The woman started shooing her away, and scared out of her wits, Smriti fled the garden. In her frenzied state, she ran against a woman as soon as she entered the house.

“Steady child,” she heard a kindly voice and it calmed her down.

“I… I am sorry…”

“What happened?”

“There was an old woman in the garden… Are there ghosts?”

She chuckled, “No. It must be Geeta. An old servant here. But she has grown senile and blabbers nonsense. Don’t mind her.”

“Okay!” Smriti was relieved and could now converse normally. “I don’t know you,” she said.

“My name is Ruchi and I am Vikram’s wife,” she replied.

“Oh!” she looked confused. How should she react to her stepmother? She had still to come to terms with the identities of her mother and father. And here there was a whole clan of relations  – some of them complicated.

“Well… Second wife,” Ruchi clarified with a smile, “Do you want some tea or coffee?”

“I don’t drink tea. Can I… have some milk, Auntie?”

“Sure. That’s a nice habit.”

—

“I need to get my clothes…” Smriti told her grandmother at the breakfast table, “They are at Mou Auntie’s place.” All the men were there. But the two of them were the only women having breakfast. All others were either in the kitchen or waiting on them.

“There is no need to go there. She was the one who corrupted your mother. We will buy you new ones.”

Smriti was not convinced. If Mou Auntie and Daddy were such bad people, as they were making them to be, how could she be good enough to be acceptable to them? She had been brought up by them, after all. If she was not bad…

Outwardly, though, she said nothing. But she was now anxious to talk to Siddhartha. She decided to call him up. But where was her phone? Where had she kept it? She was almost sure that it was in her pocket when she had gone to her room. But right now she could not find it anywhere.

“Relax,” her grandmother told her, “It must be somewhere here. And anyway. Who do you want to call up this early in the morning?”

A little later, she went to shop for her clothes. Even though the shop was close-by, she wasn’t allowed to go alone or carry any money. One of her cousins accompanied her and made all the payments.

Towards the evening, her newly discovered family paradise was completely shattered. She heard some commotion near the main gate. It turned out that Mou was there trying to get in and meet her. Smriti tried to tell the guards that she should be allowed in, but they paid no attention.

“Dadi. Let her come in. Or let me go out. It’s Mou Auntie,” she finally pleaded with her grandmother. But instead of listening to her, she dragged her back.

“I know very well who she is. You don’t need to meet that disgusting woman.”

“She is not disgusting,” Smriti started crying.

“There my child. I know it is hard on you. But believe me. We know what is best for you. Stop crying and don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”

Smriti had realized by then that nothing was right in this family. She didn’t know what was wrong, but something was. She was almost a prisoner here. She had to get out. But even phone had disappeared. She was sure, now, that it was not an accident.

She also realized that losing her temper would not help her. She would have to appear calm and plan her escape.

In her room, she found Ruchi waiting for her. “Auntie?”

“Were you unhappy in your adoptive family, Smriti?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Don’t be scared of me. I will tell you the truth. You made a mistake by coming here.”

“I did.”

“They did not know about your existence until a few days back. Even now, they don’t care about what happens to you. I don’t know if your mother had a lover or not, but taking you away from here was the best thing she did for you. Right now they have brought you here only because you are the key to your mother’s property. Once they have acquired that, they don’t care a bit for where you go.”

“What do I do now? I can’t find my phone. I can’t go out anywhere. Nobody listens to me.”

“Do you remember anyone’s number?”

“Daddy’s. But who would lend me a phone?”

“Don’t call now. Listen to me carefully. I am going to temple tomorrow. You behave well for the rest of the day today. I would suggest you go back and pretend to be interested in your grandmother’s talks. Tomorrow morning I will suggest that you come to temple with me. Agree to that. She should allow that. We’d have the driver with us. But you can call from my phone when we are inside the temple.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

“Not too soon. Let’s get the plan to work. You go back. I will slip out from your room when nobody is watching.”

—

“Daddy!”

“Smriti. Darling, is that you? Where are you?” Siddhartha started crying on phone.

“Daddy. Can I come back?”

“What kind of question is that? Where are you? At their home? I and Mou Auntie are coming right away.”

“You are in Kolkata?”

“Of course, I had to come.”

“I am not at his home. You give the phone to Mou Auntie. I am giving it to Ruchi Auntie who is helping me. Please come quickly, Daddy.”

Ruchi explained the location of the temple to Mou and gave her the directions. “Remember to come to the back door and call on this number. We must avoid alerting the driver, who is waiting at the front door,” she concluded.

“How did they know who I was?” Smriti asked Ruchi while they waited for Siddhartha and Mou.

“Srinivas was the man. He did everything possible. Sent detectives after you. Even got your DNA test done to ensure that…”

“DNA test?”

“He had obtained a sample of your hair.”

“Ruchi Auntie. I will never be able to repay you for your help.”

“You will. If we are able to save even one girl after this…”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Here. They are calling. Let’s go.”

—

To be continued