The little leopard and more unexpectashuns!

They had just about finished a sumptuous breakfast when they heard the sound of something coming fast through the trees. They looked up and in a moment saw a monkey pointing wildly in one direction.
The elephants seemed to be understanding what he was saying. They were looking at one another and communicating in some silent way. Then they heard the sound of something in the bushes. The little leopard that had been with the elephants earlier came bouncing through.

He growled, sort of like one would expect a tiny leopard to. The elephants immediately picked up the children. The mother picked up Volker and Helga. And they began walking in the direction the monkey had pointed in.

After a minute Heinrich and Elfi shouted, "They are going towards our house, Mother!"
Yes, it certainly seemed so. They tried to tell the elephants to stop but there seemed to be no way. Volker tried saying "Om Namo Ramanaaya" but that didn't work either.

Then they reached their mansion. The elephants deposited them at the doorway. They walked in to find the house empty. "Where is that ox?" asked Elfi.
"And where are the cubs?", said Heinrich looking dismayed that the cubs were not where he had seen them last.

"It looks like they have left the house in a hurry", said Volker.
"Taking only what they could carry.", added Helga.
They walked around various rooms checking the state. Then Volker came to the room with the safe. The safe was locked. He opened the safe.
He was shocked at what he saw!
"Helga!" he called out. "Come here!"

* * *

Jyoti and Gurunathan were sitting at their rented cottage in a bit of a worry estimating how much longer their money would last. They could not borrow money from their son. He was earning a low paying salary in some shop in Salem. He had lost jobs very often due to ill-health. Until now they had helped him out with their savings, and by pawning some of the jewelry Jyoti had got during marriage. But now all the jewelry that was left, and their savings too had been gifted to Swami MiracleAnanda Maharaj. They had been told by an attendant of MiracleAnanda that their son's problem would be solved if they washed the feet of swami, for which a donation of only Rs. 100,000 was required. And Jyoti would do anything for her son.
Jyoti could also now never forgive herself for giving up her precious mangalsutra, the sign of an Indian woman's marriage. Miracleananda had demanded it from her as proof of her devotion and surrender to him.

Gurunathan suggested they borrow money from the germans, but Jyoti would not hear of it. "They have just lost their home. And besides, how will you repay them, you don't even have a job."

* * *
Helga, heard her husband calling her. She knew from Volker's voice that something was wrong, very, very wrong. And he was calling from the room where the safe was. "Come fast he was calling". She ran, as fast as she could, considering her proportions.
She had a look at the open safe, and stood speechless herself.

When they had gone, there were neatly piled bundles of money in the safe. Clearly some bundles had been removed. But there was a lot of US dollars stashed away which were not theirs. And there was jewelery thrown in too. Expensive jewelry.

Unknown to them, Swami MiracleAnanda (lately renamed to Blissananda) had been using the safe to stash away donations. And at some point he was unable to work the safe. The combination just stopped working. And so when he and his gang decamped they were unable to take some portion of their loot. What no one knew was that this all was the work of Sri Arunachala Himself.

"Maybe ", suggested Helga, "Mr and Mrs Gurunathan will be able to tell us who this belongs to."
"It all belongs to that godman, no doubt!", barked Volker.
"No dear, I mean, obviously he has taken this from his followers. And Jyoti did mention they had donated jewelry to him."
"Mama!" shouted Elfi picking up a gold necklace.
They tried to get the children away from the safe.
"Mama, this looks just like the necklace Aunt Jyoti was wearing in the photos they showed us."
Helga had a closer look. Volker was amazed that the children had been so observant. He had not paid attention to what the Gurunathans were wearing. Yes, it certainly was a similar necklace. Jyoti had pointed it out to her when telling her about what all had happened in the mansion. Helga had admired the necklace.

Volker closed the safe. "Maybe we should get our stuff over here, and bring the Gurunathans over to check the safe."

They stepped out. Upon seeing them, one elephant picked up the little leopard and put him on his shoulder. The others seemed ready to take them somewhere!
And so they got on, and rode towards Gurunathan's house.