54
What
could he do? What could he do?
Whatcouldhedowhatcouldhedowhatcouldhedo?
Billi kept repeating to himself. He had to find himself some food. He began to
walk around the stony patch, not wanting to go back across the path where he
had had bad luck trying to catch the jungle bush quail. Bulbul was watching him
from above, wondering as to whether Billi now had a plan. He knew that Teetiri
certainly had a plan and that seemed to be working so far. Where would it end?
How would it end? How would all this running and chasing be able to scare Billi
away from the marsh? He certainly did not look like he was about to leave the
marsh.
Suddenly, Kotwal moved from his perch
in the higher branch and came to one of the lower ones, in complete view of
Billi. On another tree, away to the left, Kotwal’s father could be seen perched
on one of the higher branches. And, another tree had Kotwal’s sister perched on
one of the higher branches. And all the three drongos began to call each other.
Billi looked up, startled at the sound of three black drongos calling out to
each other behind him. This did not look good, he thought. But, wait a minute,
Billi realised, perhaps it was a good thing, after all. If those three drongos
were busy chatting with each other, way BEHIND him, then there would be no
problem in hunting for birds in FRONT of him. Well, he was certainly an intelligent
cat, and nobody could fool HIM, that was for sure, Billi told himself.
Billi kept walking slowly in front of
him, towards the high ridge of the grassland. The marsh ended at the high
ridge, and the waters collected underground as a natural spring and came out
below the fifteen feet ridge as a small stream that flowed into the village. Anybody
visiting the grassland or the marsh would not be able to understand that even
the grass and bushes growing on the ridge-top were actually supporting the
marsh in providing waters to the village. The fifteen feet high ridge had a
natural slope that fell away gradually towards the river on the other side of
the grassland. The river waters supported the agriculture while the marsh
waters fed the stream to the village.
Bulbul - the redvented bulbul - wondered about Billi's walk
Why was Billi walking slowly along the water stream?
[Photograph - Govinda Swami]
Bulbul kept wondering as to why Billi
was walking slowly along the narrow water streams in the marsh towards the high
ridge. Perhaps it was because of Kotwal and the other drongos chattering away
to one side, inside the marsh. At the further end, Salonki and her cousins were
creating a loud noise. Chimini and her cousins along with the other members of
the family had now taken courage and were settling on the babool branches
inside the marsh and gossiping loudly. Billi was perhaps looking for some peaceful
spot to hide and hunt. What would Teetiri do now? Bulbul asked Darzi, unable to
contain himself any longer. Darzi seemed to glare more fiercely at Bulbul and
continued to keep quiet.
