by Collen Houck
To be blunt, he was gorgeous. He was as beautiful a man as he was a tiger.
I trusted my tiger, but could I trust the man? I warily eyed him from the edge of the rickety bed, my doubts obvious on my face. He was patient, allowing me to boldly study him, and even seemed amused, as if he could read my thoughts.
I finally broke the silence, “Well…Ren.I’m listening.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger then slid his hand up through his silky black hair, mussing it in a distractingly attractive way. Dropping his hand to his lap, he looked at me
thoughtfully from under thick eyelashes.
“Ah, Kelsey. Where do I begin? There’s so much I need to tell you, but I don’t even know where to start.”
His voice was quiet, refined, and genial, and I found myself mesmerized by it. He spoke English very well with just a slight accent, a honeyed voice—the kind that sends a girl off into wistful daydreams. I shook off my reaction and caught him scrutinizingme with his cobalt blue eyes. There was a tangible connection between us. I didn’t know if it was simple attraction or something else. His presence was…unsettling. I tried looking away from him to calm myself, but I ended up twisting my hands and staring at my feet, which were tapping the bamboo floor with jittery energy.
When I looked back at his face, the side of his mouth was turned up in a smirk and one of his eyebrows was raised.
I cleared my throat weakly. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“Is it that hard to sit still and listen?”
“No. You just make me nervous, that’s all.”
“You weren’t nervous around me before.”
“Well, you don’t look the same as you did before. You can’t expect me to behave the same way around you now.”
“Kelsey, try to relax. I would never harm you.”
“Okay…I’ll sit on my hands. Is that better?”
He laughed.
Whoa…even his laugh is magnetic.
“Keeping still is something I had to learn while being a tiger. A tiger must lie motionless for long periods
of time. It requires patience…and for this explanation you will need some.”
He stretched his powerful shoulders and then reached up to pull on the string of an apron hanging from a
hook. He twisted it around his finger unconsciously and said, “I have to explain things to you rather quickly. I only have a few minutes of each day when I can take human form, to be exact—only twenty-four minutes of each twenty-four-hour day. So, because I’ll change into a tiger again soon, I want
to make the most of my time with you. Will you let me have these few minutes, Kelsey?”
I took a deep breath. “Yes. I want to hear your explanation. Please go on.”
“Do you remember the story of Prince Dhiren that Mr. Kadam told you at the circus?”
“Yes, I remember. Wait…are you saying—”
“That story was mostly accurate. I’m the same Dhiren that he spoke of. I was the emperor of the Mujulaain Empire. It’s true that I was betrayed by my brother and fiancée, but the end of the story is a fabrication. I wasnot killed, as many people have been led to believe. My brother and I were cursed and changed into tigers. Mr. Kadam has kept our secret all of these years. Please don’t blame him for bringing you here. It was my fault. You see…Ineed you, Kelsey.”
My mouth was dry, and I found myself leaning forward, barely sitting on the edge of the bed. I almost fell off. I quickly cleared my throat and readjusted my position on the bed, hoping he hadn’t noticed.
“Uh…what do you mean youneed me?”
“Mr. Kadam and I believe you are the one who’s able to break the curse. Somehow, you’ve already freed me from captivity.”
“But, I didn’t free you. Mr. Kadam’s the one who purchased your freedom.”
“No. Mr. Kadam was unable to purchase my freedom until you came along. When I was captured, I was no longer able to change into my human form or gain my freedom until something, or should I say someone , special came along. That someone special was you.”
He’d curled the apron string around his finger, and I watched as he unwound it and began again. My eyes drifted back up to his face. It was turned toward the window. He appeared calm and serene, but I recognized underpinnings of sadness hidden from view. The sun shone through the window, and the curtain blew slightly in the breeze, causing sunlight and shadow to dance across his face.
I stammered, “Okay, what do you needme for? What do I have to do?”
He turned back to me and continued, “We came to this hut for a reason. The man who lives here is a shaman, a monk, and he’s the one who can explain your role in all this. He wouldn’t share anything further until we found you and brought you here. Even I don’t know why you are the one who is chosen.
This man also insists that he must speak with you and me alone. That’s why Mr. Kadam was left behind.”
He leaned forward. “Kelsey, will you stay here with me until he returns and at least hear what he has to say? If you decide afterward that you wish to leave and return home, Mr. Kadam will arrange it for you.”
I stared at the door. “Dhiren—”
“Please call me Ren.”
I blushed. “Okay…Ren. Your explanation is…overwhelming. I don’t know what to say.” I watched emotions flit across his handsome face. “Alright…I’ll wait and meet your monk, but I’m hot, sweaty, hungry, tired, in need of a good bath, and frankly, I’m not sure I even trust you. I don’t think I could take
another night sleeping in the jungle.”
He sighed in relief as he smiled at me. It was like the sun bursting through a raincloud. His smile filled me
with golden bright happy rays. I wanted to close my eyes and bask in the warm glow.
“Thank you, Kelsey. I’m sorry that this part of the journey was uncomfortable for you. Mr. Kadam and I had adisagreement about luring you into the jungle. He thought we should just tell you the truth, but I wasn’t sure if you would come. I thought that if you spent a little more time with me, you would come to
trust me, and I could reveal who I was in my own way. That was what we were arguing about when you saw us by the truck.”
