Chapter 17: The Man Who Always Smiled

The man carefully walked and looked around every time he covered some distance. He swung the rod left and right to show his confidence but deep within he was afraid. He could feel his heart beat getting faster along with each step he took. He was uncertain about his decision, but he had to do it. Mr. Joshi took the same route that he had took yesterday. But today it felt like like he was walking towards the gates of the hell. A weird smell tickled his nose. The smell was weird but it was relaxing. The old man believed that the smell comes along with the spirit and now that he could smell it, he was sure that the spirit was somewhere around. He stopped swinging the rod and held it tight, but unlike the rod, he was unable to hold his heartbeat which was beating harder and faster now. He finally reached the spot where he had seen the spirit yesterday. He stopped there and stood in a rather challenging pose. He struggled to keep his legs from shaking. He took a deep breath. Hr inhaled and exhaled his nervousness out. He felt relaxed now. Gulping down his nervousness, he spoke loudly, " Where are you huh?, you were meant to protect the people but now you're killing them, what has happened to you? The old man could feel the adrenaline rush through his veins. " Show yourself!, fight with with me if you have even a little bit of warrior left in you!," the old man was growling now. He believed that the spirit had killed his wife and now he wanted revenge. The old man was crying. Tears were streaming down his eyes. " Come here, where are you!, show yourself you coward!," he said. It was just then he heard some noise. It came from the bushes. As the voice grew, he felt uneasy. He again tool a deep breath and prepared himself. But he was feeling dizzy now, it felt like the world around him was moving. He struggled to stand on his feet. The voice stopped. His eyes were still darted on the bushes. It was just then a shadowy figure came out from the bushes and attacked Mr. Joshi. It was so quick the Mr. Joshi couldn't even catch a glimpse of it. He swung the rod in the air hoping to strike the spirit but it was no use. The rod fell down and by now Mr. Joshi had lost the control over his body. He could see the spirit coming near him but he couldn't do anything and shortly everything went blank.

Shiva was asleep, and the strange thing was that he was aware that he's sleeping. He could think, he could feel his breaths and his heart beating but he couldn't move or say anything. He tried to open his eyes hoping that he would escape from this state, but he found himself surrounded by the endless darkness. He finally managed to open his eyes, he tried to move but still there was no light. Shiva moved around in the darkness and found his eyes tearing up, a drop fell on the surface and he realized that he was standing on the water, the moment he did realize, he began to drown, it felt like he was falling all the way down to the bottom. He tried to move his hands to swim but it was no use. He had lost his hope and just then someone held his hand, the darkness vanished and he could see the sun high in the sky spreading its rays, the man pulled him out of the waters and Shiva was saved. He looked up to see it was his father, Amish. " Are you all right?," his father asked. Shiva was unable to gather words, " Yes," he said. The scenery of green trees and blue sky behind his father had changed. The tree were burning and the night sky was taken over by the smoke. " Stop putting yourself in danger," his father said as he muffled his hair. " I have to go now," the man smiled and walked towards the burning village. Shiva felt paralyzed, he couldn't move nor he could speak anything. It was a terrible feeling.

Shiva woke up and found himself sweating and breathing hard, he took a moment to calm himself just then Mohan entered rushed into the room.

" Hey, what happened?," asked Shiva.

" It's a bad news," said Mohan with terror ridden face.

Shiva immediately looked out from the window. His heart sank. It happened again, the crowd was formed near the forest and this time it was a huge one.

The both boys rushed towards the forest, there they saw a strange sight. Some villagers were pulling away an old man from the crowd. Shiva ignored that and the boys made their way through the crowd and managed to get a clear view.

Shiva found himself tearing up as he saw the man. The man who was hung from the tree, his stomach was cut open and the surface below was coloured by his blood, his stomach and intestines were clearly visible. The man was their best friend, the Librarian, Mr. Joshi.

Just then everyone's attention was drawn toward an old man who wore a white dhoti and an orange cloth on his upper body, he was the Pandit. The Pandit raised his hand and everyone went silent. He began to speak," My dear villagers, we don't know what exactly happened with Mr. Joshi, whether he had gone out at night or the spirit forced him to. But I can tell you that there's no need to get scared, just pray to God and stay in your houses at night, the ritual will be done in a month as we are waiting for the right time,"

Everybody gave a sigh of relief on the information about the ritual. The Pandit stepped back and left.

