THE MINI ADVENTURES OF SHRUTI

CHAPTER 3

She sat thinking about the time machine till 8:30 am. That was when Brown Beauty woke up. He put his head near her and neighed. She got startled but then smiled and stroked him. She gave the horse some breakfast and watched him chewing. After Beauty was done, they started back to their spot. Shruti was extremely hungry and was walking slowly. Beauty too slowed down for her. It had been a short while since they reached their spot when they heard the neighing and galloping of horses.

Shruti hid Brown Beauty behind a tree and hid behind one herself. There were seven men this time. Even they were foreigners. The men who came the previous day were not with them. This was a different group of people. They had small trumpet-like things with them made of leaves maybe. They blew those things together and the door began lowering down.

I have to go inside. I'll starve to death here if I don't. I'll go in after them, maintaining a safe distance.

She hurried to Beauty and whispered to him, "We have to go inside. Can I ride you Beauty?" He put his nose forward and Shruti mounted him.

She felt something near her right leg. It was wrapped in red cloth and hooked to the saddle. She unhooked it and unwrapped it. It was a long, heavy sword. It wasn't so heavy that she couldn't use it. There was a belt attached to the case. She tied the sword around her waist and focused forward. She did not know horse riding, which is why she clutched the reins tightly. The door took a long while to be lowered fully. When it was fully down, making a bridge over the long pit, the men dashed forward.

Shruti slightly pulled the reins when the men had almost crossed the bridge, and Beauty started off at his best speed. She was feeling scared as well as protected. Beauty took her across the bridge in no time behind the foreigners. She decided to follow them. Where else would she go? The surrounding was totally empty of people and animals. There were only trees and huts to be seen. She followed them through narrow roads, lonely streets, and lots of turns but still, lost them. She pulled the reins once more and Beauty stopped. She wandered here and there in the lonely place but there was neither a soul nor a sound. She wandered about on Beauty in the same manner for a while, and then, she heard sounds of people crying and shouting.

She followed the sounds till she came to a cluster of huts, made with very less gap between them. A small crowd was in front of the cluster and they were the ones shouting and crying. Why? The foreigners were forcefully taking away their things. Their jewellery, their animals, food grains, and whatever they could find. Shruti could not bear seeing the people in that condition. When the people tried refusing to give away their things, one of the men would use his hunter on them.

He did so on old people, women and children too. When they tried to snatch an old woman's bangles from her, Shruti got down from Beauty, tied the reins to the tree and walked up to the spot. She stood between the old woman and the foreigner. "Stop this right now!" Even though she was scared out of her wits, she hid her fear and spoke to the man.

He said irritably, "Who are you?"

They know little less compared to me, as I have come from the future. So in one way, I am a little more powerful than them. Maybe I can defeat them if I use my intellect correctly.

She placed her hand on her hip. "You don't need to know who I am. Who are you?"

The man said "You don't need to know my name either, girl. We are British, and you are Indian. Indians stay in their limits. You'd better not mess with us, British, you Indian!"

She frowned. "How did you get here?"

The man said, "Through a ship.", and laughed.

"Why are you snatching these people's things?"