Chhoo Mantar- Part 2

 This is the second and final episode of the story Chhoo Mantar. Please read the first part for continuity (https://punctuationsandmore.blogspot.com/2026/08/chhoo-mantar.html  ). The story so far in brief:

The Kingdom of Kano is in the evil grasp of Bela, the witch, who has control over some magic berries that keep the sick princess alive. She is impersonating as the queen after banishing the real queen to a faraway place. The witch has a twin sister, Leela, who tends to her grandson Rumi, the shepherd boy. The two are planning to rescue the kingdom from the evil clutches of the witch.

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“So, Dadi what is the plan? I am sure you have already chalked it out in your mind last night,” asked an excited Rumi, rubbing his eyes and smiling cheek to cheek.

“Keeping in mind who we are up against, we have to act with speed and stealth. The whole operation must be completed flawlessly in three days flat. If our plot gets busted, the enemy will come down hard not just on us but will also strike the two weak points of the royal household- the banished queen mother and the sick princess.”

“Dadi, when you talk of we and us, you mean we will have more people on our side while doing this rescue mission?”

“No. It will be just the two of us to maintain utmost secrecy. I will do the planning and provide some help; the difficult part of execution will have to be done by you alone. Are you ready to undertake this dangerous mission?”

Rumi’s face became serious and his eyes gave a piercing look. He went silent for a few seconds and then thumped his right fist on his chest and shouted, “I am ready, Dadi.”

The two sat down together for a long time, and while Dadi spoke, Rumi kept listening to her attentively. He was memorising every step, every detail that the old lady was sharing. She was scribbling something on pieces of small papers which looked like maps with markings. He kept nodding his head once in a while, and by the time she was done talking, the young lad once more gave her a big smile, stood up and then bent down to touch the old woman’s feet seeking her blessings. She pulled him up, gave him a tight hug and kissed his cheeks while tears kept flowing from her eyes. She knew what dangers lay ahead.

Day One

Rumi took his flock towards the side where his Dadi had told him of the place where the real queen was being held captive. As he came near the place, he saw that a cluster of huts but one of them looked different, secluded and protected. When he saw a number of armed guards hiding carefully behind boulders and trees in the periphery of that hut, Rumi was sure that he had arrived at the right place. He went slightly away from the spot and asked one of his sheep to lay down and bleat aloud as if in great pain. The loyal sheep did as was told and then Rumi started running towards the village shouting, “Help, help…tiger, tiger…”

Hearing his shouts, some villagers picked up wooden sticks and ran towards the spot. Rumi went to some of the guards and asked them for their help. They consulted each other and immediately abandoned their posts and joined the villagers to drive away the intruding tiger.  Rumi took this opportunity to run to the queen’s hut where he saw that the main door had a sort of a tray slot at the lower end and was merely bolted from the outside without a lock. Rumi unbolted the door and the moment he saw a lady in simple clothes, he went down on his knees and bowed to her in complete obeisance.

“Who are you and why are you here?”

“I am Rumi and am here to take you away from this prison.”

“I will not go anywhere because if the witch comes to know about my escape, she will kill my only daughter.”

“You have to trust me. My Dadi is the twin sister of Bela, the witch, and she will help us in defeating the evil woman. She knows the good magic that can defeat the dark one but before that we need you on our side.”

“I have heard about Bela’s twin sister but have never met her. Why should I trust you?”

“Look at this bracelet on my wrist.  My Dadi knew you would not believe my words and so gave this to me. Their father had got this unique pair of silver bracelets made for the two sisters.  Tell me, is this not the same bracelet you would have seen on the witch’s wrist?”

“Yes, I do remember having seen bracelet like this on her wrist.”

