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"What do you mean left? What do you mean left? Haan!!!??? Where is she? What do you mean by left?" Shubhra asked getting worried frantically, her voice rising an octave with each word. "What is written in it?" She snatched the letter from Anirudh's hand and ran her eyes over the words but alas!

Kala akshar bhains barabar!

"What is written in it, Lochan Da?" She shoved the letter in Trilochan's hand who started reading the letter aloud.

Shubhra's eyes spilled tears like a broken dam and her head turned towards Anirudhh, who couldn't meet her eyes out of remorse. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "What did you say to her? What did you do, Awni? Answer me!!" She yelled at him.

" M-maa.... I... I j-just I..... " Guilt ridden Anirudhh couldn't word his mistake and he looked down keeping mum.

" I don't care what anyone said to her." She joined her hands in front of Trilochan. "But please bring my Bondita back. Please Da."

Trilochan held her joined hands between her palms and nodded with choked throat. "Nothing would happen. Have faith in Durga maa, Shubhra behen. I'll myself go to find her." 

Shubhra nodded. "I'll call Awni's baba." Trilochan nodded.

Anirudhh and Trilochan left along with a picket of guards with burning flambeaus in hands.

Anirudhh's hand held the flambeau tightly and his heart thudded with fear and anxiety , not knowing her whereabouts.

When their men had searched every possible place they could ,and Anirudhh's voice had become hoarse by shouting her name again and again, he started losing hope and his knees were turning weak.

"Anirudh! Do you think she could go with that boy?" Trilochan asked in a gruff tone. Anirudhh looked at him quizzically and after a few seconds when he understood what he was implying, his jaw clenched.

"I don't know." He replied curtly.

"If I found her there, I won't spare him. How dare he run away with our grahlakshmi? "

Words were not registering much to Anirudh's mind. He just wanted her safe and in front of his eyes as soon as possible, but the thought of her seeking comfort in someone else dropped his heart to his stomach.

"I know his house. I'll check there and I'll check Vanessa's house too."

"That British girl?"

"Yes."

Vanessa was shocked to hear and denied knowing about Bondita's whereabouts. Anirudh drove to Aditya's house in speed and pounded on the door restlessly. Aditya's mother opened the door and before she could ask him the reason to come at this hour of the night, he saw Aditya near the stairs who saw him. His face drained color and he ran upstairs. Anirudhh felt suspicious and he ran upstairs too. Before Aditya could close the door, Anirudhh jerked it open, throwing Aditya on the floor in the process by the impact of the door. He looked here and there in the room and then checked in the bathroom, cupboard, below the bed and balcony. "Bondita, come out. Bondita, I know you are here. I said come out." He called out.

Aditya scrambled up to collect himself and stood in a corner trembling. When Anirudhh didn't find Bondita, he marched towards Aditya in fury and grabbed his collar. He spoke menacingly with gritted teeth, "I'll just ask once. Don't make me repeat myself. Where. Is. She?" His eyes looked dangerous. Aditya's eyes welled up and his body started shaking. Moments later, Anirudh looked at his feet and saw an amber coloured liquid trailing on the floor.

Anirudhh closed his eyes and muttered a curse under his breath. Aditya had urinated himself and now was drowning in embarrassment. His whimpers turned into loud wails and his knees buckled. Anirudh held him by his shoulders to prevent his fall.

"I-I d-don't know Dada what are you saying? Where is who? I-I...." Aditya started crying.

" Then why were you running away from me?"

"Be-because your kaka say-said things like I put a bad eye on Bondita. That I look at her with l-lust. I'm not like that Dada. Trust me. She is my best friend. I just wanted to help her win you." Aditya looked at him with teary eyes.

"Win me? What does that mean?"

After Aditya changed himself to lessen his embarrassment, he explained Bondita's naive plan about winning Anirudh upon listening to which Anirudhh felt like a fool.

