Tiger's Curse (17 page)

“It sounds like Ren’s family was very special.”

“Indeed they were, Miss Kelsey.”

We’d just sat down to a breakfast of yogurt and mango when Ren stalked into the room and put his head down on my lap.

I scratched his ears. “Nice of you to join us. I guess you’re anxious to get moving today, huh? You must be excited that you’re this close to breaking the curse.”

He kept watching me intently as if impatient to leave, but I didn’t want to rush. I pacified him by feeding him pieces of mango. Content for the moment, he sat down and enjoyed his treat, licking the juice from my fingers.

I laughed. “Stop it! That tickles!” He ignored me, moved up my arm, and licked me almost all the way up to my sleeve. “Ew, gross, Ren! Alright. Alright. Let’s go.”

I washed my arm off, took one last look at the view, and made my way out to the garage. Mr. Kadam was already outside with Ren. He took my bag from me, put it on the passenger seat, and then held open my door as I hopped into the Jeep.

“Be careful, Miss Kelsey,” Mr. Kadam warned. “Ren will watch out for you, but there are many dangers ahead. Some we’ve planned for, but I’m sure you’ll face many that I am unaware of. Use caution.”

“I will. Hopefully, we’ll be back very soon.”

I rolled up the window and backed out of the garage. The
GPS
began beeping at me, telling me where to go. Once again, I felt a deep appreciation for Mr. Kadam. Ren and I would be truly lost without him.

The drive was uneventful. The traffic was very light for the first hour. It gradually began to pick up the closer we got to Mumbai, but by then I had almost gotten used to driving on the other side of the road. We drove for about four hours before I pulled to a stop at the end of a dirt road that bordered the park.

“This is where we’re supposed to go in. According to the map, it’ll take us two and a half hours to walk to the Cave of Kanheri.” I checked my watch and continued, “That gives us about two hours to kill since we can’t go in until nightfall when the tourists have gone.”

Ren leapt out of the car and followed me into the park to a shady spot. Ren lay down on the grass, and I sat down next to him. At first, I used his body as a backrest and then gradually relaxed against him, using his back as a pillow.

Staring up into the trees, I started talking. I told Ren about visits with my grandma, growing up with my parents, and the vacations we used to go on as a family.

“Mom was a nurse in a geriatric facility at first, but then she decided to stay home and raise me,” I explained, thinking back with fond memories. “She made the best chocolate-chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Mom believed that showing your love meant making homemade cookies, which is probably why I was chubby as a kid.

“Dad was your average backyard-grilling-kind of dad. He was a math teacher, and I guess some of that rubbed off on me because I like math, too. We all loved reading, and we had a cozy home library. Dr. Seuss books were my favorite. Even now I can almost sense my parents near me when I pick up a book.

“When we traveled, my parents liked to stay at bed-and-breakfasts, where I’d get a room all to myself. We toured practically the whole state and saw apple farms and old mines, Bavarian-themed towns that served German pancakes for breakfast, the ocean, and the mountains. I think you’d easily fall in love with Oregon. I haven’t traveled all over the world like you have, but I can’t imagine a place more beautiful than my home state.”

Later, I talked about school and my dreams to go to a university, though I couldn’t afford more than a community college. I even spoke of my parents’ car accident, about how alone I felt when it happened, and what it was like living with a foster family.

Ren’s tail flicked back and forth, so I knew he was awake and listening, which surprised me because I figured he’d just go to sleep, bored with my chatter. Eventually, I trailed off, getting sleepy myself, and drowsed in the heat until I felt Ren stir and sit up.

I stretched. “Time to go already, huh? Okay, lead the way.”

We trekked through the park for a couple of hours. It had a much more open feel than the Yawal Wildlife Preserve. The trees were spaced farther apart. Beautiful purple flowers covered the hills. But, when we got closer, I noticed that they were diminishing in the heat. I guessed that they sprung up briefly during the monsoon rains and would soon be gone.

We passed teak trees and bamboo, but there were other types I couldn’t identify. Several animals darted across our path. I saw rabbits, deer, and porcupines. Looking up at the branches, I spied hundreds of birds in a variety of colors.

