Priya saw one well-dressed man sitting opposite the Head master. The gentle look of the Head master assured her that she had done no mistake and the subject was something else. Slightly encouraged, but still in confusion, she looked up to listen the Head master. The Head master cleared his throat and said,

“ So you are Priya. Priya dear please come near me.”
As priya went near the Head master he put his arm gently around her and asked
“ Priya! Can you tell me where is your father now?”
“ Yes Sir. He has gone to Delhi to attend some important official meeting. In fact he left our house in the morning to the Airport to catch the 11 O clock flight to Delhi. He assured me that he would return in two days.” Priya replied.
“ Oh dear I know you are a brave girl. So be brave. Everything will be alright in a few days.”
The prelude made Priya to look at the Head master more confused.
“ Dear! Your father met with a mild accident on the way to the Airport. Fortunately some kind man had seen him and admitted him in the hospital near the Airport. He had found her home address and phone number from your father’s visiting card and had telephoned your mother about the accident. Your mother had already gone to the hospital. She had telephoned to your father’s office and had requested the gentleman sitting here to take you to the hospital. So he had come here to take you.”

Tears flooded Priya’s eyes and she started to weep heavily with occasional bursts of uncontrollable sorrow. She was allowed to weep uninterrupted. After few minutes of sobbing Priya wiped her tears and slowly looked up.

“ Please allow me to make a phone call to my house.” She requested with a choked voice.
“ Certainly my little girl. Give me the number so that I can make the call.” The Head master replied in reassuring voice.

The servant maid answered the call and confirmed the message of the accident and said that Priya’s mother had already gone to the hospital in a car sent by the hospital and also gave the number of the hospital.
“ May I talk to my mother please?” Priya pleaded sobbing in between.
“ Yes! Yes! Dear. I am dialing the hospital now. Don’t worry. I will get your mother.” The Head master was most sympathetic. A man’s voice identified the hospital and wanted to know what he could do for them. The head master explained the situation and wanted Priya’s mother on the phone. Within a minute Priya’s mother came on the phone and the Head master handed the phone to Priya. Wiping her tears Priya took the phone and asked in a choking voice,
“ Oh Mum! Tell me what happened?”
“ It is terrible my darling. Your father’s life is in danger”
“Mum! Is the accident severe?”
“Yes my little girl” Her mother was crying loudly.
“Father’s friend has come here to take me to the hospital. Should I Come there?” For a full minute her mother went on crying and then said in a whisper
“Yes”
“Mum! Tell me one thing. Is it the third time? Are you hearing me Mum. Is it the third time?”
“What? The third time? …m..mmm …mmmmm. Oh! My darling. Not the third time. Certainly not the third time. It is the first time. Oh! My pretty child! Certainly not the third time. It is the first time your father’s life is in danger.” Her mother replied in a voice full of emotion.
Priya started trembling and her eyes were wide with fear. She put the phone back on the cradle. She put her head on the table in between her hands and wept for minutes together her body trembling occasionally. Her father’s friend put his hand around her and cajoled her. He requested her to accompany him to the hospital. He also mumbled that he had to attend a meeting in the evening and have to rush back after leaving her in the hospital.

Priya got up and walked slowly and reluctantly with him through the long passage. They crossed the school ground and went to the gate. Suddenly Priya jerked to a stop and said
“ Uncle! I have forgotten to take my books and Tiffin box. Please wait for me here till I get them from my classroom.” Then she turned towards the security guard and pleaded,
“Security uncle! Please let this uncle stand here till I come back.” Priya turned back and ran fast towards the school building. As minutes flew, her father’s friend was getting impatient. The security guard was watching him curiously. Suddenly the phone in the gate rang and the guard took the phone listened attentively and silently for few minutes. Then he put the phone back and murmured to nobody in particular.

“The Administrative Officer is passing orders as if I have no other work in the world.” He took out a beedi and started smoking enjoying every puff. He hummed a nice tune and drowned himself in his routine manner.