"Wh-when I didn't talk to her this morning, she was very upset. She tried a lot to talk to me but I didn't because I was afraid of you and your kaka. I think all of us ignoring her made her feel dejected and that's why she left. "

Anirudhh rubbed his face harshly in helplessness. "So you don't know where she is?"

Aditya shook his head timidly. Anirudh nodded grimly.

"Do you have any idea where she could be?"

Aditya shook his head again. But after a few moments he said, " Is there any place where she might feel welcomed like her mayka? "

***

Anirudh and Trilochan had checked by calling at Devipur and Krishnanagar too but to their disappointment , Bondita wasn't there either. Binoy had informed that he was on the way and had already sent an officer to help Roy Chowdhurys lowkey.

Anirudhh's patience was thinning with every passing minute and with that his guilt was taking a monstrous size. His conscience was admonishing him brutally. Time to time , his tears were making an appearance but the will to find her was more powerful, not allowing him to break in the moment.

When they returned back to Roy Chowdhury haveli, Shubhra came running to them and looked at them hopefully. When they entered , she ran to the doorstep and looked outside.

"Bondita is outside, right? She might have slept in the motor gadi. I'll bring her or her sleep will get disturbed in the cold outside."

She was moving towards the motorcar but was stopped by Trilochan's voice. " We couldn't find her."

Shubhra's leg stopped in mid air and tears welled up again in her eyes for the nth time tonight. She looked at Trilochan in fury and her tone became accusing. "But you had said you would find her. It's past midnight. What if something happens to her? What will we do? She might be hungry. What if she gets lost? Dada , you know na! She can't remember difficult routes easily. She never goes alone anywhere. Where could she go? Awni, what did you do?" Shubhra broke down in tears and watching her, Anirudh felt like curling up and dying.

Suddenly, something struck Anirudhh's mind remembering Aditya's words and he wiped his tears harshly. There was a place where she had felt welcome. Could she be there?

***

"Am I on the correct path? Why do I forget routes so easily? Oh Dugga maa, please help your sweet little Bondita. What if I get lost and become some animal's dinner?" Bondita shuddered at the thought. She kept moving with a small potli in her hands clutched tightly to her chest.

A few unchecked tears fell on her cheeks when she missed the people she left behind. Countless questions swarmed her mind.

Was it the correct decision?

How would everyone react?

Would they worry for her or just brush off her like a forgotten memory?

Deep down she wanted them to miss her and worry for her but she knew better.

Only if she knew.

Fallen dry leaves and twigs were crunching beneath her slippers when she walked in the silent night. She murmured silent prayers to Dugga maa to help her find the route. She let out a loud scream when she heard an animal's growl. She ran at full speed. Finally, when she could see her destination, a small smile broke on her face and she ceased.

***

To make the matters worse, it had started raining heavily. But Anirudh's heart lurched more fiercely than the clouds roaring in the sky. This was his last hope. He didn't know what he would do if he didn't found her here. He knocked on the door as he stood on the doorstep. It was when Anirudhh reached an old dilapidated hut in the outskirts of Tulsipur, he remembered just a year back he and Bondita had come here and he had felt butterflies for the very first time in her proximity. Now it seemed like an eternity ago when he had shown his acceptance to her. That he would accept her even with her scars and flaws, no matter what. And today he would do that again. But this time it would be his flaws that would need her approval.

His chain of thoughts broke when the door opened and he saw a small girl named Asha he saw in school sometimes clinging to Bondita in lunch hours, after they got her enrolled in the school. 

"Dada!" Her face showed surprise when she saw a drenched Anirudh standing on the doorstep. "Bondita didi is not here." She bit her tongue and closed her eyes, wincing at her mistake. A sense of relief washed over his whole body and he left a long breath he was holding. But he wanted to see her first to make sure completely. He didn't want to be broken by false hopes now.

Asha tried to make him go away with her silly unbelievable excuses but he stubbornly marched into the room. He saw Bondita sitting on a rag mat spread on the floor and being fed rice and dal hungrily by an old, wrinkled woman who he quickly recognised.

Bondita and hungry? Right!

