Page 31 of Tiger's Dream
We soon came upon a group of hunters. The scent of death and fear clung to them like a disease. Jungle creatures fled at the stench, putting as great a distance as they could manage between themselves and the humans. Anamika wrinkled her nose as if she, too, could smell them. Rippling heat hung over the group languishing in the trees. The knowledge of what they were, of what they did, brought the taste of bile to my mouth.
Even from a distance where we hid in the trees, I could make out dozens of caged birds and animals, pelts of all kinds, and the unmistakable shine of ivory peeking out of large bags. One man teased a creature in a cage by offering meat and then pulling it away. His laugh cut through me. If I wasn’t angry already, I would have been after seeing him taunt the poor creature. A solid band of anger twisted in my gut at the thought of leaving Ren in the hands of these men. Suddenly, consigning Ren to a cage such as that didn’t sit so well with me. It was Ana who caught my attention and distracted me from the scene.
She drew me around a copse of trees and pointed. From that angle we could make out a few of the men climbing out of a pit. The leader grunted his instructions, and the men took one of the smaller animals from a cage, killed it, and hoisted its bleeding carcass over the hole they’d made. Quickly, they covered it with long crisscrossing sticks and then wove leaves through the branches until the pit was concealed. When they were satisfied, they picked up their bags and cages and moved off deeper into the jungle.
Deeming it safe a half hour after their departure, we stepped out of the trees, and I rubbed a hand across my jaw, inspecting the trap. “He’s not going to fall for this one. He’s far too intelligent. Even so,” I mumbled, bending down to peek through the leaves covering the pit, “there are sharpened pikes in there. He could heal from being impaled, but he’d have a hard time freeing himself.”
“Then we’ll fashion a second trap and make certain he doesn’t see that one,” she said.
“Are you sure that’s a smart idea? Even if he falls in, how can you be sure the hunters would find it?”
“We will place the second near the first.”
“Won’t the hunters realize it isn’t their trap?”
“These aren’t the type of men to honor any type of hunting code. If they see him, they will take him. We’ll just have to make sure they see him.”
Using the power of the Damon Amulet, Ana moved dirt quickly, fashioning another pit right next to the first one. When it was prepared, she erased our scents and we climbed high into a tree to wait for Ren. At first, I was worried that we’d be waiting for quite a long time, but I took us to the approximate date of the morning Ren went missing, so we’d only been sitting in the tree for a short time when I heard him.
There was a snap in the bushes, and with the wave of her hand, Anamika made us invisible. Ren poked his tiger head out of the bush and lifted his nose in the air. He took his time, listening, and then he emerged from the bush, stretched lazily, and lifted his head to peer up at the raw meat. Carefully, he circled the pit, purposely nudging the leaves covering the hole until it was exposed. He wrinkled his nose in a tiger grimace when he saw the sharpened sticks jutting up out of the hole.
Glancing up at the meat again, he licked his whiskers. It was an easy meal and he was likely hungry. Ren didn’t like hunting as much as I did. I often brought my kills home to share with him. He had the same instincts I did but he hated giving in to his tiger half. When he was close to the second pit, Anamika shot a series of arrows down on him from our perch in the tree. She missed him each time, purposely, but when he started to move in the wrong direction, she allowed an arrow to graze him so he’d head back the other way.
He leapt to the side after an arrow pierced his flank and fell into the hole she’d made. The one without the deadly pikes. Quietly, she dropped from the tree, phasing her body in time so Ren couldn’t detect her. She gathered her arrows and gazed down upon his pacing tiger form. I joined her, and together we moved off through the trees, staying close enough to watch over him but far enough away that there was no danger he’d hear us. When we were satisfied with our position, Anamika sped up time.
After two days for Ren and a few minutes for us, she took hold of the amulet, and time slowed down to normal. Ren had already been hungry when he’d fallen in the pit. I could see his ribs jutting out even through the foliage. He was likely ravenous now, so Anamika used the amulet to rain over his pit so he had water, and she chased a few small animals into it so he could eat something. Then she returned to my side and the clock sped ahead again.
