Page 122 of Tiger's Dream
“Yes, well, I am in the jungle searching for a shaman.”
“Shaman?” I cocked my head. “What is shaman?”
“A man who knows answers.”
I laughed. “All mans knows some answers. Are all mans shamans?”
“No.” Kadam smiled. “I’m seeking a man who knows a specific answer. You see, there is a tiger, a pair of them actually—”
“Ah!” I said. “You wish break the tiger’s curse. You pursue remedy.”
He set down his mug abruptly. “You know of it?” he asked, hope lighting his expression.
I felt a ghostly hand on my shoulder and warmth reverberated through my frame, filling me.
“Beautiful warrior goddess, Durga, is strong. She speak to my ear. Very soft are her words, but smart mans listen women. Particularly goddess.”
Ana’s invisible hair fell over my shoulder as she blew softly in my ear. I cleared my throat noisily, rubbing my extra-long lobe with my fingers, and continued. “She partial to tigers but only one special girl can help. Girl is favored of goddess. Girl love tiger. Alleviate his pains and sufferings.”
“How do I find this girl?” Kadam asked. He’d pulled out a pad of paper and was jotting down notes very quickly.
“Phet dream tigers. One pale like moon. One black as resembling night. Girl is devoted, exceptional. She will find her tiger. Free him. Then you know.” My voice had softened as I remembered Kelsey. “Girl is alone, no family. She cares for tiger. Her hair is brown like bark of tree, her eyes dark and soft. Bring such special girl to me. I will guide more.”
I realized then that Anamika had drifted away. Turning my head, I tried to catch her scent but she was hiding from me. I continued. “When she come, you stay back. Only girl and tiger can enter jungle.” Frowning, I ended with, “This is the one favored by Durga, who breaks tiger’s curse.”
At the mention of the goddess, I reached out mental fingers, trying to connect to her, but she had cut herself off from me. “Yes,” Kadam said. “I will bring her. Thank you. Thank you so much!” With that, he leapt from his chair, inclined his head respectfully, shouldered his pack, and left.
When he was gone, ghostly hands grabbed on to my thin robe and shoved me against the wall.
Chapter 27
Shrine of Earth
I didn’t struggle since I didn’t want Kadam to return. “What’s wrong?” I hissed softly as her body slowly phased back, becoming visible. Her green eyes flashed with anger and hurt. “Ana?” I queried as I lifted my hands to cover hers where she still clutched my shirt. When I saw they were Phet’s hands, I whispered the words that would change me back, and the scarf went to work.
She didn’t answer me and I touched her cheek, offering her easy access to my mind, but she shoved away from me and put up her old familiar barrier between us. “Did I say something wrong?” I asked. “Did I forget something?”
“No,” she answered over her shoulder. “You forget nothing. That is the problem.”
“Tell me what’s wrong,” I said. “I’ll fix whatever it is.”
Turning around, she thrust the list into my hands. “Some things you cannot fix, Sohan.” She strode toward the door, her boots quiet on the floor of the hut. “I’ll be outside when you’re ready to leave,” she said and ducked to exit the building, blurring her body in case Kadam was still near.
I lifted my eyes to the ceiling, supplicating the heavens in the way I imagined most men did who were absolutely baffled by the women they lived with, and then followed after her. When I caught up to her, she was closed off to me in a way I hadn’t experienced since we’d first become companions. Her whole demeanor was stiff and unapproachable. Gone was the camaraderie we’d built over the last few months. It had hung about us like a shared blanket, the two of us sitting beneath it together, enjoying the warmth it offered.
Sighing and wishing I had a list or at least an instruction manual that would help me understand Anamika, I perused the one Kadam had given us and said, “The next stop is Kishkindha and then the Shrine of Earth. I have no idea what that second one means.”
Ana took the list from my hands and said, “The amulet knows. You need simply tell it the destination on the list, and it takes us roughly to the place we need to be, or at least close enough for us to figure it out. But first we need to rest.”
We returned to our home, and to my surprise, I noticed that Ana had been adding children when I wasn’t paying attention. In fact, an entire wing of the house was practically overrun with kids.
“What’s this?” I asked her as a half dozen children clambered down the hall.
“It must be time for their studies,” she answered tiredly.
“We have teachers here?”
“A few. They come from different times and places. And some nursemaids. Enough to watch over them.”