"Bondita!" His voice was choked as he breathed a long sigh of contentment and relief.

Bondita's head whipped towards him as she heard his voice. She looked alarmed and looked here and there as if trying to look for an escape. "What are you doing here?"  She panicked. "How did you know ? How did you find me? " She looked at the old woman. "Kakimaa, did you tell him?" The old woman shook her hands and head in no. Bondita stood up making a stance for running. Her eyes darted towards the back door and she made a run to it.

Anirudhh was startled and couldn't grab her at the right moment as she ran at the backside of the hut barefoot. Anirudhh ran behind her yelling her name. "Bondita, don't run. Bondita, come back. Let's talk first" His words drowned in the heavy downpour before reaching her.

Bondita looked back at him to see if he was still following her. She saw Anirudh's eyes widening in horror as he screamed her name and when she looked ahead, it was too late.

Her bare foot slipped on the wet slippery clay and she felt her ground being snatched from under her feet and the next moment she felt herself being thrown in the air. She held whatever came handy in defense and realized that she had fallen into a well and was hanging by a rope in the air just above the water.

Anirudhh reached the well hurriedly and looked inside.
"Bondita! Don't leave the rope." He himself held the rope and tried to pull her with its help.

"Pati babuuu! Please save me." Bondita cried.

"Bondita keep holding the rope, don't lose it." He screamed at the top of his voice as the rainfall became heavier.

"My hands are slipping." The sharp raindrops were pricking Bondita's eyes and she was unable to open her eyes to look at him and her hands were slipping from the rope.

"Bondita, hold the bucket."

"There is no bucket , pati babu. My hands are slipping. Please save me. I'm scared."

"Don't be. I'm here. I'm here. Just keep holding on."

Anirudh bent at his waist onto the wall of the well and tried to reach her. But she was still not reachable .

"Bondita try to hold my hand." He forwarded his hand towards her.

"No, no . You'll leave me." She shook her head frantically. "Please save me, Pati babu. Please." She started sobbing and became breathless with panic.

"Bondita! Shhh Shh! Don't cry. Why would I leave you? Hold my hand fast."

" Sorry, sorry. I'm not crying, it's just water." She feared her wailing would irritate him.

"Leave one hand from the rope and hold mine."

"I can't. You'll leave me."

"For god's sake Bondita, why would I leave you ? Hold my hand." He tried to reach  the rope, but the rope swayed away from him taking her away.

"Because... because you don't like to touch me as if I burn you. What if you leave me? I don't want to die. I don't know how to swim. I'm very scared ,Pati babu. Please save me somehow."

"Bondita, stop. What are you saying?"

Anirudh bent more into the well and this time he held the rope and tried to pull her. When she came somewhat near him, he held the rope by one hand and wound his other arm around her torso and tried to pull her. Bondita left the rope finally and circled her arms around his neck.

"Oh no! My legs are slipping." He panicked.

Suddenly, she felt herself going down along with Anirudhh as his legs lifted up in the air from the ground by her weight and she let out a scream and wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck digging her head in the crook of his neck.

"Please, please please don't leave me. I'll never bother you, pati babu. Please. Shotti!" Bondita started crying and begging him not to leave her. In that moment, he realized how much trust she had lost in him. She can't even trust him with her life.

Bondita kept murmuring apologies and pleadings of not to leave her, despite his coaxing, and started hyperventilating.

Anirudhh was half hanging in the well , only his waist supporting him on the wall of the well when he felt Bondita getting heavier and her arms losing the strength by which she was holding him. He looked at her to find her eyes rolling and her falling into unconsciousness.

"Bondita! No! No, Bondita. Keep awake." He called out her name loudly again and again which fell on her deaf ears. He held her torso with both his arms as tightly as he could, leaving the rope. He shook his feet and his slippers came out. He dug his toes into the gap between the stones in the outer wall of the well to hold himself there.

