Aniruddhan ran to help the worker and pulled him off from Vishnu's hand. "Vishnukunje, this must be the work of those Kalarikkal people. There is no point in getting angry on these fellows", he said.

Angry, Vishnu turned to Aniruddhan and said, "Find something to make up for this".

"We will", Vasudev answered for Aniruddhan.

"Come, get in the jeep", said Vishnu to both of them and they got in and drove to the timber yard of Kalarikkal where Vishnu got down.

Pranav and Anjaneyan were in the yard when they arrived.

"Who is this? The young master of Paarakkal?" asked Pranav mockingly.

"Cut it out Pranav, where is our timber?" asked Vishnu.

"What timber?" asked Anjaneyan.

"The one you stole from the river", replied Vishnu.

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell" replied Pranav.

"Really, then I am going to get even. Find a buyer for that timber, Pranav. Whatever I am going to do is going to cost that much to you", said Vishnu and he got back into the jeep and left.

"Etta, they are going to do something big", cautioned Anjaneyan.

"I know, lets see", said Pranav.

That night in the recently acquired Chakkalakkal estate, a group of men headed by Jeevan with scythes cut most of the cardamom plants and pepper vines. It caused a tremendous uproar in the Kalarikkal family and they called all their goons and affiliates and burnt the village grocery shop of Paarakkal.

Knowing that the situation is going out of hand, Subramaniyam said to Vishnu. "Now the water has risen above the neck, we should do something. First of all we need the support from the ruling party and the police. Ideally I would have sent you, but now you can't leave the village because of the skrimishes. I will send Vasudev instead and for helping you I have called Sreekumar, your cousin, see he is here", pointing to a tall thin man who came from the other room.

"Sreekumar, good that you are joining the ranks", said Vishnu.

"Thanks etta, lets get those bastards", said Sreekumar.

Initially Sreekumar was a huge help. There were many armed combats between Kalarikkal and Paarakkal supporters and goons and Sreekumar was effective in quashing some of them with his sheer brutality. But in three days, Mahadevan came to Vishnu and said, "Etta, you should seriously consider sending Sreekumar back".

"Why?" asked Vishnu.

"It might be really very bad for our image if he is here. Yesterday he had tried to abuse the daughter of Kumarettan, that grocery shop owner", replied Mahadevan.

"Is it some kind of a news spread by Kalarikkal? Kumarettan is related to them" asked Vishnu.

"No, I got to know it personally. Apparently the girl was returning from the river where she went to wash clothes and was coming through the footpath from the river and he grabbed her and tried to drag her into the shrubbery" said Mahadevan.

"WHAT!" shouted Vishnu.

"Yeah, she fought and escaped and also, she wasn't his first victim in our village. When I got to know about this, I asked around and found out that Sreekumar has a pretty bad reputation. He... he is infamous for sleep with unwilling women and girls, mostly women from families that owe money to Ganeshan uncle", said Mahadevan.

"Oh, God! Even our own people won't stand with us if he goes around doing it to the other community.", observed Vishnu.

"So what should we do now?" asked Mahadevan.

"Ask him to come and meet me at the burnt down shop in the evening", said Vishnu. In the evening, they met in the Paarakkal shop which was damaged by Kalarikkal goons.

"Sreekumar, did you try to grab a girl yesterday?" asked Vishnu.

"Etta, I have grabbed a few girls after I came here, which one are you talking about?" he asked nonchalantly which irked Vishnu.

"Leave, now. Go back to your village", said Vishnu.

"Wait a second, was any of those girls, yours?" asked Sreekumar irritating Vishnu further.

"Sreekumar, none of those girls were mine or anyone else's in our family. But we do not go around abusing women and girls of our village whether they belong to our group or theirs. I don't think whatever you are doing for us is worth keeping you here", said Vishnu.

"Why are you raising voices here?" asked Subramaniyam, entering the destroyed shop.

"I am asking Sreekumar to leave", said Vishnu.

"Why? Look around, those Kalarikkal wretches had burned down our shop! This shop is in Vasudev's name. We have to take revenge for what those fellows did. And you are trying to push away our allies?" asked Subramaniyam.

Vishnu did not want to inform Subramaniyam what Sreekumar was up to so he said to both of them firmly, "This is my final word, or else" and he walked to where the door was. Subramaniyam was not used to this Vishnu and he stood in awe looking at him for a few seconds. At the same time Vasudev entered the burnt down shop, distraught at the state of his property.

"I won't have to depend on others if you were capable", shouted Vishnu as he left leaving a very hurt looking Vasudev.

"What is this? I worked for you all and got beaten up and injured, all to be treated like a dog?" asked Sreekumar to Subramaniyam.

Subramaniyam looked distraught at him and said, "I don't know what is going through his mind. But if he is saying like that, then you leave. But don't take his words to your heart, he has too much to handle by himself".

Sreekumar looked at Subramaniyam in anger and left in a huff.

"Why is Vishnuettan blaming me for Kalarikkal people burning the shop down? How is this my fault?" asked Vasudev.

"Your brother was upset on something else and took it out on you. But I have to agree that you need to take more active responsibility here. I had told you to go to the capital, why don't you go tomorrow. I have kept 5 lakh rupees and will tell you whom and how much to give. I want the police and the politicians to turn a blind eye towards Kaniyankara for the coming days", said Subramaniyam.

Vasudev was still very much a college boy at heart even though he had finished college and the tension and fighting for the past few days was getting to him. All he wanted was to spend time with his girlfriend, Smitha, in the city. If he could go to the capital, he maybe able to meet her as well. She was the only solace in his mind from the tension around.

