The tinkling of bells from the cow and the sniffling of her brother were the only things she heard before she closed her eyes. She was going to have a tough night.

‘They are calling her a witch…’ Rikki whispered to Rano.

‘She is special,’ Rano countered.

‘Please! She pretends.’ Reet snarled.

‘The bridge?’

‘Any idiot could tell it was collapsing. She had been watching it for hours!’ Reet muttered.

‘The rain!’

‘She can smell it… half the village can! I can tell now too!’ Reet continued haughtily.

‘This boy and the snake?’

‘She scared them out of their wits for amusement. Wait till I tell mother – she is going to get it!’ Saying that, Reet sauntered in as the bells tinkled and the cow moved in circles hoping the old man would make enough money to feed his family before the droughts hit them.

Rajjo and Rano sat at the railway tracks waiting for Reet to finish with the boy. Rajjo looked at Rano with a naughty conspiring glance, and with mutual consent, they simultaneously ran behind the large mountain of wheat stack to take a peek. Reet and the boy were in the middle of the field, cocooned by foliage. A small bambi sprouted a thick stream of water into a circular pond a little distance away on their left. The young boys and girls dived into the pool on hot sultry days.

Rajjo craned her neck to take a better look at the couple. The boy was from the tea stall. He was struggling to get a hold on Reet’s breasts from under her blouse. He moved feverishly like a man possessed.

Rajjo and Rano stifled a giggle.

‘That’s what the whole hulla-hoo is about?’ muttered Rano, almost disappointed. Rajjo noticed the tell-tale flush on her pale cheeks.

‘I am sure it feels great to be in love,’ Rajjo sighed.

‘Do you think this is love?’ Rano enquired with a disappointed look on her face.

‘Could be,’ Rajjo said.

Just then the guy moaned from the fields, and so did Reet.

‘It’s gross!’ muttered Rano as they ran back to watch a train go by with the wind kissing their faces, arms outstretched like they were flying.

‘When I grow up I want to be a fairy!’ shouted Rano.

‘When I grow up I want to fall in love!’ screamed Rajjo. ‘And run away!’

They could hear Reet and the boy making the tall stems in the fields sway again, oblivious to the world. The grunts and the moans continued.

‘How long are they going to be like that?’ wondered Rano.

‘Till one of them wants to pee, I guess?’ muttered Rajjo, looking up at the beautiful blue sky chasing a cloud.

‘Where will you run away to?’ Rano enquired, chewing a blade of grass, hoping that she would take her along when she decided.

‘That doesn’t matter, I haven’t decided yet, but running away is the point!’