PEREGRINATE

CHAPTER 5

A week later I was in search of the washroom when I opened a door and got the wind knocked out of me. I had slammed into someone carrying a food tray. Morsels of food splattered all over my and her clothes. My uniform and her dress were ruined.

She quickly swooped down and started picking up the food. I bent to help her too but something happened. With some of my tries, I was able to pick the food up, and at other times the food just passed through my hand. I looked up to her and her startled face was fading and appearing in front of me. It was like one moment there was a mist and another she was as clear as ever. I could hear people talking and laughing. However, the voices too were fading in and out.

I started feeling dizzy but then someone picked me up by my elbow and dragged me to a corner behind a curtain. In the dim cool place, some of my senses returned to me and I noticed a dowdy-looking woman snarling at me, "How could you be so clumsy? Clean up and get to work immediately."

I didn't know what was happening but I nodded my head to stop any more of her spittles landing on my face. The girl whom I had crashed into signaled me to follow her. As soon as we were out of the doors she whispered harshly in my ears, "Where have you been since morning? I had to do your morning chores."

I heard her words that were definitely not English but it surely sounded familiar. With a startled gasp, it registered to me that some of the words were similar to Sanskrit. I had a beginner grasp on the language and yet I was able to understand her.

Had I unwittingly entered a drama club? I glanced around but the empty school hallways were now filled with furniture. Paintings that I had never seen before were mounted on the wall.

"Where am I?" I muttered. The girl ignored my question and dragged me down the stairs.

"Oh I see you have found Maitri, Isha," a woman exclaimed as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

It was the kitchen and the food was being cooked in cauldrons on a wood fire. The girl, Isha, pointed me to a cutting board full of vegetables that needed to be chopped. Was this a period home science class? Why were they wearing such clothes?

With a mind full of questions I started chopping the vegetables. I was glad for the mindless task in a way. My brain was not yet clear that I could question these people. And if not chopping I would have been rocking in the corner horrified.

I had not even chopped through one-third of the mountain of vegetables when the strange girl, Isha, threw a shabby-looking skirt and blouse at me and asked me to change fast. As I went behind the door to change I looked down and realised to my astonishment that I was no longer wearing my uniform. What I wore was similar to her attire. I stood there for a few moments trying to process what was happening to me. But it was too long for Isha as she poked her head around the door and gave me the order to hurry up. I changed and emerged out of the door ready to confront her about what was happening. I never got the chance.

As soon as I had finished changing behind the door she dragged me back to the dining room. This girl did not do anything at a slow pace. And she dared to throw me a dirty look when I was lagging. Did the castle also house the mentally ill?

She went to the table to pick up the dirty plates. As I stood dumbfounded at the doorway yet once again she gave me a pointed look. I rushed over to help her and together we took them back to the kitchen to be scrubbed out. It took a good one hour and after we were done Isha vanished into another doorway.

I did not follow her. I needed a moment to gather my bearings. I looked around the kitchen. The fire was still on but the women too had gone off somewhere. It was around 12 when I had excused myself from the classroom. My phone and watch were still in my bag. Someone was bound to notice I had not returned and maybe they could call my father. Sure I might get into trouble but I just wanted to go home.