Tiger's Curse (12 page)

There was a tangible connection between us. I didn’t know if it was simple attraction or something else. His presence was unsettling. I tried looking away from him to calm myself, but I ended up twisting my hands and staring at my feet, which were tapping the bamboo floor with jittery energy. When I looked back at his face, the side of his mouth was turned up in a smirk and one of his eyebrows was raised.

I cleared my throat weakly. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“Is it that hard to sit still and listen?”

“No. You just make me nervous, that’s all.”

“You weren’t nervous around me before.”

“Well, you don’t look the same as you did before. You can’t expect me to behave the same way around you now.”

“Kelsey, try to relax. I would never harm you.”

“Okay. I’ll sit on my hands. Is that better?”

He laughed.

Whoa. Even his laugh is magnetic.

“Keeping still is something I had to learn while being a tiger. A tiger must lie motionless for long periods of time. It requires patience and for this explanation you will need some.”

He stretched his powerful shoulders and then reached up to pull on the string of an apron hanging from a hook. He twisted it around his finger unconsciously and said, “I have to do this rather quickly. I only have a few minutes of each day when I can take human form—to be exact, only twenty-four minutes of each twenty-four-hour day—so, because I’ll change into a tiger again soon, I want to make the most of my time with you. Will you let me have these few minutes?”

I took a deep breath. “Yes. I want to hear your explanation. Please go on.”

“Do you remember the story of Prince Dhiren that Mr. Kadam told you at the circus?”

“Yes, I remember. Wait. Are you saying—?”

“That story was mostly accurate. I am the Dhiren that he spoke of. I was the prince of the Mujulaain Empire. It’s true that Kishan, my brother, and my fiancée betrayed me, but the end of the story is a fabrication. I was
not
killed, as many people have been led to believe. My brother and I were cursed and changed into tigers. Mr. Kadam has faithfully kept our secret all of these centuries. Please don’t blame him for bringing you here. It was my fault. You see, I . . .
need
you, Kelsey.”

My mouth went suddenly dry, and I found myself leaning forward, barely sitting on the edge of the bed. I almost fell off. I quickly cleared my throat and readjusted my position on the bed, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

“Uh, what do you mean you need me?”

“Mr. Kadam and I believe you are the only one who can break the curse. Somehow, you’ve already freed me from captivity.”

“But, I didn’t free you. Mr. Kadam’s the one who purchased your freedom.”

“No. Mr. Kadam was unable to purchase my freedom until you came along. When I was captured, I was no longer able to change into my human form or gain my freedom until something, or should I say
someone
, special came along. That someone special was you.”

He curled the apron string around his finger, and I watched as he unwound it and began again. My eyes drifted back up to his face. It was turned toward the window. He appeared calm and serene, but I recognized underpinnings of sadness hidden from view. The sun shone through the window, and the curtain blew slightly in the breeze, causing sunlight and shadow to dance across his face.

I stammered, “Okay, what do you need me for? What do I have to do?”

He turned back to me and continued, “We came to this hut for a reason. The man who lives here is a shaman, a monk, and he’s the one who can explain your role in all this. He wouldn’t share anything further until we found you and brought you here. Even I don’t know why you are the chosen one. The shaman also insists that he must speak with us alone. That’s why Mr. Kadam was left behind.”

He leaned forward. “Will you stay here with me until he returns and at least hear what he has to say? If you decide afterward that you wish to leave and return home, Mr. Kadam will arrange it.”

I stared at the floor. “Dhiren—”

“Please call me Ren.”

I blushed and made eye contact. “Okay, Ren. Your explanation is overwhelming. I don’t know what to say.”

Varying emotions flitted across his handsome face.

Who was I to reject a handsome man—I mean tiger.
I sighed. “Alright. I’ll wait and meet your monk, but I’m hot, sweaty, hungry, tired, in need of a good bath, and frankly, I’m not sure I even trust you. I don’t think I could take another night of sleeping in the jungle.”

