A Precious Puzzle: A Tale of Daughters

By Papri Rudra

A normal,contented family is what Praneet expects to find, when he visits his ancestral home, now the legal property of his adopted brother, Harsh. Yet all is not what it seems. There is a secret lurking within the folds of this peaceful home, which can tear this family apart. Secrets have always been a way of life for Praneet. But this is one secret, he feels, might have been best left unraveled.
Yet, situations are building up which seems to leave no choice. His worried brother looks to him for support. Will Praneet be able to solve the puzzle or will he end up tangling the knot further?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Papri Rudra
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005295950

Papri Rudra

Papri Rudra is an ERP consultant, working in the field of Information Technology. She did her engineering from NIT, Durgapur, and her MBA from IISWBM, Kolkata.Her mother tongue is Bengali but having spent her childhood in Bokaro Steel City and having lived all over India, during her career, she is fluent in all the three languages-Bengali, Hindi and English. She also lived in US for a while, where she lived and worked in three different states.The written word is something she loves to be around, be it reading someone else’s work or scribbling something herself. She has published five novellas so far and hopes to find inspiration for more. Her books can be found on smashwords.com and kindle.An avid reader herself, she believes that the most common place things in our lives, are not always as they seem and that there are interesting discoveries, waiting to be made, about each one of us.

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A Precious Puzzle

A novella by Papri Rudra

A PRECIOUS PUZZLE

By Papri Rudra

Copyright 2022 Papri Rudra

Smashwords Edition

Dedicated to all daughters, who are doted upon

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

CHAPTER VIII

CHAPTER IX

CHAPTER X

CHAPTER XI

CHAPTER XII

CHAPTER XIII

CHAPTER XIV

APPENDIX

CHAPTER I

A day that changes your life is still a day, just like any other. Maybe it is the days leading up to it, which have something special to bring that day about! Maybe, it is not even special , to begin with. Maybe , what it revealed , was always out there and you just did not see it.

Some wise persons must have said that time is like a river. It continues to flow, from one moment to another. Some of these moments sparkle a little more but it is still the same water that does all this moving and sparkling, so why be surprised when something so-called unusual ,happens!

Basking in the pleasant warmth of the early morning sunshine, Praneet was hardly dwelling on any such philosophical thoughts, when he saw his cousin-cum friend hurrying towards him. Harsh, as a rule, never hurried. He was one of the nature’s calm creatures. Yet, Praneet was perceptive enough to detect that faster than usual spring in his step which , when applied to Harsh, amounted to hastening. He wondered, amused, as what could have brought this about. With an amused smile , his sharp analytical mind playfully tried to guess as what could have stirred his dear friend so early in the day. Praneet himself had always been an early riser ,so he had been up and about ,before the rest of the household stirred.

Yet, here was Harsh now, trudging towards him with a sense of urgency and Praneet was intrigued.

It wasn’t the easiest of things for an active man like Praneet, who had always lived life on the edge , to calmly embrace this laid back life. However, this is what the doctor had now prescribed for him, and he had no option but to embrace it the best he could. Still, his instinct for intrigue which had been his stock in trade for most of his life, was already alerted , as he watched Harsh approaching him.

Harsh too , for all his calm demeanour , was fit enough for his age. Father to two lovely young girls , he had been expected to step up to more than just the man of the house, when the girls’ mother and his beloved wife Sonika had developed a brief but terminal illness. An illness that had eventually claimed her life. It had been a hard shock to all of them but there had been enough resilience and love amongst the three of them to pull them through the tragedy and return them to a normal ,happy life. So, despite the loss, it was essentially a happy household, to which Praneet had been able to return ,when the time came for his active service life to end. Of course, when it came to someone like Praneet, you did not consider a typical retirement. Nevertheless, he was here to stay for a while and Harsh and his daughters was what he had come back to. There might have been worse ways to spend the twilight of his life, he had mused. Not only had he been able to return to his childhood home , but he was also spending his days with Harsh now, who though very different in temperament, was the closest thing he had to family.

Praneet and Harsh were not brothers. They said they were cousins but technically they were actually more than that. Adopted cousin or foster brother ,was more like it. The adopted one was Harsh, who had been taken in by Praneet’s family, after he had been orphaned at a young age. He had been a cousin on Praneet’s mother’s side, who had always been close to them. So, Praneet and Harsh had grown up together, in this very house. What outsiders found strange was that on Praneet’s father’s death, the house had been left to Harsh legally. The old man had been wise enough to appreciate the difference in the temperaments of his two boys. Praneet might be the legal heir by blood, but he had always been the restless one. Not the kind who could make his home in this remote hill side country home for life. Harsh had been more suited to this kind of life and he had inherited it , along with his share of the love of his foster family. There had never been any rancour between the cousins. For Praneet , this had always been the home he came back to ,when he surfaced from his breakneck life.

The arrival of Sonika , Harsh’s wife had only cemented the closeness further. Sonika was one of those women, whom romantics describe, as the salt of the earth. A warm, generous-hearted woman, she was someone you could trust without inhibitions. Not someone who impressed you with her beauty or exceptional wit. Yet she had all the wisdom and love that holds families together. Not only was she the holding type, but she had also been the strong one . It was she who had induced the resilience and love that endures , when the going gets tough. She had been a loved daughter-in-law, a beloved wife, and a cherished mother. Even now, her memories were an essential part of this family’s daily life. Her family missed her but also remembered her with more affection than pain.

Praneet, like the rest of his family, had been fond of his sister-in-law and had been sorry to hear of her unexpected death. Somehow, you did not expect someone like Sonika to die. Not just because she had been a healthy, hardworking woman, but once you knew her, you felt like you had always known her. That was part of the reason, why Praneet had agreed to come and stay with Harsh now. He had been away ,both during the birth of Harsh’s twin girls and when Sonika died. He had visited the little family time and again, whenever he could, as he was genuinely fond of each one of them. Nevertheless, his profession had not been of a kind which allowed for regular vacations or long stays, so his contact with them , had always been of rather erratic frequency.

Still, he felt guilty that he had not been there to support Harsh and the girls ,when they faced their bereavement of losing Sonika. Especially the girls, who had been barely out of their high school then.

Harsh had finally reached where Praneet was presently sitting and as he threw himself into the cane chair, he looked more worried than he ever had.

Praneet , while still holding the newspaper in his hand, cocked an eye brow towards his cousin, in a gesture of askance.

What is the matter, Harsh? You look like you have seen a ghost! , enquired Praneet.

Harsh stayed quiet for a moment. He took a few minutes , as if to compose his thoughts. He finally took a deep breath as if he had made his decision and looked earnestly at Praneet.

This may come as a surprise to you, Praneet but I think you might be able to help me out, said Harsh in a quiet voice.

Praneet sensed his seriousness. His initial reaction had been to make a flippant remark but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he placed the newspaper on the glass table in front of him and composed his hands on his lap , as if preparing to listen.

Harsh once again looked a little uneasy as if he did not quite know how to start. Still, he did speak and when he did , he managed to leave Praneet speechless for a few minutes. Whatever else Praneet might have assumed; he had never expected this. It was indeed a bolt from the blue. Who could have thought, mused Praneet, that Harsh and