The boy looked innocent and the queen got convinced. Both of them rushed towards the entrance door where a woolly sheep stood, munching and smiling at them. Rumi, pushed the sheep inside the hut and bolted the hut and the duo ran towards the back of the hut which was in the opposite direction to where the guards had gone. He followed the route that his granny had drawn for him and made an exit without the guards realising that a daring escape had taken place right under their noses. The two ran for a long time and when they felt that no one was following them, they stopped near a flowing stream to drink some water and rest a while. The queen asked the boy, “Why did you leave your sheep inside the hut?”

“My queen, the guards will be sliding the meals meant for you through the slot in the door and later pulling back the empty plate periodically. The woolly inside is a great muncher and will make no noise as long as he is kept well fed. He will gobble up the food and the guards will not come to know that you are missing from inside. All we need is three clear days to execute our complete rescue plan. The woolly sheep is our Trojan Horse in this Odyssey.”

“That’s quite an ingenious plan!”

They reached the granny’s house where the queen felt the safety of a home after years of captivity. The Day One task had been accomplished successfully and all felt happy.

Day Two

Rumi hardly slept that night. He was feeling very happy at having accomplished his first task. He had been giggling a bit in his bed when he remembered his woolly inside the hut and how he had fooled the soldiers who did not know whom they were feeding. He, however, knew that today would be a much bigger day of ultimate daring action.

Leela accompanied Rumi to the banyan tree and waited for the horseman to arrive from the castle. The horseman was surprised to see an old lady and a young lad as he began disembarking.  The moment he got off the horse, Leela drew her wand, pointed it at him and the man turned into a woolly sheep. She then pointed the wand towards Rumi who now turned into a tiny mouse. She carried the Rumi to the wet patch where she released him. Rumi went beneath the surface and realised that there was a proper tunnel going deep inside. He kept on sliding lower and lower till he hit a hard surface. As he fell, the bell around his neck, which was originally with the horseman and later given by Leela to him, made a jingling noise. Even though the bell had been turned into a miniature to match his own size, the noise it made was pretty loud which led to the dark chamber below getting magically illuminated. Rumi got very scared as he saw that the place was swarming with snakes. Rumi knew that the snakes loved eating rats and mice but he kept moving forward bravely. To his utter surprise, the snakes started moving aside hearing the bell ring thereby allowing him to make his way to the middle of the hall where a bowl with large number of red berries was kept. Rumi crawled up the bowl and put two berries in a pouch kept ready there. The original horseman would normally carry one berry a day but Rumi was following his granny’s advice. He now started pulling the pouch slowly but steadily towards the tunnel opening from where he had come inside the dark hole. Just as he moved upwards, the lights went off and he felt a twirl of hot air that pushed him upwards towards the surface.

Rumi came out of the hole and Leela quickly changed him back into the shepherd boy and took the pouch from him. They went to their hut where the queen had kept dinner for them. The two ladies kissed Rumi many times and said that he was a very brave lad.

“Dadi, how will the berries help our cause?”

“You sleep well tonight and tomorrow we will have the biggest day.”

“But Dadi, I was hoping to fight the enemy with swords and spears. When will that happen?”

“We are fighting an evil force that is working with trickery and magic. Swords and spears are needed in a different sort of combat arena. We are fighting trickery with our intelligence and want peace and love to flourish in the Kingdom of Kano without much blood being spilled.”

“That’s so wonderful Dadi. Good night.”

Day Three

Rumi had slept well on the second night and he felt fresh when he woke up. He was also excited for the action-packed final day that lay ahead. The sun was shining bright and he looked out of the window. He was completed bewildered when he saw outside a patch of land with many tall vines with bunches of red berries hanging from them. He turned around and saw his Dadi smiling. She said, “I used one of the berries you got yesterday and created this garden overnight. Magic can surely be used for good purpose. Now with these berries freely available, the princess will not have to depend upon the witch and her soldiers for survival and that will free King Hano and his kingdom from her control.”

After having a sumptuous breakfast, Rumi and Leela went back to the banyan tree where the horse and the sheep stood. Leela used her spell to make Rumi look exactly like the soldier in full uniform and asked him to go to the castle with the remaining red berry. She told him that she will also be coming to the castle herself separately.

