Kabir scrambled into the silver-blue tempo and plopped down gratefully at the driver's end of the long seat. Another five minutes and he would have certainly missed his ride home to Narwar Village. Kabir was exhausted! He had spent the entire day running errands for Badi Mousi. However, she had rewarded him well for his hard work and his prize now sat cocooned inside the duffel bag he was carrying home. Kabir checked the double belts which looped over the mouth of the bag, then slid it carefully between his knees.

The tempo driver ignited the engine and the vehicle was soon bumping its way out of Fawwara Chowk. Kabir loved riding in Ujjain city tempos. They were stretched versions of the common autorickshaw with wide metal cut-outs for windows and a singular door at the back. Kabir looked around at his fellow occupants for the first time. Twin girls sat on the long seat opposite staring curiously at him. Their elder brother and father sat alongside talking animatedly. And their mother sat at the furthest end, looking at the shops snail by. Beside Kabir sat an old milkman fast asleep, his bony fingers curled around the handles of two empty milk cans. Kabir himself longed to doze off but instead joined the woman in gazing at the world outside.

Pikku cursed his luck. He had followed Kabir all the way to the tempo stand and now his day's fIrst quarry was escaping in that awful tempo. Maybe he ought to stick to picking pockets! But the attraction of Kabir's bulging bag was so great that Pikku lost no time in sprinting after the tempo. With a few long strides he caught up with it and with one GIANT lunge, leapt onto the footboard.

The milkman stirred but did not awaken. Pikku squeezed through the narrow space between the milk cans and passenger feet and lowered himself beside Kabir. He had done it! He had not let the boy escape! And now the duffel bag was right beside him, closed only by two tattered belts looped loosely over the opening. 0, if only he could peek inside!

The hot Malwa night fell suddenly upon the eight passengers. In the half-hour they had travelled, the tempo scene had changed very little. Father and son continued to chatter and the twins continued to stare at Kabir unashamedly who had now joined the milkman in dreamy bliss. In effect, no one was looking at the thief or the bag. The chance was perfect. Pikku bent down and slithered his hand into  the brown bag through the gap between the belts but no sooner yanked it out with a resounding "YOWWWCHH!"

Kabir awakened sleepily, looked around in confusion, and fell back into sleep. The five member family stared at Pikku equally puzzled. The thief clutched his left middle finger in pain. A dribble of blood was trickling between his palms. Pikku chided himself. Thieving was NOT a noisy business, especially when one was trying to make away with a little boy's bag!

Minutes passed and the stares fell away but Pikku's curiosity was now badly jolted. What WAS in that bag? What WAS it that had cut his finger so sharply? How he wished he could take a good look inside. He remembered his uncanny fear of monsters as a child hiding in dark alleys and dustbins. And now he felt that selfsame fear creeping in.

The tempo rattled through the City Bus Stand, Ghantaghar and Vikram Park. Kabir, weary of having the duffel bag rubbing his legs, placed it beside him on the seat. Pikku cheered silently. This was probably as lucky and as close to his prize as he would get. He peered in through the belt gaps again. Maybe he could open up a buckle and get a better look inside!

Pikku looked at Kabir still fast asleep and shifted his gaze to the other occupants. The twins were now giggling uncontrollably at the now snoring milkman. Everyone else was either dozing or looking out of the windows. Pikku slid his left hand over to the left buckle of the duffel bag and with a few quick moves freed the belt. Pikku cheered again. He had the left half of the duffel bag open!.

But the silent cheering was short-lived as ear-piercing SQUAAA...AWKs rolled off from Kabir's duffel bag. The raging shrieks were soon accompanied by a pair of screaming twins, a loudly muttering milkman and the screeching of tempo tyres as the driver stepped sharply on the brakes.

Poor Pikku could take it no more. Surely the bag was filled with spooks and the boy had to be some kind of spook-keeper. Through all this noisy commotion he had not even stirred!

Pikku leapt out of the halted tempo and sprinted away into the darkness without a backward look.
* * * * * *
Half an hour later in a tubelit room, Kabir proudly showed off his red-green-yellow parrot to his mother. He had taken her out of the stuffy cage and stuffier duffel bag and was now walking her along the length of his arm.

“So Ma, this is Cheeru. Isn't she beautiful? Wasn't it kind of Badi Mousi to give her all for myself?"
Kabir's mother smiled. "I hope that stuffy leather bag didn't tick her off, beta."
Kabir stroked the parrot lovingly.

"O no Ma! She was as quiet as a bag of feathers all the way back home."