The Place of Dead Kings

by Geoffrey Wilson

  Rao nodded, still struggling to get his breath back.

  Jack grinned. ‘You need to do a bit more training, sir.’

  Rao scowled at him, swallowed and pulled out his handkerchief, which he breathed through, as if the perfume could somehow revive him. After a few seconds, he put the cloth away, felt about in his satchel and drew out a spyglass. He rolled over and eased his head around the side of the knoll.

  ‘Careful,’ Jack said.

  ‘I know what I’m doing.’ Rao raised the glass to his eye. ‘Yes. I see them.’

  Rao handed over the glass and Jack peered down. The floor of the valley reared up before him in vivid detail. He searched until he found the savages – they were running and leaping over rocks and gorse bushes, their cloaks billowing behind them. He hunted for Saleem and the other captives, but it was difficult to see clearly with the mist partially obscuring the valley. Eventually he gave up and handed the glass back to Rao.

  ‘Still too risky to go down there.’ Jack looked to his right to where a fir forest swept down a mountain all the way to the valley floor. ‘We could go through that. We won’t be spotted in there.’

  Rao stared at the trees through his spyglass. ‘It’ll slow us down.’

  ‘It’ll slow us down waiting around here too.’

  Rao nodded, and they struck off across the scarp, keeping below the line of the summit. Once they reached the woods, they jogged down in an angle towards the bottom of the valley. The sharp scent of the fir trees wafted around them and they skidded on drifts of fallen needles.

  From time to time, Jack stopped, climbed a tree and checked the valley through the spyglass. The mist had cleared completely now and the running natives stood out clearly against the yellow grassland. Each time he looked, they were further away, and finally, after an hour, he could no longer see them at all.

  He shinned down the tree trunk and jumped the last few feet. ‘The savages are out of sight. We’ll go straight down from here. I have to find the trail again.’ He looked up and saw that the pale sun was hanging low in the sky. ‘It’s about three o’clock. It’ll be dark in an hour.’

  Rao drew a watch from his pocket and flicked open the silver lid. ‘Remarkable. You’re right. Quarter past three by European reckoning.’

  ‘Wouldn’t be much of a tracker if I couldn’t tell the time by the sun.’ Jack started down the slope.

  ‘Tracker?’ Rao slipped a little as he followed.

  ‘Aye. That’s what I used to do.’

  ‘Before you were a porter?’

  ‘That’s right.’ Jack realised he would have to be careful what he said. He had to keep his story straight, otherwise Rao might start to get suspicious.

  There was no reason for him to talk much to Rao anyway. The two of them had been thrown together temporarily, but the Captain was the enemy. In another situation they could be shooting at each other.

  Within half an hour, they reached the base of the valley and Jack scanned ahead with the spyglass. The savages remained out of sight and the shadows were thickening fast.

  Jack ran towards the middle of the valley, determined to find the trail before nightfall. Rao puffed and wheezed, and soon fell behind. But Jack didn’t stop until he spied footprints in the earth before him. He crouched, parted a clump of heather and saw the unmistakeable tracks left by the savages’ shoes. He stepped forward a few paces and saw further prints, and then more still. These were definitely the right tracks.

  Rao had slowed to a walk.

  ‘Hurry,’ Jack shouted. ‘They’re well ahead of us.’

  Reluctantly, Rao started running again and was weak and drenched in sweat by the time he reached Jack. But Jack didn’t let him rest for a moment and instead led the way on along the trail.

  Dusk soon settled over the valley and the air grew colder. Jack could still just make out the savages’ tracks, but it would be impossible to see them once the light faded completely. The only way he could follow the trail in the dark was to use the Europa yantra, his tracking power.

  How would using the power affect him? Without Kanvar’s cure, the effort would have killed him. But what about now, when the cure was still effective? If nothing else, using the power would tire him out and he was already weary. Further, he would have to reveal to Rao that he was a siddha. That was going to take some explaining.

  He would wait until it was absolutely necessary before risking going into the trance.

  Darkness swamped the countryside. The moon was a thin streak behind the clouds and the ground turned pitch black.

