Page 146 of Tiger's Quest
“Simply . . . amazing!” Mr. Kadam sputtered, “Uh, Kishan, may I?”
“Sure.”
He tossed the Scarf to Mr. Kadam. Its colors changed as soon as his fingers touched the fabric, first turning a brown mustard color and then changing to olive green.
I teased, “I think it likes you, Mr. Kadam.”
“Yes, well . . . imagine the possibilities. The many people the Golden Fruit and this glorious fabric could help. So many people suffer from want of food and warm clothes, and not just in India. These are truly divine gifts.”
I let him examine the Scarf while I had the Golden Fruit make us some chamomile tea with cream and sugar. Kishan wasn’t especially fond of tea, so he got a hot chocolate with cinnamon and whipped cream instead.
I asked, “How long were we gone?”
“A bit over a week.”
I quickly calculated in my mind how many days we were up on the mountain. “Good. Our time in Shangri-la didn’t count.”
“How long were you two in Shangri-la, Miss Kelsey?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but I think it was almost two weeks.” I looked at Kishan. “Is that about right?”
He nodded silently and sipped his cocoa.
“Mr. Kadam, how soon can we get going?”
“We can leave at dawn.”
“I want to get home as soon as possible. We need to get ready to save Ren.”
“We can go across the border and enter India from the Sikkim province. It will be much faster than going through the Himalayas again.”
“How long?”
“It depends on how fast we get through the border. If there’s no trouble, perhaps a few days.”
“Okay. We have so much to tell you.”
Mr. Kadam sipped his tea and looked at me thoughtfully. “You have not been sleeping well, Miss Kelsey. Your eyes are tired.”
He made eye contact with Kishan, and then set down his cup. “I think we should let you sleep. We have a long journey ahead and much can be discussed on the road.”
“I agree,” Kishan interjected. “These last few days have been hard on you. Get some rest,bilauta.”
I finished my tea. “I guess I’m outnumbered. Fine. Let’s all get some sleep then, and we can leave that much earlier in the morning.”
I used the Scarf to make another bedroll and pillows for all of us. I fell asleep to the quiet sound of Mr. Kadam and Kishan speaking softly in their native language.
The next day, we began our journey home. We made it past customs and then drove about halfway home before stopping at a hotel in Gaya. We took turns driving and napping in the back. Kishan got a turn, but Mr. Kadam kept an eye on him, still smarting about the wreck with the Jeep in India.
While we drove, we told Mr. Kadam all about our journey. I started with Mount Everest and the bear. Kishan talked about carrying me through the spirit gate and hiking through paradise.
Mr. Kadam was fascinated by the Silvanae and asked dozens of questions. While I drove, he took copious notes. He wanted to keep a detailed record of our journey, and he listened carefully and wrote page after page in his refined style of penmanship. He asked many specific questions about the tests of the four houses and about the iron-bird guardians, nodding as if he had expected this or that to occur.
At the hotel, we sat around a table and showed him the pictures Kishan took of the ark of Noah, the world tree, the Silvanae, and the four houses. The visual record helped us remember more details, and Mr. Kadam pulled out his notebook again and began scribbling.
Kishan showed me the camera and asked, “Whatisthat?”
I turned it different ways and laughed. “It’s one of Hugin’s eyes. See? There’s the nest.”
