drowning person hanging on to a floating piece of wood. If she let go of that belief, she would drown in the sorrow that seemed to be swirling around her. What would happen to Suraj then?
At long last the sounds of smacking and slurping subsided. Both she and Suraj pretended to be asleep as soon as they heard Kali come into the room to make up her bed. Kali and Layla shared a cot and Shiv had another one. Tara and Suraj slept on the floor because there were no more spare cots. Soon, everyone was in bed and the lantern was doused.
Moonlight filtered in through the window in the front room, making bright patterns on the mud floor. Tara shivered as a frigid gust of wind ruffled through the straw on the roof and swept in through the cracks. A cloud moved across the face of the moon and plunged the room into momentary darkness. Tara moved closer to Suraj, the warmth of his body comforting her. She was thankful for the thick, woollen clothes, which afforded some padding on the cold, hard floor. She could not sleep. In the distance, she heard a stray dog barking. The incessant sounds of lizards, as they ran around the outer wall of the hut seeking flies, kept her company. The cloud passed and moonlight lay in silver puddles on the floor once again.
Suraj whimpered in his sleep and turned restlessly.
“Mother,” he whispered.
Tara stroked his forehead, shushing him. Her heart ached to see that even in his sleep, Suraj was troubled. She stroked his hair tenderly and Suraj stopped his restless tossing and turning.
At long last, she started to feel drowsy. As her eyelids drooped, she saw a slight movement on the mud-packed floor a few feet from where she lay. Her eyes widened and her sleep vanished in an instant, blood turning to ice as she sat bolt upright. A black cobra, the deadliest snake in India, uncoiled its length and raised its hood, ready to strike. In the bright moonlight, cobra and girl stared at each other in absolute silence, not a movement to betray that either was breathing. Suddenly, the cobra lowered its hood and, with lightning speed, covered the last few feet between itself and the sleeping form of Suraj. It stopped next to Suraj and once again raised its hood, swaying menacingly from side to side.
CHAPTER 2 THE PEACOCK’S TAIL
Tara froze.
She could not scream or move, so great was her fear born of thousands of tales she had heard about the fatality of a cobra’s bite. The snake slithered over the sleeping form of Suraj, closer and closer to his forehead. It stopped and raised its hood, preparing to strike. Silver light glinted off the spectacle-like markings on its hood.
Tara lunged sideways, grabbed her leather shoe, and raised her hand to hurl it at the cobra. All of a sudden the snake faced her. Coiled on Suraj’s sleeping form, its eyes were almost level with Tara’s. Her hand stopped in mid-air and, inexplicably, her fear melted away. She was looking into black eyes that seemed gentle, almost sad.
The cobra swayed toward her right hand. Its forked tongue flicked out and caressed Tara’s bare forearm. An image of her family, when they were all together, flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning, filling her with joy. In an instant, the image faded away. Speechless, she watched as the cobra then flicked its blood-red tongue on Suraj’s forehead so lightly and gently that the boy’s sleep was undisturbed.
The spot where the cobra’s tongue touched Tara’s skin felt warm. She ran her fingertips over the flesh. There was nothing, not even a puncture. No tingling feeling to indicate that a deadly poison was coursing through her veins.
The cobra took a last look at Tara. With a fluid, silvery movement, it slithered off Suraj’s body, raced across the mud floor, and disappeared into a hole in the far corner of the hut. Tara stooped over Suraj anxiously. His chest rose and fell as he continued his deep sleep. Tara lay back on the straw mat, drawing in great gulps of air to slow her racing heart.
What had just happened? The deadliest of snakes in India had touched them with its forked tongue and they were both alive to tell the tale. Who would believe her if she said anything about this? No one to her knowledge had ever survived an encounter with a cobra.
She fell asleep after a very long time.
•••
The day after Diwali dawned cold and grey. A glacial wind crept through the cracks, poking and prodding people with its cold fingers.
Tara awoke as an icy draught swept over her exposed face. Light was seeping in through the corners of the window. Tara tiptoed to it, eager to see the sunrise. As she peered out the window, she noticed that Raka, whose hut was diagonally opposite theirs, was awake, too. He sat on a wooden chair on the porch sipping a cup of tea. Steam curled up from the cooling tea, obscuring his face. In front of them stood the banyan tree, trunk firmly planted in the earth, branches outstretched to welcome the day. The long roots swayed lazily in the wind. Everyone slept and the silence was broken only by the wind sighing through the leaves. They both saw it at the same time: a brilliant flash of colour near the tree. A peacock, with a beautiful tail of gold and blue, cavorted into the open.
Tara shot to her feet and watched, mesmerized, as the peacock spread its tail so that it fanned out behind its emerald blue body. The bird danced in the clearing as the sky turned grey and shards of lightning illuminated the dazzling blue, green, and gold in its plumage. Raka jumped to his feet, too. The teacup crashed to the ground, brown liquid staining the bottom of his white pyjamas. The peacock’s dancing grew more frenzied. Fat drops of rain pelted to the earth as the skies burst open. Some of the drops fell on the peacock and the “eyes” on its tail seemed to be crying. The peacock continued to pirouette in the clearing — solely, it seemed, for the benefit of Raka.
Suddenly, it came right up to where he stood and looked him directly in the eye. Its feathers spread in a vibrating fan of energy. It gave a long, harsh cry that seemed to reverberate through the empty clearing to the hills beyond. Then it turned and danced out of sight. Raka clenched his hands and stared into space. Why does he look so shocked and scared? Tara wondered. Surely a peacock was a thing of beauty that should be admired, not feared.
Tara was starting to feel drowsy again. Shutting the window, she tiptoed back to Suraj and lay down next to him, falling asleep almost instantly.
•••
Someone yanked the thin sheet from Tara’s body. The cold November-morning air flooded over her skin and she was instantly awake. Kali’s disagreeable face looked down on her.
“Get up, you lazy girl. Feed the cow and chickens and then make me a cup of tea. Tell Suraj to get water from the well.”
Before walking away, Kali prodded the sleeping Suraj hard with her toe. He woke up whimpering with pain and instinctively raised his hands to ward off a blow.
What a miserable start to the day, thought Tara as she saw his distress and fear. Tears misted her eyes as she got up, reluctant to let her stepmother see how upset she was. Do something, the little voice inside her said, but Tara did nothing. Kali’s wrath would be worse if she or Suraj put up even the tiniest bit of resistance. Suddenly, the image of the night visit from the black cobra flashed into her mind and she felt a powerful jolt of happiness once again. She hugged Suraj, whispering in his ear that she had a wonderful secret to tell him. He looked up at her with an endearing eagerness at the word “secret” and said,
“Didi, I’ll be good. Please tell me, tell me now ... what is this secret?”
Tara smiled.
“Not now, Suraj. The wicked witch will hear.”
