Page 34 of Tiger's Curse
“ThenI would have kidnapped you.” He chuckled at his joke and turned his attention back to our dinner.
“That’s not very funny, Mr. Kadam.”
“I couldn’t resist. Sorry, Miss Kelsey.”
He led me out of the kitchen to a small breakfast nook. We sat at a round table next to a bay window that overlooked an illuminated swimming pool. Ren settled himself at my feet.
Mr. Kadam wanted to know everything that had happened to me since I’d last seen him. I told him about the truck, and found out that he paid the driver to leave me stranded. Then we talked about the jungle and Phet.
Mr. Kadam asked many questions about my conversations with Phet and was particularly interested in my henna design. He turned my hand over and closely examined the symbols on each side.
“So youarethe favored one of Durga,” he concluded, leaned back in his chair, and smiled.
“How did you know I was the right person? I mean, how did you know it wasmewho would be able to break the curse?”
“We were not really sure that youwerethe right person until you met Phet and he confirmed it. When Ren was in captivity, he could not alter his form. Somehow, you spoke the words that set him free. It allowed him to change to a man again and contact me. We hoped that you were the right person to break the curse, the one that we’d been searching for, Durga’s favored one.”
“Mr. Kadam, who is Durga?”
Mr. Kadam retrieved a small golden statuette from the other room and placed it delicately on the dinner table. It was a beautifully carved Indian goddess with eight arms. She was shooting a bow and arrow— and she was riding a tiger.
Touching a delicate carved arm, I said, “Please tell me about her.”
“Of course, Miss Kelsey. In the language of the Hindus,Durgameans ‘invincible one.’ She is a great warrior and considered the mother goddess of many of the other gods and goddesses of India. She has at her command many weapons and rides a magnificent tiger named Damon into war. A very beautiful goddess, she’s been described as having long curly hair and a bright complexion that glows even brighter when she is engaged in battle. She’s often dressed in cerulean robes, the color of the sea, and jeweled ornaments of carved gold, precious gemstones, and shiny black pearls.”
I turned the statue. “What are the weapons she’s holding?”
“There are several different depictions of her throughout India. In each one, Durga has a slightly different number of arms and array of weapons. This statue shows a trident, a bow and arrow, the sword, and agada, which is similar to a mace or a club. She is also carrying akamandal, or conch shell, achakram, a snake, and armor with a shield. I have seen other drawings of Durga with a rope, a bell, and a lotus flower. Not only does Durga have multiple weapons at her disposal, but also she can manipulate lightning and thunder as well.”
I picked up the statue and looked at it from different angles. The eight arms were fearsome.Note to self: in a battle against Durga, run the other direction.
Mr. Kadam continued, “The goddess Durga was born out of the river to help humanity in their time of need. She fought a demon, Mahishasur, who was half-human and half-buffalo. He terrorized the earth and the heavens, and no one could kill him. So Durga took the form of a warrior goddess to defeat him. She is also calledThe Fair Ladybecause of her great beauty.”
Placing the statue back on the table, I said uncertainly, “Mr. Kadam, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, and I hope I don’t offend you, but I don’t really believe in this kind of stuff. I think it’s fascinating, but it seems too weird to be real. I feel like I’m stuck in some kind of Indian myth inThe Twilight Zone.”
Mr. Kadam smiled. “Ah, Miss Kelsey, don’t worry. No offense taken. During my travels and my research trying to help Ren and his brother Kishan break the curse, I have had to open myself to new ideas and beliefs that I, too, had never considered before. What is real and what is not is for your heart to decide and for your heart to know.
“Now, you must be tired from your journey. I will show you to your room where you can rest.”
He led me upstairs to a large bedroom decorated in plum and white with gold trim. A round vase of white roses and gardenias lightly perfumed the room. A four-poster bed with mounds of plum-colored pillows adorning it was set against the wall. Thick piled white carpet covered the floor. Beveled glass doors opened to the largest veranda I’d ever seen and overlooked the pool and fountain.
“It’s lovely! Thank you, Mr. Kadam.”
He nodded and left me, closing the door softly behind him.
I yanked off my socks and enjoyed walking barefoot on the plush carpet. Textured glass doors opened into a stunning bathroom bigger than Mike and Sarah’s entire first floor. There was a white marble deep-plunge spa tub and a huge shower that could also function as a steam room. Soft plum-colored towels hung on a heated rack and glass bottles held soaps and bubble bath in lavender and peach fragrances.
Next to the bathroom was a walk-in closet with white padded changing benches, hutches, and drawers. One side was empty and the other side held a rack of brand new clothes still wrapped in cellophane. The dresser was also full of clothes. A whole wall was built just to hold shoes, but it was mostly empty. One new shoebox sat there waiting to be opened.
After a thoroughly relaxing shower and braiding my hair, I unpacked my few clothes and arranged them in the closet and the dresser. I set my makeup, compacts, hairbrush, and ribbons on a mirrored tray lying on the marble sink and rolled up the cord of my flat iron and stowed it in a drawer.
Dressed in pajamas, I scooted to the back of the bed and had just pulled out my poetry book when I heard a light tapping at the open veranda doors. I looked out at the veranda and my heart started pounding in my chest. A man was standing out there. I caught a flash of blue eyes—Ren, the Indian prince version. When I stepped outside, I noticed that his hair was wet, and he smelled wonderful, like waterfalls and the woods mixed together. He was so good looking that I felt even mousier than usual. As I walked toward him, my heart began to beat even faster.
Ren looked at me and frowned. “Why aren’t you wearing the clothes I bought you? The ones in your closet and dresser?”
“Oh. You mean those clothes are forme?” I asked, confused and tongue-tied.
“I didn’t . . . But . . . Why would you . . . How . . . Well, anyway, thank you. And thank you for the use of the beautiful room.”
