He took the camera. He took the small sound kit that Kabir had rescued. He took the Innova's emergency kit — a torch, a first aid box, a small folding knife that he felt absurd holding. He locked the Innova and put the keys in his pocket and they walked to the gap and Kabir and Aryan helped Tanya across and they went down into the forestry ravine road on foot.
The ravine received them the way it had the day before — the quality of sound changing, the walls rising, the light graduating from bright to amber to shadow. But this ravine was different from yesterday's: wider, the floor better defined, the forestry road visible as a rut through the rock shale.
They walked in silence for the first kilometre. The ravine was quiet. Too quiet, Aryan thought, and then told himself he was manufacturing drama out of ordinary natural silence.
The first stone landed between Kabir and Priya at the ninety-minute mark.
It came from the left wall, high up — a small stone, not large enough to injure, landing with a sharp crack on the rock path between them. They all stopped. They all looked at the left wall. Nothing. The rock face, motionless and silent.
"Erosion," Priya said.
They walked on. Five minutes later: another stone. This time from the right wall, ahead of them, landing in the path where they were about to step.
Kabir stopped walking. He put his hand out to stop Aryan. "Kankri," he said.
"What?"
"Kankri. It was a specific dacoit technique. They would throw small stones to distract and determine direction of attention — which way a target looked, how fast they responded, where they oriented when startled. While the target was looking at where the stone came from, the hunter would move to a new position." He was very still as he said this. "You never look toward the stone. That's what they want."
Nobody looked toward the right wall.
The third stone landed three seconds later — from directly behind them, much closer, clattering on the path two metres back.
They had passed whatever had thrown it. It was behind them now.
"Walk," Aryan said. "Do not run. Walk."
