It was the first thought that came to her as she woke up. He was gone. And, soon, this bedroom, the house in whose eastern corner it sat, and the tiny garden outside with its gnarled old red hibiscus and the half grown mango tree they planted together, all those would be gone as well. It was the strangest feeling ever.
She went outside into the garden to take a fresh breath of air but the feeling of void didn’t go away, she knew he would never come back. The whole house seemed to be missing something, she realized roaming around the house as the doorbell rang. She quickly ran to answer it and was surprised to see her. “Hello Anita, may I come in?” said Radha, her father’s girlfriend “What business do you have here?” said Anita “I need to talk to you, I have a message for you from your father” she said “Alright, do come in” she said reluctantly “I would like to inform you that your father passed away this morning” she said with a breaking voice “Oh my God, that’s why I felt like my heart was ripped out from my chest” said Anita crying hysterically “He was sick, he didn’t have much time, he wanted to spend as much time with you as possible” said Radha consoling Anita and hugging her tightly “Why didn’t he tell me?” she asked “He couldn’t see you in pain plus he wanted to finish what he started” she clarified “What he started, what was he doing that he couldn’t tell me?” asked Anita furious with her father “Let’s begin…” “…Your father was the finest relic hunter in his days, he loved going for expeditions and finding new stuff every time – he was an explorer” she said “Why didn’t he tell me this himself?” asked Anita “Because he didn’t want you to go on the same path as him, he wanted a safe life for you” “Ok, so he made up a whole lie about being a businessman?” “Yes and that was to protect you honey” “Don’t call me that!” “By the way when is his funeral, do you want any help with the arrangements?” asked Anita “Everything is being arranged as we speak, your father had very loyal friends outside of his family” said Radha “Great, when do I show up?” “Tomorrow morning 11 Am at the Bal ashram” said Radha “Before I forget, here is the letter he left for you” “Thanks” said Anita and escorted Radha to the door She smelled the letter and felt her father was with her, it smelled just like him. She opened it and read – My dearest daughter Anita, If you are reading this letter I’m no longer alive which you may already know. I ask for your forgiveness from the bottom of my heart I couldn’t tell you all of this myself. I wasn’t sure it was safe, I had many enemies or competitors as you may call them, and they were after my treasure and were after me to tell the secret. I couldn’t tell anyone except you my daughter, I did all the hard work and efforts so that you could have a healthy safe and a comfortable life, one which I couldn’t give you. You need to know I have friends who can protect you if you ever get into any trouble, they have eyes on you. So here’s your chance to do it, you’re my daughter I have full faith in you, here’s your first clue: ‘The ancestral property that you house holds the clue to finding the riches’ With all the love Your father ‘Oh wow, my father was brilliant but too bad I couldn’t do this with him’ she thought ‘What ancestral property do I own? Everything I have here is been bought or been gifted by friends, nothing is old’ she thought She was walking around the house looking for a clue, nothing clicked. Then she went into the garage and it struck her that there was an old grandfather clock that her father had presented to her once and it might be the thing he has mentioned in the letter. She quickly ran upstairs to the attic and found it lying there rotting in dust. “Aha, here you are, now what clue do you hold” she said and searched the whole clock from the outside, looking all over and didn’t find a thing. She gathered that she would have to pull it apart to find the clue. “Hmm, you don’t work do you, I wonder why?” she asked herself and immediately understood where the clue could be hidden. She got her tool box and opened the machinery of the clock and found a note inside. “I thought you were an old piece of junk, didn’t know you had a story to tell” she said as she took the note out and read it out loud – Treasure lies in the hands of God “That’s it, how am I supposed to deduce anything from this?” she said in disgust and went downstairs to her bedroom and cried her heart out. She just learned that her father is no more, additionally all his life he lied to her and in reality he was a relic hunter who left an extraordinary treasure for her which in itself is a miracle. It was all too much for her to handle. She just wanted to let it all out and take time so that it would make sense to her. Read the next part here
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