don’t teach it here. It is usually taught on a man to man basis from a theological master. One word frequently contains a rich history that must be fully explained before you can fully comprehend the meaning of it.”
“Sanskrit? What is it really and how on earth do you recognize it? It’s so strange.”
Her father smiles. She is always so inquisitive. “Well, there was a time in my life when I was very interested in philosophy, Kadin. I studied many different religions and tried to understand their philosophies to find the one that make the most sense to me. I was looking to find Truth.”
Kadin can’t hide the surprise. “Dad, you never told me about this. You don’t even believe in any god so far as I know and we don’t adhere to any religion. You don’t even discuss these things; what happened, dad? I am flabbergasted!”
“Kadin, there comes a time when you stop looking for answers because answers bring more questions. Just know that to know is to know that you don’t know …”
“It doesn’t make sense to me at all, but tell me more about Sanskrit. Where did it come from and who is speaking it?”
“Maybe it’s the oldest language on earth. Although religious people in India transferred their traditions orally for many centuries through Sanskrit before it was written down, some of them believed it was not from this earth. They believe all human knowledge is based on deductions but much of the Sanskrit knowledge from the old texts came from another dimension and is transferred to us as true knowledge that we must accept as coming from our creators that know how everything fit together.”
Surprised Kadin slaps her father on his shoulder. “What dad, and you only tell us now, you scoundrel …”
Jack bursts out in laughter and must contain himself before he can speak. “That’s only what they believe, Kadin. People believe different kind of funny things and most of the wars and misery all over the world started with the rubbish they believe. If you believe everything and take it seriously then you will easily become as mad as they are. Take everything with a pinch of salt, my child.”
Rene leans forward and lands an unsuspected kiss on his cheek.
“Mother, why don’t we adhere to a religion? Most of my classmates are Christians and attend church, but we don’t, why?”
“It is not important what we believe in, Kadin. It’s important what you believe and we don’t want to influence you. You are welcome and you can ask us anything any time, but the questions must come from you. We will support you in any direction you may choose and try to lead you as far as we are able to.”
Kadin sighs, places her hands on her hips and stands in front of them like the headmaster of a school that reprimands two naughty children. “Really you two lovies, I don’t know. You are always full of surprises that don’t make any sense and you are also damn stubborn! What are you now telling me, damn!”
Jack simply adores her feigned threatening posture. “You want to know what I believe in and I am going to tell you. I believe all that matters in life are moments like this together with you two. The here and now is important and this is all that matters.”
Kadin bends forward and whispers softly in his ear while she cuddles him warmly. “I love you, dad, so much I can scream!”
02 – The meeting
The giant clock against the wall of the reference section of the city library stands at 3:50 p.m. Kadin watches the entrance intently. Excitedly she wonders whether her plan was successful. Has the boy found her notice and will he meet her here? She made sure that she holds a place open beside her at one of the tables where she is waiting amongst students and scholars. She hid the booklet under a few books she collected from the reference section as to not draw unnecessary attention. You will never know who might turn up; even those dangerous men might accompany him.
She studies the people around her. On both of her sides and opposite her it looks like varsity students emerged in studying or doing assignments. A group, probably high school learners are gathered at a table, probably a study group. Further on, in the corner at the magazines and newspapers, an old man, probably a pensioner, is reading a newspaper while a young man next to him is paging through a magazine.
Kadin is quite at ease in the main library. She often sits at one of the tables doing her homework. She lives in Bird Street, not far away for a girl that likes to walk. She has to walk a steep uphill when she goes back home because Bird Street is on top of a hill, but she feels it keeps her fit and healthy.
This building has a rich history and character that fascinates her endlessly. The main section of the building has a high roof and one has to climb up with a winding staircase to reach platforms with books above.
The Victorian Gothic architecture is breathtakingly beautiful and unique with terra-cotta façade finishing that was made in England. The building was erected in 1835 and was used as a courtroom since 1854. It was only in 1902 that it was opened as a public library. The original library was the Port Elizabeth News Society of 1844. The cherry on top is the majestic Sicilian marble statue of Queen Victoria, which keeps watch over the Market Square, and was erected and unveiled in 1903. Kadin feels so privileged while she sits here in this marvelous building with his rich and colorful history.