It took full ten minutes for Priya to return to the gate with her school bag and Tiffin box. As she and her father’s friend started leaving through the gate the guard stood up asked Priya for the gate pass to leave the school early.

“But Uncle! It is the HM who asked me to go with this uncle. In fact my father met with an accident…………”
“ My little girl. I don’t care what happened to you or your father. If you want to leave the school you have to give me the gate pass. It seems that some boys of tenth standard had jumped the compound wall and left the school early yesterday. The Administrative Officer rang me a few minutes back and gave me a full dressing. He says that he had to face the music from the Head master yesterday. How a single man could watch the whole compound standing at the gate?” ”But uncle my father’s life is in dange
r and I want to be near him at the earliest’”
“In that case don’t stand here arguing and go and get the gate pass as soon as possible. That way nobody would hold me responsible.”

Priya’s father’s friend tried to convince the guard. But the guard stood his ground. He became impatient and the more he argued the more the guard became stubborn. As the argument was about to become violent Priya intervened,

“Uncle! There is no use arguing with him. After all he is doing his duty. We have got the permission from the HM. I will run back and get the gate pass in a minute.”
“Okay! Then run back and get the gate pass. I am waiting outside near the car. Remember I cannot wait endlessly. I have got little time and I have to leave early.”

Priya had left the place before he could finish his speech. It took more than five minutes for her to reappear with the gate pass. The guard took his own time examining the gate pass. Priya’s father’s friend lost his patience went angrily towards the guard gesticulating violently. The Guard kept the gate pass in his file and nodded priya to pass through the side gate. Her father’s friend returned back to the car, opened the gate and sat inside the car. The driver started the engine. Priya’s body was shivering as she crossed the side gate and dragged her feet towards the car. Once near the car, she turned back suddenly and ran towards the security guard with outstretched hands. Her father’s friend got down from the car and ran towards Priya as if to catch her. The guard stepped out and lifted her, ran inside his room and closed the door.
As if from nowhere a police jeep screeched to a halt near the car. A police Inspector jumped from the jeep and caught Priya’s father’s friend and pressed the nose of his revolver hard at his back. The Inspector whispered in his ear,

“One false move, my friend and I will pump all the six bullets through your spine”

By this time another constable had caught the driver of the car at lightning speed. Within minutes both the culprits were hand cuffed securely. The whole party including Priya and the security guard rushed to the Head master’s room. The Head master called his secretary to arrange coffee for all and close the door. He instructed her not to allow anybody inside and wait for further instructions.

Inside the room all of them sat silently, sipping coffee. After about fifteen minutes the telephone rang. Before anybody could move, the Inspector lifted the phone, listened and said
“Yes. Go ahead Inspector Ibrahim. Inspector Anand here.”
“You were absolutely correct. It was not a hospital at all. I checked the address from the telephone number you gave me. I went to the address along with one lady constable and ten constables all in civil dress. The constables surrounded the house and we went inside and arrested three criminals and rescued the lady. I have put the criminals in the lock up. I am coming there in ten minutes. Okay?” Inspector Ibrahim poured the words as if in hurry.
“Okay. We are waiting here. Come fast.” Inspector Anand responded. After a short time Priya’s mother came along with Inspector Ibrahim. She was looking exhausted but relieved. Once everybody settled in his or her seat the Head master started the conversation.

“ If you are feeling all right, madam, please tell us how you managed convey Priya that you have been kidnapped and warn her not to go with the man who pretended as your husband’s friend.
She started to cry and tears flooded her eyes. After sometime she sat up and said,
“The credit goes to Priya. When you contacted me over phone, a man was standing by my side with a sharp knife in his hand. I was to confirm the accident and advise Priya to come with this crook who called himself my husband’s friend. As all of you are aware my husband holds a big post. As he is very honest some people lost their easy way to earn quick money. It appears that one of them has decided to take revenge by kidnapping Priya and me.

