When in danger, both Anirudh and Bondita had one thing in common. They would both go to their quiet places within, so that they could switch on the more evolved parts of their brains, his logic and practicality, and her creative perspective ability and empathy. For these had always acted as their divinity rod, their pathfinder, and always made them ever ready, and hence safe, in whatever the circumstances life challenged them with.

"Two minutes, Bondita, we have only two minutes." Anirudh had kept down the telephone receiver, his hands pressing his temples determining the next course of action.
Bondita was standing infront, her eyes narrowed at him.

"What happens after two minutes?" Her voice was low in a fearful apprehension.

"I don't know, something terrible."
Anirudh was already infront of their bedroom safe, stuffing bundles of currency notes inside the pocket of his plain cotton kurta.
Bondita stood there, thinking, but only for a second, before she prepared to walk out of the door.
"Where are you going?" He asked her, without looking, and Bondita replied promptly, an empty sling bag in her hand.

"60 seconds... Meet me at the main gate."

"No, not the main, the back gate, in exact one minute."
He shoved a few papers inside his leather suitcase and opened the chest of drawers for more.

Bondita didn't wait to reply.

Exactly a minute, and Anirudh saw his wife coming down, jumping the stairs, sprinting towards him with a hurried urgency, she had her sling college sack on her shoulder.

"Let's go." She panted, and held his hand, almost pulling him out of the dark unexplored back exit of the mansion.
"But, where to Barrister Babu?" She looked up at him, her large eyes widened in question, as they both heard a screeching noise of probably a jeep haulting somewhere near.

"We'll have to figure that out." Anirudh held her shoulders firmly.
"For now, let's just run!"

Bondita nodded silently, no queries, no inhibitions, no further questions... For when her Barrister Babu asks her to run, she just runs... And, this time, his fingers were intertwined with hers, their hands held together, inseparable, and for Bondita that's all what mattered!

..............................................

The antique wall clock dinged ten times, as Raimoti brushed a quick glance at Satyakirth, their eyes meeting once again, both acknowledging the essence of the restricted time. They had each other's expertise, but they needed to hurry, for time was their only drawback. The stone-cold soulless basement of the Raybahadur Palace had suddenly turned into a shrine for the Swadeshi freedom fighters, raiding the place was like drawing direct blessings from the goddess, the motherland, advancing themselves a little forward towards achieving their collective goal, the freedom.
Two boys including Girish stood outside the backdoor, exporting the boxes safely outside the palace premises through the river route, two other's including Ramcharan stood watch at the main gate, overseeing the sleeping guards, while four others under Batuk's leadership waited at the river bank, docking the boxes into the small steamer that they had brought for the purpose.

"How many more?" Satya asked Rai, standing at the threshold, as she handed him a comparatively larger wooden box from inside the basement hall.

"Three medicines, and five boxes of hand grenades." She calculated quickly and started to work on the first of the three medicine boxes.

Satya marvelled at her readiness, but only for a moment.

The hall reeked of gunpower and ethanol, a deadly combination, and after spending two restless hours working inside, Raimoti felt nausceous, as if she would throw up any minute, she gasped in search of fresh air.
"Damn!" She murmured, retching once again, but this wasn't the time to ponder over personal discomfort. She pressed her nose with the free end of her saree and looked around.
The windows were shut, they had been this way forever, and Raimoti felt the urgency of freeing them open. With a few violent pushes, she freed the captivated air inside and in turn was blessed with the freshness of the untarnished oxygen that filled her lung, evading the suffocation of the hall.

"Raimoti, where are the antibiotics?"

Satya had returned back, and was helping himself with the next box, it was heavy too, and the only way to pull it out was to drag it.
"Here, let me."
Raimoti rushed towards him and helped him pull the box, and together they dragged it without any effort.

Girish was at the receiving end, transferring the boxes, and he narrowed his eyes as Satya took Raimoti's hands in his, dusting off the sharp pricky reminisce of the wood straw. Her hands were a little bruised, and without any warning, Satya had suddenly put her index finger in his mouth, and sucked out a small wood speck from the tip of her finger.

"I'm fine." Raimoti murmured, a little embarassed at this public display of his concerns.
Unnecessary! She thought.

"I know, just wanted to make sure." Satya spat the speck and smiled awkwardly, he too had realised the inappropriate hastiness of his uncharacteristic action.

Raimoti was looking down.
"One more left." She murmured and ran inside.

Satya saw her leaving, his eyes following her till she disappeared behind the corridor walls, and then he turned towards Girish.
"Don't return for the last. I'll take it and meet you at the river. She'll come too." His last words were more of a hush.

"Satya Da? Seriously?" Girish rolled his eyes at him, as he pulled the box out along with another boy, as he muttered the words at his leader.

