" Thank you Ma'am... " Stella turned to wave their angel goodbye as soon as they saw the base camp and one teacher waiting with a few more students. But the moment they turned their heads, she was gone, with no trace. They looked at each other but the joy of being saved was too great. They ran to meet the others as the teacher checked on them.
One by one students and teachers kept coming out. Some individually limping and bleeding, perhaps from steep falls or slides , and some came out soaked and muddy, hurdled in mini groups.
It was almost night so they immediately started a head count before trekking back to the ground, where the buses were.
" Kian... Kian is missing.... I couldn't find him... "
Betty had come out of the forest with the earliest groups but she had gone back again to look for Kian. She was the last one to come out again when the head count started and crashing on the ground, yelling with her hands up.
" Mira is missing as well..." Razzak came forward with worried eyes and Betty's face immediately pumped up red with anger and she found the strength to sit up.
" I will kill that witch personally if she comes out alive. "
" I have called the helplines, they are on their way. Don't worry children, we saw them break their fall. I am sure both of them are alive but they might be badly injured."
One teacher assured them but their heads immediately looked up as the sound of three choppers filled the air.
" They are here, " The teacher concluded with a smile and relief in his eyes.
The students got busy treating each other with their first aid kits and they munched on the dry foods that the teachers were carrying. It seemed like they all needed hospitalization but they were willing to hold back for the sake of their missing friends.
But when the choppers radioed back the message that they could not locate the missing kids , panic broke loose again.
" I am not going anywhere without Kian. Give me a phone. I lost mine. I need to call my Mamma. " Betty was a sight to behold.
But it was getting late and there was really no point for the rest of them to linger and this was anyway going to be a police case.
Calls from parents poured in as the police started doing their needful. Every one was being questioned as paramedics rushed in and took care of the kids. One car after another piled up at the entrance to the school. Confused and flabbergasted parents rushed in to look for their children. The entire scene was utter chaos.
But the real drama started when Betty's parents walked in. The board members of the school cleared the way for them. Betty's parents were trustees and they looked furious when they saw the sorry state of their girl.
" Mamma... Pappa! Kian... Kian is missing.... do something... I need him please. I can't live if anything bad happens to him. Please do something ... Mamma! "
She was stamping her feet and throwing a tantrum.
" How could you people be so careless? Kian is missing? Of all people? Do you have any idea what will happen to your school if his grandfather finds out ? "
No sooner were the words uttered than a deafening sound tore through the hall as a chopper descended right in the middle of the hall, swirling paper and loose objects everywhere as the noise reverberated around the wall.
Everybody braced themselves, barely able to look.
" What is this nuisance that I hear? Where is my Kian? "
A voice roared above the sound of the chaos that was just unleashed.
Everyone of the board members started trembling as they held onto the furniture nearest to them.
" Nana... They let a witch take my Kian away... Nana... please give him back to me... "
Betty fell at his feet as he held her arm just in time before she fell.
His white curly hair seemed set on their edge and his white eyebrows arched at the most absurd angle.
" Tell me what's going on! "
He demanded, banging on the desk, breaking it into halves.
Kian didn't have his parents while growing up. His Nana, maternal grandfather, was his only family. But they had grown apart. They lived their separate lives in separate mansions in separate cities and countries, surrounded by very different sets of people all the time.
However, as was apparent by the timing of his grandfather's arrival, he had been keeping a tab on his grandchild and was aware of all that was happening to him remotely.
After being briefed about the situation, he sat down on one chair.
The entire hall was filled with aristocrats, top class people in their trades but nobody spoke. They kept staring at him for the next set of instructions.
" I will go there myself. "
He stood up after less than ten minutes and signaled for his pilot to get his aircraft running.
" But sir, you can't go there. The rescuers came back empty handed. There's a thick layer of fog covering the entire area. It's useless. "
He smirked.
" Nobody tells me what to do. You don't expect me to sit here like you frogs, do you? "
He might have been in his seventies but he leaped onto that hovering chopper with the ability of a teenager.
" Nana, I want to come as well. "
Betty was about to get on the chopper as well but was stopped by him.
" Not today, my precious child. I promise I will return with your Kian, safe and sound. You don't need to worry. You go wash up that pretty face. Do you want to greet my grandson like that? "
He winked at Betty and she winked back, bowing and rushing back diligently. She was off to do what she did best, dolling up to impress her prince Charming, her future husband as her parents watched her from a distance.