STOLEN HEARTS

CHAPTER 10 - THE WITNESS

On the coming Sunday, the first rays of sunshine found Aryan standing by the side of the road, holding Barky in his hands with a backpack next to him. Barky and Aryan had become acquaintances and then friends over the past day or so. Aryan, Colonel and Secretary had gone through the plan in detail and had worked out all the nitty-gritties. And Barky was critical to the operation in more ways than one. Because Barky would kick start the mission.

Aryan heard a car approaching and after confirming that it was indeed Sonia's car he gave Barky a hug, took a deep breath, and kneeled down on the side of the road to release the puppy so that Sonia could see it and stop. There was a speed breaker but it had withered away and was just a slight bump on the road now. Hopefully Sonia would slowdown there out of habit. The car was approaching at a fairly high speed and he released Barky who walked casually to nibble at something that was lying in the middle of the road, right in the path of the car.

But much to Aryan's dismay he saw that the car was still at a fairly high speed and approaching fast. Barky was unconcerned and nibbling at something without a care in the world. Oh hell, Aryan thought, Barky was behaving like an Indian cow that stands bang in the middle of the road waving its tail around not giving a hoot about the large vehicles zipping around it, missing it by mere inches. Maybe the puppy had seen a cow or two at work on the road and impressed by the bovine beast it was under the misconception that it too could carry out the same procedure with equal success.

By now the car was only a hundred meters or so away.

Barky did not budge, he stayed where he was. The car was not slowing down. It was still at a high speed heading straight for Barky, showing no signs of stopping. Sonia had not seen the tiny puppy and it too hadn't seen the metal beast barrelling down on it. The mission had to be aborted!

The car was now dangerously close. Aryan took a decision and jumped out of his hiding place, just as Sonia noticed the puppy and saw Aryan jumping right in front of her car. She saw Aryan snatch Barky and roll over right in front of her car. Sonia slammed on the brakes.

Aryan hit the road and luckily the car brushed past him, missing him by mere millimetres. He was stunned and almost knocked out cold.

The car skidded to a stop and Sonia got off, her heart was thumping, her face was flushed, she was gasping and beginning to panic. She ran up to Aryan and began to babble "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see this puppy in the middle of the road at first and then you jumped out all of a sudden and I braked and...oh it's you Aryan, I hope you are all right!" Then she noticed that it was Barky, and he was safe and sound too.

Sonia was relieved, "Oh, Barky, what...what are you doing here?"

Barky gave a bark and wagged its tail and licked Aryan and whined. Sonia checked Barky and said, "He must have ran out from the open gate. He's all right, he's fine. You saved his life...," then she saw Aryan trying to get up, "Oh, Aryan you got hurt."

Aryan was only bruised and a bit dazed. He got up slowly. Sonia continued to babble, "Oh I'm sorry, but you just jumped out and I didn't see you."

Aryan looked up for a moment, he wasn't really listening as there was a buzz in his ears and his heart was thumping like mad, not only because he was near one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, but also because he had almost been run over by her. He looked up at Sonia and said, "I think Barky thinks he's a cow!" Aryan said pointing at the puppy.

Sonia seemed confused, "Barky is...a cow?"

Aryan nodded.

Sonia seemed concerned and said, "Are you all right? This is not a cow, it's a dog! See he's so small, I think you are dazed and maybe have hurt your head. Why don't you sit down for a second? Try and breathe deeply."

Aryan looked at her, unable to say anything. He thought about it and then pretended to be a little more dazed than he really was. Both were quiet for a few moments as Sonia looked at Aryan with pity in her eyes, "You risked your own life to save Barky. Thanks."

Aryan coughed to untangle his vocal cords and spoke modestly, or rather, lied modestly, "I think anyone would have done what I did."

"Are you crazy?" She didn't like how that sounded, she continued quickly, "No, I mean, not many people would risk their lives to save a dog."

Aryan said, "Dog is God spelt backwards. Do you know that?"

Sonia said, "What?"

Aryan repeated, "Dog is God spelt backwards. So I had to save him."

Sonia nodded and hugged Barky, "Thank you for saving him."

Both stood quietly for some moments, then Sonia moved to go, "It's good that you aren't badly hurt. Well, err...what are you doing here so early in the morning? You came to see papa? Where's your car, or bike?"

"No, I was just jogging." She looked at his clothes which told a different story. No sports shoes, no track pants, no T shirt. Aryan realised this. "I mean, I was going for a walk... heading back home, my home is close by."

Sonia nodded and both were silent for a bit. Then she turned around and slowly walked back to the car still holding Barky close to her heart.

Aryan was thinking and he realised if he didn't act fast this would be end of their plan. He saw that she was leaving and, quite literally, thought on his feet.

As he took a step he clutched his feet and pretended to grimace in pain. "Ahh."

Sonia turned back alarmed, "What? Are you all right?" she quickly walked up to him.

Aryan said still holding his leg, "I can't walk."

"Oh, you are hurt!"

"Yes I hurt my leg," Aryan said pointing to his leg, leaving no room for any doubt that it was his leg that he had hurt.

Sonia put Barky down and gave him a hand, "Oh, then you need a doctor, come I'll take you to one."

"Yes thank you. That would be great."

He put one hand on her shoulder and slowly hobbled to the car. He got in the front seat. As Sonia was going around the vehicle to get into the driver's seat, Aryan looked at his backpack that still lay on the side of the road, "Can you please get that?"

"Oh sure," Sonia put Barky in the backseat and ran to get the bag.

As she was doing so Aryan took out a small chloroform bottle from his pocket and poured some to his hanky.

"Why do you need a bag while on a morning walk?" Sonia wondered as she returned to the car with the bag, "This is heavy, are you going somewhere?"

And, right at this point, a figure was cycling up from the far end of the road. It was Shatru, the milkman, whom we had the pleasure of meeting some days ago with the Colonel's staff. He was lazily cycling, singing a song to entertain himself when he spotted the car stopped in the middle of the road. Shatru suspected something was wrong, so he stopped, got off his bicycle and hid behind some bushes and looked on.

Meanwhile, having retrieved Aryan's bag, Sonia ran back to the car. She opened the back door and reached in to put the bag in just as Aryan put the hanky with chloroform on her face. Within seconds she slumped unconscious. Aryan lifted her and placed her in the front seat. He sat in the driver's seat, started the car and drove off.

Seeing this drama unfold before his very eyes, Shatru, hiding behind the bush, was shocked. He had just witnessed the kidnapping of one of the country's biggest businessmen's only daughter! This could be the opportunity he had been waiting for all his life. This could make him big!

He sat down by the roadside and began to think how he could squeeze the best of this situation. His mind was racing like a motorcycle instead of the cycle that it was used to racing like. It powered on all cylinders, giving him strange ideas and a plan had started forming in his head. He rubbed his hand excitedly, forgetting the milk and its delivery today. It could curdle and rot, as far as he was concerned. He got back on the cycle and instead of going towards the Colonel's mansion, he turned around and headed somewhere else, pedalling his cycle gaily with a song on his lips. His two minutes of fame were about to begin.