"What?" Satya frowned.
"I'm just concerned, as her doctor, well, this mission... she's..."

Satya didn't complete and Girish too, didn't wait for him to complete. They both had priorities, for their duties towards their motherland weighed way more than their personal sentiments.

Satya ran back inside, but the moment he took a the sharp turn to enter into the dark corridor leading towards the basement door, he heard a sharp commotion. He pulled out the small torch from his pocket, and in it's scanty light he saw Raimoti standing a little away with a heavy wooden lid in hand, and at her feet lay a man in police uniform, fresh blood from his fractured skull was rolling down the pathway.

"Did I kill him?" Raimoti was shaking convulsively, in terror, and in the anxious suddenness of the moment.

Satya took a glance at the man.
"No, he'll live." He rushed to her at once and pulled her by her arms.
"Come lets go." He urged her, and the moment she hopped over the injured man and tried to move forward, they both was stunned by a blaring noise... the noise of gunshots, one...two...three...four at once, in a row, then silence, followed by a round of repeat fire.

"The police... How did they..."

"Baba!" Raimoti gasped.

Satya's face had contorted, his jaws tightened and his hands fisted in a ball. Raimoti quickly pulled his arms, urging him to go out.

"Let's go..." She urged him again.

"No, two of my boys are out." He spoke firmly and turned to look into her eyes, his hands cupping her chin in a gentle firmness.
"Rai, when I told you about the danger in my path, I wasn't exaggerating." He breathed, calmly, his gaze intensifying on her restless orbs.
"Miss Mukherjee, listen to me... I want you to go alone, wait for me by the river. And if I don't come back, go with the others." His grip had tightened on her face, feeling every bit of her, as if for a final time.

Raimoti gulped. She didn't reply, nor did she react, and Satya sighed sharply, before sprinting out of the basement, leaving her alone, fighting the age-old battle of head and heart all by herself.

"If I go to the river, Satyakirth Sen." She finally murmured. "I'll go with you... Else, NOT!"
She pressed her eyes shut, to gather herself before she dashed out of the dark corridor...
Destination; her father's study.
Objective; his automatic revolver!

........................................................

That particular February night was probably a bit too harsh, it's ruthless chill capable of piercing the heart of even the bravest soul.

Bondita felt cold.
It was the type of coldness that reaches into the bones, as if the heart were a door left wide open to the icy wind, slamming only to open again. The only thing to do was to keep moving, keep heading toward an unknown safety, banking on the the steady warmth of her husband's companionship.
Bondita stopped, turning around, she saw their house standing majestically like a white monument.

"When would we return back?" She asked him, softly as her husband let out a sigh.

"Soon." He breathed.
Unsure of the danger that lurked for them, Anirudh had taken care of the basic preparations, mainly money and his certificates, for he feared that whatever or whoever attacks their household would aim for those, trying to make it appear as a burglary. And, in his mind he had calculated all the nuances of the attack. He would seek protection from the police, and then would return back to the house, retrieving all the documents related to the Swadeshi Custodial Death Case, and given how he had hidden those, he was confident that no one would dare to pay much attention to it's camouflaged cover.
But, at times what man thinks, the cruel humour of unforseen future refutes back with its brutal blow.
And, Anirudh felt that blow!

"Bondita, we'll..." He was about to tell her his plans, as a loud sky piercing sound made them disoriented, their minds blank at first, and then their bodies thrown away almost immediately, blown a little afar, like a tumbleweed, hurled together in shock more than the physical pain, as the monstrous intensity of the blazing blast had destroyed their dear home infront of their eyes, and what remained was the raging fire, and it's black smoke snaking up towards hell.

"Noooo.... Please God....nooo.....!" Bondita wailed loudly, her hands stretched towards the fire, as Anirudh pulled her closer at once, sheathing her shaking body with the protection of his strong heart.

"Bondita... Bondita... Look up," he patted her shoulders.
"Are you hurt?"

Bondita shook her head slowly as uncontrollable fat tears ran down her soot covered face.

Anirudh's nose was bleeding, as he sniffed back fresh blood and cupped his wife's face tenderly.
"We're alive... We're alive Bondita... And we'll fight this together..." He placed his right hand on her head and closed his eyes, his jaws tightened in a fierce resolve.
"And, I swear on you Bondita... Whoever did this to us, I'll send them to hell... No matter what!"

Bondita didn't respond, instead she just wiped the dripping blood from his nostrils.
"Let's leave from here Barrister Babu, I think I know the exact place we need to be."

Anirudh narrowed his eyes.
"Where?"

"Calcutta Jewish Bakery." She sighed.

..........................................................