“Turns out TLEU (ATA) have nieces and nephews,” Samar said.
“Wizard,” I said, holding on to Bekku so I didn’t slow-clap his genius. “I figured that out too when they said that the uncles were asking for the status. I was there, remember?”
“No, wait,” Rushad said. “We didn’t know. We suspected that TLEU (ATA) had to have their own spies in the school. After all, that’s where Tree lives. We just didn’t know who it was at first. But then we realized that it must be . . .”
“The Very Cool and Hip People,” I said.
“Is that what you called them?” Rushad asked.
“Well, in my head,” I shrugged. “But then there were so many of them! All across the school.”
“Yes, but see, they suddenly became extra-friendly with me,” Samar said. “We kind of figured something was up because until then, they weren’t giving any Ents any bhaav. I mean, they always thought I was uber cool and, you know, fitted their flock.” He saw my face and hastily added, “But I kept them at a distance. Anyway, so the Eco Ents made me befriend them.” He glared at his friends. “This is all their fault, you know, they made me! Be angry with them, Savi. Not me!”
“Yes, we made you,” Gia said, rolling her eyes. “Bro, no one can make you do anything. They knew you were totally hip and cool and,” she coughed, “rich—just like them. So next thing we knew, you were accepted into their plague, I mean, fold.”
“Aha, so Alex Rider of you,” I said. Wait, was he a double agent ever? I wasn’t sure.
“Listen, it was awful. I should be given a cookie for sacrificing so many hours in their exalted, overbearing company,” Samar said, shaking his head frantically. “It was really tiresome. I have never had so many salted rosemary lattes in my life as I did while hanging out with them.”
“Oh, and chocolate hazelnut cruffins.”
“That too,” Samar grinned. “But those I liked. The coffee just gave me acidity.” He flushed, feeling like he had given away some big secret. “Anyway . . . so here I was, being like a double agent, transmitting information from one group to the other and back, and it was so hard keeping it all straight at times in my head. I was scared to note it down, because what if someone was hacking my phone?”
“Ever heard of a notebook?” asked Sana, slurping down the last of her milkshake noisily. Clearly, the Ents were losing all sense of boundaries, though that was not surprising after what we had been through.
“Pssh,” Samar replied. “Anyway,” he said again. “And then you arrived and . . .”
“And Raina realized that Tree was reaching out to me!” I suddenly put two and two together to make twenty-two. “The fig, when it rolled to me, and later the wasp, the Very Cool and Hip People were right there as you ate cold noodles.”
Samar winced.
I felt instantly terrible. I knew from Tree that Samar’s house was all fragmented since his kid brother had died, and he used to make mock noodles with him, and yet I kept bringing those noodles up again and again.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“No offense taken,” Samar said. “But I do really like them, you know. You should try them sometime. Coagulated processed noodles and the steam turning them into mush.”
“Gross,” yelled Rushad, throwing a cushion at him.
But I wasn’t listening to them. It now made sense why Raina, Badal, and all had gone out of their way to befriend me after being so mean to me at first. They had seen that Tree and I shared a special relationship.
I laughed. A year ago, if someone had told me that a ficus tree and I would have a special relationship, I would have kicked their behinds to the moon and back. And now, Tree was perhaps one of the beings that mattered to me the most in the world.
As if she knew what I was thinking, Bekku let out a plaintive meow. “Right with you, Bekku,” I whispered. “Only the fate of this city doesn’t sit on your shoulders.” I patted her and nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me all this?”
“Yaar, you were already jumpy about magic and cults and tree hugging, how could we tell you about villainous nieces and nephews?” Rushad pointed out. “So Samar was instructed to keep an eye on you.”
“Fat lot of good I did,” Samar said, looking upset. He ran his hands through his hair, making it stand even more on edge than usual, and then covered his face with his hands. “I think they suspected something was up with me, and they didn’t tell me anything. They just asked me to show up at school that night. I can’t believe I let that happen, Savi. I am so, so sorry. Really, I was so scared, and you were so brave, and I didn’t quite know what to do.”
“Especially when they turned into pigeons,” I added unhelpfully.
“That too!” Samar looked up, his face all red. “This is all on me. Please, really.” He looked so small and woebegone.
“Really, enough,” I said, holding up a hand to get him to stop talking. “I admit I was angry with you, with all of you, for keeping the truth from me. But dude, then the wasps showed up, and you were right there calling them—it’s all good.”
Samar looked a bit relieved. “I wasn’t sure if they’d listen to me. They only talk to Gia and for this horrible second, I thought they weren’t going to show up. But I guess my skills came in handy.”
“I think the pipistrelle told the wasps,” Gia said grumpily.
“At least Samar didn’t turn into a pigeon,” I pointed out. “That would have been unforgivable.”
Everyone burst out laughing.
“I don’t get it, though,” I finally said. “Where are they now? Did they die? Shit, did we kill them?” I stared at Gia’s collar, hoping for some answers.
Sana shook her head slowly. “So, it’s strange but now there is no sign of them. Like no trace at all. In the school records even. It’s like they never existed.”
“But three of them were the children of famous people.”
“Well, it turns out those actors and politicians have dogs named Mausam and Badal and a Persian cat called Toffee,” Gia said. “Even if you scroll way, way down their Insta feeds, it’s only these toy dogs.” Her voice dropped into a whisper. “Badal the Shih Tzu has hair exactly like, you know, Badal. Of Raina, though, there’s no sign.”
I was horrified. “You mean they turned into pets? First pigeons, now dogs and cat. I mean dogs and cats are great, but really?” Mom was going to be so upset for her favorite actor.
“Oh no!” Sana said. “Dogs and cats are too good for them. I think it’s that reality altered just a bit. I don’t know, none of us really do. But let’s just say, the natural order of things took over. Everything ultimately goes back to nature.”
“Like stardust,” Samar said, with a small, sad smile. “And soil.”
“Or poop,” Gia said. “Nothing goes to waste in nature as well. That would have been fun, if they had turned into dung beetle chow.” She sighed as everyone sniggered.
“No thanks, did not want to be showered with poop,” Samar said.
“And what about TLEU (ATA)?” I finally asked the one question that had been haunting me.
“They’re still going to cut Tree,” Rushad said glumly. “It’s only been delayed.”
WHAT! I felt like I had just been given the best treat in the world and then it had been abruptly snatched away. “You mean all that work was for nothing? The magic, the remembering of the people, the protection spells, the pigeon nieces and nephews exploding into feathers? How!”
“Tree’s asked for an emergency meeting,” Sana said, looking down at her shoes. “Tree will only talk when all of us are there. Maharukh Sir, Amba Ma’am, and Pushpaji are waiting for us.”
I immediately made to get up, and Bekku yowled. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go then,” I said urgently.
Gia picked up a last slice of cold pizza and looked at it miserably as she wrapped it up in tissue paper. “Chalo, let’s go,” she said with a voice that conveyed the exact opposite.