Leaves

"Offer??" Rishi murmured, struck by suspicion.

"Yes. Those were the days when I started feeling tired of making business anymore. To be honest, I felt miserable about the losses I was facing. I was always sitting right here faci.." Ramesh starts explaining and suddenly Raj interrupts.

"We heard about your situation. Can you please come to the point?" Raj cried out Rishi's thoughts.

"Well.. Just like you, without any care, a young woman marched into my shop. She observed all the items available here and bought some. She paid really well. I mean I took a chance and raised the rates. Even so, she didn't bargain at all. I was pretty sure she's rich. Before leaving, she told me she'd frequently need supplies that she would order and pay upfront," Ramesh tried hard to explain it briefly.

He continued, "It was a great deal really and I didn't see any downside for me. So I agreed. From then, she used to visit my shop frequently and buy things. If anything she needs is lacking here, I would make a note and bring it from other shops or when I went to other towns. She often asks me to send goods to her place. Like that, my business started breathing after a long time."

"Wait.. Her place??" Raj enquired.

Ramesh answered, "Yes, at the end of the forest," and continued, "Since I don't need any assistance for my very few customers, I haven't hired any help. So I, by myself, used to deliver her order at her place. But it didn't last much longer. After a few times I delivered there, I haven't seen her, not even heard from her."

"I guess, nobody knows all that has happened. Who would poke their nose into your little business? I mean anybody's business, for that fact. But how did those rumours start?" Raj asked, confused.

"That.. One day, while I was delivering her order at her place, a couple of people from this town saw me. Later they asked me what I was doing with such a weird looking woman and why she took blood from.. from me.." Ramesh stammered.

"What?" Rishi frowned.

"Yes.. but I didn't believe them as I hardly remember any such thing happening to me. But I found these stings on my wrist. Want to know one secret? Blood scares me to death actually," Ramesh sounded naive.

For a moment, Raj doubted this man's existence and thought, 'How can he be this naive?'

"Oh.. Ok.. About this young woman, is she pretty..? Do you remember any of her features?" Raj asked.

"Hmm.. As far as I remember, she always held her head down with a big hat on. But I am sure she has long hair and her skin is so fair. She wore fancy dresses every time I saw her," Ramesh said after giving some thought.

"Don't tell me you forgot the way to her house too," Rishi asked.

"No.. I didn't. In fact when people started accusing me, I took them to the end of the forest to show them the house but it was not there. After that, rumours started spreading fast," Ramesh said while looking down.

"You said you delivered them to her house, didn't you?" Raj asked with a frown.

"Yes that's true! But whenever I got back out from that forest, I had much money in my hands but no goods. So I just believed I delivered them to her and didn't care what really happened," Ramesh stated.

'According to the tales and books I've read, witches have the power of manipulating one's memory and also their own looks. This woman Ramesh says about, proves that point. So it is sure, she is a witch,' Rishi thought to himself. Back at the castle, Rishi read a few books about witches while preparing himself to go on this search for the witches.

"Anything else happened apart from that?" Rishi asked.

Ramesh sat in silence for a long time and replied, "Yes.. yes. The most important thing, the money she gave me is not the real money. It.. it turned into dried leaves." Ramesh said.

"What do you mean?" Rishi asked.

Ramesh went inside and brought a wooden box. He placed it before them.

"I usually keep my money in this box. No one knows about it. After business with her stopped, one day I opened the box only to find it with these leaves inside," Ramesh said and opened the box with sorrow.

The box is full of dried leaves and ashes. He said that with one touch, the leaves would turn into ashes.

Ramesh closed the box and sat on his chair. Raj and Rishi fell into deep thought, so Ramesh didn't disturb them. For some odd reason, he started feeling that the people in front of him are very powerful.

"See Mister.. did anyone from the palace come to you for anything related to the witch?" Rishi asked.

"From the King's Palace...?" Ramesh murmured to himself.

"Yes..Yes, someone from the palace visited me and asked me for the details about the witch," Ramesh said.

"Who?" Rishi asked while balling his fingers into a fist.

"See, I explained this incident to one of the heads of this town and asked them to inform this matter to His Majesty. I know that if I leave this matter to myself, it may just harm others. So I informed them to take some action. I expected that the rumours would stop and a solution would be found," Ramesh started explaining.

"After a few days someone from the palace came to me and asked me the details saying that he is the minister from the palace and he is looking into this matter personally. So I believed in him and explained everything to him. Later he took the materials from me which I usually take to her and he left," Ramesh explained.

"Do you know his name? Do you remember him? Will you identify him?" Rishi asked.

"Forgot his name, but I can remember if I see him again," Ramesh said half heartedly.

"That's alright," Rishi said and took a scroll out from his coat. Rishi already has a hunch that Sumanth is responsible for his father's incident. So he carried with him a sketch of Sumanth to ask if anyone saw him here. That won't solve the matter completely but at least he will get some hint about where to start from.

Rishi opened the scroll and showed it to Ramesh, asking if it was him. Ramesh observed the sketch carefully and shook his head in denial.

"Observe it carefully," Raj urged.

"No. What I am saying is that person looks similar to him but he is having a big moustache and a cut on his left eyebrow," Ramesh said.

Rishi thought for a while and asked for ink. According to Ramesh's description he modified the sketch and showed it to him again.

This time Ramesh examined the sketch carefully. "Yes yes. He is that person!" he exclaimed.

Rishi closed the scroll and held it tightly to control his anger. Sumanth came in disguise to keep himself in the dark but he forgets that Rishi will deal with this matter.

"Thank you mister. That's all we need for now. We will solve this problem and stop these rumours from spreading," Raj assured.

Ramesh smiled and nodded his head. He is also praying for that day to come soon.

"May I know your names?" Ramesh asked.

"My name is Raj Shekar," Raj introduced himself.

Ramesh waited for Rishi to reply. Before Raj changed the topic, Rishi replied.

"Rishi.. Rishi Prasad," He said slowly and took leave from there.

Ramesh heard the name before and tried hard to remember where it was from. Within moments, he gave up the thought, feeling lazy. He opened the money box and touched a leaf.

As it turned into ashes, his eyes widened with shock and stared at them leaving.

He froze. He remembers the name.

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