What happened at Pir Baba ziarat in Fazilka was not a coincident. I knew Ghulam Mustafa had something to do with it. It was not just a hunch but what Pir Baba told me before suffocating in the white fumes was alarming at one end but was quite satisfying at the other. At least now I knew that Ghulam Mustafa was aware about me and it made me more cautious. Pir Baba also told me that Ghulam Mustafa could not hurt me due to some freaking reason. It was the only thing which was keeping me focused on the task. Otherwise, what I had witnessed at the Pir Baba ziarat was good enough distract me from my task. I reached back at my serai at 8 p.m. and had my dinner. I went to sleep early as I had a train to catch next morning.

My train was to leave Fazilka railway station at 9 a.m. and I was there in my first class compartment at 8:30. It was now 10 a.m. and the train had not still left the station. I was seated in a coupe of four with a small family of a middle aged couple and their young daughter who was almost my age. I felt very awkward when the lady asked the ticket checker to move me to some other compartment as they had a young daughter travelling with them. But the checker refused her request politely saying that there is no woman traveling alone on this train. However he told them that if they get any problem from me during the journey then they could complain against me.

I was attributing the reason of delay to Ghulam Mustafa when I felt the train moving. There was lot of pandemonium outside the window. Suddenly lots of people were trying to get on the train and few were trying to get down. Anyhow, it got settled in few minutes. As the train gained speed, the man asked me to shut down the window and I obliged. Window pane was so dirty and that it was impossible to see anything outside. Having nothing to do I had a look inside. All three of them were gazing at me that made me very uncomfortable but probably they were nervous too. After some idle moments which seemed very long, I turned towards the man and introduced myself. He was very relieved to learn that I was a Muslim. I told him that I was going to Ajmer Sharif and was surprised to learn that they were going there too. The man was a school teacher. The couple only had one daughter and they were now going to the holy shrine to pray and ask for a son. A little while later, we were chatting like a family. I was indeed missing my mother whom I had left behind. I was keeping myself very reserved as I knew that any bad move on my part may get me off this train but I was having a feeling that the girl whose name was Shahzadi, was taking too much interest in me. I was avoiding direct eye contact with her but whenever I looked up I found her staring at me. After sometime, they took out homemade parathas with achar and also offer me. I never liked achar so I ate paratha, drank some water and then took my berth to have some rest. Within minutes, I was sleeping.

It was probably afternoon when I got up and looked around. The train was moving at fast speed. The woman was sleeping on seat directly under me. On the opposite side, the man was sleeping on the upper berth and his daughter was sleeping on the seat below him. It looked like a perfect arrangement. Even while lying down, I could see Shahzadi. The man was facing on the other side so I started staring at her. She looked like a sleeping angel. Her hair was covering half her face. The sheet over her had slipped down from her body and I was mesmerized to see such a pure beauty. I started thinking that why do this couple need a boy when they are blessed with this gift. I was deep in my thoughts when suddenly I felt a need to go to washroom. I carefully got down and opened the door and went out in the corridor. There was no washroom in the coupe so I had to go to the common washroom which I had already once visited before. I came back to the compartment and closed the door. All three of them were still sleeping in the same position as I had seen them when I woke up. Something was not normal. Again Ghulam Mustafa came to my mind but I shuddered off

my wild thoughts. There was no place to sit on lower seats so I climbed back to my berth. I had to behave like a gentleman too or else I would be dropped off the train. I recalled the ticket checker’s warning. So, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep again but in vain. It was on that train where I learnt that the time does not pass when you have nothing to do. Next one hour seemed like an eternity. I suddenly felt relaxed when the train started slowing down and stopped at some station. It was now late afternoon and the sun was about to set. I got down slowly and went outside. I bought some eatables and hurriedly climbed back the train as it had started moving. I came back to my compartment and the family was still sleeping in the same position. It was now weird.

Putting the food aside, I decided to wake up the man and shook his shoulder slightly. Nothing happened. Then I shook it with some jerk and the man’s body took a turn and fell towards me. I held him up with both hands. His head was inches away from me and I could see his lifeless eyes. A cold shock wave travelled down my spine. I knew something was wrong all along. I adjusted the man in his previous position and checked the woman, she was dead too. The daughter was, however, still breathing. I checked her pulse and she was alive but unconscious. Ghulam Mustafa came into my mind again. I was sure he was trying to delay my arrival for as long as possible. He was doing his best to entangle me but I was getting more determined. I checked the compartment door and it was locked. I thought of escaping the scene as I knew I would be held responsible for these murders and put behind bar or even hanged without any proper investigation. I was about to get out of the door when I looked behind at the sleeping beauty. The yellow sun light sparkling on her face was creating a hypnotic illusion.

It was early next morning when Shahzadi opened her eyes and looked at me with a strange expression on her face. She turned her head around and put her hand on her forehead as trying to remember anything. I was alone with her in that small room. I had gotten her out of that train when it stopped at a station after midnight. I covered her with a sheet and picked her up on my shoulders. There was nobody in the corridor so I walked up to the exit door and opened it. We were standing at a relatively darker place. I walked down on the platform and disappeared in a corner. She was light as a feather and walking with her full weight on my shoulders was not very difficult. In the background I heard the train whistle as it left the platform. I was now standing in middle of a dark street with an unconscious girl on my shoulders whose parents had been murdered by a lunatic sitting some 500 miles away. I guessed he must have poisoned their food. The poison did not work on me but that poor couple died for no reason. Now, I considered it my duty to save her and give her some respectable life. But first I had to bring her back to senses and then tell her as to what had happened. As I was still standing there, I noticed someone coming out of the nearby mosque. There was enough light to see around and he had seen me standing there carrying something on my shoulders. He started walking towards me. I got careful but had to get help. He came close and said, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

I replied back in a very somber voice, “I was travelling in the train. My wife is very sick and we need help.”

He paused for a while and then said, “Follow me. I will take you to a hakeem.”

I started going behind him. While walking ahead, he muttered,

“He will kill me for waking him up at this time but I am sure he will treat your wife. He is my friend and a very good human being.”

I said nothing and kept following him. After walking for about few minutes, he started knocking on the door of the last house on that street. The door got opened after a while and an old man appeared carrying a lantern in his hand. As he saw the person, he said angrily, “I told you Zafar Khan, I don’t pray at night. Get lost from here.”

He had not seen me yet. I was standing right behind the man who had brought us there. His name was Zafar Khan. As the Hakeem sahib was about to close his door, Zafar Khan said, “Listen, don’t close the door. I am not here to take you to mosque.”

“Then why did you wake me up in middle of the night?”

“I have brought you a patient,” Zafar Khan replied stepping aside. Hakeem now saw me carrying someone on my shoulder. He immediately gave me way in his house and without asking any question took us to his room. I dropped Shahzadi on the only bed in the room. I told Hakeem sahib that we had some food at railway station and then she got unconscious. He started treating her without any further inquiry. Zafar Khan who brought us there left soon and I spent rest of the night praying for the life of Shahzadi.