The Last Queen of Lemuria (26 page)

Andrei jumped up, Nastia put the belt into position.  All three of them stood back to back so the belt would fit around them all. Just then the archer fired. A flaming whirlwind hurtled at Nastia's face. She didn't even have time to be afraid before she noticed that she was burning alive.

- "No!!!"  Came a scream, "no!" And Nastia saw Margo jump in front of the arrow. The arrow stuck into Margo's head, causing a fiery rain.

Nastia opened her eyes. Her head was splitting, and her mouth was filled with sand. She sat up, spitting out sand and saw water. It looked like a river bank. Trying to figure out what happened, she stood up. In the darkness, she didn't realize where she was at first. It looked like the Katun. “Where'd the desert go? Where's Margo? Margo had used herself as a shield!”

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“Nastia! Nastia! Help!"

She turned and saw Margo lying helplessly next to her, spread eagle on the ground. Her blond hair was matted and filled with sand. Her pale face and almost white lips were whispering something. Next to them lay Andrei's wet, broken camera. Andrei himself, leaning over Margo called Nastia again. She approached on unsteady legs, unable to believe her eyes.

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“Margo!:”  Nastia fell to her knees next to her friend.  "Margo!"

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"She's unconscious," said Andrei.  "Help me drag her farther from the water."

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“What happened? Where are we?”  Asked Nastya.

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"We flipped. Margo's poorly fastened helmet broke on a rock..." Nastia noticed just then that Margo's matted curls were thick with blood.  "Help me, take her legs."  Nastia stood up with difficulty, trying not to look at the blood while raising Margo's legs. As if dreaming, she whispered:

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"Flipped? ...Altai... So, nothing happened?"

-
       
"What?”  Inquired Andrei, raising his eyebrows.

It was then that Nastia understood that the fantastic trip to Shambhala and Lemuria hadn't happened! This thought made her feel empty inside. The crash must have knocked something loose in her head... She had imagined all of it... Their raft had overturned... Margo was smashed up...

-
       
“Where are the others?”

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“I don't know, Nastia. I woke up and saw you two. We should get some bandages on Margo and go for help," he answered.

-
       
"Yeah," called back Nastia in an echo, trying to settle up with her conscience.  The flaming archer, the Gobi desert, transportation through time... It had to have been nothing more than a hallucination..."

Andrei took off his vest, ripped his shirt into rags, and bandaged Margo's head.  She was breathing heavily. Nastia could barely keep herself from screaming in despair.

-
       
“Margo! Rita! Can you hear me?"

-
       
"I'll go for help," said Andrei.  "Hold tight. Are you sure you're ok?"  He looked into her eyes. Nastia's heart thumped loudly. She got mad at herself. Her friend was wounded, what was she thinking!

-
       
"Go, Andrei! Try and come back as fast as you can.”

He went up along the bank.

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“Margo!”   Nastia was lying on the grass next to her friend.  "Don't leave me! Can you hear me?

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"I hear you," replied Margo, trying to sit up and smiled when she saw someone, "The happy people are coming!"

Nastia looked back. Boris and Marina came out of the bushes. Marina was a bit limp, and Boris, with a cut above his eyebrow, was dragging the raft.

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"How are you?"  Asked Boris. "Are you hurt?

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I've got a little hole in my head," answered Margo, "but other than that, I'm fine."

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"You look unwell," said Boris, not responding to the joke.  "Where are the men?"

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"Andrei went for help. Are you ok?"  Replied Nastia.

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“Marina cut her foot. And Samir? The pilgrim?"

Smiled Margo mysteriously.

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For some reason we can't find them.

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"And why might that be?"  Frowned Boris, what , did you see them drown? What are you smiling for?

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"I hit my head," answered Margo, “and now I smile all the time."

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"Margo, please, shh!" You need to rest," implored Nastia, forcibly setting her friend down on the ground. 

After a half hour on the shore, a camp had sprung up. To their delight, the things they'd tied on the the raft had held on, and were barely wet. Margo was carried into a tent and given intensive care. She woke up.  Andrei did not return. It had become clear that there would be no help until morning. Nastia lay next to her friend, drifting off into a dream.

Margo woke up from a strange sensation. She felt as if someone was watching her. But there was no one but her and Nastia in the tent. Her friend was sleeping peacefully at her side. But the feeling that someone else was there grew all the stronger. The mysterious force made Margo sit up, overcome with pain. She crawled out from the tent. The morning twilight scattered. The sun hadn't yet come out, but its rays were waking up birds. The Katun swirled with wet fog. Margo suddenly caught herself thinking that this would be her home from now on. "What the heck?"  She said to herself. My home is far from here...

She went barefoot onto the grass, getting goosebumps in the cold. Something drew Margo to the river. Her head was hurting bad, spots and circles danced in her eyes, her temples throbbed. She slowly walked up to the river.

Margo stared into the morning river fog. She had had already guessed what she was seeing. A masculine figure in the lotus pose was hovering above the Katun.  She couldn't make out his face.

