Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (19 page)

“Perhaps my honorable master forgot the virtues of the reed.” The youth smiled and bowed in return.

At that moment both looked up as a shadow fell onto the ground: overhead was the same white bird they had seen hours earlier, circling above them.

“Do you notice anything strange about that eagle?” asked the lama.

“Perhaps my sight is failing, master, but I cannot see its aura.”

“Nor can I.”

“What does that mean?” the youth inquired.

“You tell me what it means, Dil Bahadur.”

“If we cannot see its aura, master, it may be because it has none.”

“That is a very wise conclusion,” the lama joked.

“How can it not have an aura?”

“Possibly it is a mental projection,” Tensing
suggested.

“Let us try to communicate with it,” said Dil Bahadur.

Both men closed their eyes and opened their minds and hearts to receive the energy of the powerful bird circling overhead. They stood for several minutes in deep concentration. So strong was the bird's presence that they could feel the vibration from its wings on their skin.

“Is it saying anything to you, master?”

“I sense nothing but its anguish and confusion. I cannot decipher a message. And you?”

“No, I cannot.”

“I do not know what this means, Dil Bahadur, but the eagle has a reason for seeking us,” Tensing concluded. He had never had a similar experience, and he was disturbed by it.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Totemic Jaguar

T
HERE WAS GREAT CONFUSION IN
the city of Tunkhala. The police were interrogating half the population, as detachments of soldiers set off for the interior of the country, some in Jeeps and others on horseback, since no wheeled vehicle could travel the steep mountain trails. Monks with offerings of flowers, rice, and incense congregated around religious statues. Prayer flags were fluttering all around the city, and trumpets sounded in the temples. For the first time since it was inaugurated, the television station broadcast all day long, repeating the same news over and over and showing
photographs of the missing girls. Not even a pin could have been squeezed into the homes of the victims: friends, relatives, and neighbors arrived constantly to offer their condolences, bringing food and prayers written on paper they burned before their religious images.

Kate Cold was able to communicate by telephone with the American embassy in India and ask for their help, but she had little faith that aid would arrive with the necessary speed—if it arrived at all. The official who took the call told her that the Forbidden Kingdom was not under his jurisdiction, and that Nadia Santos wasn't an American citizen in any case—she was Brazilian. In view of that conversation, Kate had decided to cling to General Myar Kunglung like his shadow. He was the person in charge of the only military resources in the country, and she did not intend to allow him to be distracted for an instant. She ripped off the sarong she'd been wearing the last few days, put on her usual explorer's outfit, and climbed into the general's Jeep—and no one could dissuade her.

“You and I are going to organize a campaign,” she announced to the surprised general, who did not understand everything the writer said though he understood her intentions perfectly.

“You stay here in Tunkhala, Alexander, because if Nadia can, she will communicate with you. Call the embassy in India again,” she directed her grandson.

To sit there with his arms crossed was torture to Alex, but he realized that his grandmother was right. He went to the hotel, where there was a telephone, and was able to talk with the ambassador, who was a little more amiable than the first official had been, though he could promise nothing concrete. Alex also spoke with
International Geographic
in Washington. As he waited, he made a list of every detail he could
think of, even the most insignificant, with the hope that it might lead to a trail.

As he thought about Eagle, his hands trembled. Why had the Sect of the Scorpion specifically chosen her? Why had they risked kidnapping a foreigner, something that would undoubtedly provoke an international incident? What was the significance of Tex Armadillo's having shown up in the middle of the festival? Why was he in disguise? Were the masked men Blue Warriors, as Eagle believed? These and a thousand other questions were racing around in his mind, increasing his frustration.

It occurred to him that if he found Tex Armadillo, he might pick up the end of a thread that would lead him to Nadia, but he didn't know where to begin. In search of any clue, he carefully reviewed every word he had exchanged with the man or had overheard when he followed him down into the cellars of the Red Fort in India. He jotted down his conclusions:

• Tex Armadillo and the Sect of the Scorpion were connected.
  
