An Indo- German Expedition

Thank you Padhmu for the kind words. Watch out for more such chapters.

 

Thanks Vedha. Hope u enjoy the latest episode too.

 

Awww. You have been very encouraging since my first chapter. Hope you enjoy the latest episode too. Looking forward to receiving ur f/b

 

Yea. You are right. They stopped on seeing Arjun and Aarushi. You will know why in the upcoming chapters.

 

Chapter 9

The families were still in shock and the ladies were contemplating returning home. However Dharma and Sekar convinced them to continue their tour as planned. The guide met them at the entrance of the castle. Along with the two families, there were 10 more people who joined the group. There were two American couples who were in their early 30’s, an elderly couple from China who were busy admiring the beauty of the castle from the entrance, three Spanish men in their late 20’s who seemed bored by the tour book and were busy looking at the tourists and laughing out aloud and a woman in her late 40’s.

The woman wore a black trousers and a long red jacket. Her scarf was wavering in the cold wind and she seemed to carry a rather heavy bag for a tourist. Her face was tense and her eyes kept wandering around. Ishaan caught her eyes twice and whispered to Arjun on the strange looking woman.

She looks Asian, doesn’t she? Ishaan enquired

Yea, looks like. But I am not sure. Looks like she is all by herself- Arjun replied taking a closer look at her.

She had beautiful black hair that was curled in the ends and kept assuring the curls were intact. She was glimpsing at Ishaan and Arjun and smiled at them. They smiled back. The tour guide arrived promptly and as expected, he commenced his tour in a dramatic way. He was funny and ensured his guests were enjoying every bit of the castle. The castle was huge and each room bore a significance. By now, the tour guide started addressing their guests by name and showed them around.

The elders were mesmerized by the beauty of the castle. Maya was feeling dizzy since the beginning of the tour and she kept close to her Aarushi. Arjun had noticed it and looked worried. Ishaan was also worried and enquired if she was okay. Maya kept confirming that she was okay although her head was spinning. The tour guide took them to a beautifully decorated room which had a small fire place. The guide explained that in those days the kings applied a cream on their faces regularly. The Spanish man pointed at the curtains of the fire place and asked the purpose of it. Oh, you know these kings were so conscious about their looks and therefore in order to prevent the creamy makeup peeling from the fire, they had curtains affixed, he joked. All the guests burst out laughing.

The strange woman was now standing close to Maya and she walked along with her. Ishaan and Arjun had noticed this and kept a close watch. The guide cracking jokes guided them downstairs to a tunnel. The tunnel was leading to the kitchen. The stairs was steep and very narrow, the guide had a torch on and walked in front of them. As they all got down and assembled in a circle to look at the kitchen, Aarushi shouted, Maya, where are you? All of them panicked. This was strange. Maya and the woman were walking in between Aarushi and Ishaan. Arjun called out, Maya, if you are playing again, stop this now and come here. But there was no response. Aarushi noticed that the woman was missing as well. The crowd started to panic, and the guide started to sweat. He was in deep trouble if he had two guests missing. Dharma, Sekar, Ishaan and Arjun ran across the entire corridor calling out Maya. Devi kept insisting that she saw Maya when she got down the stairs. She remembered Maya smiling at her.

Prema and Devi had started sobbing by now, and kept repeating, they should have gone back and should have never entered the castle. The Spanish guys approached Dharma and Sekar,


Did you notice the woman who was alone? She was very close to your daughter and now she is missing as well. We should approach the police.

Dharma was very confused. The tour guide was now walking towards them.

Please trust me, there is now exit from the stairs. You have checked it by yourself. I don’t know what the problem is. Arjun and Ishaan asked the details of the woman. Her name is Ria Helsinki, from Malaysia. This is her address the guide handed over her details.

Before they could proceed any further, Aarushi called Ishaan and Arjun aside. Guys just follow me, she ordered. Her eyes were confident and she started sprinting across the corridor. The boys followed suit. She led them to the same stairs and exactly when the stairs was close by a wall, she stopped and bent down. Moving aside the carpets she they could see a small gap.

This is a door, we need a key, and she told the boys. They could not do much and shouted back for help. The guide came running closely followed by others. This is a secret door. Nobody has a key to it, he told them.

Maya is in here, Aarushi explained to him in German. Please get the keys. The guide ran to the admin room to fetch the keys. Together they opened the door and ran inside. It led to an exit near the pond. The parking lot was close by. Devi spotted Maya in a distance and screamed. They all ran towards her and before she could get into the car, she was caught. Maya was in an unconscious state. The parents picked her up and the guide had already called the police.

Even before the guide had asked for an explanation, Aarushi came forward. I have been researching about this castle for two years now as a part of my studies. I know that there is a secret path. Although I have never seen it. When Maya went missing and when aunty kept insisting that Maya was on top of the stairs, and added to the fact that Maya was missing, I felt she must have been kidnapped through the path. Probably in the pitch darkness, the woman must have waited for all of us to pass and quickly open the door and escape. How she got access to the door is something for the police to investigate. The crowd applauded.

Ishaan looked at Arjun, we were engrossed in our chat and that is when she was kidnapped. Dharma spoke to the police officials and lodged a complaint. They walked back to the car hurriedly.

Brilliant. Thank you. The parents were completely drained and wanted to go home badly. Maya and Aarushi, you ride with us. Ishaan you take Sekar and Devi, Dharma ordered and entered his seat. They had a quite dinner. We are saved from danger by god’s grace they repeated. After they retired to bed. Ishaan and Arjun knocked Aarushi’s door and she opened it in a jiffy.

Spit out Aarushi, Arjun urged.

They sat on Aarushi’s bed, she held Maya’s hand tightly.

Guys, whatever I told in the palace is a lie. I don’t know anything about the castle.

But how did you know about Maya then? Ishaan enquired.

I heard a voice- Aarushi trembled.

What???? They looked at her in terror.