Read Online The Deadly Conch by Mahtab Narsimhan - Free Book Online

down her throat and heat up her icy insides. The little food she’d just eaten sat in her stomach like boulders.
    â€œHow can I argue with a child?” said Shiv. “Besides, the villagers are already starting to believe her. She’s played the right card by preying on the villagers’ superstitions.”
    â€œI can go and beat her up!” said Suraj. “I never liked her, anyway.”
    In spite of the worry ballooning inside her, Tara had to smile. Suraj looked so indignant as he waved his fist in the air. So different from the woebegone boy she had rescued from the cave. Involuntarily, she glanced at his forehead. It remained unblemished and flat.
    â€œI will, if you want me to, Didi,” said Suraj. “And after that, Mother, you can punish me for beating up a girl. I won’t mind.”
    â€œSuraj, I don’t want any talk of violence in this house,” said Shiv. “We’ve seen enough of that when Zarku was around. If you must beat someone, do it with your head, not your hands.”
    â€œThere is one person whom the villagers will listen to,” said Parvati. Her eyes sparkled in the orange glow of the kitchen fire. “Prabala.”
    A little firework of joy exploded in Tara’s heart. Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of it before? “Where did he go, Mother, and when is he coming back?” asked Tara.
    Parvati sighed. “That’s the problem. When Father goes off for meditation, he very rarely gives an exact location. He said he was going to the Bhakti Ashram in the Himalayas. As for coming back, it could be days, months … even years.”
    The firework fizzled out. Tara clasped the hot cup of tea tighter, but it was no match for the deep chill spreading inside her.
    â€œThen I’ll go looking for Prabala,” said Shiv. “We need him here, with us. Once the Panchayat of Chandi Mandir hears about the contaminated well, things could get ugly for all of us. Especially with Layla continuing to spread lies about our Tara. That’s what she’s probably doing this very minute.”
    â€œShe said she was going to make me suffer,” said Tara suddenly. She had not confided in her parents earlier, not wanting to worry them, but now she couldn’t keep this to herself any longer.
    In the dying embers, she saw the enlarged whites of their eyes, their grim expressions as they stared at her, aghast.
    â€œIs she going to kill you, Didi?” asked Suraj. His face crumpled.
    â€œNot if I can help it,” said Tara. With a huge effort, she smiled and ruffled his hair. “Hey, don’t you have any faith in your sister? I defeated Zarku. Layla is a little chicken in comparison. If I wanted to, I could fix her like that!” Tara snapped her fingers. The click was loud in the quiet kitchen. They heard the faint tinkle of Bela’s bell as she moved around restlessly.
    Suraj hugged Tara tight. “I wish Layla would go away and never come back,” he said.
    â€œLet’s all sleep on it and talk in the morning with a clearer mind,” said Shiv. “Tara, from now on I want you indoors at night no matter how hot it is.”
    Tara nodded, not really paying attention. An idea was pushing up through her mind like a magic weed, growing taller and stronger by the second. She couldn’t wait to put it into action.

    As Tara sat up slowly, the cot creaked. She froze, an excuse ready at her lips. But no one stirred.
    Watery moonlight spotted the floor. Tara watched the silver discs appear and disappear as clouds moved past the face of the moon. She was reminded of the night, a little more than a year ago, when she had seen the black cobra— her mother in disguise — come up to them. How scared she had been when the snake had kissed Suraj first and then her. And now she was scared again. Of a child this time! She shook her head; she had braved worse dangers than a spoiled, vindictive girl. She would