Shards of sunlight pierced through the silhouette of trees, the clearing ahead of us was brightly lit after many days of gloom. The light refreshed us as it shined brilliantly, and it gave us hope. The breath taking view was a balm to our souls. We had spent the night inside a cavernous hollow of a tree- that was the best we could do. After walking for hours, Celina finally gave up on walking and couldn't go on anymore. The hollow was heaven sent and I wouldn't have noticed it, hadn't I tried to use my stone to warm us up.

     It was just enough for Celina and Tyrell to squeeze in, I sat at the mouth warming us all. It was a tight fit, but it was better than nothing. We were all too tired the day before and too much imbued in our own thoughts to be good company.

The morning was a beautiful sight, but we were all left with the longing of being able use the Holognome. Pruthvi had been lucky, I really wished that I could see my parents once again and talk all that had been unsaid. For a moment I envied Pruthvi's and Leena's luck in stumbling upon the infernal instrument but then I deliberated. Would ten minutes be enough to say what I wanted to say? I didn't think so.

"I wish I could talk to my parents," said Tyrell. "I don't even know which of them belonged to this place."

    "Do you really think that's the question you want to ask them?" Celina asked.

    "What would you ask?" said Tyrell turning his head towards her.

    "I don't know," she said shrugging, "I honestly don't know what to say or what to ask. Seeing them again would be enough."

    "Oh come on! Of course, you do" said Tyrell, "You do know it was your mother. So..."

    "I know my mom was from India," she interrupted, "I don't think she was from Paramarashtra."

How naïve is she? I thought shaking my head mentally. "Celina, I thought my mom was from India too but now I highly doubt it."

    "No you don't get it," she said furiously, turning around and facing us, "My mom is really from India. I have seen pictures of her childhood. She is from New Delhi. She always told me about her cousins back there, their childhood stories, the pranks that they played that I felt it was annoying as I was least interested. What wouldn't I give now to be annoyed again. I just wish she was here."

    I stared at her. She was providing us with an obvious hint but I seriously tried to ignore it.

    But Tyrell couldn't just stop. "So you think it's your father? Have you seen any of his pictures?"

    "Nope! Nothing at all. He always said it was better to make new memories rather than to think about what was lost. He told us a grand tale of escaping a raging inferno and how they had lost everything but rejoiced the fact that they still had their family." 

      There was a softening in her features and a smile spread on her face as she dwelled on the memories with her father.   

      I wondered what other secrets Paramarashtra held, if Celina's dad was the one?

       Tyrell laughed. "Hello, you are a Hanslay, remember? You are an American."

"Though we have American citizenship, my father was British."

My eyebrows shot up instantly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" said Tyrell standing akimbo. Anger slowly surfaced on his face and his eyes turning red. "All these years we have been friends, and you didn't think of sharing it with me?"

      "I thought it wasn't great deal where my father's roots were. I thought we are friends because we trust each other and what does our parents have to do with this, uh?

    "Celina are you sure your mother is from India?" I asked, before Tyrell opened his mouth to retort, "Are you sure whatever she told you were actual facts? Because you have never spoken about meeting them and with what we know, our parents have turned out to be certified liars. They lied to the society, us and maybe even to themselves."

    "It has to be Hayden," she said, her eyes shining, "For though I've not spoken about them, I've met my maternal grandparents, you see and they are as normal as a doormat."

    Tyrell sighed so hard that I thought he might suck all the air around us. Scratching his forehead, he said, "I don't want to hear this anymore. We are in this stupid jungle to meet stupid Shourya. So, let wrap it up as soon as possible. Okay? Alright!"

    He walked past Celina, brushing his shoulder against hers.

    "Come on Tyrell," she said following him, "You know I never meant to hide things from you."

    "I said I don't want to hear anything about this," he snapped, raising his palm.

    We walked silently for the next few minutes. Tyrell was ahead of us, marching out into the unknown... well, that was too melodramatic, but yeah that's what he was being. Everybody has secrets and if Celina wished to keep her father's nativity a secret, then that was her prerogative. But trust me I didn't like asking her more about her parents but my curiosity always found its way.

    "When did you first find out about your father?" I whispered. I decided to take Tyrell demand literally. "Did he tell you that?"

    "No, not really," she said, "His accent was a dead giveaway. He never lost it. I remember dad discussing with my mom about shifting to England for good which my mom wasn't in favor of. This country had grown on her."

    I said nodding, "That definitely says he was British. But British in Paramarashtra? This seems very unrealistic."

      She smiled faintly at me without taking her eyes off Tyrell who kept on walking ahead of us, sulking.