Shiva tried to go near Mr. Joshi who was now dead but Mohan stopped him, as their gaze shifted, they saw Raghav, he was on his knees, crying badly. They went near him, there was nothing that they could say now.

Raghav stood up, Mohan kept his hand on his shoulder.

" What is this, what has happened, " said Raghav.

Shiva couldn't say anything. He kept quiet.

" I don't understand why would he come here again, after that incident," said Mohan.

" Shiva, do you think he was the third person?," asked Raghav.

" I don't know," said Shiva wiping his tears but if was no use, the tears wouldn't stop.

" Let's go away from here, we need to discuss," Mohan spoke.

Raghav and Shiva nod as they agreed.

The boys were now under the Mango tree.

" Should we discuss?," asked Shiva.

Raghav nodded in yes.

" Do you guys think that Mr. Joshi was the third person who had the broken part?," asked Mohan.

" I don't think so," said Shiva.

" Why?,"

" Because if he had the third part then why would he had risked his life going into the forest?,"

Mohan thought for a moment.

" Yes, maybe you're right," he said.

" But then why would he go in the forest?, there must something that he knew about the spirit," Raghav spoke.

" Yes, that could be," agreed Mohan.

" But how do we find that,?," asked Shiva.

" We can question his assistant in the Library, he was close to him, I'm sure he must be knowing something," Raghav suggested.

" You're right, when does the Library open?,"

" 10 am,"

" Okay, we'll meet at the Library,"

The boys freshen up and sharp at 10 am they met at Library, they saw a boy opening up the Library, it was the assistant. They waited outside for some time and then went inside.

It was the same Library that they visited yesterday but it seemed different now. It looked lifeless without Mr. Joshi. The air of happiness had gone with Mr. Joshi. Now there was no one to welcome them with a great smile.

The three boys walked the passage that led them to the table where Mr. Joshi used to sit. His place wasn't empty. It was acquired by his assistant, Devashish. He sat there in a great pain and sadness which could be clearly seen on his face.

The boys went near him and drew his attention. " Oh, you guys, you're here?," he asked.

" We know what happened today, it was really unexpected," said Shiva.

" Yes," said Devashish.

" But we can't sit here quietly and act like nothing has happened,"

" What do you mean?,"

" There must be something that made Mr. Joshi go into that forest again, why would he go then?,"

" Sorry but I'm unable to understand what you're saying,"

" Try to recall everything about Mr. Joshi that happened yesterday, try to recall if he had told you something about the forest or if he was planning to go out at night or something?,"

" Let me try," the boy said.

" Why don't we sit there and talk?," said Shiva referring to the table where they used to sit everyday.

" Yeah,"

The boys took their everyday seats but only one thing was different, Mr. Joshi's was taken by Devashish.

" So, should we begin?," asked Shiva.

" Yeah," said Devashish faintly.

" Try to remember if Mr. Joshi had told you anything about the spirit or the forest, or about what happened the day before yesterday," said Shiva referring to the incident where Mr. Joshi saw the spirit.

" I noticed him yesterday, after you guys went home he looked unsure or we could say that there was something that was worrying him,"

" What was it?,"

" I'm not sure, but he told me that the day before he saw the spirit he slept in the library,"

" Yes, he did," Shiva spoke to himself.

" And?," asked Raghav.

" He told me that it was midnight when his sleep was disturbed by a mosquitoes, he stood to turn on the mosquito repellent, from the window he saw a man going into the Vasusthala forest,"

" What!?," exclaimed Raghav and Mohan.

The three boys looking at each other.

" Yes, he said that he himself wasn't so sure about what he saw as he was sleepy at that time,"

" Then?,"

" That's all, yesterday he and I were discussing about the incident that happened with him and I could tell that he was not sure about the spirit,"

" I see, thanks for giving us time,"

Devashish looked down, his face had again wore a look of grimace.

" I know how it feels to lose someone who is close to us,"

" I found it weird that Mr. Joshi didn't smiled at all yesterday,"

" Really?,"

" Yeah, I thought it must be the spirit incident that have affected him,"

" Whenever I saw him I would see a cheerful smile on his face, he seemed to be tha happiest person on this planet," Shiva gave a forceful smile to himself.

" Happy?, his life was anything but happy,"

Shiva looked up. " Why do you say that?,"

" Looks like you guys don't know about his past," said Devashish as he looked at Raghav.