  Finally, he stopped, crouched and studied the earth.

  Rao halted and lay on his back, gasping for breath.

  Jack stared hard at the ground, but even with his uncannily good eyesight he couldn’t make out the trail.

  He rubbed his forehead. He would have to use Europa now. There was no other way . . .

  Then he noticed a glint out of the corner of his eye. He lowered his hand and peered into the darkness. Straight ahead, further up the valley, he spied twinkling lights.

  Fires.

  ‘Get up.’ He stood and retied his ponytail.

  Rao groaned and pulled himself upright. ‘What?’

  ‘Over there.’ Jack nodded at the glimmering lights.

  ‘Oh, yes. What is it?’

  ‘Could be the savages’ camp. Or a village. Come on.’

  They set off towards the lights and half an hour later they were close enough for Jack to make out at least forty campfires spread out across the valley floor.

  He halted. ‘We need to be careful. There could be sentries about.’

  Rao nodded. ‘You think it’s our savages?’

  ‘Could be.’

  ‘Who else could it be?’

  Jack shrugged. ‘Maybe there are other tribes around.’

  ‘Other tribes? Those savages have been following us for days. It must be them.’

  ‘I’m not so sure about that. Those savages we fought a few days ago – they weren’t wearing the white skull, were they?’

  ‘Weren’t they?’

  ‘No. I saw one of them.’

  ‘So, they were a different tribe, you think?’

  ‘Maybe. Tribes usually stick to their own areas. I reckon we’ve left the lands of one group and then come across this next lot.’

  Rao stared into the dark, his eyes reflecting the distant firelight. ‘Just our luck.’

  ‘We need some cover if we’re going to get closer. I reckon we’ll still find woods over there.’ He pointed to the mountainside on the right side of the valley. It was impossible to make out the slope clearly, but from what he’d seen earlier he was certain the forest extended this far.

  They ran across the grass and the black presence of the mountain loomed ahead, traces of snow illuminating its peak. As they drew closer, Jack spotted the dark, jagged lines of fir trees.

  He led the way into the woods and followed a rough animal track as it wound along the base of the mountain. The forest was silent save for the distant hooting of an owl and the rattle of dry branches in the wind.

  After twenty minutes, he clambered up a tree and saw that the campfires were now only three hundred yards away. He slid back to the ground and led Rao to a nearby ridge that was free of trees. They crouched behind a mass of tangled brambles and stared across the valley. The campfires were clearly visible and Jack could make out dim figures moving about the flames.

  Rao peered through the glass. ‘It’s them. I can see a white skull.’

  Jack took the glass and bright flames immediately leapt up in front of him. He moved the glass around until he saw savages sitting warming themselves before a fire, their faces tinted yellow and their eyes dark beads in their bearded faces. He searched further, discovering more fires and more savages. He spied the tall man in the mail shirt strutting across the camp. And finally he found what he was looking for.

  Saleem, Parihar and the two Saxons.

  They all sat together near the centre
of the camp. Jack couldn’t see their faces clearly, but Saleem’s ginger hair and Parihar’s scarlet turban were unmistakeable.

  ‘Found them.’ Jack handed the glass back to Rao. ‘In the middle of the camp.’

  Rao stared through the glass. ‘I see them.’ He looked at Jack, a tight smile on his lips and moisture in his eyes. ‘Alive. Poor Parihar.’

  As far as Jack was concerned Parihar was an idiot. But he understood how the Captain must be feeling. ‘You know him well?’

  ‘Parihar?’ Rao cleared his throat and his voice shook slightly. ‘Yes. Since we were children.’

  ‘Ah. I didn’t realise. Don’t worry. We’ll get them back—’ Jack froze mid-sentence. His heart quivered. He stared into the trees off to the left.

  ‘What is it?’ Rao asked.

  Jack put his finger to his lips and pointed to where a dark figure was slipping slowly between two wizened birches. As the shape left the shadow beneath one tree, Jack could see it was draped in a large cloak and carried a spear.

  A savage was moving stealthily through the undergrowth not more than ten yards away.

  14

  ‘Shiva,’ Rao whispered. ‘You think he’s seen us?’