    We walked for miles and sun was right above us. I wanted to distract from the heat of the sun and the coolness from the snow, that was making the weather miserable but Celina and Tyrell seemed to have given up talking and the walk was turning to be more depressing.

We didn't know if we were on right path. We were really tired by midday and kept on walking which way we found walkable enough. Our food sources were nil and so we took a break. I had a drink from the river. The water was sweet and it kind of refreshed us. Watching the river, I appreciated Doctor's ability. He must be really skilled to transform the river into a path of reaching some other country and then back into a normal river.

After an hour's break or so, Tyrell, who was sitting at a distance and being a complete jerk, got up dusting his pants and said looking at me, only at me. "We better get moving, if we want to reach anywhere"

He started walking away without another glance.

I sighed unable to bare his childish actions. "You should sort it out with him Celina, he is being a pain in the ass."

"That's okay Hayden. He'll come around, you'll see" she said, smilingly. "He's always been a hothead but he has his sweet side too."

The clearing was right upon us. We were walking along the river bank surrounded by trees and suddenly they were gone. A huge open plain was before us. For a moment I had an urge to run as fast as the wind was racing to the foot of the mountains so far away where the plain seemed to end. The earth was bare ready to shoot out plants, as the sun had now melted the snow.

    "Hey, is that a house?" said Tyrell, standing further away from us and pointing straight ahead, towards the deserted land.

    I creased my temples when I heard Tyrell's voice. Coming out of my thoughts, I found Celina standing next to Tyrell and looking at where he was pointing. I went closer to them and saw what Tyrell was showing us. It was quite obscure and merged with the surroundings. What I had thought to be a rock was actually a big hut that had the same coloring as the surroundings making it difficult to spot.

"Wow, Tyrell you have got twenty-twenty vision," I said patting his shoulder.

"Thanks man," he said slightly snickering.

    "Whoa!" said Celina watching the hut intently, "Is anybody hungry? Because I am."

    "Wait, Hanslay," said Tyrell pulling her back. I was happy his anger subdued and was getting back to his usual self, "It could be dangerous. It could be Shourya's lair."

    "Then we are more than lucky," she said, "Consider our journey finally came to an end."

    "Come on guys," I said, stepping on the snow, running towards the house and hoping to find Shourya in it, "I can't wait to save Leena!"

Again, Tyrell didn't seem happy with us carelessly getting attracted to the unknown house. But as Celina and I were already scampering he found no other choice but to follow us. So we together started walking towards the hut. As we came closer, we found that it was quite a big space. The hut was huge and had a gravelly color, with a wooden patio.

    Finally, panting heavily, three of us halted across the door of the house. Tyrell took two steps back and read the sign that was hung above the door.

    "Rawat Cowboy's bar!" he said completely astonished, "Cowboy! As in Dallas Cowboys?"

    "A bar built in Dakshinpur?" said Celina, equally astonished, "Whatever...hey who is that in the picture."

    Celina walked aside to see the woman's wallpaper hung away from the door. I peeked to have a glance and was about to follow her when a man came outside wearing jeans and checked shirt with a hat on his big head.

    "How many?" he asked, his voice croaky.

    "Er..."I said not able to understand what he meant, "What how many?"

    "Table for how many?" he said and looked at Celina. "Two boys and a girl? Table for three?"

    "Girl?" said Tyrell skeptically, "What girl?"

    I nudged Tyrell when Celina shot him a look.

    "Oh you mean that girl?"

    I quickly interrupted him when Celina came stomping towards us. "Is this really a bar? Because the place doesn't seem like..."

    "Yes, it is. Are you new here? Come on in. We have plenty of space available." the man said inviting us in.

    After rushing to come here, suddenly I wasn't sure and so was Tyrell, we stood awkwardly, trying to stall.

    "Come on guys," said Celina, "We have come this far and most of all they have food and or atleast something to drink. We can, if we play our cards right, get a lot of info about Shashi, Shourya and his minions. So let's go in and grab something before we pass out."

    She pushed the door and entered without thinking twice, Tyrell, quickly followed her then. They were already in and I still wasn't so sure.  It was just me and the cool air outside. Making up my mind that a little booze wouldn't matter, I opened the door and went in.

    I stepped inside with a little apprehension and I felt like entering another world. I looked around finding multicolored lanterns hung from the roof, casting different colored lights on the floor and walls. Right below was the dance floor, which was crowded with many people wearing hats, shirts, jeans and tap boots, dancing all the way to the music played by a contrastive band. As I walked further inside many sweaty bodies touched me but I didn't mind as wanted to reach my friends who I wasn't able to locate yet in the crowd.