Anirudhh pulled her out with all his might and fell on his back with Bondita on top of him. He took deep breaths in his air-starved lungs and his heart was pounding erratically , as if ready to rip out from his chest. He didn't make an attempt to get up but wrapped his arms around her in tight grip and laid on the ground with his eyes closed, heart thudding and lips parted to take in heavy breaths , in blissful tranquility, as he finally found solace in his sanctuary.

***

The doctor was called to tend an unconscious Bondita as everyone fretted over her. He prescribed the appropriate treatment and told the family to not worry much as she fell into unconsciousness owing to her panic and exhaustion. She would gain consciousness in the morning itself. Shubhra thanked the lord a million times and  changed Bondita's wet clothes and fed her medicines and hot broth slowly sip by sip in her sleep. Shubhra noticed Bondita's wrists which had dark finger mark bruises on them.

Could it be Anirudhh? Is this why she left the home? No! He won't behave with her like this. He can't. He could never.

She frowned at them and decided to ask her when she gets up. Shubhra had vowed to light up Akhand Jyot for seven days in front of Maa Durga if they found her. She stood up to light up the diya in the Thakur dalan after making sure she was asleep. 

Anirudh changed into dry clothes in a frenzy as he didn't want to stay away from her for one more minute. When he reached her room, she was changed into dry clothes and her braid was wrapped in a towel to soak water. He came near her and touched her forehead which was still burning with fever.

He climbed onto the bed beside her and unwrapped her towel , opened her braid and rubbed the hair locks softly with the dry side of the towel. He sorted her tangles slowly , slowly with his fingers, his eyes stuck on her face to see if she was feeling pain by pulling off her hair and left them open to let them dry.

Bondita shivered in her sleep and Anirudhh covered her figure with one more comforter but her shivering didn't stop. Her teeth were clattering even in sleep and she folded her knees to her chest in a fetal position still shivering.

"What happened , Bondita? Are you feeling cold?" He asked her softly, patting her cheeks.

Bondita murmured something incomprehensible. Anirudhh lowered his ear to his lips when he heard the words.  "Please, don't leave me, Pati Babu. Please don..." She trailed away.  

Anirudhh's heart twisted in agony gauging her fear and insecurity. Suddenly , a thought crept in his mind. He didn't feel aroused even for a second today even when she was touching him all the time.

Has he ... Has he become normal? Has his body become normal?

He felt relieved at this newfound realization. Now that he was free of these unwelcomed feelings, he would never leave her. He would never make her feel unwanted and  undesirable. He would cherish her to his heart's content and make up for all the lost days.

His chain of promises broke when Bondita let out shivering sounds out of cold. He brought one more comforter and put it on her. When he saw her figure being laden with a pile of comforters, he realized she must be feeling uncomfortable under the weight. He removed one heavy comforter and when he was sure she was comfortable, he lowered himself inside the comforter.

He hesitantly laid behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist, tucking her to his body. Instinctively, her shivering stopped and she turned in his embrace seeking comfort from his body heat. Her one arm wound around his neck and her face was aligned with his.

Anirudhh looked at her face with admiration and stroked her cheek.

"I'm so , so sorry. Bondita! How could you think that I'd leave and let you fall in the well. Hmm? You mean so much to me. You really scared me today. You tell me not to leave you and see what you did. I don't know if we are doing you a favor or not. But we for sure need you and want you in our lives. Promise me , you'd never do this to me. Hmm? Tell me?" He pulled her closer to himself if possible and wrapped his legs around hers caging her in his embrace as if she would run away from him if he didn't hold her tight enough. Her hot, regular breaths fanned his face and he closed his eyes in calmness. "I'll never ever leave you Shona. Never ever!" He murmured words of worry to an unconscious Bondita  with his hand caressing her head. 

Will Anirudh be able to keep his words ?

Did anyone think this was the separation? Nooooo! It's yet to come soon and with that will come the much awaited leap.

Le me:  Leap will come.

Le audience:  Don't  believe her. She has been saying this for months.

Le me : 🙂  Mat mano. Mujhe kya! Hahahaha

Hey my cuties, how was the chapter?

Do tell me your views and which moment was special to you.