As we walked under a particularly dense group of trees, I heard strange, alarmed grunts and spotted rhesus monkeys swinging as high up as they could climb. They were harmless and familiar, but as we moved deeper into the park, I saw other, more fearsome creatures. I skirted a giant python that hung from a tree and watched us with black, unblinking eyes. Huge monitor lizards with forked tongues and long bodies scurried quickly across our path, hissing. Big, fat bugs buzzed around lazily in the air, bounced drunkenly off objects in flight, and then continued on their journey.

It was pretty but also creepy, and I was glad that I had a tiger nearby. Every once in a while, Ren would veer off the path and circle around in a way that made me think he was avoiding certain places or perhaps, I shuddered, certain
things
.

After about two hours of walking, we arrived at the edge of the jungle by the Kanheri Cave. The forest had thinned out, opening to a hill, bare of trees. Stone steps led up the hill to the entrance, but we were still too far away to see more than just a small glimpse of the cave. I started toward the steps, but Ren jumped in front of me and nudged me back toward the tree line.

“You want to wait a bit longer? Okay, we’ll wait.”

We sat down under the cover of some bushes and waited for an hour. Slightly impatient, I watched tourists emerge from the cave, make their slow way down the steps, and walk to a parking lot. I could hear them chattering as they left in their cars.

I remarked enviously, “Too bad we couldn’t have driven in here. It sure would’ve saved us a lot of hassle. But, I guess people wouldn’t understand why a tiger was following me around. Plus, the park ranger would be keeping tabs on us too, if we’d driven in.”

Finally, the sun set, and the tourists left. Ren stepped forward carefully out of the trees and sniffed at the air. Satisfied, he began moving toward the stone steps that were cut into the rocky hill. The long climb up left me breathless by the time we reached the top.

Once inside the cave, we came upon an open stone bunker with rooms that reminded me of beehive cells. Each one was identical to the other. A stone block the size of a small bed was positioned on the left side of every room, and hollowed-out shelves were located on the back walls. A sign noted that this place used to be where the Buddhist monks lived and that the cave was part of a Buddhist settlement dating back to the third century.

Isn’t it strange that we’re looking for an Indian prophecy in a Buddhist settlement?
I thought as we continued on.
But then again, everything about this adventure is a bit strange.

Walking farther in, I noted long stone trenches connected by arches that ran from a central stone well and continued on—probably higher into the mountains. A sign read that the trenches were once used as an aqueduct to move water to the area.

Reaching the main room, I ran my hands over the deep grooves of the elaborately carved wall. Ancient Indian writing and hieroglyphics had been etched into the walls.

The remnants of a ceiling, still held up in some places by rock pillars, cast deep shadows over the area. Statues were carved into stone columns, and, as we walked through, I kept my eye on them just to make sure they didn’t let the remainder of the roof come crashing down on top of us.

Ren continued making his way to the back of the main room toward the black gaping maw of the cave that led even deeper into the hill. I followed him and stepped through the opening and onto a sandy floor in a large, circular room. Pausing, I let my eyes adjust for a minute. The round room had many doorways. The light coming in was just enough to silhouette the opening, but it could not penetrate into any of the other corridors beyond and was quickly fading as the sunlight disappeared.

I pulled out a flashlight and asked, “What do we do now?”

Ren stepped over to the first shadowy doorway and disappeared into the darkness. Following him, I ducked into the small room. It was filled with stone shelves. I wondered if it might have been used as a library once. I wandered through and made my way to the back, hoping to see a giant sign that read: “Durga prophecy here!”, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped at Ren’s touch.

“Don’t do that! Can’t you give me some kind of warning first?”

“Sorry, Kells. We need to check each room for a symbol that looks like the Seal. You look high and I’ll look low.”

He squeezed my shoulder briefly and morphed back into his tiger form.

I shuddered.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.

We didn’t see any carvings in the room, so we moved on to the next one and the next one. At the fourth doorway, we searched more carefully because the room was full of glyphs. We spent at least an hour in there. No luck in the fifth either.

The sixth chamber was empty. Not even a stone shelf graced the walls, but the seventh door was where we found a match. The opening led to a much smaller room than the others. It was long and narrow and had a couple of shelves similar to the other rooms. Ren found the engraving under one of the shelves. I probably would have overlooked it if I’d been searching alone.