Who were these people? Where did they come from? I saw no means of transport that could have brought them here. There were no other houses nearby, no community then where ever did these people really come from?

    "Hayden, over here!" Tyrell called out to me.

    There he stood in one corner almost hidden from public view, with the same man who had asked us to come in. It was really like an alternate world where all sanity was lost and we had stepped in to madness, and my friends had lost their reason; they were really trying to order something. Celina was already sitting there looking at the brownish red papered menu.

    "There is no vegetarian item here," she said putting down the menu.

    "We have vegetarian salad if you want," said the bar waiter.

    "No thank you," she said, raising her eyebrows, "I had enough salad for a while. Can I have a coffee please?"

    "Coffee?" said Tyrell sitting beside her as I grabbed the chair on her opposite side, "We are in a bar, Hanslay."

He then turned his focus towards the waiter and said, "I am too lazy to see the menu. Please get us the best for three of us, will you?"

    "You can have one of our specials, if that's what you want." he said smiling "Coming up right away."

The waiter gave me a quick glance, frowned and walked away shaking his head.

    "Guys do you really think we should be staying here?" I asked, looking around and slightly fidgeting.

"Don't start Hayden," said Tyrell, moodily, "Celina make him see reason, will you?"

"What, you were the one who said it could be dangerous?"

         "Hayden," Celina said, "We were starving out there remember? And what do you expect us to do? Pray to deities that we meet Shourya by chance? Starve to death and make it easy for Shashi?

       "Look this is Dakshinpur, isn't it?" I said, "Is there any face here which shows Indian ancestry? You tell me. Who are these people and how safe are we? 

     "Your skepticism is genuine, Hayden," she said, "But I am really hungry and tired, so I'm going to eat. That's the best option before us right now. So sit calm and relax just for a while."

The waiter came up just then with a large crystal bottle and three conical glasses. He then poured a red colored drink out of the decanter that looked and smelled more like wine.

"Did you order me a drink?" said Celina, looking down at the table filling up, "But you very well know, that I don't drink, Kissler."

    "You don't?" he asked making a face, "Oops, did you forget to tell me that either?"

    The situation was so dire and nothing was making sense, so I let go, and laughed outright at Tyrell's antics.

"Come on Hanslay, consider this a peace offering. Try it out," said Tyrell, "It's Uilani De Blanc- the best from this place. You will feel better."

    "How do you know?" she asked even before I could.

    "Ashwanth used to get me this whenever he visited the academy. Bottom's up girl!"

    The color of Celina's cheek changed as red as the wine when Tyrell brought Ashwanth's name up but I was surprised to see her not bothering at all and taking a sip. Even though her face twitched I knew she was feeling good and drank all of it at once. Tyrell was enjoying it too. Watching him drink in a different style made me remember my father.  I smiled and watched the dance floor before I took a long sip. It definitely burned my throat and quickly I started sweating. In the second sip the burning sensation escalated and by the third it just felt so right.

    Celine declined the second glass, instead she enjoyed watching the dance floor when a group of six came and danced in pairs for a lively beat music. Few others joined them later.

    Tyrell was staring at Celina when he suddenly leaned forward and said, "Care to dance with me?"

    I was stunned and so was Celina. "You are drunk, Kissler."

    "I can manage," he said, his eyes wide, "Unless, you are scared of embarrassing yourself."

    Did he just challenge her?

Celina bit insides of her cheek. She simply took the bait and put her hand on his. They smiled at each other and Tyrell escorted her to the floor and they quickly hit it off, trying to match the steps with others.

    I drank another glass and I must say, I was thoroughly enjoying watching them dance. It never crossed my mind but they looked so good with each other not to mention they spend a lot of time fighting. May be sometime or later a spark might ignite between them and they could turn another pair just like Pruthvi and Leena. Ah! But that was wishful thinking. There was a long road ahead us for that to happen. Definitely not when Shashi was alive.   

        "Can I get you something else?" asked the waiter. I didn't see him coming towards me and was surprised to see him standing next to me. I was so bushed that he had caught me unaware.

    I was about to say-check, but then I bit my tongue before I let it out. I had nothing in pocket to pay for the drink except my stone which in no way could be used in this instance.

     The haze from the drink drained off me in an instant, leaving me sober. My God, how juvenile were we? We started without any preparation for food or water and followed the path shown by the first person we saw and then entered some hi-fi bar in the middle of nowhere, only to order the costliest drink they had to offer without a dime in our pockets. How were we going to pay for this?

    "That's all right. It shall be my treat."