You may remember that sometime back a number of kidnappings made news. One day we were discussing these cases while dining. The discussion slowly turned towards the ways of avoiding such incidents. One of the most common methods of kidnapping is to inform the family about an accident to a family member or a very close relative or a friend. When people go out in search of the victim to help him the criminals catch them and take them away. Another way is to send a telegram from out stations where a family member has gone informing that the family member had met with an accident. Lesser criminals would send a telegram in the name of the family member who had gone there saying that he had lost all the money and asking for money to be sent to him care of a criminal staying in a lodge.

When we were discussing all these things Priya asked her daddy how to differentiate between a true and a false message. Her father suggested to contact the person concerned somehow and to get confirmation. Priya felt that it would take a long time to contact the person and somebody else might fake a confirmation.

Then her father suggested that in case any of us would ask for help from the family, we should always include a code word in the message in absence of which nobody should bother and inform the police.

“We are three in the family. So let our code word be THIRD MAN” My husband suggested.
“I will fix the code. Nobody else can do it here” Priya protested and fixed the code as THIRD TIME.
“All of us laughed and agreed to her code.” Priya’s mother continued.
“I am a careless and foolish woman. Instead of contacting my husband’s office here to get the confirmation of the accident, I went out with the man who came with the accident message. I was very sad when they locked me inside the building. I was very surprised when they told me the name of a Hospital and asked me to confirm that my husband has been admitted in the hospital and ask Priya to come here. I understood the trap they were laying for my little daughter. Please imagine the pain of a mother compelled to confirm false news thereby helping the criminals to kidnap her only daughter. The daughter in this case was careful enough and clever enough to get a confirmation of the news before leaving the school. My joy knew no bounds when my clever daughter reminded me of the code and insisted to hear the same from me. So when she told me “Mum! Tell me one thing. Is it the third time? Are you hearing me Mum. Is it the third time?” I suppressed my happiness and replied in the negative. Knowing very well that my daughter has understood, I braced myself for the eventuality” Priya’s mother finished with an emotional voice.

The Head master cleared his throat and explained the remaining for the benefit of others.
“After intimating the news to Priya, the man left my room along with her, leaving me alone feeling for the poor child. I was taken aback when she returned forcing the door open and not even asking for permission to
enter. I was annoyed at first and wanted to reprimand her, but when she explained everything I could not believe my ears. We both telephoned the police. We along with Inspector Anand planned to lay a trap and catch the criminals and rescue her mother without the criminals knowing that we knew their plan. Accordingly Priya returned to her classroom to pick up her school bag and Tiffin box. In the meantime I telephoned the security guard using the intercom and explained everything and asked him to take care of the child but give her freedom to act. She dodged and stalled for time. The security guard on his part picked up an argument insisting for the gate pass. Then she came back to me asking for the gate pass. Only after seeing the police jeep, the security guard allowed her to go out. She went near the car only to identify it to the Inspector and ran back to the security guard who in turn took her to the safety of the closed room. The door can withhold the criminals for a few minutes only and he needed only few minutes. By the time the police acted in lightning speed and it was all over for the criminals.

Inspector Anand explained his part. On receiving the report from the Head master, I alerted Inspected Ibrahim, In charge of Airport Police station and requested him to check the address and rescue the lady. Then I telephoned Delhi Police and arranged for the safety of Priya’s father. Only then I moved fast to the school. I know the anxiety going through the child’s mind. But I had to do it to arrest the culprits and rescue the lady without any damage.

The next day News Papers screamed the story of the brave child and the arrest of all involved including some big shots. Security to Priya’s father and his family has been tightened. The next day Priya got a telegram from his father, which said

“SELF REACHING BY EVENING FLIGHT STOP CONGRATULATIONS TO MY BRAVE CHILD STOP YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THE BRAVERY AWARD BY PRESIDENT ON REPUBLIC DAY STOP IT IS THE THIRD TIME STOP
YOUR PROUD DADDY