Tiger's Curse

by Collen Houck

  Lurid phantoms thwart your route

  And guardians wait to bar your way

  Beware once they begin pursuit

  Embrace in moldering decay

  But all of these you can refute

  As serpents find forbidden fruit

  And India’s hunger satisfy

  Lest all her people surely die

  “Mr. Kadam, what’s Hanuman’s realm?”

  “I’ve been researching that. Hanuman is the monkey god. Hisrealm is said to be Kishkindha or the Monkey Kingdom. There is great debate as to where Kishkindha was located, but the current thought is that the ruins of Hampi are most likely to be on, or near, ancient Kishkindha.”

  I pulled out a book from the stack on the table that had detailed maps of India. I found Hampi in the index and thumbed through the pages. It was located in the bottom half of India in the southwestern region. “Does that mean we have to go there and find a branch?”

  Mr. Kadam said, “I believe what you will be seeking is actually the forbidden fruit.”

  “As in Adam and Eve? Is that the forbidden fruit you’re talking about?”

  Mr. Kadam considered, “I don’t think so. Fruit is a common enough mythological prize, symbolic of life.

  People need to eat, and we depend upon the fruits of the ground for sustenance. Often, different cultures of the earth celebrate fruit and/or the harvest in a variety of ways. Plums and cherries are very important in Asian mythology. The pomegranate is important to the Persians, at Roman weddings, and for many of the cultures of India. Hercules had to obtain the golden apples of Hera for one of his tasks, and Persephone ate three pomegranate seeds and had to stay with Hades to be his bride.”

  I responded, “Yes…Americans celebrate the harvest at Thanksgiving and display a cornucopia, there’s Adam and Eve, the Greeks have olives and grape leaves, which are used for the Olympics. Are there any stories in India regarding famous fruits?”

  “I’m not sure, Miss Kelsey. I’ll have to look more into that, but offhand, there’s nothing I can think of.”

  He smiled at me and put his nose back into his translations. I decided to leave him alone for the time being. Picking up a few books on Indian culture and history, I made my way over to a cozy chair and sat down to read. I reached over to grab a couple of lap pillows to prop up my book and pulled the switch on the lamp next to my chair. Ren hopped off the stool and curled up at my feet…actually on top of my feet, keeping them toasty and warm while Mr. Kadam continued to research at his desk. I felt like I was back in my parents’ library again. It felt good and…naturalto sit and relax with these two men, even though they were affected byunnatural elements. My foster family didn’t like to read much. The only thing

  they loved to do together was exercise.

  I reached down to scratch Ren behind his ear, and he purred contentedly but didn’t open his eyes. Then I shot a smile over at Mr. Kadam, even though he didn’t see it. I felt happy and complete like…like I belonged again.

  Setting aside my musings, I found a chapter about Hanuman and began to read.

  He is a Hindu god, who is the personification of devotion and great physical strength. He served his lord

  Rama by going to Lanka to find Rama’s wife Sita.

  Phew…too many names.

  He found that she had been captured by the Lanka king named Ravana. There was a great battle between Rama and Ravana, and, during that time, Rama’s brother fell ill. Hanuman went to the Himalayan Mountains to seek an herb to help heal him, but he couldn’t identify the herb, so, instead, he brought back the entire mountain.

  I wonder how he moved the mountain exactly. I hope we don’t have to do that.

  He was made immortal and invincible. Hanuman is half human and half ape and is faster, quicker, and mightier than all other apes. The son of a wind god, Hanuman is still worshiped today by many Hindus who sing his hymns and celebrate his birth every year.

  Strong ape-man, mountain moving, and singing. Got it.

  It was still the middle of the night, and I was feeling warm and tired despite my long sleep earlier. I set my book down and, with Ren still curled at my toes, dozed for a while.

  I left Mr. Kadam alone most of the next day, encouraging him to get some sleep. He’d stayed up all night, so I tried to move through the house quietly. Later that afternoon, Mr. Kadam visited me on the terrace. We sat down and he smiled at me.

  “Miss Kelsey, how are you faring? These burdens you’re facing must weigh very heavily on you, especially now that we know we have more to do.”

  “I’m okay, really. What’s a little bug juice between friends?”

  He smiled, but then his expression became serious again. “If you ever feel pushedtoo far …I just…don’t

  want to endanger you. You have become very important to me.”

  “It’s alright, Mr. Kadam. Don’t worry. This is what I was born to do, right? Besides, Ren needs my help. If I don’t help him, he’ll be stuck as a tiger forever.”

  He smiled and patted my hand. “You’re a very brave and courageous young lady…a finer lady I haven’t

  met in a long, long time. I hope Ren sees how lucky he is.”

  I blushed and looked out at the pool.

  He continued, “From what I have gathered so far, we need to go to Hampi next. That distance is entirely too far for the two of you to go alone. I will accompany you on the journey. We’ll leave at first light tomorrow. I want you to rest as much as you can today. You still have a few hours of daylight left. You should relax, perhaps take a swim. Do something for yourself.”

  After he left, I thought about what he’d said. A swimwould relax me. Changing into a swimsuit that had been left in my drawer, I grabbed a towel and walked down to the pool. Opening the cabinet alongside, I found several pool items including a towel warmer, goggles, swim caps, and sunscreen. I slathered sunscreen over me as best I could and dove into the cool water.