    I was startled when a voice came from behind the waiter. A middle aged man wearing an unusual and dull cowboy dress walked forward and offered to pay for us. He instantly took out few currency notes out of his pocket and asked the waiter to leave. I sat straight and watched him sitting beside me on Tyrell's chair. His face was rugged with a pointed nose and sharp eyes that eerily reminded me of Celina.

    He put his cap on the table and said, "A thousand and sixty Rupals. Had The Ulani, didn't you?"

    "Rupals?" I asked furrowing my brows, "You mean the currency of Paramarashtra?   

"Um-hmm," he nodded, smilingly, "Hearing for the first time, Hayden Mackay?"

    He knew who I was. This was scary. I didn't show him that I was really scared when he called me by my name.

Picturing my stone and getting ready to attack if necessary, I asked, "Do I know you?"

    "You will know who I am in just a moment," he said in a very dignified manner, "But trust me I wish no harm, especially to you."

    His accent was different, clipped and posh, and in an old fashioned way. Then it struck me that he could be British. I glanced around the floor, trying to find Celina and Tyrell.  Celina had told me that it was her father who was native of Paramarashtra and now looking at all these people, she could be right.

    "Thank you for the payment and I promise I'll repay you back," I said.

    "Don't worry about it," he said, "I am the one who is in debt to your family."

    "Sorry?"

"You look so much like her," he said, quickly, "It took me no time to realize who you are."

    I knew whom he meant but I still asked him. "Don't mind me but whom are you talking about?"

    "Sarakshi Thribhuvan," he said, "Your mother, of course."

    I frowned. I was so sure it was the first time I was hearing the name and that it was a total misunderstanding.

    "Oh no!" I said smiling and releasing my focus from my stone, "My mother is...was Sara. Sara Mackay."

    He looked at me with pity in his eyes. "Sarakshi, Sara. That was what we used to call her."

    I felt as if my heart was being crushed in grinding mill, especially after hearing her last name.

    "You knew my mom?" I asked moving forward, "Sarakshi was her full name? And did you just say she was a Thribhuvan like Harsh and Shashi Thribhuvan?"

    He raised a single eyebrow in astonishment. "You know Harsh and Shashi Thribhuvan and yet you know nothing about your own mother?"

    "Can you tell me? Please!" I said. I would do just about anything to gain any information regarding my parents and he seemed to be in the position of knowing about both of them.  "What do you know about my mother? How was she a Thribhuvan?"

    "I don't know if it is alright to tell you that but I believe that ignorance helps none," he said, looking down at his fist on the table, "Yes, she was a Thribhuvan before she married Curtis Mackay. I wonder why the good doctor decided to keep you in dark."

    "So you know doctor too?"

    I shouldn't have asked that. That might change the topic and I couldn't afford it.

If my mother was a Thribhuvan then, how closely was I related to Shashi Thribhuvan, the one who is trying to kill me?

    "Of course I know him. Everybody does. He was the famous doctor of Dakshinpur before he migrated to United States. Although I heard he is back to Dakshinpur now."

    "So, please tell me about my mother?" I asked quickly, my heart pounding beneath my chest, "How is she related to Shashi Thribhuvan? And how do you know her?"

    He smiled at me and said, "May be better question would be, how she was related to Harsh Thribhuvan."

    "Tell me, then," I asked him sincerely, "Please, tell me everything."

    I really wanted to trust him. He seemed so genuine and straight-forward and he must be British. Maybe he was my father's friend and that's how he knew about them. I was frightened that I may wake up in some place and find all this all to be a dream. At last, here was someone who knew my parents, maybe even what had happened to them and on top of it mainly was under no restriction to hide things from me.   

       "Uncle Ted?"

    I looked up, annoyed with the sudden interruption. Celina was standing before us. Her eyes filled with tears and rage seeing this man. A slightly inebriated Tyrell joined her wearing a cowboy hat in a rakish angle. He must have snitched it from a drunk.

    The man, whom Celina claimed to be Ted, seemed in no hurry to look at the one who had just called him. Instead he unwillingly turned around as if he knew to whom the voice belonged.

    With a grace that came with years of practice he doffed his wide brimmed hat with the finesse of a real cowboy and smiling he said to Celina, "You were so immersed in the dance with this boy I guessed you'll never spot me."

    "Nice to see you too, Uncle!" she said, angrily, her eyes glistening with tears.

    "What is going on?" Tyrell asked, looking to and fro at Celina and the man.

    "Celina, do you know him?" I asked standing up and completely perplexed.

    "Guys," she said still not taking her eyes off him, "Meet my dad's only brother, Theodore Hanslay."

-x-