“So thatwas you! Youshould have told me the truth. Mr. Kadam was right. We could have avoided the entire jungle hike and driven here.”
He sighed. “No. We would’ve had to cross through the jungle anyway. There’s no way to drive into the sanctuary this deeply by car. The man who lives here prefers it that way.”
I crossed my arms and muttered, “Well, youstill should have told me.”
He grinned. “You know sleeping outdoors isn’tall bad. You get to stare up at the stars and cool breezes ruffle your fur after a hot day. The grass smells sweet and…” He made eye contact with me, “so does your hair.”
I blushed and grumbled, “Well, I’m gladsomeone enjoyed it.”
He smiled smugly and said, “Idid .”
I had a quick flash of him as a man snuggled up to next to me in the forest and imagined him resting his head on my lap while I stroked his hair and decided to focus on the matter at hand.
“Well, listen,Ren , you’re changing the subject. I don’t appreciate the way you manipulated me into being here. Mr. Kadam should’ve told me at the circus.”
He shook his head. “We didn’t think you’d believe his story. He made up the trip to the tiger reserve to get you to India. We figured once you were here, I could change into a man and clarify everything.”
I admitted, “You’re probably right. If you had changed to a man there…I don’t think I would have come.”
“Whydid you come?”
“I wanted to spend more time with…you…you know, the tiger. I would have missed him…I mean you.”
I blushed.
He grinned lopsidedly. “I would have missed you too.”
I wrung the hem of my shirt between my hands.
Misreading my thoughts, h
e said, “Kelsey…I’mtruly sorry for the deception. If there’d been any other way…”
I looked up. He hung his head in a way that reminded me of the tiger. The frustration and awkwardness I felt about him dissipated. My instincts told me that I should believe himand help him. The strong, emotional connection that drew me to the tiger tugged at my heart even more powerfully with the man. I felt pity for him and his situation.
I softly asked, “When will you change back into a tiger?”
“Soon.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not as much as it used to.”
“Do you understand me when you are a tiger? Can I still speak to you?”
“Yes, I’ll still be able to hear and understand you.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll stay here with you until the man comes back. I still have a lot of questions for you though.”
“I know. I’ll try to answer them as best I can, but you’ll have to save them for tomorrow when I’ll be able to speak with you again. We can stay here for the night. The man should be back around dusk.”
“Ren?”
“Yes?”
“The jungle frightens me, and thissituation frightens me.”
He let go of the apron string and looked into my eyes. “I know.”
“Ren?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t…leave me, okay?”
His face softened into a tender expression, and his mouth turned up in a sincere smile, “Asambhava…I won’t.”
I felt myself responding to his smile with one of my own when a shadow fell across his face. He clenched
his fists and tightened his jaw. I saw a tremor pass through his body, and the chair fell forward as he collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees. I stood to reach out to him and was amazed to see his body morph back into the tiger form I knew so well. Ren the tiger shook himself, then approached my outstretched hand and rubbed his head against it.
CHAPTER 9
I sat on the edge of the bed thinking about what Ren had shared with me. Looking at the tiger now, I thought, or perhaps hoped, that I might’ve actually imagined everything.
“Maybe the jungle is causing me to hallucinate. Is all this real? Is there really a person in there?”
He’d stretched out on the floor and was resting his head on his paws. Raising his head, he looked at me with his gorgeous blue eyes for a long moment, and I knew that I had to accept that this was real.
Ren had said that the man who lived here wouldn’t be back until dusk, which was still several hours away. The bed looked inviting. A nap would be nice, but I was filthy. I decided that a bath was the first order of business. Seeing no obvious faucet near the tub, I examined it closer and discovered a plug. A flexible tube connected to the drainage hole and disappeared under the house through a hole in the floor.
I found a large bucket that I could fill using the water pump in the kitchen.
There was no toilet in the house, so I wandered around outside and found an outhouse. On my way back, I saw the tubing from the bathtub. It came out under the house and ended down in the garden.
“Hmm…that’s very efficient. I’d better not use too much soap then.”
Looking through my backpacks, I couldn’t find any soap, so I searched the man’s kitchen and found a homemade bar. The sweet-smelling herbal soap with a lemony sage fragrance even had green, leafy fragments imbedded in the bar.
Happy with my find, I began the arduous task of pumping water into the bucket. It looked easier on television than it was in real life. I thought my arms were going to fall off after only three buckets, but I pushed through the ache knowing how good a bath would feel. My tired arms convinced me that a half bath was more than adequate. I kicked off my tennis shoes and started to unbutton my shirt. I got about halfway down when I suddenly realized that I had an audience. I held my shirt together and turned around to find Ren watching me.
“Some gentleman you are. You were as being quiet as a mouse on purpose, weren’t you? Well, I don’t think so, Mister. You better sit outside until I’m done with my bath. Go…keep watch or something.”
