For this particular test,
Venture to the nearby forest.
Follow the hidden path east,
And find the golden beast.
He lives near a cave and a tree,
From him, get me a token free.

Chittaa memorised the riddle. At dawn, the following day, she tied together a sling bag. To it, she added her mother’s healing herbs, the magic apple seeds, food, water, a knife and an oil lamp. Chittaa walked towards the forest and started tracking the beast immediately, looking for clues and pugmarks on the ground. As she approached a small watering hole, she heard a rustling noise. Chittaa plucked a few branches and knelt on the ground, hiding herself from view.

She spotted a few footprints. “This is so odd. There are small footprints but not of an animal. These seem to belong to children …”

Chittaa spotted a shahtoot tree nearby. She got up and collected a few berries. In the distance, she heard giggling followed by a loud roar. This was followed by an even louder scream. Soon, she heard footsteps coming towards her.

“Ouch!” she shouted as something tiny hit her. She could hear the sound but couldn’t make out what it was.

“Run, a baagh is coming,” a voice shouted.

Chittaa spotted a tall tree. She climbed all the way up. She could hear the scampering of feet behind her. The children had followed her up the tree. “Quiet! Noise attracts animals,” she warned.

She looked down and spotted a beautiful golden tiger with menacing teeth. Chittaa knew that tigers could climb trees but this one was dull and didn’t bother. Chittaa peered closely and noticed that a few weapons were embedded in its flesh. The tiger soon snarled and moved to a clearing to sleep.

A voice surfaced from a few branches below.

“We just wanted to see the golden beast.”

“Bharani didn’t,” another voice piped up.

“How many of you are here?” Chittaa asked in turn.

“Three. Rohini, Ashwini and Bharani.”

“Are you ghosts?” Chittaa asked them.

“No, we are kids. We played a game of chess with the old man at the circus and he gave us a pouch of invisibility powder. It only lasts a few hours.”

“Oh, I see,” Chittaa replied. As she mashed the shahtoot berries in her hand, a purple-maroonish paste oozed out. She threw the paste towards the source of the voices. Some of the paste landed on the children. Soon, Chittaa could make out the faces.

“Oh you are the little triplets from the village!” Chittaa had often seen the triplets around Gol Gumbad. They were far too young to be roaming alone in the forest.

“Are you Chittaa? You look funny. How will we get down?” asked one triplet.

“The beast is grumpy. We thought it would be like a stuffed toy,” added another.

“It is a wild animal. You should always maintain your distance from it. And do you plan to stay up in the tree all day?”

Chittaa climbed down till she reached the triplets and requested them to give her the pouch of invisibility powder.

One of the triplets tossed her a silvery pouch. Chittaa carefully climbed down. She found a tiger fang entrenched in the tree, which she kept safely in her satchel. She spotted the tiger from a distance. It was odd that the tiger chose not to attack in order to protect itself. Cautiously, Chittaa approached the predator and realised that it was in pain as it had arrows embedded in its body.

She gently removed all the weapons from its body. The tiger looked at her with grateful eyes and licked its paws. She quickly sprinkled the invisibility powder on its majestic body. Soon, the tiger became invisible and disappeared into the forest.

Chittaa dug out the magic apple seeds from her sling bag. She planted them in the ground and poured water over them. Small plants started growing before her eyes. Soon, they grew into large apple trees and created a barrier between the tiger and the rest of the forest. Chitta was glad the tiger could comfortably die in peace and no one would try to harm it and claim its body as a prize. She also sprinkled some invisibility powder on its pug marks carefully and on the footprints of the triplets.

“All three of you can come down now.”

The pink-faced triplets climbed down and the four of them walked back to the village of Gol Gumbad together.

Excerpted with permission from Midaash and Maitreyi’s Magical Mayhem, Shobhita Narayan, Scholastic India.