".....................rest time" Raju said it as always. They had hiked only for about 20 mins and Raju was already breathing heavy. Jagdish was walking briskly and was way ahead of the pack. Mohan and Dinesh were taking photos of the trees they saw around. Jagdish shouted looking down towards the place where Raju was resting. "Raju, this way we will never make it to the fort before noon, and then we have to cut short our time on the fort, the whole schedule will be a mess..." Raju was breathing heavy and decided to not reply. Jagdish decided to sit down, since going alone was never a good idea in the dense forest. It took another 20 mins for Raju to catch up with Jagdish. Mohan and Dinesh were also close. Apparently Jagdish had stopped them from taking any more pictures since he believed it was slowing down the hike.
The group of 4 then continued slowly upwards, however Raju just could not keep up with the pace. Soon it was close to 11am. Jagdish said "Thats it, we need to look for alternative path, if we have to make it to the top...." Raju in a very soft voice said "We don't have a map, thats a high risk..." Jagdish replied loudly "Its all your fault, you fat swine, wish I had not taken you with us..." Raju did not like what Jagdish said and was about to say something when Mohan interrupted them, sensing that this can break into a fight. Mohan said "Lets try to figure out a trail by observing around, Dinesh behind those bushes there seems a trail, most probably its a dry river bed..." Jagish had a wide smile on his face, "Guys, yes great work Mohan, lets use the river bed as the trail and see how far we can go...."
It was after another hour that the group gave up. Raju looked red, Jagdish was holding his head. Mohan and Dinesh were about to cry. "This is what we get to be adventurous, I hope you learnt a lesson Jagdish, we are in the middle of nowhere, we cannot descent considering the slope we trekked, at least I cannot, neither can we go any further since the river bed just ended abruptly in the woods"
Jagdish wiped the sweat on his forehead. He observed that some thing had bit him in the lower part of his calf muscle and it was slowly swelling. Raju was looking in anger towards Jagdish. Just then they heard a voice in the bushes, it was as if some one was walking towards them. Mohan stood up, trying to look for who it is. He soon saw the figure and had a hope in his eyes. Dinesh walked towards the incoming figure and asked "Friend can you help us?"
The boy was about 16 years. He seemed like a local resident by his clothes. The boy at first looked a bit scared to answer. But then he looked at the group and realized that they are lost. He walked closer and asked "How come you got to this place in the forest? I think you people were planning to go to the fort." Jagdish quickly rushed to the boy "yes, yes we want to, but we lost the way, please help us, please in return we can give you some money...."
Raju shouted "Jagdish!", he did not like Jagdish's idea to give the money to Pandhari, Jagdish ignored him. He removed his wallet and offered 10Rs. The boy smiled and took it. The boy then looked towards the water bottle that Raju was carrying. Jagdish pulled it from Raju's hands and offered it to the boy. Dinesh asked "What is your name?" The boy replied promptly "My name is Pandhari."
Soon the pack of boys were following Pandhari. It was after another 20 mins, that they saw the fort. Pandhari guided them to the top of the fort. At the entrance of the fort was a huge stone with some engravings. The four boys stood next to the stone and asked Pandhari to take the pic. Pandhari did it enthusiastically. After taking the snap he handed the camera back to Mohan.
Jagdish, Raju and Dinesh stood around Mohan to see the picture that the camera had just clicked. The picture had come very nicely. To the left of the stone was Mohan and Dinesh. To the right stood Jagdish and Raju. Raju read loudly the engravings on the stone "In memory of Pandhari who committed suicide from the fort three years back...." The four boys looked behind to see Pandhari missing...............that was the last time they want on a hike.....
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