As we watched and waited, I wondered if Ren would have died if I hadn’t been there at that exact time to make sure he was fed. Then I remembered how difficult it was to destroy us. Ren had his heart literally ripped from his chest and he survived that. Surely going without food and water wasn’t going to do him in.
Still, it was sobering to think that my presence had made his past self comfortable. My thoughts turned from my desire to be with Kelsey to the capture of my brother. I didn’t envy the years of captivity and suffering he’d have to endure. Three hundred years of it. I’m not sure I would have done as well had I been in his place.
We were about to give him water and food again on day four when we noticed the return of the hunters. Anamika slowed time so we could listen in as they discovered their catch. When they did, they marveled at their prize and argued for a time about whether they should skin Ren right there or take him alive.
Ren snarled at them from the pit and swiped at them with his claws every chance he got. He roared loudly and I recognized his cry. It was to get my attention. He must have sensed my nearness. I winced. The old me was wandering far off in the jungle, sulking about Yesubai and my fate. I never heard his roar for help.I’m here, I thought.I’ve got you, brother.
My brother would never know that, of course. His past self didn’t get to see the man I’d become since then. This Ren only knew a brother who had betrayed him, stolen his fiancée, and sulked in the jungle. I was ashamed of the man I’d been. If I had paid attention, I’d have noticed he was missing. Nearly four days he’d been in the pit. If I had checked in with my family more often, I could have found him easily. The fact was, his capture had been the final tragedy that brought my parents down to their death beds.
I could stop it.
Change his past. Change our past.
Kadam insisted that Ren needed to be taken by the hunters. But was that really true? If Ren had never been in the circus, he never would have met Kelsey. The idea brought a swell of sadness to my heart. But maybe, maybe, my parents would have lived longer. Maybe Kadam wouldn’t have left. Maybe Kelsey would have been better off never knowing us. I pressed my palms over my temples and squeezed. The circular logic was crushing me.
I felt a hand on my arm. Anamkia’s warmth radiated through me. Her look was one of understanding. One of sympathy. Leaning over, she pressed her lips against my ear and whispered, “All will be well. Trust in our teacher.”
With a reassuring squeeze, she turned her attention back to the men. Ana trusted her teacher, Phet, no, Kadam completely. Could I trust him as much as she did? I had in the past. I knew he had secrets. That there was more going on than he shared with us. Snickering softly, I marveled that he’d been able to keep all this from us for so long. He was a wily one. I did trust him though. Always had. No one loved my parents, loved me and Ren more than he did.
The hoots of the men by the pit caught my attention. When the leader advocated for killing Ren, I sprang into action, disguising myself as one of the hunters who had gone off into the trees to relieve himself. I said I knew a very wealthy man who would pay dearly to have a living white tiger to add to his menagerie. Of course I actually knew no such thing, but figured I needed to say something to prevent them from removing Ren’s fur from his body.
The leader seemed shocked that one of his minions would have any connection to a man of means and demanded that I tell him who. I said the first name that came to mind, Anik Kadam, and told him the name of the nearest town. It was agreed then that they’d take the living tiger to this Kadam and negotiate payment.
If I was wrong, I’d be soundly beaten. I agreed and slipped out between the trees just as the man I’d impersonated returned. He was intelligent enough to fake knowing what was going on, but I could see the alarm on his face when he turned away from the group.
With some hassle, they managed to get Ren into a hastily constructed cage. It took a half dozen men to carry him. Since I wasn’t certain that they wouldn’t kill Ren after all, we decided to split up. Anamika would follow the procession through the jungle while I would return to the future to find Kadam. His instructions had left too much to the imagination, and I wasn’t willing to risk Ren’s life on an oversight on my part.
I took Ana’s hand before we departed and asked her again if she’d rather return to the future instead of me, but she shook her head, reminding me that I was more familiar with Kadam’s paths than she was. It was an uncomfortable feeling leaving her alone with all those men despite the fact that she obviously knew the jungle better than any of them. I knew Anamika distrusted men in general and being around them made her feel nervous despite the power she had at her disposal.
Reassuring her that I’d hurry, I took her hand, and when she gripped it tightly, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. I was surprised when she stepped into the embrace. It was over before I could react to it. Moving back, I gave her a stiff nod and disappeared, darkness swirling around me as I sought out Kadam.
