Page 165 of Tiger's Quest
When I finished my description, everyone was staring at me, and Nilima was laughing.
“What?” I asked, embarrassed. “Okay. So, apparently I find burly Indian men attractive. What’s wrong with that?”
Kishan was frowning, Mr. Kadam seemed . . . pleased, and Nilima giggled.
“Nothing at all, Miss Kelsey. I’m sure I would have thought the same thing,” she said.
Mr. Kadam cleared his throat. “Yes . . . well . . . I appreciate the flattering description, regardless. It’s been a long time since a woman found me . . . burly.”
I started giggling, and Nilima soon joined me.
Mr. Kadam asked, “Are you ready to continue?”
“Yes,” we voiced in unison.
“As I was saying, the people rallied to me, and we tied up all the guards. Then we moved in on the command center. The doors were heavily fortified and locked. We searched the men for a key but couldn’t find one. It was easier for me to knock a hole through the wall than to take down those doors. I finally broke into the complex to find Kelsey and Kishan prostrate on the floor and Lokesh nowhere in sight. The room was full of some kind of candy.”
“Jawbreakers,” I added.
“How did that come about?” Nilima asked.
“I had to do something, and the Golden Fruit was the only weapon I could access, so I wished for a hailstorm of jawbreakers.”
“That was very clever. We never practiced that one. It seemed to work well,” Mr. Kadam commented.
“It wouldn’t have worked for long. Lokesh bounces back quickly. The only thing that drove him off was you. You and the Baiga saved the day.”
“So Lokesh had the power to freeze you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you note any of his other powers?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We will discuss them later.”
“Okay. I’ll write down everything that happened while it’s fresh.”
“Very good. Continuing on, after Kishan and Kelsey found Ren, the Baiga wanted to move away from the camp as quickly as possible. They loaded everything they could carry, and filed into the jungle. We accompanied them partly because I felt responsible to get them as far away from Lokesh as I could and partly because it was in the direction we needed to go anyway. Just before we left, Ren picked up a knife and pierced the skin of his arm.”
I leaned forward. “What was he doing?”
“Removing a tracking device Lokesh had put in.”
I looked down at my white tiger with sympathy. His eyes were closed, but his ears were flicking back and forth. He was listening.
“We journeyed with the Baiga, had a feast with them, and left right after I signaled you, Nilima.”
“You play a deity very well,” I teased.
“Yes. Well, it seems they believed all four of us were deities. If I’d seen the things they had, I would believe we were deities too.”
I asked, “Did they really use magic to hold Ren there?”
“When I spoke to them about it, theguniaclaimed hedidhave power over tigers and used his magic to hold Ren there. He can create a barrier of sorts around the encampment to protect his village from tiger attacks. However, he said that about a week ago the spell was switched toattracttigers to the village instead. It seems the soldiers have been plagued by tiger attacks all week.”
“Ah, so that’s why Kishan could get in?”
