This is the eleventh part of the series that began here . If you like it, and would want to be updated whenever I post the subsequent parts, you might want to subscribe to the posts via email)
Rahul was clearly amazed to see Vikas like that and, I am sure, he also realized the inadequacy of his own disguise.
“Don’t you think we might need a vehicle for this?” Rahul enquired.
“No we don’t, a vehicle can be traced, and its hard to find a vehicle that can’t be trace. If we have to, we will use the vehicle they are coming in.”
“When were you planning to tell us this?”
“As soon as you asked me the question,” Vikas laughed.
“I will buy a ticket to the village next to our decided spot, and you to the one before it. From there we will walk to the point – the place where the road curves into the mountain. It’s almost equal distant from both the villages so we should be there about the same time- in about an hour from the time we get off the bus.You will be getting off before me, so you might reach there a bit before me. Try to think of the best way to set up a roadblock.”
“What do you intend to do after we have stopped them, I am not a fighter, and the two of us against the three of them is going to be hard.”
“I will tell you, when it comes to that.”
Rahul was far from satisfied with the answer, but he had no other option but quietly follow Vikas into the bus. They took different seats and took their respective tickets.
I was in the bus looking at the both of them, and it amused me to see them sitting there quite naturally. It is deceiving how seemingly innocent people can be harboring dangerous thoughts in their minds. True crime does not exist in the hearts of the real criminals, but in the hearts of ordinary men and women, who sometimes let the evil part of their hearts a free hand.
Soon, it was Rahul’s station and he got off the bus. And, this time I decided to follow him and see how he was feeling about the whole thing. It was with a slow step that he walked, and I thought at this rate it would take forever for him to reach anywhere at all.. Then, suddenly, he said something to himself, which I could not understand because I was too far away, but the result was that he quickened his pace.
The road we were walking on was a dusty one, that had once been treated and laid down well. But, now, due to lack of any maintenance there were potholes everywhere. Any vehicles that used the road had to keep their speeds to a minimum, or risk serious damage to their cars. And since it was a primarily rural area, there were not many vehicles on the road at any one time. In all, three vehicles passed us while we were on that road. Two of them being public transport, and only one was a private vehicle. In the silence of the day- it was getting to noon- the sound of the vehicle could be heard, well before it came into sight. Every time he heard a vehicle approaching, Rahul got off the road and hid in the bushes and trees alongside till the vehicle had passed beyond sight. It was clear to me hat though he was doing this, he was very scared and touchy. Any sound on the road made him start, and jump. I felt sorry for him, and wasn’t sure how he would do, what he was going to do.
…Continued.
What do you think?