Shiva and Mohan too looked at him.

" No, I mean, he was my best friend but I never asked him about his past,"

Shiva shifted his gaze back to Devashish and ask hesitantly. " Can you tell us about it?,"

" Why not?, afterall, you guys were close to him, you should know this,"

" Yes,"

" So," said Devashish as he put his both arms on the table. " The year was 1990 when Mr. Joshi and his wife were having some trouble with their sons, his elder son Ravi and his younger son Shashank wanted to settle in U.S for which they wanted to sell Mr. Joshi's house in the village. Mr. Joshi didn't wanted to leave this country. He refused to sell his house. Their son agreed to his decision. Everything was going allright but one day some people came into Mr. Joshi's house and claimed that it was theirs now. They showed him some papers with his signatures on them. Mr. Joshi realized that their sons had cheated them and flew to U.S,"

" What!?, how can they do this," said Mohan.

" After that days were quite hard for him, the school in which he was teacher was closed and now he worked as a Librarian, he managed to get a room on rent for him and his wife, after some years he and his wife had started living happily and Mr. Joshi was going to build a new house but–," Devashish took a pause. Shiva could see the increasing grim on his face.

" But?, but what?," asked Raghav.

" But then, one night he was working late in the library, unaware of what's happening in the village,"

Shiva held himself, he knew what incident Devashish was talking about. It was the fire.

" The whole village was taken over by the fire, he rushed to his house only to see that it was burning, inside the house was his wife who burnt with the house, the only family and support to Mr. Joshi was no more now, once again his life was devastated, nothing seemed to please him, he was living but was dead inside, then he started drinking to forget his past, years went by, he kept drinking, it helped him but he could never forget it and by now he had learnt how to smile through your hardest times, even if you're betrayed, even if you're alone,"

Shiva felt something warm on his cheeks, he touched it, it were the tears.

" He always used to smile, no matter what the situation is. We knew him as the man who always smiled, but a very few knew the pain that he hid behind that smile," Devashish was crying now.

Shiva looked down trying to control himself from crying. Raghav was tearing up and Mohan sobbed as turned his face towards the window.

A few minutes passed they sat silently on the table. Feelings were hard to hide. Their heart was flooding with memories of Mr. Joshi that brought tears to their eyes.

" I think we shall leave," said Shiva, his eyes moist.

" Yeah,"

The boys stood up and made their way to the passage while Devashish sat back on his table. Shiva had something to ask, he turned back and went to Devashish.

" Yes?," asked Devashish.

Raghav and Mohan came near Shiva.

" I just–," Shiva hesitated to say it. " I wanted to ask, did Mr. Joshi ever considered us as his friends?,"

Shiva had his eyes on Devashish while Raghav and Mohan waited for the answer.

" Uhh," Devashish stood up. " Surely you guys were his friends, you were close to him, he trusted you guys just like me,"

" Really?,"

Devashish kept his hand on Shiva's shoulder. " Yes, really he did,"

" Thanks," saying that Shiva made his way out with Raghav and Mohan.

******

The boys were now back under the Mango tree. They stood there in silence for a few minutes.

" He trusted us," Shiva spoke heavily. " And I doubted him, and what a great foolishness of mine that I doubted him for being the killer,"

" It was our mistake too, and the circumstances made us doubt him," said Raghav.

" Does that mean Geeta didi's statement was incorrect and she was just dreaming?," Mohan questioned.

" Yes, that could be," said Raghav.

Shiva raised his brows as much as he could and said, " What are you saying guys?,"

" What?,"

" Didn't you listen what Devashish had told us?,"

" Uh, what?,"

" He said that Mr. Joshi told him the night which he slept in the library he saw someone going into the forest,"

" Ah!–, yeah, yes," said the both boys ad they recalled it.

" And that must be the reason why he was not sure about the spirit,"

" And he might have thought that the man had something to do with the spirit," suggested Mohan.

" And that's why he decided to go into the forest!," Raghav added.

" It's all getting clear now,"

" That means in order to find the killer we'll have get that man first," Raghav said.

" What if that man is the killer?," asked Mohan.

" Then we got the killer anyways,"

" But how do we find him?," questioned Raghav.

" Maybe," said Shiva as he half sat on the ground and began to draw on the soil." Like this...,"