I was looking forward to this even lesser than attending a wedding. And that is saying something because as a principle, I hate fuss. If anything, what we were getting into involved a whole lot of complicated fuss and one that might just get us killed. Grandpa, on the other hand, was admiring the scenery unabashedly. Like a tourist before the Taj Mahal.
“Look at his ears! See how they wave so gently!” he said, stroking the Chinese elephant. For a minute, I thought absurdly of the Mahabaratha serial on TV in which two women on either side of Dirtharashtra wave peacock fans for what seemed like forever! I let out a nervous giggle. Laddoo looked up at me and wagged his tail cheerily. He was in full anticipation of entering a new land where new things could be chewed.
Lemon and Omen were in serious discussion with Guava. The amount of murmuring they indulged in gave me the shivers. It was clear that this wasn’t going to be a cake walk. They turned towards us and Omen said, “It’s time to deflate the ship. The quagga will go first and talk to the merpeople and convince them about carrying you lot to the Underground. The merpeople are highly respected in the Underwaters because they look like humans but are not obnoxious. So don’t be obnoxious to them.”
I nodded. Grandpa smiled. Guava cantered to a cabin in the ship marked ‘The Underwaters’ and returned with a rubbery bubble-like mask. She fi tted it on her head and then neighed, “So long then!” She then leapt into the waters like a knife. Lemon said, “If we get the Underwaters and the Underground on our side, it shouldn’t be difficult to stall the Aboveground’s attack.”
We waited in silence for Guava to emerge from the depths. I avoided catching grandpa’s eye because I was feeling quite ill by now. The dinosaur sisters were gently pushing Laddoo away as he bravely tried to nip their gigantic ankles. After what seemed like hours, Guava shot out of the water and Lemon hurriedly threw down a rubber tube for her. The tube was attached to the ship by sturdy ropes and we pulled her up together.
“I’ve managed to convince the merpeople…” she said. My heart lifted. Step 1 had gone right and I turned to grandpa with a smile. But he was looking at Guava seriously. “What’s the catch?” he asked quietly.