• Tex Armadillo had nothing to gain from kidnapping the girls. That was probably not his mission.
  
• Events might have something to do with drug trafficking.
  
• Capturing the girls did not fit in with a drug operation, because it attracted too much attention.
  
• Until that moment, the Blue Warriors had never kidnapped girls within the Forbidden Kingdom. They must have a powerful reason for doing so now.
  
• That reason just might be that they wanted to attract attention and distract the police and the armed forces.
  
• If that was the case, they had a
  different objective. What? Where would they attack?
  

Alexander concluded that his list clarified very little: he was going in circles.

At about two in the afternoon, Alex received a telephone call from his grandmother Kate, who was in a village two hours from the capital. General Myar Kunglung's soldiers had searched every community, every temple, monastery and home in search of the criminals. There was no new information, but there was no longer any doubt that the feared Blue Warriors were in the country. Several peasants had seen the black-clad horsemen from a distance.

“Why are they looking there? The kidnappers aren't going to hide the girls in a place that is easy to find!” Alexander exclaimed.

“We're looking for any clues we can find, Alex. Soldiers are scouring the hills, too,” Kate explained.

Alex remembered having heard that the Sect of the Scorpion knew all the mountain passes in the Himalayas. It was only logical that the men would be hiding out in some inaccessible spot.

Alex decided that he couldn't wait in the hotel any longer. “I'm not named Alexander, defender of men, for nothing,” he murmured, sure that the definition of his name must also include defending women. He put on his parka and climbing boots—the ones he wore when he went rock climbing with his father in California—counted his money, and went out to look for a horse.

As he left the hotel, he found Borobá lying on the ground near the door. He swallowed a moan as he bent down to pick up the little monkey, thinking he was dead. Happily, the minute Alex touched him, Borobá opened his eyes. As he stroked him and murmured his name, Alex
carried Nadia's close companion to the kitchen, where he found fruit to feed him. The poor creature had foam around his mouth, his eyes were red, his body was covered with scratches, and he had bleeding cuts on all four little paws. However, as soon as he ate a banana and drank some water, he perked up a little.

“Do you know where Nadia is?” Alex asked as he wiped the monkey's wounds, but he could not decipher the screeches and gestures Borobá made in response.

Alex was truly sorry that he had never learned to communicate with Borobá. He had had plenty of opportunity to learn the language of monkeys during the three weeks he was in the Amazon, and several times Nadia had offered to teach him. She said the language was composed of very few sounds and, according to her, it was something anyone could learn. It hadn't seemed necessary to him, however; he couldn't think of much he and Borobá would have to talk about, and Nadia was always there to translate. Now it turned out that the monkey had information that was the most important thing in the world to him.

Alexander changed the battery of his flashlight and put it in his backpack along with the rest of his climbing equipment. The gear was heavy, but one look at the chain of mountains surrounding the city was enough to convince him it would be necessary. He packed a lunch of fruit, bread, and cheese, then rented a horse right at the hotel; several were available, since horses were the most common means of transport in the country. He had ridden during the summers he went to his grandparents' ranch with his family, but the land was flat there. He assumed that the horse would have the experience he lacked in climbing steep trails. He made Borobá comfortable inside his jacket, and set off at a gallop in the direction the monkey indicated.

As the light began to fade and the temperature fell, Nadia realized that her situation was desperate. After sending Borobá for help, she had stayed for a while to see what was happening on the steep slopes below. The rampant vegetation that grew in the valleys and hills of the Forbidden Kingdom became sparse the higher you climbed, and disappeared completely on the peaks of the mountains. That allowed her to see, though not clearly, the movements of the Blue Warriors, who had come out to search for her as soon as they were aware she had fled. One of them went downhill to where they had left the horses, undoubtedly to warn the rest of the gang. Judging by the quantity of supplies and equipment for horses she had seen, Nadia had no doubt that there were other men, though it was impossible to know the precise number.

