Anikaa & The Mystery of the Painting

23. The Parchment

The following two days were absolutely uneventful since Raymond and Anikaa landed in Munnar. Raymond promptly became busy in commencing the school project, business commitments and arranging the CCTV tapes to Munnar. As per Anikaa's instructions, he had not told Karan the details about their trip and he was growing suspicious. It didn't help much when Sameera called Karan to apprise him of how she missed meeting him when Raymond visited her in Jaipur. Meanwhile, Rachel was also keeping watch on Anikaa as she was quieter than her usual self. Deftly, Anikaa evaded all her questions about the trip and worked relentlessly, trying to engage her mind in constant work. Rachel's inkling was confirmed when Anikaa ate low-cal breakfast the other day without any objections. Almost every day, Rachel reasoned whether to call Raymond to inquire about the change in Anikaa's disposition, but she always dropped the idea as her subconscious reminded her not to be intrusive. Maybe I should give her time; she thought and decided to wait for few days.

It was full moon, she took a deep breath of the fresh breeze, stretched out her arms, the spatter of water was alluring her and she jumped. She looked down at the frothy white water, feeling elated and next second she was deep inside the water, a bubble sneaking out of her open mouth... "Huh!" Anikaa shuddered, opened her eyes and sat up on the bed.

It was the third time she had this dream since coming from Rishikesh. She turned on her bed lamp; it was 5am on the digital clock. She pushed away her sheets and got up from the bed. Since, her arrival Jiyu and Raymond had imposed few restrictions on her pertaining to her safety. Raymond had positioned his men outside her villa and used to call her in evenings. While, Jiyu had refrained her from going out alone at night in her garden and opening her balcony door to which Anikaa argued. After a long debate, she settled to remain indoors till New Moon or Amavasya as according to Jiyu; Gnomons gather full powers on New Moon night.

At 5am, it was still dark and drizzling outside. Anikaa was not feeling sleepy at all; she walked to the door of the balcony looking at the dark sky which was preparing for the dawn. The room was pretty warm and she wanted to breathe in fresh air. A faint sound in her head dissuaded her from opening the door and she stopped. But, the very next second the clutch clicked as she slided the doors, to open widely. A sudden gust of wind swept past her body and in few minutes her room was cold and fresh. How can a person live in the shadow of fear? That's what Gnomons do- instils fear, shoving people to darkness, inhibiting them to live their life. How can I let them do it to me? What a fool I am to be scared of nothing but feeling of fear, she thought and walked back to her bed. She slipped inside her warm duvet, switched off her bed lamps and felt the tranquillity as if she found a solution to the problem.

It was almost 9am and Anikaa was getting ready for breakfast. She slept dreamlessly for three continuous hours and woke up at 8. It was the first time since last week; she felt ravenous and called Bahadur to prepare variety of dishes in the breakfast. She wore an olive- coloured jumpsuit and rushed downstairs.

"Good morning Rachel," said Anikaa descending down the floating stairs.

Rachel was scowling; looking at the breakfast spread on the dining table and was astonished when Anikaa greeted her.

"What's wrong?" asked Anikaa when Rachel stood gaping.

"Nothing. I mean, Good morning mam, you look peppy today," said Rachel.

"I feel peppy, lively, energetic, delighted, smashing and gorgeous today," said Anikaa in a flow, grinning when Bahadur brought a dish of potato cheese balls. Rachel stared her disbelievingly and then, Bahadur seized her attention.

"Bahadur, what's this now?" asked Rachel frowning.

"Potato cheese ball with thyme," said Bahadur smiling.