"Alright, Achacha, I will go tomorrow", replied Vasudev.

Outside the shop, Sreekumar got into his jeep and said to the driver, "That rascal threw me out because I touched a few women, even though I fought for them for these days. If they can't accept me in the fight, I will create chaos for them".

"What have you got in your mind, sir?" asked his driver.

"Are you sure there are no young women in Kalarikkal family?" asked Sreekumar.

"They have a girl, but she is living in Cochin. Then there is Pranav's new wife", said the driver.

"How does she look like, have you seen her?" asked Sreekumar.

"Yes, I have seen her when they got married, I came to this village at that time. She is dark, but decent looking" replied the driver.

"How can I catch her?" asked Sreekumar.

"She is a PWD engineer and works in the town and comes here only on weekends, that's the information I have gathered", said the driver.

"Well today is a weekend", said Sreekumar.

"She drives a Maruti 800, and there is a lonely stretch of road a few kilometers from the village", replied the driver.

"Let's see if she comes to meet her husband", said Sreekumar as the driver started the car.

*****

3 days ago

Malathi was feeling worse for the last few days. She was all too busy with her work, Karthikeyan's studies, weekend trips to Kaniyankara to eat, sleep or rest properly. In the morning when she got up she felt nauseous. Slowly she went to the wardrobe and took out a saree to wear to office when a packet of sanitary napkins she had bought fell to the floor. She took the packet and looked at it, it was bought before her wedding and was never used. Wait a minute, she thought, she didn't have a period since her wedding which was three and a half months back! Panic set in, but she did not say anything to Thanka or Appukuttan and went as usual to her office, but on her lunch break she went to a doctor's clinic and she sent her for ultrasound. In the evening she went back with the reports to her.

"Congratulations, you are pregnant. You are somewhere between 14 and 15 weeks", she told her.

Malathi looked in shock at her. "What! I did not know!"

"How is that even possible? You did not notice that you were missing periods?" she asked.

"I was so busy...." said Malathi.

"Which is another part of what I have to say, stop all your stressful work for the time being and maybe stop driving if you are tired or dizzy, also eat and sleep well. I will give you a vitamin injection and a diet plan and some medicines you have to take for the time being", said the doctor.

At Thoppil house, Malathi was excited, but she kept it to herself, the first person she wanted to inform was Pranav, so the announcement to the rest of the family will have to wait until the weekend. In the privacy of her room, she gently caressed her slightly swollen belly, feeling giddy with happiness. She and Pranav hadn't spoken about children at all, but they hadn't used any protection either, thinking when it will happen, it will happen. 15 weeks? Pranav got her pregnant on their first night! She got up and stared into the night sky through the window; will it be a boy or girl, will the baby look like Pranav or her? All she knew was that the baby had her nose, from the ultrasound in which the baby was lying with its tiny hands in fists. She could not wait to hold their tiny baby in her arms.

Present day

For three days, she kept mum about the news and when the time came to go home she drove to Kalarikkal, beaming with happiness. But when she arrived, the Kalarikkal home felt like a war zone. There were men posted around the house with what looked like long knives concealed in their shirts. As she entered the portico, Sridevi ran to her and said, "Mole (daughter), you came! Come inside".

"What's going on?" Malathi asked her.

"What to say, that property dispute with Paarkakkal has got too serious. You remember we bought their spice estate? In retaliation they flooded our crops, then we got their timber, then they cut off our spice plants, it has been a mayhem. A few days back, our boys retaliated by burning down their shop. These men have been posted to make sure we don't get attacked", said Sridevi.

"WHAT!" said Malathi in shock.

"This whole business has escalated beyond what we had imagined", replied Sridevi.

"Where is Pranavettan? He did not call me at all this week" she asked Sridevi.

"What to do, he was so busy with what was going on. He wasn't home for the past few days. Oh look, he is here", said Sridevi.

Pranav entered the portico with a rifle, three men, and Dinesh.

"The guns and swords are in the store room outside, get it and put it in the jeeps", he instructed to the men, once they left he came up to Malathi, "What are you doing here?"

Shocked Malathi looked at Sridevi who looked upset at Pranav and said, "What do you mean by that? She came to her home".

"That's not what I meant. Malathi, its dangerous in here. You shouldn't have come. It will ease my mind a great deal if you would leave now", he said to her.

Malathi, who wanted to pull him into their bedroom to tell that she was pregnant and see him beam with joy was left with tears in her eyes and she bit her lips to stave if off.

"What is wrong with you?" said Sridevi to Pranav as she put a hand over her shoulder. "She just came and hasn't even entered the house. I did not even get a chance to give her a glass of water and you are asking her to get out?"

"It's OK Amma, I will leave", said Malathi and walked back to her car.

"Dinesh, go with her", ordered Pranav.

As Dinesh approached her, Malathi raised her had to stop him and said, "No need, I came by myself, I know how to go back". She turned on the car and drove off.

"Pranav, this is too much. She left with tears in her eyes", said Sreedevi angrily.

"Amma, its for her own good and you know it", said Pranav as he entered into the house while Dinesh and Sridevi looked sadly at the car which was a plume of dust in the distance.

Malathi was wiping off the tears that were falling from her eyes as she drove and at a distance a jeep cut her off the road  stopped in front of her and she halted her own car before hitting it. A tall, thin man got out of the passenger side and came and stood with his hand over her door and the other hand over the door handle.

"I thought we missed you, since you came in the opposite direction from where we were expecting you", he said.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"Doesn't really matter. But I have to say, you are much prettier than what you were described to be", he said as he pulled her door open.

*****************