Some of the warriors had searched the area around the cave where the woman with the scar was guarding the kidnapped girls. It wasn't long before it occurred to them to check out the peak. Nadia knew that she couldn't stay where she was; her pursuers would pick up her trail very quickly. She couldn't hold back a sob as she looked around her. There were many places she could hide, but it would also be easy to get lost. Finally she chose a deep ravine, like a slice cut into the mountain, to the west of where she stood. It seemed perfect; she could hide in one of the deep clefts in the terrain, though she wasn't sure whether she could get out later.

If the Blue Warriors didn't find her, then neither would Jaguar. She prayed that he wouldn't try to come alone, because one person could never take on the Scorpion warriors. Knowing her friend's independent character, and how impatient he was with the indecisive ways of the
inhabitants of the Forbidden Kingdom, she feared he wouldn't ask for help.

When she saw several men climbing toward her, she had to make a decision. The cleft she had chosen as her hiding place seemed much less deep than it actually was, as she was able to confirm as soon as she began the downward climb. She had no experience in this land, and she was afraid of heights, but she remembered the time she'd had to climb the abrupt walls of a waterfall in the Amazon, following the Indians' lead, and that gave her courage. True, on that occasion she had been with Alexander and now she was alone.

She had gone only two or three yards, clinging like a fly to the vertical rock wall, when the root that was holding her weight pulled loose as she was feeling for a foothold. She lost her balance and tried to grab something to steady herself, but her hand found only patches of ice. She began to tumble toward the bottom of the ravine. For a second she panicked, sure that she was going to die, but almost immediately she landed in some brush that miraculously cushioned her fall. Bruised and scraped and scratched, she tried to change position, but the movement tore a sharp cry from her lips. With horror she saw that her left arm was hanging at an abnormal angle. She had dislocated her shoulder.

In those first minutes she felt nothing, her body had lost all sensation, but gradually the pain became so intense that she thought she was going to faint. And when she moved, the pain was much worse. She made an effort to stay alert and evaluate her situation; she could not allow herself the luxury of losing her head.

As soon as Nadia could think a little, she looked upward and saw that she was surrounded with slanting rock; overhead was the infinite peace of a clear blue sky that looked as if it had
been painted on. She summoned her totemic animal to her aid, and with an enormous psychic effort transformed herself into a powerful eagle that flew out of the canyon in which she was trapped, high above the mountains. She glided silently above the heights, observing from above the landscape of snowy peaks and, much lower, the intense green of that beautiful country.

In the following hours, Nadia evoked the eagle every time she felt overwhelmed by hopelessness. And every time the great bird brought relief to her spirit.

Gradually she was able to move, holding the helpless arm with her other hand, until she was hidden beneath some brush. And that was good, because the Blue Warriors had reached the summit she had fallen from and were exploring the area. One of them tried to climb down into the ravine but it was too steep, and he assumed that if he couldn't do it, then neither could the fleeing girl.

From her hiding place Nadia heard the bandits call to one another in a language she made no effort to understand. When finally they left, silence returned to the mountain peaks, and she felt the measure of their immense solitude.

Despite her parka, Nadia was freezing. The cold was easing the pain of her injured shoulder and she was irresistibly sinking into sleep. She hadn't eaten since the previous night but she felt no hunger, only a terrible thirst. She scratched at the pools of dirty ice that had formed among the rocks, and sucked a handful eagerly, but when it dissolved it left the taste of mud in her mouth. She realized that night was near and that the temperature would fall below zero. She closed her eyes. For a while she fought against fatigue, but then decided that if she slept the time would pass more quickly.

“Maybe I will never see another dawn,” she
murmured.

Tensing and Dil Bahadur had returned to their modest hermitage on the mountain. It was a time usually set aside for study, but neither of them made any move to take the parchments from the trunk where they were stored; they had other things on their minds. They lit a small brazier and warmed their tea. Before meditating, they chanted
Om mani padme hum
for fifteen minutes and then they prayed, asking for the mental clarity to understand the strange sign they had seen in the sky. They went into a trance, and their spirits abandoned their bodies to journey on a different plane.