He growled softly at me and stuck his nose up under the ledge.

“What is it?” I asked and bent down.

Sure enough, under the shelf on the wall in the back of the room was an engraving that matched the Seal exactly.

“Well, I guess this is it. Keep your fingers, er, claws crossed.”

I removed the Seal from around my neck and pressed it into the carving, wiggling until I felt it click into place. I waited, but nothing happened. I tried twisting the Seal, and this time, I heard a mechanical whirring behind the wall. After a full turn, I felt resistance and heard a quiet pneumatic hiss. Dust blew out from the edges of the wall revealing that it wasn’t a wall at all, but a door.

A deep, muffled rumble shook the wall as it slowly rolled back. I popped the Seal out, put it back around my neck, and aimed my feeble light through the door. I only saw more walls. Ren nudged me aside and entered first. I stayed as close to him as I possibly could and almost stomped on his paws a couple of times.

Shining my light on the wall, I found a torch hanging in a metal sconce. I pulled out matches and was surprised that the torch lit almost immediately. The flame brightened the corridor much more than my meager flashlight had.

We were at the top of a winding stairway. I peered cautiously over the edge into a dark abyss. Since the only way to go was down, I took the torch and started the descent. A clicking noise sounded behind us, and with a slight whoosh, the door closed, sealing us in.

I muttered, “Great. I guess we’ll worry about how to get out later, then.”

Ren just looked up at me and rubbed his head down my leg. I massaged the scruff of his neck, and we continued down the steps. He placed his body on the outside of the steps, which allowed me to hug the wall as we descended. I wasn’t normally afraid of heights, but a secret passageway plus narrow stairs plus a dark abyss and no handrail equals freaking me out. I was very grateful that he took the more dangerous side.

We crept along slowly, and my arm began to ache from holding the torch. I shifted it to my other hand, careful not to dribble any hot oil onto Ren. When we’d finally reached the dusty bottom, another dark passageway gaped open before us. A short distance from its beginning, we came upon a fork leading in two different directions. I groaned.

“Fantastic. A maze. Which way do we go now?”

Ren stepped into one corridor and smelled the air. Then he moved to the other one and raised his head to sniff again. Moving back to the first one, he continued. I sniffed the air too, just to see if I could smell what he did, but the only thing I detected was an acrid, noxious sulfurlike odor. The bitter smell permeated the cavern and seemed to intensify with each turn we made.

We continued onward in the dark, twisting through the underground labyrinth. The torch cast a flickering light on the walls, creating scary shadows that danced in sinister circles. As we made our way through the tomblike maze, we frequently came upon open areas that branched off. Ren had to stop and smell each opening before choosing the one that he felt led us in the right direction.

Shortly after passing through one of the open areas, a terrifying sound shook the passage. A metallic hammering grated loudly and a sharp-spiked iron gate slammed to the ground right behind me. I spun around quickly and cried out in fright. Not only were we in an ancient dark maze, it was an ancient dark maze full of booby traps.

Ren moved up beside me and stayed very close, close enough for me to keep my hand on his neck. I dug my fingers into his fur and held on tight for reassurance. Three turns later, I heard a quiet hum emanating from one of the passageways ahead. The hum increased in volume the closer we walked.

Turning a corner, Ren stopped and looked directly ahead. His fur stood straight up and crackled against my fingers. I raised my torch to see why he had stopped and gripped his fur as I started shaking.

The corridor ahead was moving. Giant black beetles, as big as baseballs, were lazily crawling over one another, obstructing the entire passageway ahead. The strange aberrations seemed to limit their movements to the corridor directly ahead of us.

“Uh . . . Ren, are you sure we need to go down that direction? This other passageway looks a little better.”

He took a step closer to the corner. I reluctantly took a step closer too. The bugs had shiny black exoskeletons, six hairy legs, quivering antennae, and two pointed mandibles on the front that clacked back and forth like sharp scissors. Some of the bugs cracked open thick black wings and hummed heavily as they flew to the opposite wall. The prickly legs of other bugs stuck to the ceiling.