AN#1: A few things before we begin.
Our Bella is English and is on a trip to India.
There have been few Hindi terms used here and there. Translations are at the end
Other than that, Happy Reading (:
The wind was unusually cold, chilling her deep till the bones, making her shiver, deeming the several layers of clothing irrelevant.
The landscape, however was too beautiful for anyone to stay in despite the westerly beasts. Unscathed snow clad peaks, glittering under the majestic sun, shining like smoothened silk of her off white shawl.
It was a perfect day, for an explorer like her to go around and dive into every single crevice of Shimla's history. Her ancestors had been here, living a sinful, imperialistic life in this beautiful summer capital of their reign.
"Bella memsaab? The driver is waiting at the bheem gate"
"Thankyou Prabhaat bhaiyaji, I was about to leave"
"Memsaab? If you don't mind me asking, which place are you planning on capturing with that villayati camera of yours today?"
The pahaadis, were nosy as always, she smirked and taking a deep breath, said, "The Rogers ranch"
He gave her a queer look, the one that made his eyebrows rise and nose scrunch up, an expression somewhere between fear and curiosity.
"Theek hai, madam. Its a beautiful place to capture.. Just.. Please be sure to return before dusk"
Unsure of what to say, she made her way towards the Bheem Gate. The air catching up and making her clutch her camera tighter. The driver, clad in white, greeted her and on being told about their destination, gave her a look that bore an uncanny resemblance to the gatekeeper's reaction, but Bella decided to ignore the inquisitiveness bobbing in her head.
An hour later, she was clicking away the sheer beauty that surrounded the ranch. Grass, green and raw spread across the entire span of an apparently unmeasurable distance with apple trees here and there. The grass, was still wet from the dew that must've fallen the previous night and all of it created an aura of serenity that Bella loved.
The place, however, seemed too deserted to be a tourist attraction. Since she had arrived, which was about a quarter of an hour ago, all the tourists she had seen was a group of five people. Ignoring the lack of visitors, she made her way towards the ranch.
It was then that the entire situation hit her. A large, rusted and almost broken board screamed in yellow and black - "No entry allowed. Ranch remains closed on Tuesdays"
All the excitement that had bunched up, seemed to drain out until she saw that man, perhaps the caretaker cleaning the gate and decided to give it a try.
"Bhaiyaji! Listen! Please let me go in. I promise I won't take long, just a few pictures!"
"Nahi memsaab! No, I can't let you in. I'll lose my job if the authorities get to know about it. It remains closed on Tuesday, come tomorrow"
Disappointment had hit the edges but she fished her pockets and took out ₹500
"Keep the money, Bhaiyaji, I've come from such a far off place, please don't turn down my request! Give me half an hour and I'll be right back"
The caretaker was taken aback, perhaps it was the money that had startled him. He hesitated for a second or two before looking around and pocketing it without a second thought.
"Make it as quick as possible, memsaab"
Bella nodded and pleased with the buzz of excitement that ran through her, she made her way into the ranch.
It was beautiful, aesthetic in every sense, calming and serene. A waterfall ran down the slope of the ranch right next to the stables making her shiver in pure amazement. This was heaven on earth.
Remembering that she had only half an hour, she pressed the shutter and began capturing all that she could, hoping that she could carry a small part of this magnificent beauty back home. Amidst all her photography, she heard a horse neighing from somewhere inside the stables. Her curiosity picked up, after all, she had been unaware that the Ranch still functioned.
She made her way into the stables and found them empty. Confused, as Bella turned to walk back, something or rather, someone caught her eye. There, at the east end stood the most handsome man she'd ever laid her eyes on. He was the epitome of a Greek god, petting the pretty white horse by his side.
His eyes seemed to burn Bella as he beckoned her. Slowly, she made her way towards him, gasping as he took her hand in his and kissed it.
"What brings such beauty to this deserted Ranch, Miss?"