He sighed in relief as he smiled at me. It was like the sun bursting through a raincloud. His smile filled me with golden bright happy rays. I wanted to close my eyes and bask in the warm glow.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry that this part of the journey was uncomfortable for you. Mr. Kadam and I had a disagreement about luring you into the jungle. He thought we should just tell you the truth, but I wasn’t sure if you would come. I thought that if you spent a little more time with me, you would learn to trust me, and I could reveal who I was in my own way. That was what we were arguing about when you saw us by the truck.”

“So that was you! You should have told me the truth. Mr. Kadam was right. We could have avoided the entire jungle hike and driven here.”

He sighed. “No. We would’ve had to cross through the jungle anyway. There’s no way to drive into the sanctuary this deeply by car. The man who lives here prefers it that way.”

I crossed my arms and muttered, “Well, you still should have told me.”

He twisted the apron tie. “You know, sleeping outdoors isn’t all bad. You get to stare up at the stars and cool breezes ruffle your fur after a hot day. The grass smells sweet and,” he made eye contact with me, “so does your hair.”

I blushed and grumbled, “Well, I’m glad
someone
enjoyed it.”

He smiled smugly and said, “I
did
.”

I had a quick flash of him as a man snuggled up next to me in the forest, imagined him resting his head on my lap while I stroked his hair, and decided to focus on the matter at hand.

“Well, listen, Ren, you’re changing the subject. I don’t appreciate the way you manipulated me into being here. Mr. Kadam should’ve told me at the circus.”

He shook his head. “We didn’t think you’d believe his story. He made up the trip to the tiger reserve to get you to India. We figured once you were here, I could change into a man and clarify everything.”

I admitted, “You’re probably right. If you had changed to a man there, I don’t think I would have come.”

“Why
did
you come?”

“I wanted to spend more time with . . . you. You know, the tiger. I would have missed him. I mean you.” I blushed.

He grinned lopsidedly. “I would have missed you too.”

I wrung the hem of my shirt between my hands.

Misreading my thoughts, he said, “Kelsey, I’m truly sorry for the deception. If there’d been any other way—”

I looked up. He hung his head in a way that reminded me of the tiger. The frustration and awkwardness I felt about him dissipated. My instincts told me that I should believe him and help him. The strong, emotional connection that drew me to the tiger tugged at my heart even more powerfully with the man. I felt pity for him and his situation.

Softly, I asked, “When will you change back into a tiger?”

“Soon.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Not as much as it used to.”

“Do you understand me when you are a tiger? Can I still speak to you?”

“Yes, I’ll still be able to hear and understand you.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll stay here with you until the shaman comes back. I still have a lot of questions for you though.”

“I know. I’ll try to answer them as best I can, but you’ll have to save them for tomorrow when I’ll be able to speak with you again. We can stay here for the night. The shaman should be back around dusk.”

“Ren?”

“Yes?”

“The jungle frightens me, and this situation frightens me.”

He let go of the apron string and looked into my eyes. “I know.”

“Ren?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t . . . leave me, okay?”

His face softened into a tender expression, and his mouth turned up in a sincere smile. “
Asambhava
. I won’t.”

I felt myself responding to his smile with one of my own when a shadow fell across his face. He clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. I saw a tremor pass through his body, and the chair fell forward as he collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees. I stood to reach out to him and was amazed to see his body morph back into the tiger form I knew so well. Ren the tiger shook himself, then approached my outstretched hand and rubbed his head against it.

i
sat on the edge of the bed thinking about what Ren had shared with me. Looking at the tiger now, I thought, or perhaps hoped, that I might’ve actually imagined everything.
Maybe the jungle is causing me to hallucinate. Is all this real? Is there really a person underneath that fur?

Ren stretched out on the floor and rested his head on his paws. He looked at me with his gorgeous blue eyes for a long moment, and at once, I knew that this was real.

Ren had said that the shaman wouldn’t be back until dusk, which was still several hours away. The bed looked inviting. A nap would be nice, but I was filthy. I decided that a bath was the first order of business and went to investigate the tub, which needed to be filled old-school style—with a bucket.