Then she recognizes the young man when he comes down the steps to the reference section. She quickly looks down on the book before her while he studies the people slowly descending. She stealthily looks in his way and sees that he looks at the clock. She’ll wait until she is sure he is alone. She now sees that he is making his way through a row and will pass just behind her while he studies the people. He might be wondering who in this room fits the profile of a Kadin. No one emerges from the entrance; so he is alone.
When he is nearly upon her, she takes out the little book and places it next to the books in front of her. He instantly recognizes it and pulls out the chair next to her and sits down while looking straight and intensely in her eyes and whispers: “Hello, are you Kadin?”
She whispers back as you are not allowed to talk aloud in the library. “Yep, that’s me.”
“I am Billy. Have you seen me hiding the book in the park? Why did you take it?”
Kadin studies his face and thinks he’s cute now that he’s near her. He has neat, short, black hair with eyebrows that creep over his nose and accentuate his light blue eyes. His strong jaw makes him even more pleasant to look at. The first impression, she thinks, Billy looks like the honest, truthful type of guy and her instinct hasn’t failed her as yet. She hopes she will be right this time as well. “I was inquisitive and just couldn’t help myself. Why did those guys chase you? Did they want this booklet, and why?”
“There was no one, how did you see me?”
“I was occupied by studying a cute little bird higher up against the slope when I heard you and then saw you stop. And after that, I saw the men and it was clear to me that they were chasing you and I can tell you, they were annoyed! What happened and why did you hide the booklet there?”
Billy smiles at her and that makes him even more attractive with the laughter sparkling in his eyes. Then he starts to relate the whole story in fine detail.
“Good heavens, Billy. Do you think they stabbed that old man to death? Did you report this to the police?”
“I don’t hope so. I’ve checked and saw nothing in the newspapers. I don’t know if I should report this to the police.”
“Why not? That man shouted that they will hunt you down and will inflict terrible things on you. They are looking extremely dangerous. Aren’t you afraid? Do you think they will recognize you when they see you? Why did you not just drop the booklet and ran away?”
“I was so shocked that the only thing I could think of was to get away, to put as much distance between them and me to prevent them from catching me. But when I realized that I was ahead of them for quite a distance, and looked back and didn’t see them, I considered the fact that maybe their mate were at the top. What if they signaled the guys on top and they were waiting for me and I was then encircled. So, I quickly hid the book as my only trump if they catch me. I don’t know whether they would recognize me. I reckon changes are about fifty percent, perhaps more, because they look professional.”
Kadin is very impressed. “Good thinking of you, I must say, you can think under pressure. Do you think they were after the booklet and not perhaps because you saw the assault and can be a witness?”
“No, Kadin. He clearly shouted at me to leave the booklet and run away. They were definitely trying to get to this booklet. Thanks for leaving the notice.”
“When did you go to the park? It was a hell of a risk, you know!”
“I couldn’t go to sleep last night, believe me. This afternoon after school I stealthily went in and ran out quickly while looking left and right. You also gave me only one chance, because if I did it tomorrow, then I would have missed you.”
Her eyes widen as she realizes that he has a good point. “Well, you are here, sir. It worked out nicely, did it not?”
Billy smiles. This girl is cute and quite beautiful. He takes the booklet and opens it and taken by surprise, he whispers: “What the heck is this?”
Kadin uses this opportunity to impress him. “This is most probably Sanskrit.”
“What is that and how on earth do you know it.”
“Maybe it is the oldest language in the world and some believe it was given by our creators from another dimension. My father identified it after I showed it to him. We picnicked in the park and I showed him what I had picked up, I did not relate the whole story.”
He frowns. “So, this is our secret, right? I don’t think I am going to the police. What am I going to tell them? I think it will be a waste of time and I am going to make my name shit.”
Kadin laughs softly behind her hand. He looks quite nice when he frowns. “Do you think they were on the point of attacking the old man with the knife before you stopped them?”
He shakes his head in approval. “Yes, I thought they were going to kill him right in front of me and the girl’s eyes. By the way, I think the old man and the girl must be Afrikaans speaking since she was yelling in Afrikaans.”
“Now what can be so important to assault or murder for?”