She blushed a deep shade of crimson,
"Thankyou. I'm Isabella Swan. The place is too beautiful not to be visited"
"Edward. Edward Cullen. Now that you have arrived, the beauty sure has some competition"
She smiled, hiding her blush behind her chestnut locks as much as she could.
"Edward?"
"Isabella?"
"Do you live here? In the Ranch?"
His expression wavered a bit returning back to the same, crooked smiles and all in a matter of a few seconds and then, in the most charming way possible, he launched into the story of his life.
He told her that the ranch had been their home. His ancestors had migrated from Britain all the way to India when the country was under the rule of the English and had worked for the Rogers, the higher class of imperialists. He wasn't very clear in his own period of stay and when she asked, he had shrugged and simply said, "I've been around for a while now. Since my birth was long ago"
Saying that, he winked making her burst into a fit of giggles. He told her about the white horse, ironically named Black Beauty and how she was his horse since its first day on the ranch.
They clicked photos, selfies of their own and some with black beauty but what filled up the memory card was him. She had captured every move of his, at times, batting away his hands as he tried to stop her.
Their bubble was broken a few minutes later with that distinct call.
"Memsaab! Memsaab! Its way more than thirty minutes. Please make your way out else I'll be locking the gates"
They looked at each other with utter disappointment probably aware that they would never be meeting again. Britain, was far off and Bella was engaged. This was it.
"So.. I'll leave then? It was nice meeting you, Edward."
He cleared his throat
"The pleasure was all mine, Isabella. Have a safe journey back home"
She smiled, nodded her head, turned around and began walking out of the ranch. Allowing herself with a last time, she turned around to look at him, but he was gone and that is when she knew that she'll remember him for the rest of her existence.
She made her way out of the ranch to face a very infuriated caretaker.
"I would've lost my job madam! You took too long!"
"You didn't. And tell that to Edward saheb. He distracted me from keeping track of time"
"Edward Saheb? I'm afraid there isn't with that name around here, madam. Anyway, your driver is waiting. Namaste memsaab"
She wondered what that meant. Perhaps, the coworkers called him by some other name out here.
Edward. She couldn't stop thinking about him all the way back to the hotel. His chivalrous ways, his charm and ofcourse, the mysterious aura that dripped from every word he spoke.
The car came to a sudden halt, shaking her out of her thoughts. They had already arrived back to the hotel. Having paid the driver, she made her way back to the reception.
Martina, the receptionist, sweet as always handed Bella, the keys to her room and as usual, asked her all about the trip. Keeping Edward to herself, Bella told Martina all about the photography and beauty.
"So, it isn't true, then?"
"Which part?"
"Oh, that infamous legend. Don't you know about it, Bella?"
"Definitely not?"
"Well, they say, whoever enters the ranch when it is almost deserted, meets a sinfully handsome stranger and his white horse. He's apparently a ghost of this worker's son who was whipped till death by Bernard Rogers. He was trying to woo his daughter, I suppose"
Bella's head spun. There was no way that Edward was the very guy Martina was talking about. She had his pictures and he had been very much alive.
"Martina, if you won't mind, I'll go up to my room and rest for a while."
"Ofcourse, sweets. Anything else?"
"Yes"
She handed the memory card to Martina asking her to get all the pictures developed as soon as possible.
It was the next morning, when she was in bed, that she received the photograph developer's call.
"Ma'am. The pictures are absolutely stunning. Particularly the waterfall and the ranch and you look beautiful in the selfies. However, should I just delete the rest?"
She couldn't understand what had brought that on
"Why would you want to delete Edward's photographs? Is there something wrong with them?"
"Edward? No ma'am? The rest are of an empty horse stable. I'm sure they were mistakenly captured. You wouldn't need those. Would you?"
AN#2
Ahem. The translations:
Memsaab : Ma'am. Bhaiyaji: Brother. Villayati: Foreign.Pahaadis: Highland Folks. Theek hai: Okay. Nahi: No. Saheb: Sir. Namaste: An Indian Greeting.
Well, how was Ghostward?
Review if you Read!
Love,
Himshikha.