I began the arduous task of pumping water into the bucket, dumping it into the tub, and starting all over again. It looked easier on television than it was in real life. I thought my arms were going to fall off after only three buckets, but I pushed through the ache knowing how good a bath would feel. My tired arms convinced me that a half bath was more than adequate.

I kicked off my tennis shoes and started to unbutton my shirt. I got about halfway down when I suddenly realized that I had an audience. I held my shirt together and turned around to find Ren watching me.

“Some gentleman you are. You’re being as quiet as a mouse on purpose, aren’t you? Well, I don’t think so, Mister. You’d better sit outside until I’m done with my bath.” I waved my arm in the air. “Go . . . keep watch or something.”

I opened the door, and Ren slowly dragged his body outside. Quickly undressing, I stepped into the tepid water and began scrubbing away at my dirty skin with the shaman’s homemade herbal soap. After soaping through my hair with the lemony sage bar and rinsing off, I lay back in the tub for a moment, thinking.
What have I gotten myself into? Why didn’t Mr. Kadam tell me any of this? What are they expecting me to do? How long am I going to be stuck in the jungle in India?

Questions whirled around in my mind, displacing any coherent thoughts. They tossed around, spinning into a cyclone of confusion. Giving up trying to make sense of it all, I climbed out, dried off, got dressed, and opened the door for Ren who had been lying with his back pressed against it.

“Okay, you can come back in now. I’m decent.”

Ren wandered back in while I sat on the bed cross-legged and began combing the tangles out of my hair.

“Well, Ren, I’ll sure be giving Mr. Kadam a piece of my mind after we get out of here. You’re not off the hook yet either, by the way. I have a thousand questions so you’d better prepare yourself.”

I braided my hair and tied a green ribbon around the tail. Tucking my arms behind my head, I lay down on the pillow and stared up at the bamboo ceiling. Ren put his head on the mattress near mine and looked at me with an apologetic tiger expression.

I laughed and patted his head, awkwardly at first, but he leaned in, and I overcame my shyness quickly.

“It’s fine, Ren. I’m not mad, really. I just wish you two had trusted me more.”

He licked my hand and lay down on the floor to rest while I turned on my side to watch him.

I must have drifted off to sleep because when I opened my eyes it was dark in the hut except for a lantern glowing softly in the kitchen. Seated at the table was an old man.

I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, surprised that I’d slept so long. The shaman was busy picking the leaves off several plants spread out on the table. As I stood up, he beckoned me closer.

“Hallo, little lady. You sleep long time. Very tired. Very, very tired.”

I walked to the table, followed by Ren. He yawned, arched his back, and stretched himself one leg at a time, then sat at my feet.

“You hungry? Eat. Good food, hmmm?” The shaman smacked his lips, “Very tast-ey.” The little man stood up and scooped some aromatic, herby vegetable stew out of a bubbling pot on the wood stove. He added a piece of warm flatbread along the edge of the bowl, and came back to the table. Pushing the bowl toward me, he nodded satisfactorily and then sat down and continued stripping the leaves from the plants.

The stew smelled heavenly, especially after eating energy bars for a day and a half.

The shaman clucked his tongue. “What your name?”

“Kelsey,” I mumbled, as I chewed.

“Kahl-see. You have good name. Strong.”

“Thank you for the food. It’s delicious!”

He grunted in response and waved his hand dismissively.

I asked him, “What’s your name?”

“My name, uh, too immense. You call me Phet.”

Phet was a small, brown, wrinkly man with a crown of wiry gray hair circling the back of his head. His shiny bald patch reflected the light of the lamp. He was dressed in a roughly woven, grayish-green wrap and sandals. The material was wound around his scrawny arms, and his bare legs stuck out below it from his knobby knees down. A sarong was thrown over his shoulder haphazardly, and I was surprised the flimsy garment even stayed on his thin frame.

“Phet, I’m sorry to barge into your home. Ren led me here. You see—”

“Ah, Ren, your tiger. Yes, Phet be acquainted with why you here. Anik say you and Ren coming, so, I go Suki Lake today for . . . preparation.”

I scooped up some more stew as he brought me a cup of water. “Do you mean Mr. Kadam? Did he tell you we were coming?”