Soni had just woken up and was looking at the misty morning outside. “I’ll miss this beautiful hillside when I go back home,” she thought, as she tried to warm her bottle of water by rubbing her hands against it. She wrapped the shawl tightly around her, as a chilly breeze blew through the window. Soni was staying with her younger cousins while their parents were away on a trip. They were coming back today and Soni was going to take her cousins on the long drive to the airport. “Milli’s been baking a pie for uncle and aunty. I hope the other two are awake.” She grinned as she remembered the past week. “They’ve been good kids so far,” she thought, when she suddenly heard a scream!

Soni hurried to the kitchen and saw a sad Milli. Just then Reny, Milli’s elder sister, walked in, wiping her hands on her pyjamas. Her pretty, wavy hair was blowing in the early morning breeze. She placed a bottle of coconut oil on the counter with a dull thud and tried to console her sister. Soni called for their youngest sibling, Raghu, who was not to be seen. He came running to the kitchen, all dressed up in neat trousers and a shirt and looking a little sweaty.

“Oh come on, Raghu! The smell of Milli’s pie was everywhere! Besides, we all know that apple pie is your favourite,” said Reny with a frown. “I didn’t even come downstairs, Soni didi. I was oiling my hair in the room upstairs when I heard the shout and came rushing,” she continued.

Milli was nearly in tears. “It was a special welcome-home pie!” 

“Don’t worry, Milli,” Soni said, putting her arm around her sister. “I know who’s lying. Come on, you lot, fess up!”

Who does Soni suspect of lying?

Show Me The Answer!

It was Reny. She couldn’t have been oiling her hair, as the coconut oil would have been frozen in the bottle in the winter morning chill. She would have to heat it in the kitchen but she claims she never went there.