Samay sat quietly near the river as his father hinged the boat to the hook. He was silently doing his work. As he finished, Samay got up and asked his father, ” Baba! Fewer people are coming to the village. It is affecting our business. Are you not concerned? We used to row the boat till the sunset and now you are shutting in the afternoon.”
Samay’s father Banshi, sighed heavily and replied,” We can’t do much in this case. Let’s see if the situation improves over time.”
Samay got back home with his father. The whole time he kept thinking about ways to help his father. He was not very good at studies. He always thought that he would be a boatman like his father, but that was looking like a far-fetched dream now. Maybe Rameshwar was right. The people would leave the village because of that cursed forest. He could see the signs.
Later in the evening, he met his friends again. The three sat under a Peepal tree and discussed their day. Samay told Raghu and Rameshwar how fewer people were taking the river route. He showed his concern for his father.
Raghu said to Samay, ” My father didn’t go to the town this week. He said that the head priest had issued some kind of warning. This would go on for a week.”
Samay spoke back in a surprised tone,” What kind of warning? I thought that people were not traveling because of the forest.”
Raghu and Rameshwar chuckled and mocked Samay. Rameshwar spoke, “Stop being obsessed with the forest. There is some bad omen and the time is inauspicious for travelers. That is why the head priest has issued the warning.”
Samay was relieved. Raghu asked Samay,” Hey! The boat will be almost free this week, right?”
Samay responded, “Yes. Maybe! Why do you ask?”
Raghu replied in an excited voice,” Stupid! We can take the boat for ourselves. It will be fun. You know how to row the boat. It will be easy.”
Samay nodded against it and said, “No way! My father would kill me.”
Rameshwar spoke, “He won’t know. Let’s do it. We will not go far.”
Samay went into silence and after some thinking, he agreed to the little mischief. They all decided to meet in the afternoon the next day. Raghu and Rameshwar would wait near the tree until Samay returned with his father.
The next day they acted according to the plan. As expected the boat got free early. Samay informed his friends who were already waiting near the tree. They together went near the river and got in the boat. Samay took his friends to the river cruise. The climate was favorable. Soft winds were blowing and instead of a heated afternoon, the time was pleasant with a hint of rain. As they moved away from the shore, Samay rowed the boat to show them the nearby villages. It was all quiet and peaceful.
Soon they saw another boat coming from the opposite shore. It was a big one…it would be wrong to call it a boat. It looked like a ship. The polished wood and beautiful mast holding high-quality fabric as the sail and the golden poles. Looked like a royal boat. As the two boats crossed each other the kids got a bit scared. The people on the ship did not look happy to see another boat in the river. Most of them were wearing outfits resembling soldiers of the Ashwasena kingdom. With them was a beautiful and handsome man in a royal golden robe. He looked young…probably in his twenties. Raghu could not take his eyes off him. There was a sage too. He gave the prince some instructions after which he ordered the soldiers to do something. The soldiers shouted in a loud voice and asked the kids to turn their boat and go home immediately.
Samay didn’t waste a second and turned the boat as fast as he could. He rowed the boat to the shore of the village. But Raghu kept looking at the royal ship with curiosity. He spoke in a soft voice, “Never saw anything like this before.”
Rameshwar replied, “That is why they must have issued a warning. For the safety of the prince.”
Raghu turned back and looked at Rameshwar. “The one in the golden robe…he was the prince?”, Raghu spoke.
Rameshwar nodded, “Yes! The king is quite protective of him. At least that is what we hear. I have seen him before when I went to the palace with my father.”
Samay interrupted while rowing the boat, “My father would kill me!”
Read the next chapter. Read all chapters. Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