As Rumi, in his soldier disguise, closed in on the castle, he was unaware of the events developing in other parts of the kingdom. The woolly inside the hut was enjoying the hospitality so much that it had an urge to seek more food. The sheep started ramming the door with his head from inside which caught the attention of the guards. After a while they opened the door to find that the queen was no longer there and an ill-tempered sheep was in her place. A guard quickly jumped on a steed and spurred away to inform the witch in the castle.

Bela, the witch, came to the elevated balcony of the palace and saw a soldier coming to the castle. She thought it was the regular soldier who was bringing the magic berry for the princess waiting at the entrance to the palace. Unaware of the rescue act that was taking shape, she went to take her leisurely bath. Meanwhile, Rumi got off the horse at the palace gate and saw the princess for the first time. She looked simply heavenly beautiful. He put a finger on his lips signalling her to keep quiet as he pulled out the berry and a diamond ring that the princess instantly recognised as one that belonged to her mother. Rumi told her in muted voice about the queen’s escape and asked the princess to eat the berry and ride out with him without further delay. The princess wanted to go to her father once but Rumi said that time was of utmost essence and her safety would be the key to force open the witch’s vice-like hold over the king. The princess climbed on to the saddle and sat holding Rumi who asked her to cover her face with a veil.  He kicked the horse to a gallop and gained speed in a short time. As he was exiting the castle gate, he saw another horseman entering and shouting, “She has escaped… she has escaped!” Rumi knew something had gone wrong somewhere so he pushed his horse harder. While speeding away, he got a glimpse of his Dadi slowly making her way into the castle.

Hearing the horseman’s shouts, Bela came back to the balcony hurriedly. She could now see at a distance the princess riding away with a soldier. With both her hostages having escaped, a furious Bela decided to capture the princess back. She ordered her guards to get her Flying Fury chariot ready immediately while she dressed herself in full armour with a sword and the magic wand tucked in the belt and a trident in her hand. The chariot was a special one drawn by six white horse that could outrun anyone on land, air and water. She took the reins in her own hands and charged towards the castle gate. Seeing the queen in her chariot coming, the guards went to open the big gates when Leela stepped forward. Bela was stunned seeing her twin sister after so many years.

“So, it is you who is orchestrating this plot against me? You will fail miserably, Leela.”

Leela gently drew her magic wand out of her cloak. Seeing the wand, Bela exclaimed, “You are here to fight me with a fake wand? This one cannot be father’s special wand for it was with him when he died.”

“Father had given me his real wand saying that I could use it just once in my lifetime. I had kept it safe for so long waiting to use it only at the darkest hour to save our land. I am sure, today is the day to defeat the empire of evil that you have created.  I am going to stop you from doing any further harm to the royal family and to the people of Kano.”

Bela picked up the trident and threw it with all her power at Leela who just pointed her wand in its direction to have it blown to smithereens. Bela knew that the conventional weapons would not work in this fight. The battle would have to be the ultimate Wand to Wand Fight (WWF). She pulled out her wand and was about to cast her deadliest spell when a sword pierced her from behind and she collapsed. It was King Hano who had caught Bela by surprise. He had heard the conversation of the two sisters from his chamber and with the two loves of his life safe, he took to arms and delivered the fatal blow.  Blood oozed out profusely from Bela’s body and soon her eyes shut. Hano pushed Bela’s corpse out of the chariot and boarded it himself. He asked Leela join him and take him to where his queen and princess were being kept.

Hano and his family were reunited and there were big celebrations in the kingdom. Leela broke her father’s magic wand and took care of the berry garden while Rumi refused to accept any gifts from the king. He moved around with his flock, playing with the animals and living a simple life with his granny. He was always invited to the royal household on special occasions and given a place of honour.

And they all lived happily ever after.

SS