A few days to our school’s summer vacation, our Principal was addressing a large assembly of middle school students. Amongst other things she warned us that we should never talk to strangers.
“If any of you happen to fall into the clutches of a stranger...”
Mrs Biswas’s speech was suddenly interrupted by a team of quarrelling cats.
“Oh my gosh,” the principal cried out helplessly. “My poor Betsy’s in real trouble!” A huge furry tomcat had chased Mrs Biswas’s pampered cat right up the school’s oldest banyan tree. “Will someone help Betsy…. please?” she requested our bunch. We looked at each other, wary of going up the tree.
Suddenly, my best friend Rupa stepped out. “Ma’am, let me try,” she spoke. In a sea of silence, we observed Rupa swing intoaction. As she approached the tree, the tomcat, which stood at the base of the tree, hissed. Rupa did everything to scare off the ugly cat and fi nally succeeded in driving away the momentary villain! A relieved Betsy slowly came down the big tree and Mrs Biswas breathed a long sigh of relief. “I’ll never bring dear Betsy to school again!” she promised. Needless to say, this turned out to be a great moment for Rupa. She was unanimously declared the most courageous girl of our school! The following day, the cheerful Principal presented Rupa with a pair of tennis racquets for her great bravery act. And a one hundred rupee cash reward.
As soon as school got over that afternoon, Rupa spoke to me excitedly, ”Hey Shalini, should we go buy a Enid Blyton and may be have some ice-creams?”
“Not a bad idea,” I said, “Let’s head for Uncle Nikhil’s book shop …”
It was at the book shop that my eyes fell on a tall, well–built stranger. He wore a large black hat and was carrying a large rucksack*.
He stood at one corner and offered me a big wide smile. I shuddered uncomfortably, remembering the words of our Principal. I was happy that Rupa carried with her the pair of tennis racquets. Moreover, I was only a few feet away from the bravest girl of our school!