“Maybe there’s money in the loop somewhere. It could be the key to directions to a secret hiding place of a treasure. But why in Sanskrit and scribbled with a pencil?”
“Maybe, because few people understand Sanskrit. It could also be a code that is hidden in Sanskrit that could only be interpreted by a few people. Others might think it is only strange writing they don’t understand. If it was numerals, letters or symbols, people might think that it is a code and try to decipher it.”
“It’s quite an interesting theory but there could be explanations that we can’t even contemplate now. It is probably Sanskrit, and if it is, why is it important?”
Kadin thinks back to what Jack said. “Some people believe Sanskrit was handed down from creators from a high dimension. So what if there is sorcery in the script and they want to get to it.”
They both smile sarcastically and together they utter: “No …” and burst out laughing at this funny moment. They cover their mouths quickly with their hands and peep guiltily to the librarian that answer them by holding her finger in front of her lips and then points to the “Silence Please”’ sign.
Billy whispers softly. “Kadin, are we going to try and solve this puzzle together? Mind you, you look familiar. Where have I seen you before?”
“I have the same feeling. Wait. You travel by bus to school, right? You look quite different in your school outfit. You take the bus to Framesby High School, right?”
‘My goodness, you also look quite different. You rather look like a model now instead of a school girl."
Kadin is flattered by the idea that he thinks she is model material. “Do you live here in Central? I am in Grade 10 and we stay at 12 Bird Street.”
“I am in Grade 11 and we live not far from you in Park Avenue, number 24.”
“Gee, then it is easy. Are we going to solve this riddle together, sir”"
Billy sticks his hand out. “Secret partners …”
Kadin shakes his hand and smiles happily. “I made a clone photocopy of the booklet, cut out the pages and put it together so we have exact replicas. Are the secret partners going to come together during the break at school tomorrow and discuss the next step?”
“Good idea, tell you what, keep a space for me on the bus tomorrow morning so we can ride together.”
Kadin gets a warm feeling in her heart as she wonders what is most important for her: to solve the mystery or the opportunity to spend time with this attractive, brave and interesting Billy.
03 – The danger
Ahmed yells in Hindi with hate in his eyes like a lunatic into the microphone on his desk. “It’s unbelievable, you are supposed to be my best men and look now! How the hell did you achieve that? This is now such a mess I don’t know where to start! Oh no, wait, I know. Who of you were responsible for the assault on our professor Johan? His daughter told Ronald everything about it!”
Aryan and Mohammed worriedly look at each other before Aryan answers carefully in Hindi in his smart phone’s microphone between them on the table. “Arnav and Mohammed just wanted to teach him a lesson so that he did not try something else, sir; he deliberately tried to mislead us to hide the book in the park. Luckily Mohammed saw it just in time.”
“Ronald told me that one of you even pulled a knife on him, to do what I ask you, don’t you realize the importance of this man! He is our key! He is our last step and you kick him! Let me spell it out! You kicked the skull that protects the brain that might guarantee our success. That’s the only brain that achieved what even our brilliant Ronald and his team couldn’t achieve. No one in the whole wide world knows how to do it, Aryan; I can’t believe you let this happen! Off course you know that you will have to come up with results to make good on your failure because I don’t tolerate such behaviour and will punish you.”
Aryan is white in the face and his head sweats when he answers cautiously. “We know, sir, but the professor is well looked after and all his senses are working perfectly. He is injured slightly and for his daughter, it must have looked much worse than it really was. We understand that we made a grave mistake and assure you that we will take good care of the professor and his daughter in every way.”
“Okay. Just leave the old man so that he can recuperate completely. I discussed with Ronald our strategy about how to orientate him until he fully cooperates. We must simply make sure that he is under surveillance all the time and that there is no chance for him to harm himself in any way. His daughter is our trump card and he doesn’t have a choice, he’s only playing for time but his excuses are running out. Just leave him alone and let Ronald and his team handle him, understood?”
“We understand, sir, we …”
Ahmed interrupts. “You must hunt that little shit that ran away with the booklet that our dear professor tried to hide. We must discover what is in that book. Why did he try to hide it there? Do you know how dangerous it is that that boy runs around with a potential time bomb! It is now time to redeem yourselves, what’s your plan?
