No way to rescue Chinthaka

By Uncle Sachi and Aunt Ruwi

The story so far…

Pramodaka, Nalaka, Champika and Chinthaka go on a trip to the woods with their parents for their school holidays. In the middle of the night the children are awakened by a strange noise. On following their dog, Scooby, Chinthaka is snared by the age old spell of the ‘luring stones’.

Pramodaka departs with Ruwi, a pixie, to recall a book of spell to cast off the spell while Nalaka, Champika and the dog remain behind with Sachi, a gnome who updates them on the life of mythical creatures. Shamilka, a friend of the mythical creatures joins in and they begin hunting for Pramodaka and Ruwi as there is no sign of their return.

Just as they were coming to terms with the fact that they were lost, six rabbits scamper along the way.

The rabbits take pity upon the children and agree to guide them part of the way. Meanwhile Sulo, the goblin who is always trying to make trouble for the mythical creatures, grabs a basket of goodies from a gnome named Russell and makes off.

Scooby scents her and attacks. Ruwi senses that Russell is in danger but she also gets the strange feeling that there is a mysterious link between Pramodaka. Suddenly a storm breaks out and Pramodaka, Nalaka and Champika are blown away with the wind…

Nalaka and Pramodaka got to their feet. Champika still looked a bit dazed as she examined her arm. With a sign indicating him to follow Nalaka crept towards the mango tree.

Pramodaka hesitate a fraction to make sure that Champika was ok before joining his brother. The sight that met their eyes puzzled so much so that they could not think straight.

Two cops stood near the entrance of their tent examining something on the grass. One had a magnifying glass while the other spoke into a walkie talkie. Narrowing his eyes Nalaka was able to figure out that they were actually examining a footprint on the mud.

Pramodaka nudged him on the rib and nodded at another direction. Nalaka followed his brother’s eyes and gasped.

There were five people huddled together in a group near the place which they had built a fire last night.

Two were in police attire while another was in civil clothing. The fourth, also a man who was no more than six feet was speaking to the one in civil clothes. His hair was ruffled indicating that he had hardly bothered to comb it. He had a comforting arm around a round faced woman who seemed to be weeping.

“Mum and Dad!” Nalaka whispered.

“Oh!” they both exclaimed as the realization hit them. Their parents had discovered their disappearance and had called the police!

“What do you propose we do? Go to them and let them know that we are ok?” Nalaka asked at last. Pramodaka paused. As much as he would have liked to fling himself into the safety of his father’s arms the whole situation was a mess. How were they going to explain Chinthaka and Scooby’s disappearance?

Certainly the stern looking gent speaking to their father did not seem the kind who would believe in tales of pixies, gnomes and talking rabbits. How will they explain the fact that they were soaking wet as the ground below their feet looked as if it hadn’t seen a drop of rain for days?

No, they will all think that they had been up to their naughty tricks and had fallen in the stream and assume the worst about the missing member of the group. They would not let them out of their sight. There’s no way for them to make their way back to rescue Chinthaka.

“We-we can’t…” he moaned, turning his back on the scene.

(To be continued)