Short story

Robbery plan goes haywire

by A.F. Dawood

We left our huts at half past midnight, carrying our kit bag of parahernalia. We walked along the desolate street. There was not a single soul at that ungodly hour. Silence reigned supreme. However, we were cautious to take cover under a tree or a boulder, when suddenly a beam of light of a passing vehicle flashed.

A half an hour journey brought us to the targeted house, on which we had been researching for days and planning for months to get the best out of it. It was a large house with a portico, where a single night bulb dangled. The gate was padlocked.

Pot of gold

My colleague was a more experienced person in burglary. I was new to the field and hence every blessed sound excited me. Somewhere nearby an owl rendered its fearful hoot giving me an eerie feeling. The barking of a dog in a nearby house pierced the stillness of the night. The entire area was as silent as a grave save for the sounds of nocturnal creatures.

"We can't waste much time here, hurry up and follow me". Reggie told me while jumping over the gate. I followed him. We soon ran along the garden with swords in our hands to give the works to the dog, if there was any. We came across a thick glass panelled front verandah. I pulled out the glass cutter and gave it to Reggie, who neatly cut out a piece large enough for us to enter. Thereafter we made our way through the aperture, tip-toed along a corridor, which led to a staircase. My heart was beating faster.

"Let's go upstairs, our pot of gold my be there." Reggie ran up the stairs hotly followed by me. In the upstairs there were three rooms, all ill-lit; two of the rooms adjoining each other were wide open but the third one had the door ajar. We made a survey of the room, moving in a feline tread, there being no one in the first room, we peeped into the adjoining room. Two children were in slumberland, their beds were covered with mosquito nets.

"It seems there's no wardrobe in this house, Claud." Reggie whispered to me. We next tiptoed to the room with the door ajar. In the dim light we could not see anything. Reggie flashed the torch boldly. A man was fast asleep snoring. He was a middle-aged man, bald-headed and in pyjamas. Opposite his bed was a wardrobe, from which there was a space in between to the wall.

"Now everything O.K. Buddy; don't be a coward, flash the torch to the wardrobe." Reggie moved to the wardrobe and grazed both his hands slowly on top of the wardrobe, while I was at the entrance of the door flashing the torch. Luck was on our way. Reggie fished out the tag of keys from top of the wardrobe.

At this juncture dogs began to bark furiously outside; I felt queasy thinking the man may wake up from his sleep. He stopped snoring and began to turn upwards, his face to the ceiling. I began to shiver in my knees and quickly dodged away from the entrance. Reggie took cover behind the wardrobe. The next moment the man's snoring came greater than ever. I grumbled; I expressed fear and reluctance.

Cumbersome process

"Claud, don't be a fool and act like a coward; there's no gain without pain. Stand here with the sword ready in your hand." And then Reggie went through the cumbersome process of trying the keys into the wardrobe keyhole. He painstakingly tried key after key, but nothing worked out even after 15 minutes. I lost hope of getting the loot and my hopes of a better life crumbled down. But Reggie was smart and brave. He went on with his operation, unconcerned. He was optimistic of success in the venture.

The next moment the most unexpected thing happened. A key clicked and the door opened. It was a rusty key. Our joy knew no bounds; Reggie beckoned me closer to help him open the wardrobe door. He opened the door slowly but still it stubbornly made a creaking sound. Having opened the door, we came across another obstacle.

There was a drawer locked, and again the keys had to be tried. Reggie tirelessly settled for the job. I was closer to him with the torch in one hand and the sword in the other.

Trembling fingers

My knees were knocking each other. Reggie tried key after key, about 10 or 12 keys, and after about five minutes the same rusty key helped open the drawer. I could see Reggie's face glow with joy. "Now we have finished the major part of the work, in a little while we'll be millionaires." Reggie whispered with a wink on his face. We ransacked the drawer and came across a large pouch like leather bag.

We pulled open the chain that ran along three sides of the bag with trembling fingers. We felt our eyes were cheating us.

We came across a bulky bundle of currency notes, all of thousand rupee denomination. Afterwards we fished out a box, the size of a photo album. It contained valuable jewellery.

"Claud, this is a successful robbery; what we have got is enough for our lifetime." Reggie told me while putting the loot into our bag. Leaving the wardrobe as it is, we quickly made our way to the corridor and reached the staircase.

We did not descend for we heard some disturbing sound. Thinking that the sound was from downstairs, we decided to sit on the staircase. We heard a nearby clock in the neighbourhood chiming two o'clock.

"Claud, now we mustn't go; we don't want to risk our chance. Let's sit here for some time."

Enthusiasm

Then we heard the dogs barking furiously outside.

"Let's stay here until things subside", Reggie remarked.

"Yes, after suffering so much why should we get caught now?" I said.

"When that man turned from his sleep, I was a little frightened. I thought we got caught." Reggie said.

"My God! I was shivering in my knees."

"Now nothing to worry, we can live like kings." Reggie remarked with bubbling enthusiasm.

Just then we heard the shuffle of someone's feet in the corridor. As we attempted to run down the staircase, we heard the blast of a gun.

"Don't run, I'll shoot you." The voice was threatening.

We turned back and stood like statues. My heart missed a beat when I saw him. He was the bald-headed man in pyjamas.