A Fall through time(Once upon a time)

9.The cottage ....

Dedications- There are 2 this week, first to my friend Ananyaa for the awesome book cover and second to Nehal AKA @weird_poet005 for her constant support and the picture of Anamika(the one displayed above) she so thoughtfully mailed me ;)- thank you Nehal :)

" There you go", Durga smiled as she handed me a steaming cup of black tea, "today is a beautiful day, don't you agree?"

Sun rays filtered inside the front portico of Mr. Rahim's cottage where I and Durga presently sat.

" Quite a lovely one." I gave her a slight smile and continued sipping the tea. The woman had magic in her hands, delicious!

" Is there something you'd like to tell me? About yesterday?"

Her voice was casual, yet I choked on my beverage.

" About yesterday?" I asked coughing.

" Yes, you had a meeting with Dan. What was his purpose of meeting you?"

" Oh, just a deal. Nothing of much importance." I shrugged and looked away. I was getting better at lying.

" If you say so." A half-crooked smile played on her lips.

Someone was running down the verandah and soon an innocent face peeked at us with a poorly-disguised excitement.

" Didi (sister)", Surya smiled as he addressed Durga. This was one thing I liked about Indians, they always referred to each other as brother or sister in reverence even though they had no blood relation. Surya was the youngest house help who worked at Mr. Rahim's house and also the boy I had befriended.

"Lord Fall", he bowed as he saw me.

" Why are you excited so early in the morning, Surya?" Durga reciprocated his enthusiastic smile.

" Would you like to come down to the village? We have organized a small carnival to celebrate the end of Harvesting season." He smiled sheepishly.

" We would love to." Wait a minute, what does she mean by "we"? " Won't we Lord Fall?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, we would be more than happy to accept the offer, Surya." I gave him a warm smile.

As soon as he ran away, I threw a skeptical look at Durga . The woman who did not even allow me to enter the adjoining plantation without a gang of men trailing behind, is now actually asking me to go to a carnival with just her. What has changed between then and now?

" What about the chant of protection you always seem to murmur?"

" You nearly escaped an assassination in the last 48 hours, I am sure that you can take good care of yourself." She got up to leave but quickly added, "In any case, I am not your nanny."

" You wound my pride, madam." I chuckled and stood up too.

"Then bandage it soon sir because you have a carnival to attend, if you'd like to that is."

" I'd love to." I smiled at her retreating form. I would even visit Hell if she asked me to. Now where did that thought come from?

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" This is a momo", Surya shoved a plate full of these almost pouch shaped food items into my hand.

" It is a steamed dumpling containing meat cooked in a doughy wrapping" Ravij diligently informed me, now who was surprised that my personal encyclopedia had tagged along, " dip it in the chutney", he said pointing to a red liquid served along with it, "but do so scantily."