A Pocketful Of Peace

18. Reinforcements

An hour of listening to the nonstop ideas of 'how to tackle a kidnapper' and about 15 kilometres of distance covered, Aman started having doubts on his decision. At the pace that he was travelling, he was pretty sure he would not be able to reach the destination even the next day; and to think, the sun had barely started rising in the present day. In the present scenario, the untamed elephants from the nearby jungles would have been a better ride, thought Aman.

To further complicate matters, Prasanna had called half an hour ago, confirming that Mayuresh was untraceable. His phone was switched off, he was unreachable to his friends and family since last night and his father definitely did not know about his where abouts. That ruled out any possibilities of him being in the town or even in the lockups in and around Madikeri. Thus, the little inquiry by Prasanna confirmed the suspicions that Aman had. Sandy was indeed taken away by him.

Aman reflected on the sorry state of affairs and decided to take the matters... more precisely, the steering wheel into his own hands. Deftly, he traded places with the driver and when the driver objected to speed, he literally put his foot down. But Tinnu Singh did not wish to speed up even in the dire circumstances.

"Bhaiyya ji! Please slow down!" He shrieked in panic.

"If we drive any slower than this, I may not reach in time." Aman patiently explained.

"But we can't afford to go so fast!"

"And why is that so?"

"How can we go so fast? The eggs will break!" said Tinnu Singh.

"Eggs? I thought you are transporting onions." Asked Aman, confused.

"Oh yes! I am transporting onions, but there is a personal cargo as well." Tinnu exclaimed and with a flourish, went on to reveal the egg tray at the bottom of his passenger seat. "I am taking those home. My wife loves boiled eggs for breakfast every morning! I am thinking of surprising her tonight with these farm fresh eggs. Tomorrow's breakfast!"

"Why don't you try and make omelettes out of them for a change?" Aman asked even as he floored the accelerator.

Tinnu Singh's eyes remained fixed on Aman the driver, as the scenery outside the truck rushed past them in a blurr. The truck whizzed past the trees and towns. It sped off into the oblivion even as the stray animals and a solitary road remained the only solemn eye witnesses to the tornado that it left behind in its wake. A mad quest to beat time had well and truly begun!

Another hour into the journey and Aman started feeling confident that he had at the least made up for the time lost in the initial one hour of his journey. He was contemplating his further course of action after he touched base with Prasanna at Madikeri, when his phone chimed in, alerting Aman of a caller. While Aman was still thinking of calling his uncle and re group, his uncle had acted upon that whim and was already calling him at the moment.

According to Prasanna, Mayuresh's vehicle had been spotted abandoned at a monastery near Kushal Nagar. The information, he realised was a welcome relief since it cut down an hour worth of time and distance for him. With a renewed vigour, he committed himself to minimising the distance at the earliest. He drove like a maniac; as if, possessed by a spirit of vengeance.

Another hour on the road got him to the cross roads leading towards Kushal Nagar. Aman got off the truck and bid farewell to his companion. Tinnu Singh wished him luck and success in his 'operation' and continued towards his own destination at a leisurely pace, albeit after making sure that Aman did not need the sacks of onions. Without giving the truck or the scenic beauty even half a glance, Aman sped off towards the monastery. He would have definitely won a racing championship, had Tinnu Singh decided to challenge Aman, while still in the driver's seat.