Tiru was the first to put the clues together. "This must be where the temple elephant stays when she is not at work," he said.
"Here?" said Spotty, his voice trembling.
"An elephant? On this concrete patch?" asked Omcub with disbelief.
Arunacub was speechless. Tears began to run down his furry cheeks.
All four lost their desire to have ice cream cones, which is where they had been heading next.
"Let's just go home," said Tirucub, gently wiping his cub-brother's cheeks with a paw.
It was suppertime when they arrived back at the cave. Mum Lioness thought they looked quite worn out, so she fed them and settled them for bed early, outside the cave because the evening was so beautiful.
But the cubs could not fall asleep. Images of that chain were haunting them. They waited until Mum Lioness dropped off. Then they extracted themselves from her paws very carefully, so as not to wake her.
A little ways away, they conferred in whispers.
"There was no where for the elephant to play."
"No one for her to play with."
"No leaves for her to nibble on."
"We must go back ..." said Arunacub.
The other cubs nodded. Without speaking, they began to gather supplies. Tirucub got some sturdy tools. Arunacub got a blanket a sadhu had given him one night when he was doing a moonlit pradakshina. Spotty got a ball and Omcub got a teddybear. They gathered up food, and a medical kit, and some elephant salve.
"We'd better switch to elephants," said Arunacub.
"Om om om, let us be elephants!" said Omcub, and immediately they were.
They hurried along on their mission. When they got to their destination, they found the elephant was standing there, chained and subdued. They were worried they might frighten her, so they called out softly to her from a little distance away, "Elephant friend! We are here for you!"
She perked up and looked in their direction. "Come closer so I can hear you better," she said.
Her eyes grew wide when she saw the crate on Tiru-elly's back, and the little cart they were pulling.
"Are you hungry?" they asked, arranging an assortment of fruits and vegetables close to her mouth, while Tiru went to work on the chains.
They put the soft blanket over her back, gave her the ball and teddy, and rubbed some of the elephant salve into her leg where the metal ring had rubbed her skin.
"But where should I go?" she asked. Her leg was free, but she had no idea what to do with her freedom.
"Come with us," said Tiru.
But as they were about to leave, they looked back and imagined the elephant owner arriving in the morning and seeing the chain lying elephantlessly on the ground. How would he feed himself now? And what if he had a family?
"It would be nice if we could leave an elephant statue in your place," said Om to the elephant. "People could ask the statue for blessings, and offer coins ... and a living creature would not need to suffer."
As soon as Om said this, a large and wonderful elephant statue stood before them. Ganesha was sitting on the elephant statue's back. "I will bless this elephant for your ex-owner, so he will not suffer any loss of income," said Ganesha generously, and he hopped down and walked with them.
The elephant could hardly believe what was happening to her ... she had not seen another elephant for ages, and now here were four -- not to mention Ganesha -- romping cheerfully around her. And her tummy was so pleasantly full. And how good that salve felt on her sore ankle!
"Where are we going?" she asked.
The other elephants laughed joyfully. "You are in for the treat of your life!" they said.
The elephant felt a shiver of excitement and anticipation ...
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