  Jack stared at the dim figure. ‘Not sure. Stay still.’

  The savage slid behind a fir tree and paused for around a minute. Then he sneaked forward towards a clump of bushes.

  Jack kept low behind the brambles. He could hear Rao’s shivery breath next to him. He hadn’t had time to reload his pistol yet – he’d been in too much of a hurry to keep up with the savages. If they were attacked, he would grab Rao’s firearm. He didn’t trust the Captain to shoot straight.

  The savage paused behind the bushes, crept uphill a couple of feet, then squatted beneath a tree. He sat there for at least ten minutes. Jack’s knee ached, but he didn’t dare move into a more comfortable position.

  Finally, the savage stood quickly and flitted away into the dark like a sprite.

  Rao breathed out. ‘What was that about?’

  ‘Think he was just scouting around. We’ll have to be careful. There could be plenty more about.’

  Rao shivered and glanced into the black mesh of the woods. The wind rustled the branches overhead.

  ‘It’ll be too dangerous to go down there now.’ Jack gestured to the camp. ‘We could be spotted.’

  ‘What should we do, then?’

  ‘We’ll have to wait until morning. Then keep following.’

  ‘Keep following? That’s your plan?’

  ‘You got a better one?’

  Rao pursed his lips, but didn’t reply.

  Jack led the way uphill. He crept as silently as he could and from time to time stopped and listened for the telltale sounds of someone following. He heard nothing, but this reassured him less than it might have. The savage he’d seen earlier had moved stealthily through the forest. The man clearly knew this countryside well. He’d probably spent his whole life hunting and tracking in woodland like this.

  Jack reached a moss-covered boulder that bulged out of the slope. At the base of the rock was a hollow that would provide a small amount of shelter. It was the best place he’d seen to make camp. And what was more, when he turned, he could see the savages’ fires below through a gap in the trees.

  ‘We’ll stop here,’ he said.

  Rao frowned. ‘Here?’

  Jack rubbed his chin. The hollow didn’t offer much protection from the elements, and they couldn’t risk lighting a fire.

  He hunted around nearby, found a few fallen branches and propped them against the boulder to form a simple bivouac. Then he grasped armfuls of leaves and twigs and laid them across the branches. He glanced at Rao at one point and saw the Captain just standing there in the shadows, fidgeting with his handkerchief.

  Jack knew there was no point asking Rao to help. The Captain would never have camped without an enormous tent and would never have so much as sullied his hands to collect firewood.

  Once he’d finished, Jack slapped his hands together to dust them. He nodded at the bivouac. ‘There you go.’

  Rao pressed his handkerchief to his nose and breathed in sharply. ‘Wonderful.’

  They both clambered in and sat in the mottled darkness. The scent of wet leaves and fresh earth hung about them. Rao looked around with his face twisted, as if he’d been forced to eat excrement. He put his hand on the ground, then lifted it again and shook off the dirt. He tried resting his other hand against the boulder, but he pulled it back when it touched the moist moss.

  Jack fumbled in the knapsack and pulled out the bag of dry rations. He stuck a biscuit in his mouth and offered the bag to Rao, who crinkled his nose in disgust and turned his head away.

  ‘Suit yourself.’ Jack took a bite of the hard, flavourless biscuit and softened it with a swig of water from the canteen.

  If Rao wanted to starve himself, he was welcome to.

  Rao sniffed and stared at the distant lights, hugging his knees to his chest. He looked so utterly miserable Jack even felt sorry for him for a moment.

  ‘You have to eat something.’ Jack offered Rao the bag again. ‘Look, I’m not even touching them.’

  ‘What’s your name?’ Rao’s voice was sharp.

  Jack chewed his biscuit. Rao didn’t know his name? He hadn’t thought about it, but of course there’d been no need for the Captain to know anything about him. Jack had been just one of a hundred porters.

  He put the biscuit on his knee, wiped his hand on his hose and offered it to Rao. ‘Jack.’

  Rao looked at the hand and frowned.

  ‘It’s our custom,’ Jack said. ‘It’s a greeting. We shake hands.’

