The Silver Anklet by Mahtab Narsimhan

to play. And if we fulfill his childhood dream, he might just let us go.”
    Raani faced Tara, her eyes flashing. “I’ll say what I like, to whom I —”
    â€œWe should never have let you come with us,” said Tara. “You’re rude, arrogant, and foul-mouthed!”
    â€œAnd you think you’re the cleverest of us all because you faced Zarku once,” said Raani. “If you’re so smart why didn’t you do a proper job of finishing him off the first time?”
    â€œEnough,” yelled Kabir. “We have to save my sister and your brother, Tara. We have to play hide-and-seek with a maniac in your brother’s body and survive till dawn, and all you two can think of is fighting? Focus!
    Our lives depend on us working together.”
    The doors slammed open before anyone could answer. They all looked up. Tara’s heart pounded, fearing another surprise. Instead, Kali walked in bearing a thali of food that gave off a heavenly fragrance. One more lay on the floor just outside. Saliva flooded Tara’s mouth as the aromas of freshly cooked food sped into the room, overpowering the other foul smells lingering in the air.
    â€œCome and help me,” Kali said, prodding Tara with her toe.
    Tara jumped up and stamped on Kali’s foot, grinding down with her heel.
    â€œGet off,” shrieked Kali. “How dare you?”
    â€œYou’re nothing to me anymore and I won’t be treated like a beggar,” said Tara. “You prod me with your toe once more, and I’ll chop it off.”
    Kali looked so mad that Tara was sure she would hurl the thali of food straight at her head. Instead Kali slammed down the steel platter with a resounding bang. Bits of rice and vegetables spilled onto the floor.
    â€œYou’ve got it coming, Tara,” said Kali. “I will help Zarku in any way I can to make sure that you don’t get out of this forest alive. That is my promise to you.”
    Kali brought in the second thali and plonked it down. Her eyes glittered with rage and her lips were a thin, straight line. “Eat and get out,” she said, her small black eyes sweeping over them. “May the worst luck be with you all!”
    With her dire words still hanging in the air, Kali stomped out of the room.
    They stared at the food. One platter was filled with steaming white rice, yellow dal, an assortment of vegetables, pickles, and papads. The other thali had her favourite food; mithai. Fat, golden laddoos squatted regally in a corner. Rasmalai lay smothered in a creamy blanket of milk in smaller container, sprinkled liberally with pistachios and almonds. Diamond-shaped coconut and cashew barfi, glittering with silver vark, peeped from under the fronds of a banana leaf.
    Zarku and Kali had gone through a lot of trouble to provide such a sumptuous meal; almost as if they were fattening pigs for slaughter. Her appetite vanished and she shrank back against the wall.
    â€œI’m not hungry,” she said. “You all eat.”
    How could she eat a meal provided by people she hated the most? This was so wrong. She met Ananth’s eyes. He seemed to be going through the same dilemma.
    The food steamed away gently, perfuming the air. No one moved.
    Vayu grabbed Tara’s hand and made her sit down. He beckoned to all of them. “Listen to me, this could be the last decent meal for a while. Don’t pass it up. We’ll need every bit of our strength. Even one of us not being able to run could be the difference between life and death.”
    â€œHow did you get to be the wise man of the group?” said Tara. She could not help but smile.
    â€œYou’re right,” said Ananth. “Who cares where the food came from? We better eat if we’re going to be running all night.”
    Raani snorted and Kabir scooched closer.
    They sat, encircling the enormous thalis, and dug in. The food was tasty and hot. She crunched up the vegetables