Aarohee and the Hifden Treasure

Aarohee and the hidden treasure 

Aarohee was a little girl living in Jhumki Tilaya. Jharkhand.

She loved to wander near her home and near the forest area where her parents lived.

Aarohee loved to meet animals and birds and became friendly with them.Her good friend was Bholu the monkey who she fed nuts and 

other food.Bholu also introduced her to Bhaloo the bear.Bhalu allowed her to climb on his back and he would take her inside the jungle .

Aarohee loved the forest. She also  made friends with Morna, the peacock and Ishan, the eagle .

Chalak Lomar,  the fox, was another of Aarohee’s friends. He carried every gossip of the forest. Aarohee Gradually learnt to communicate with him. Khargosh the rabbit was another companion of Aarohee and ran with her.

Other children would join Aarohee in many adventures .They were Rupa.  Nishith and Roshni.

One day, together with Bholu, Bhalu and Khargosh, they went to meet Moti Prasad. The elephant. Moti was reclining after a heavy meal.He was very glad, however, of meeting Aarohee and her friends .Now Aarohee and her friends had another back to climb on, and they spent much time wandering with Moti .

It was in the middle of the forest that they met Chanchal Heeran, the spotted deer, and was he so glad to see them. He Introduced them to his extended deer family, and the herd promised to be their friend and help them .

The days passed in play and happiness.Of course, Aarohee also listened to her parents and never lingered too long in the forest with her friends. She also did her studies at home.

Close to her home, at the edge of the forest , was an old temple which had belonged to the local king .Now in disrepair , it was attended by a priest who lived in a hut closeby. There were many stories and rumors that nearby there was some hidden treasure . It probably belonged to the king who once ruled that area .Even the descendants of the royal family did not know the exact location, although many had heard that there had been a map which had been drawn showing the precise location 

The map had been drawn by an earlier king Chandrachur’s minister. It had  been lost for many years and many people had tried to trace it. but so far, in  vain.

It was with some fear that Aarohee and her friends , together with Moti Prasad , Bhalu and Bhola went to meet Sheroo .Chanchal Heron and Khargosh did not go with them .Sheroo was feared by all creatures of the forest. His roars would vibrate in the forest and many of them would flee from his presence .  However. Sheroo became friendly with Aarohee after she sang a song for him. Roshni, too, performed a tribal dance for the tiger. 

Thus the days passed for Aarohee and her friends in much happiness. She even made friends with Hawa, the wind , who traveled by her side.Aarohee played  and danced  with all her friends and every day she would narrate all her experiences to her parents. who were amazed when listening to her stories .

One day.  however. they received some bad news.Chalak Lomar came running to Aarohee

and told her that he had seen some men who seemed to be dacoits near the temple.They carried bows and arrows and daggers and one of them even had a gun.They seemed to also have a map, and were looking at it eagerly.

It was obvious the dacoits were in possession of the treasure map and wanted to obtain the treasure themselves . Aarohee and her friends quietly proceeded to the area near the temple and hid behind the trees to watch what the dacoits were doing .They realized that the gang had a leader who gave most instructions.They talked in excited tones 

and sometimes expressed their anger, when the leader asked them to calm down. 

The dacoits poured over the map and the leader was trying to decipher the indications .Aarohee and the others watched their actions silently , sometimes talking in low whispers. However, Bhola was very excited and a few times his screeching was fairly loud. The others tried to quieten him, but it was a matter of time that the dacoits heard him.

  

After hearing a loud shriek from Bhola, the dacoits looked back and saw him.They soon realized that there were others with him.The man who had a gun shot at Bhola, who jumped 

The bullet missed him and hit a nearby tree.Almost immediately Moti Prasad rushed from where he was hiding and charged at the man with the gun . Before the dacoit could shoot him he threw the gun from his hand and sent him flying backwards .Moti charged at 8the others accompanied by Bhaloo and Bhola. 

Chanchal Heeron rushed with his herd at the dacoits .Amidst the pandemonium, the leader tried to run away, but was stopped in his tracks by a roar from Sheroo, who had been informed by Chalak Lomar of Aarohee’s impending danger. Suddenly, Ishan the eagle flew from nowhere and snatched the map from his hands .He flew straight back to Aarohee and dropped it in her hands .Aarohee now possessed the coveted treasure map.

The dacoits started running in all directions to flee from the forest. Even Sheroo could not stop laughing at their plight .

Now , with the danger gone and no one hurt. It was time to search for the treasure . All of them agreed that the map must be deciphered .Aarohee and her friends studied the map thoroughly.  After some time, they discovered that a faint dotted line drawn from the temple on the map. And this line went into the forest for some distance and stopped near a large tree. The line stopped at a circle probably drawn on the ground . The treasure

surely was at that spot. 

It was getting late and Aarohee and her friendscwent home .At home. Aarohee told her parents the whole story and showed them the map .Her father decided to go with her the next day, taking his brother ,Aarohee’s uncle  and digging tools . 

On early morning the next day. The team set off to locate the treasure, guided by the map

Arohee, her two friends and her father and uncle sat on Moti Prasad and the animals traveled beside them. From the temple premises, they followed the path of the dotted line in the map, and went into the forest .However , they could not find the mark that had been drawn into the soil.

Aarohee and her father reasoned that the mark must have disappeared with time . So they studied the map again to look for trees near the mark .They discovered that there were two isolated Sal trees between which the mark was. They went around the trees, and others began to turn the soil for any traces of the mark . After some time, they heard a shriek from Ishan .He had been turning the soil with his beak and saw the faint lines of a mark .

Every member rushed to the spot and realized it was the mark they were looking for.

Now they were ready to dig .Aatohee, her father, uncle and friends began to dig with their digging tools and every animal also began to dig using their paws. hoofs and trunk.

After about two hours of digging , Aarohee shouted “I can see  a piece of metal.” 

Soon the metal appeared as a box and it was brought to the surface.A large lock was attached to it . Moti Prasad used the power of his legs to break  it. Sheroo, who was watching, gave a low. happy roar. Aarohee’s father and uncle opened the box. And all were offered a grand sight.

Gold and silver jewelry glittered in the sunshine There were precious stones, diamonds, emeralds. Gold and silver coins, sapphires. garnet and many other gems which were worth a fortune. All present stood in awe. 

The treasure was probably hidden by King Chandrachur, about two hundred years ago, when he realized that a powerful army was about to attack Jhumki Tilaya.The king probably repulsed the attack somehow. but. being afraid of future attacks, kept the treasure hidden.After his death , knowledge of the treasure was lost, except that a section of the descendants kept the map hidden .The dacoits  had stolen it from the descendants. and  now Aarohee,  and friends had found the treasure .

They took the treasure to the current king, Shailendra, and told him the story..He was so impressed that he gave a large portion to them . Aarohee and her father distributed a pice of treasure to every animal who kept it in their dens , holes or caves, wherever they lived. Aarohee’s friends got a portion and her father, with some of the money, would build a home for orphans.

Aarohee loved to look at the gems she had , and was always excited to remember her first adventure .