  Rao tightened his lips and took a sniff through his handkerchief.

  Jack snorted and took away his hand. ‘Fine.’ He picked up the biscuit and bit into it. ‘Don’t touch me, then.’

  Why was he even wasting time talking to Rao? The Captain was just a temporary ally.

  He shot a look at the satchel, which the Captain still kept pressed beside him. Jack would have to find out what was in that bag. But not now. First he had to free Saleem, and he still needed Rao’s help with that.

  ‘I will have a biscuit,’ Rao said.

  ‘Changed your mind, have you?’ Jack tossed over the bag.

  Rao gingerly slid open the drawstring, sniffed the contents, wrinkled his face and finally pulled out a biscuit. He winced, shut his eyes and took a bite. He chewed for a few seconds, opened his eyes, and gulped some water to help wash the biscuit down. He took another bite.

  ‘Not so bad when you’re hungry, are they?’ Jack slipped another biscuit from the bag and munched on it.

  ‘Can’t believe I’m eating this.’ Rao sighed. ‘Guess I’m so polluted now it hardly matters.’

  ‘You need to forget about pollution and all that. We’re stuck out in the wilds.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right. I’ll have to go through weeks of blessings when we get back, no matter what I do now.’

  ‘Weeks? Seems a long time.’

  ‘That’s the way it works. No other Rajthanans will come near me until I’m pure again.’

  Jack knew something of the Rajthanans’ complex purity-and-pollution customs, but little of the detail. ‘Can’t say I understand all that.’

  ‘No, I suppose not. No need for you to. You’re a native. Things are more simple for you.’

  Simple? Was living like a slave in your own country simple? But Jack didn’t bother contradicting Rao. The Captain was fresh from Rajthana and had no idea what life was like for ordinary English men and women. There was no point trying to explain it to him.

  They chewed in silence and drank the remainder of the water.

  ‘I’ll keep first watch,’ Jack said. ‘You sleep.’

  Rao untied his turban, sweeping the material around and around his head and then folding it neatly and placing it in his satchel. His head – with its short bob of hair pulled back into a knot – looked naked and ex
posed without its covering.

  ‘I can’t believe I’m going to sleep without doing my puja,’ Rao said. ‘I can’t believe I’m not even going to brush my teeth.’

  Jack handed over a blanket. ‘Never brushed my teeth once in my life.’

  ‘Shiva.’ Rao lay back and pulled the blanket over himself. ‘I really have come to the end of the earth.’

  Rao rolled on to his side, while Jack stayed up, wrapped in his own blanket.

  The scent of sandalwood, rose and other perfumed oils permeated the bivouac. Jack had smelt this many times before – the Rajthanans constantly coated themselves in ointments and lotions. They rubbed their hair with a concoction they called ‘champoo’ and they had the odd notion that you should wash yourself entirely every day.

  It was a strange situation. Jack had never slept in close proximity to a Rajthanan. It was unthinkable. Even when Jhala had led Jack’s platoon across the wilderness, he’d always slept apart from his troops. And Jhala had been closer to his men than most officers.

  Rao shifted, the leaves beneath him crunching.

  It must be an even stranger situation for the Captain. Lost somewhere in a world of savages.

  Jack stared out at the glinting fires. How was he going to rescue Saleem? He’d tried to sound confident in front of Rao, but he had no idea how they were going to do it.

  He shouldn’t have let Saleem come along. He’d said no at first, but then he’d wavered. Even back in the gorge, when they were under attack, he should have insisted Saleem go with Robert.

  Damn it.

  Then he sighed. There was no point in dwelling on this now.

  Rao breathed slowly and deeply. He seemed to be asleep.

  Good. Maybe he’d run faster tomorrow if he got a good rest. If he couldn’t keep up, he would become a liability. And in that case, Jack would have to leave him behind.

  Jack reached around for the knapsack. He was finally going to clean out the pistol as best he could. But then a shaft of pain impaled his chest. He shut his eyes and tried to wait it out, but it quickly grew worse. He gasped and lay back. His eyes flashed white and he gritted his teeth. He didn’t think he could bear the torture for much longer.