Tales of Bhanu : The legend of Corba - 3

“How can this be possible?” was my first thought . There he was. Corba was standing near a cave like structure. In addition, I saw the kid was lying unconscious nearby.

My first thought was to save the kid somehow. Then I saw something unusual, there were fruits lying nearby the kid and the kid was lying on a padded bed. That meant the creature wasn’t going to cause any harm to the child. If spotting the Corba wasn’t weird enough, I was seeing him taking care of the kid. I thought if he didn’t want to cause any harm then why did he kidnap the kid?

I climbed down the tree, but before coming down I made sure that none of the other rangers were around because I knew if any of them spots him with the kid then they’re going to shoot him and may end up provoking him. A provoked animal, as he was looking like to me, can do anything, might even cause harm to the kid. So as soon as I climbed down the tree, I made sure that I don’t make too much noise. I walked towards the place where Corba and kid were. It was getting darker due to the weather. As soon as I reached near the cave I left my gun under a tree; I had hidden it so that Corba didn’t see it because if he had, then maybe he would have attacked me. I felt if he could exhibit human qualities then maybe he might see me as a danger with a gun in my hand.

As I proceeded towards the cave, I noticed the kid was awake and as soon as he saw me, the boy ran towards me. After that something happened which I couldn’t have imagined.

Along with the boy, Corba also charged towards me, he stopped as soon as the boy hugged me. He also asked Corba to stop. There it stood, 7+ feet tall a half man and half monster in front of me. For a second, I felt like taking out my pistol that I always kept with me for close encounters, but I felt something in its eyes. You can always sense a person’s intentions from his/her eyes and it happens with an animal too. There was no aggressiveness in it. It felt like Corba knew I meant no harm to it, which was true. I just wanted to take the kid back and the kid was happy to finally see a human.

“Uncle have you come to take me home?” the boy asked in a feeble voice.

“Yes beta.” I answered.

“Where is mumma and dad?” he asked

“They are waiting for you.” And we started walking towards the jeeps. I had already informed the other rangers that I found the kid. I asked them to be near the jeep, so that they can take the kid back to his parents. I didn’t want to go back, I wanted to leave the kid with rangers and come back to meet Corba again.

“Uncle who was that man who saved me?” the kid asked.

“Saved you? Didn’t he pick you up from the car?” I questioned.

“No uncle, I fell down from the car. I shouted but nobody listened to me, then I felt a severe pain in my head. After that I slept and when I opened the eyes I saw him sitting next to me. First I shouted loudly because I was scared, but you know he also got scared and then he offered me fruits to eat. Then only I understood that he is a good guy, and when you came to take me home I realized he is your friend and he only called you to pick me up.”, the kid innocently replied.

One thing was clear, that the myth about Corba wasn’t a myth anymore. During my journey back to the jeep along with the kid, I explained him how he was our secret ranger and his location shouldn’t be disclosed. I asked him to keep it a secret and not to disclose it to anyone. I later explained the other rangers that he fell down from the car and got lost in the forest while searching for a way out. I left the kid at the spot where all the rangers were standing and asked them to proceed without me; I told them to leave a jeep for me to return back as I had an unfinished business to take care of.

I started walking back towards the same spot where I met the Corba, and then I suddenly remembered that I forgot to pick up my rifle which I hid behind the tree. I thought I would do it later, as I didn’t want to scare Corba with a rifle in my hand. As soon as I reached towards the spot, I heard some noises. At first I felt maybe they were some animals, but I was wrong.

“Sir, look at it.”, a man said.

“Hey is this the one everyone used to talk about, is he that monster. If he is then we are going to be very famous.” another man replied.

“But sir, we have to take care. We are not allowed in this area and if anyone catches us with him and the tiger’s body then we are screwed. We have to be very careful here.”, someone else said.

I hid behind some bushes to get a view of what was happening. Cobra was lying unconscious and three men were sitting around him, maybe examining his body. I immediately targeted the man sitting in the middle with my rifle; this time I made sure I had the real bullets in the rifle.

And I pushed the trigger….

To be contd..

(This story was also published in 21fools.com at http://21fools.com/above-18/manohar-kahaniyan/434-the-legend-of-corba-part-iii)