I opened the door for him, and he lazily dragged his body outside. Quickly undressing, I stepped into the
tepid water and began scrubbing away at my dirty skin. After soaping through my hair as best I could and rinsing myself off with the extra bucket of water I’d set to the side, I wrapped a towel around myself and stood there for a moment, thinking,What have I gotten myself into? Why didn’t Mr. Kadam tell me any of this? What are they expecting me to do? How long am I going to be stuck in the jungle in India?
Questions were whirling around in my mind, displacing any coherent thoughts, and tossing them into the
spinning cyclone of confusion. Giving up trying to make sense of it all, I climbed out, dried off, got dressed, and opened the door for Ren. He’d been lying against the door with his back pressed up against it.
“Okay, you can come back in now. I’m decent.”
He wandered back in while I sat on the bed cross-legged, and began combing the tangles out of my hair.
“Well, Ren, I’ll sure be giving Mr. Kadam a piece of my mind after we get out of here. You’re not off the hook yet either, by the way. I have so many questions for you that need to be answered that your head is going to spin, so you’d better prepare yourself.”
Putting my comb back in the backpack, I braided my hair and tied a green ribbon around the tail to hold the braid in place. Tucking my arms behind my head, I lay down on the pillow and stared up at the bamboo ceiling. Ren put his head on the mattress near mine and looked at me with an apologetic tiger expression.
I laughed and patted his head, awkwardly at first, but he leaned in so I could scratch his ear. I overcame my shyness quickly.
“It’s fine, Ren. I’m not mad, really. I just wish you two had trusted me more.”
He licked my hand and lay down on the floor to rest. I turned on my side to watch him. I must have drifted off to sleep because when I opened my eyes it was dark in the hut except for a lantern glowing softly in the kitchen. Seated at the table was an old man.
I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, shocked that I’d slept so long. The man was busy picking the leaves off several plants spread out on the table. I stood up, and he beckoned me closer.
“Hallo…little lady. You sleep long time…very tired, very, very tired.”
I walked to the table, and Ren got up too and followed me. He yawned, arched his back, and stretched himself one leg at a time. He padded after me to sit at my feet.
“Here. You hungry? Eat. Good food for you, hmmm?” He smacked his lips, “Very tast-ey.”
The little man stood up and scooped some aromatic, herby vegetable stew out of a bubbling pot that he’d left resting on the wood stove. He added a piece of warm flatbread, placing it in the bowl so that it rested along the edge, and came back to the table.
Pushing the bowl toward me, he nodded satisfactorily and then sat down and continued stripping the leaves from the plants.
The stew smelled heavenly, especially after eating energy bars for a day and a half. There wasn’t any silverware, so I used my bread as a scoop.
“What your name…little lady?”
“Kelsey,” I mumbled, as I chewed.
“Kahl-see. You have good name…strong.”
“Thank you for the food. It’s delicious!”
He grunted in response and waved his hand dismissively.
I asked him, “What’s your name?”
“My name…uh…too immense. You call me Phet.”
Phet was a small, brown, wrinkly man with a crown of gray wiry hair circling the back of his head. His shiny baldpate reflected the light of the lamp. He was dressed in a roughly woven, grayish-green wrap and sandals. The material was wound around his scrawny arms, and his bare legs stuck out from his knobby knees down. The sarong was thrown over his shoulder haphazardly, and I was surprised the flimsy garment even s
tayed on his thin frame.
“Phet, I’m sorry to barge into your home. Ren led me here. You see—”
“Ah, Ren, your tiger. Yes, Phet be acquainted with why you here. Anik say you and Ren coming, so, I go Suki Lake today for…” he scrunched up his face searching for the right word then found it, “
preparation.”
I swallowed another mouthful of stew as he brought me a cup of water, then asked, “Who is Anik?
Oh…Mr. Kadam. He told you we were coming?”
“Yes, yes. Kadam tell Phet.”
He pushed aside his plants, making room on the corner of the table, and then picked up a little cage that had an exquisite tiny red bird inside and set it there.
“Birds at Suki Lake are many, but this bird largely extraordinary.”
He leaned over, clicked his tongue at the bird, and waggled his finger next to the cage. He started humming and spoke to it gaily in his native language.
Turning his attention back to me, he said, “Phet linger all day capture. Bird sing be-u-ti-full song.”
“Will he sing for us?”
“Who is knowing? Sometime birdnever sing, whole lifetime. Only sing if special parson. Kahl-see is special parson?”
He laughed uproariously like he’d made a fantastic joke.
“Phet, what is the bird called?”
“He is Durga’s hatchling.”
I finished my stew and set the bowl to the side.
“Who is Durga?”
He grinned. “Ah…Durga be-u-ti-full goddess, and Phet,” he gestured to himself, “is willing low servant.
Bird sing for Durga…and one special wooman.”
He picked up his leaves again and continued working.
“So you are a priest of Durga?”
“Priest edify other citizens. Phet exist alone. Serve alone.”
“Do you like to be alone?”
“Alone is reasoned mind, hear things, see things. Added people is too many voice.”
He had a good point. I don’t mind being alone either. The only problem is, if you’re always alone, you get lonely.“Hmm…your bird is very beautiful.”
He nodded and worked quietly.
“May I help you with the leaves?”