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Stories Byri's heart began thumping faster. The bays and the clattering of feet were drawing nearer and nearer. They might have smelt the buck's blood, the hounds were on the run towards it, he thought. Although he was sure that they would not harm a man normally, he wasn't sure for the buck's sake. They might attack finding him all alone in the pitch darkness amidst a dense forest. That thought unnerved him a bit. Soon he collected himself. He thought of concealing the animal under a bush initially but realised the futility of such an exercise. He knew the wild dogs can smell the animal from a long distance and once they get it they would leave nothing but the bones. He looked around for a secure place. There was a banyan tree near by. He hurried up to it, reached out for a branch at proper height and safely lodged the animal taking enough care that it did not slip down. Bucking his loin cloth, he climbed up the tree just in time before the wild dogs encircled the tree. They found the buck on the branch and out of their reach. They were howling at it moving impatiently. In their attempt to climb up the tree some of them were scratching the trunk peeling of the bark here and there. “Hoot, Hoot,” Byri tried to scare the wild dogs away with his hooting. They did not care a hoot. Instead, they were waiting for the buck to drop down vying with one another for licking the drops of blood seeping from the buck's body. Byri was exhausted trying to hoot them away.! He despaired that they might not leave him. Firing a shot at them came to his mind but the realization of forgetting the ammunition bag at the hiding made him curse himself. To his great good fortune at that very moment he heard the 'Barr ... Barr' sound, as if coming out of a bronze pipe, of a roebuck. Instantly the wild dogs were on their feet sticking out their ears erect. The hair on their back stood erect. Wagging their tails they contemplated in silence for a while and in a flash, as if they were unchained, they ran in the direction of the sound in search of a new prey. Byri thanked his Elements for the turn of events. But, before he could even climb down and resume his journey, what was until then a drizzle suddenly intensified into a heavy rain and soon into a storm as wind picked up speed. Thunder and lightning were splitting the skies. Branches were felled by the gales. As if it were the dooms-day it started raining cats and dogs. Byri was drenched to the bones. As the winds shook the tree the buck dropped down with a thud. Raining thus for about two hours, the rain relented. Byri got down and with great effort pulled the animal on to his back. The butt of the rifle was no longer giving him the required support as it was sinking into the rain-soaked ground. The rain washed buck was slipping from his shoulder. Yet he persevered through dirt, slime and slush and through thorny paths and uneven terrain summoning all his reserves with just one resolve: he should repay Soorayya. It might be about two in the morning. The rain-cleansed sky was looking clear. There was a liberal splash of luminescent moonlight too. Rain drops suspending to the edges of leaves were sparkling pearl-like. The forest was filled with the croaking of frogs and creaking of other insects. Determined Byri covered quite a distance. A stream and a mile separated him from his hut. As he drew near the stream the croaking of frogs was high. A greater surprise greeted him. The stream which was totally dry with sand heaped up until few hours back was now in spate stretching to its banks. It was curling and swirling and whirling. Byri had no choice but to cross it. If he were to avoid it, he would have to walk four times the distance he had already covered besides having to trek a few hills on his way. Byri knew though the stream was in full flow, it wasn't that deep. At best it would come up to his chest. It's hardly ten yards wide at the widest point. For an ace swimmer like him it was not a matter to reckon with. With that confidence he decided to cross it. He knew it was not that easy to cross the racing stream with buck on his shoulder and rifle in his hand. He put down the buck on the bank. Rubbed his aching feet and neck with both hands. Taking rifle in his hand and swinging it round and round he threw it on to the other bank. It fell in the slime abetting the shore. He complimented himself for his strength and skill even at that age. He slowly stepped into the water. Frogs leaped into the water in one go. The soil was slimy and slippery. Taking firm foothold he pulled the buck onto his shoulder. Taking the whole weight on his neck, he held the four suspending feet of the buck in his hands. The soil beneath his feet was giving way under the weight. He was putting one step after another measuring each one carefully. The stream resembled a sneaking snake under the moonlight. By the time water came knee-high, the under currents were pulling him by his legs. Felled branches and logs were floating down-stream at full speed. Earth on the banks was caving in. Water had come up to his loins. He cleared half the way. The speeding column of water was exerting greater thrust on his knees and legs. Balancing himself with the load on his shoulder he was putting each step. But suddenly his foot landed in a ditch on the bed and he tumbled. That's all. He fell flat into the water and the buck was thrown some distance away. The moment he fell into the water he was being swept away! . He was sinking and with effort surfacing. Though his feet touched the ground, the strong currents did not allow him to get a firm foothold. Even while being washed away, he watched his buck floating ahead of him. At that hour of crisis his loan to Soorayya still flashed in his memory. Sinking and floating with the current, Byri caught hold of the buck by its legs at the most opportune moment.
At that place the stream was speeding faster as it was narrow over
there. Rolling along with his catch he tried to swim up-stream.
Logs, branches and reptiles had brushed past him. Carried away by
the stream for about two furlongs, he found the stream wide and
shallow. He caught hold of a tree branch swinging down into the
water. Without leaving the buck and with the help of the branch, he
pulled himself up to the bank. Fortunately for him, it was the bank
he wanted to reach. Resting for full one hour and yet unable to
summon enough strength to carry the buck on his back, he dragged it
by its legs along the bank up to where he threw his rifle. He
recovered the rifle. The twilight in the east indicated that the
day-break was not far away. The forest was already awake with the
calls of birds. A wild hen was clucking. He was shivering under the
bite of cold breeze his soaked body was exposed to. Determined as he
was to reach his hut fore day-break, he pulled the buck over his
shoulder once more. Puffing and heaving, he reached his hut long
after the day-break. Bovines in the village were already mooing and
lowing. |
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