“We are taking turns in watching the nearest police station to see if he shows, but thus far to no avail. Arnav is watching now, sir.”
With a sharp hiss of discontent, Ahmed says sarcastically: “And is that now your little plan?”
They are looking at each other in the hope that one will come up with a sound plan but Ahmed doesn’t give them a chance. He suddenly hits the desk with his fist that causes the utensils on it to hop in the air. “Is that your damn plan? Let me tell you what is going on in that simple little heads of yours. You dodged into the next hiding place that we had arranged beforehand and now you think everything is honkey dory. You think that if the professor divulges your position in that book it doesn’t matter because you have moved everything. You think that when he sends his message throughout the world about our plans, it also doesn’t matter, because no one will believe him. Idiots! That man is brilliant, he is a genie and we must expect anything.”
“He even knows Sanskrit. Only 100 000 people in this world know classic Sanskrit and he is one of them although he isn’t originally from India. Even our Hinal Sanskrit speakers will have problems with classic Sanskrit but he outshines all of us by far. Why and how he knows this old form of Sanskrit is beyond me because he is a virologist. We found many original Vedas in his home; maybe he studied them for philosophical reasons. The man’s moral values are our greatest barrier. We must find out what his plans are and the only way to do it is to find the booklet that he didn’t want you to see. I want that booklet, as in now, and you let a little shit run away with it! Is Port Elizabeth a big city? How are you going to get this boy? I’m anxiously waiting …”
“It’s a coastal city, sir, but in comparison with cities in India, it is only a small town. We thought the first logical place to look was the Humewood police station where he might report the incident. It’s the best place to find him. He probably walked through the park from home or to home and we are patrolling the upper and lower streets regularly. It’s just a matter of time, sir, and we will catch him.”
Ahmed again violently hits the table several times so that some of the utensils fall down. “Time!” he yells,” we don’t have, don’t you understand! How old do you think is this snot?"
“More or less 15 or 16 or maybe 17, 18, sir.”
“Black, white, mixed or what …?
“White, for sure, sir.”
“You said this boy yelled at you when Mohammed pulled the knife, not so? What were his words?”
“We couldn’t quite make it out, sir, it was too sudden. But it sounded like English. We think he wanted to stop us. He maybe thought Mohammed was going to stab the old man. Mohammed, sir, just wanted to frighten him.”
“Did he look like a street kid or was he well dressed?”
“He looked well-kept, sir, and educated; definitely not a street kid.”
“Then it is a young school boy. And then he goes to school in the morning and returns in the afternoon. The language he uses narrows the possible schools he might attend. Which schools are near his home? Does he walk or cycle to the school? He walked through the park so he could be walking to his school as well if it is nearby. If the school is far away from his home, how does he reach? What is the mode of transport for pupils in general? Do you follow my deductions, pig heads? Must I feed you with a teaspoon! If you haven’t caught him by tomorrow afternoon, at least I want to know how you have progressed, is that clear?”
“That’s in order, sir …”
Frustrated Ahmed shakes his head and looks up at Vipracitti that is standing in front of his desk listening intently, and calmness engulfs him and self-confidence fills him from somewhere.
“Our Guru will be with you shortly. His passport is almost ready. I lost my faith in all of you there in the south point of Africa. Ronald and his team take far too long with the orientation of our professor. Our Guru is of the opinion that you are all hopelessly incompetent and that his speedy intervention is highly desirable. His unique talents will surely guarantee our success as usual. When he arrives, you must follow his instructions to the letter, do we understand each other?”
A cold breeze as if from the south pole sweeps over them when they hear of Vipracitti and dispirited they look at each other before Aryan meekly responds: “We understand, sir, we only have the greatest respect for our guru and are always at his service.”
Aryan sees how Mohammed’s hands begin to tremble slightly. The guru had earlier taken over his senses. Aryan feels how peril push up in his guts as he thinks of facing Vipracitti soon. He always tries to avoid the Aghori, but when he needs to be in his presence, he makes sure that he avoids his gaze. He doesn’t want to land in his power and be a marionette like Mohammed who is manipulated by fear. And now they must accompany the guru until that boy and the booklet are found!
He hopes they find the boy soon so that the trip of the guru will be cancelled.