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“Samir?”

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"Come here," called a voice and she recognized the Teacher, Kut Kumi.

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"I can't fly," answered Margo, noticing that the fog seemed to take away her pain.

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"Yes you can."

Margo for some reason took the bandage from her head, threw it on the riverside willows, and went into the icy water.  Obeying a strange feeling, she went deeper and deeper. The water burned her body, the flow stopped her resisting, picking up her legs, but she stubbornly went forward. And when she couldn't go any further, too cold to speak, she stumbled on something. Margo felt for the ledge, raised herself up... The steps under the water were not made of stone. The river itself formed its waves into a translucent stairway, helping the uninvited guest get up to the top. Margo laughed. She was overtaken by a strange, happy feeling of freedom.   She pulled the Teacher's arm. He smiled in response.

-
       
"Did Shambhala win?”

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“With your help," answered the Teacher.

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"Did I die then?"  Chuckled Margo, walking on the water.

He raised his eyebrows.

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"Die?"

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"I'm walking on water."

-
       
"People are truly surprising creatures!"  Smiled the Teacher. - "They're always confusing birth and death. Let's go, you have much to learn," he said, inviting her to follow him with a wave of his hand. She walked forward and suddenly noticed that there was a small translucent door above the water.

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"People will search for me.”

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“They will.”

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“And..." Margo shivered, "will they find me?"

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“No.”

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"I didn't even get to say goodbye..."

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"Write a letter."

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"A letter? But I don't have a paper or pen."

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"Write it in your mind. I will send it," answered the Teacher.

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"Then you know better than me what to write," smiled Margo, surprised at how light her soul felt.

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"She will receive it immediately, but it's time for us to go," he said, leading her to the door, "let's go."

Nastia opened her eyes. It was bright and very quiet in the tent. She couldn't hear Margo's breathing. Nastia slowly turned her head to the right. Her friend was gone. She jumped up sharply, and somehow dealt with the zipper on her sleeping bag.  Nastia didn't notice the proper white envelope flying away. She jumped out in one sock with disheveled hair.

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“Margo! Margo!”

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“What happened?"  Asked Boris in a sleepy voice from the neighboring tent.  "What happened to her?"  His sleepy head stuck out of the door.

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"She's gone! Boris! She's gone!”  Nastia ran along the bank, searching with wild eyes.  "Where'd she go? She couldn't have gone anywhere... Her tennis shoes are here!"  Her anxiety continued to grow.

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"Calm down, let's go, we'll look for her.”

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“I'll go with you," came Marina from the tent. The circles under her eyes gave her away- she had spent the night without sleep.

They spread out along the bank, looking for the missing girl.

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"Look!”  Exclaimed Marina, pointing at a piece of white fabric, hanging on the riverside willows.

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"Her bandages!"

Nastia was the first to run to the edge of the water, and grabbed the bloodied bandage from the tree.

- "This is the bandage from her head! Margo! Margo! Respond!"

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"Calm down, Nastia," said Boris, lowering his head.

He pointed to the wet footprints on the sand, which had yet to be completely washed away by the river. The prints from her bare feet clearly led into the waves. Nastia looked at them in horror, backed away, and grabbed her head.

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“No! Margo! Margo!”  She cried, staring with mad eyes at the muddy waters of the Katun as if trying to see her friend one last time.

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“Nastia!”

Marina walked closer and hugged her around the shoulders.

- "Let's go. The river will have taken her far from here... She didn't know what she was doing, Nastia... She had severe head trauma...”

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“No! She knew what she was doing! She took the bandage off her head! She didn't want to die looking ugly! It's my fault!”

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“No, Nastia. It's no one's fault. Let's go.”

Boris took her by the arm, patted her head and gently pushed her toward the camp.

Afterward, they sat for a long time by the extinguished fire. The sun was already at it's zenith when the sound of a motor came from the sky.

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"A flüg!"  Shuddered Nastia.

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"A flüg?!"  Cried Marina in fear, jumping up.

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"Flügs howl- that's rattling," answered Boris, looking up into the sky.

They weren't even able to figure out that here in the Altai there were no flügs. They had to quickly calculate a space for the rescue helicopter to land. Andrei sprung out of the cabin, and with him were two people dressed as first responders.

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"Are you all alive?"  Andrei asked Boris instead of greeting him.

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"Not all," answered Boris.  "Margo.”

-
       
“Andrei!”  Shouted Nastia.  “She drowned.”

The first responders lit some cigarettes and went back to the helicopter.

Nastia fell onto the sand and began to sob. Marina and Boris went over to comfort her. The wind ran along the grass, glanced into the open tent and took a white envelope from inside. It lifted the letter up easily and set it down next to the crying girl. Boris grabbed the envelope.

"Look over there! A letter!"

Nastia raised her head.

-
       
“That's Margo's handwriting.”

"My dear, sweet Nastia! I am leaving. I am leaving so I'll never stand in your way again. Now I know the true power of love..."