The Silver Anklet by Mahtab Narsimhan

Author:Mahtab Narsimhan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000, JUV037000
ISBN: 9781770700086
Publisher: Dundurn Press Limited
Published: 2009-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

— twelve —

The Pit and the Plan

Zarku’s here early, thought Tara as fear dug its razor-sharp claws into her stomach. He had lied to them!

Horrified, they stared at the hyena, and then at each other. Any moment now Tara expected Zarku to appear.

But if he was around, he stayed hidden.

The hyena advanced, baring its teeth. It sniffed the air, and honed in on Kabir. Tara slowly wiped her hands on her kurta, adding green streaks to the filth and grime that already covered it. “Stay still, Kabir,” she said. “It seems to be coming straight at us.”

“Where are the other hyenas?” whispered Vayu. He scanned the trees around him, making no sudden moves.

The hyena moved closer, its hungry eyes riveted to Kabir. They were but a few feet apart, staring at each other.

“What do we do?” whispered Raani. “Run?”

“No one move,” said Ananth. “I don’t think this one belongs to Zarku.”

The moment he said it Tara noticed the markings on the hyena. This one was spotted, not striped like Zarku’s companions. She breathed a sigh of relief that immediately changed to a dry rattle in her throat. The hyena giggled as it inched closer to Kabir, baring its teeth in a grotesque smile. Saliva dripped from its mouth.

Kabir sat up and the hyena growled deep within its throat. He froze.

“We can’t sit here all day, staring at it,” said Tara. “We have to do something.”

“I need my bows, but I can’t reach them,” said Ananth. “Someone distract this brute.”

And brute he was; larger than any hyena Tara had ever seen, with a mean look in his eye and obviously very hungry.

“Kabir’s wounds have attracted it,” said Tara. The discarded kurta, stinking of blood and pus, was still lying beside them. “We should have burned or buried it.”

The animal trotted closer, splattering the ground with more drool. The late-afternoon sun glinted off a mouthful of sharp, white teeth. He gnashed them, his hungry eyes missing nothing.

Raani whimpered. The hyena snapped its head in her direction. That was all it took. She jumped to her feet and backed away.

“Raani, no!” said Ananth very softly. “Don’t move.”

But Raani wasn’t listening; she didn’t even seem to be aware of anyone around her.

The hyena tensed and inched closer to her, Kabir forgotten. Any moment now it would leap at her. Raani stared at it wild-eyed, white-faced, and took another step back. The hyena stalked her, the hair on its back bristling. She was definitely going to run … “Here,” screamed Tara suddenly. The hyena swung its head toward her. She sprinted into the forest. “Get him, Ananth! Don’t miss!”

With a growl, the hyena leaped after her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ananth jump for his bow and arrow. Don’t miss, don’t miss, she prayed as she zig-zagged toward the trees, the hyena galloping after her.

The hyena’s teeth ripped the edge of her kurta, but Tara didn’t stop. The snap of its jaws was unnaturally loud. She reached the edge of the clearing.

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