The Poison Waves by Sayantani DasGupta

Author:Sayantani DasGupta [Dasgupta, Sayantani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2023-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

On her shoulder, Tuntuni imitated the gesture, rubbing his little yellow head with his wings.

“Sorry, Your Majesty,” Kiya mumbled.

“Now, what were you even talking about?” Queen Pinki squinted at them like she’d totally lost the thread of the conversation. “Something about rain, and mermaids, and pants made of science?”

“Forget the science pants,” said Kinjal with an apologetic look at his sister.

“We were talking about the water pari getting sick,” Kiya began.

Queen Pinki made a dismissive gesture. “The ocean is a mysterious place,” she said vaguely.

“But it’s not just the ocean!” Kinjal pointed at the nearby river. “The waters here are turning brown too.” His voice faded a little as he added, “And making the animals sick.”

Kiya turned to look in the direction her brother was facing and saw their friends Raat and Snowy, who were both looking more ill than they had before, now that they had drunk their fill. She gasped. “Oh no! I told them to go drink from the river!”

As if on cue, Snowy turned a shade of green, spitting up a little. “I don’t feel very well,” the poor horse moaned.

“Neither do I,” mumbled Raat, stumbling heavily to the right. Everyone gasped, startled to see the normally strong pakkhiraj looking so weak.

“That’s what I was worried about before!” Kinjal said as both twins rushed over to their friends. “If the water can make the water pari sick, it can make the pakkhiraj sick too!”

Kiya felt like crying. Why hadn’t she thought about the polluted water when she directed her friends to drink up? She’d been so worried about how hard they had flown, and how dehydrated they must be, she’d forgotten all about the poison in the waters!

“Raat, Snowy, I’m so sorry!” she apologized, stroking the necks of the ill horses. “I shouldn’t have told you to drink from the stream!”

Thums-Up circled her larger pakkhiraj friends, comforting them by nuzzling their long faces with her own shorter one, winding in and out of their legs. But Raat and Snowy kept their heads bowed, groaning softly.

“You should get your friends back to their Princess Pakkhiraj as they do not look well,” said Queen Pinki, squinting at the now coughing Raat in alarm. Kiya wasn’t sure if the Queen was genuinely concerned for his health or just worried about catching whatever he had.

“But what did you want to talk to us about in the first place?” Kinjal asked. “Why did you send Tuntuni to find us?”

“I was seeking to warn you about the wanted signs, which you very cleverly flew down low enough to see, making my warning immaterial!” Queen Pinki’s dark-lashed eyes flashed in irritation.

Even though she was angry, it was obvious the Queen had been trying to help them, which made Kiya feel even worse than she did already. “I’ve messed everything up. I’m the one who wanted to see the signs. And I’m the one who told the horses to drink from the stream. I’m sorry.”

Kinjal patted her shoulder. “We all make mistakes,” he said.

“Thanks,” Kiya sniffed.

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