  I swam several laps and then flipped over on my back and looked up at the palm trees. They towered over the pool, and I lazily floated in and out of their shade. The sun had dipped down to tree level, so it wasn’t shining directly on me anymore, but the air was still warm and pleasant. I heard a noise coming from the side of the pool and saw Ren lying at the edge watching me swim.

  I ducked under the surface, swam up close to where he was, and then popped out of the water. “Hey, Ren.” I splashed him and laughed. He just harrumphed at me, blowing out some air.

  “Come on. Don’t want to play, huh? Okay, suit yourself.” I swam several more laps and finally decided I’d better go in because my fingers looked pruney and wrinkled. I wrapped a towel around my body and hair and made my way up the steps. Ren followed along behind me into my room.

  After showering, I emerged from the bathroom to see Ren lying on the floor near my bed. I jumped up on my bed and found a silvery blue rose on my pillow. Crushing it to my nose, I inhaled the sweet fragrance deeply and flipped over on my stomach to look at the tiger on side of my bed.

  “Thank you, Ren. It’s beautiful!” I kissed him on the top of his furry head, scratched him behind the ears,

  and laughed as he leaned into the scratch. “Would you like me to read you some moreRomeo and Juliet

  ?” He lifted a paw and placed it on my leg.

  I laughed, “I guess that means yes. Okay, let’s see…where were we? Ah, Act II, Scene III, we’d just finished the balcony scene. Enter Friar Lawrence and then Romeo.”

  Right after Romeo killed Tybalt and said, “‘O, I am fortune’s fool!’” Ren spoke. I hadn’t seen him change. He was still sitting on the floor, turned away from me, resting his back against the bed.

  He said, “Romeowas a fool. He shouldn’t have killed Juliet’s kinsman.”

  I countered, “But, remember, he’d tried to stop Tybalt from fighting and was attempting to make up with

  him. Tybalt wouldn’t allow it and killed Mercutio.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Even after
Mercutio was killed, Romeo still had a choice. He could have walked away and still had Juliet.”

  I grinned. “What makes you think hedoesn’t get Juliet?”

  His face looked incredulous. “She wouldn’t accept himnow . Not after he killed her kinsman!”

  “Hmm…we’ll see.”

  “His big mistake is not announcing the marriage. He should have told both families. That would have stopped all these events from happening.”

  “But what if their families tried to prevent the marriage?”

  “Fine…then marry in secret, but immediately announce it.”

  “Uh…I think, technically, they still could’ve broken up the marriage.”

  “How?”

  I sputtered awkwardly, “Umm…during that time…people made a big deal about the marriage being…you know…consummated.”

  He turned to look at me, and my face burned bright red with embarrassment. He raised an eyebrow and said, “Hmm… interesting. Still not a problem though. Romeo should have been more responsible and taken care of anyobstacles that would have hindered the union.”

  He turned his back toward me again, stared out the window, and said softly, “Keeping the marriage a secret will ruin Romeo. Secrets like that can be the downfall ofany man. Secrets are often more destructive than the sword.” Ren sat there quietly, wrapped in his own thoughts.

  I asked, “Shall I continue?”

  “Please.”

  I repositioned myself to sit up against the headboard and pulled a pillow on my lap. He changed back into a tiger and leapt up onto the foot of the bed.It said a lot about the quality of the box spring when the bed did not make a peep of protest as Ren’s five hundred pound tiger body jumped on it. He stretched out at the bottom of the huge mattress and lay on his side. I started reading again. Every time I read something he didn’t like, he flicked his tail in annoyance.

  “Quit twitching, Ren! You’re tickling my toes!”

  That statement only inspired him to do it more. When I got to the end of the play where it read, “‘Never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo,’” I closed the book and peeked at Ren to see if he was still awake. He was, and he’d changed back to a man again. He was still lying on his side at the foot of the bed. He sat up slightly and propped his head up with his arm.

  I asked, “What did you think? Were you surprised at the ending?”

  He considered his answer, “Yes and no. Romeo made bad decisions throughout the entire play. He was more worried about himself than his wife. He didn’t deserve her. She remained devoted to him despite his murdering her kinsman. He should’ve taken her with him when he was banished.”

  I said, “I guess he figured that it was no place for a lady to live. Ladies were coddled a bit back then, and they didn’t have a lot of options. They were not given in marriage to men who couldn’t provide for them. If I were Juliet, I would’ve run away with him for sure, but, in her society, it just wasn’t done.”

  “Perhaps. But, again, if he’d told people that they were married, the prince might have allowed him to stay, or would, at the very least, have accommodated his new wife. Even if he shared the secret with only

  the prince, he likely could have avoided the calamity.”

  “Does the ending bother you that much? Most people focus on the romance of it, which usually gives the

  reader more of an emotional response and adds sharpness to the tragic conclusion. I’m sorry if you didn’t like it.”

  His thoughtful faced brightened. “On the contrary, I quite enjoyed it. I haven’t had someone to talk with about plays or poetry in…well, since my parents. I used to write poetry myself, in fact.”

  I replied softly, “Me too.”

  We stared at each other for about a minute. His handsome face lit up in a warm smile, and I suddenly became preoccupied with a string on my sleeve.

  He hopped off the bed, picked up my hand, and bowed deeply over it. “Perhaps I will read some of my poetry toyou next time.”

  He flipped my hand over and pressed a soft, lingering kiss on my palm. His eyes twinkled with mischief.

  “I leave you with a holy palmer’s kiss. Good night, Kelsey.”

  He quietly closed the door behind him, and I tugged the covers up to my chin. My palm still tingled where he’d kissed it. I smelled my rose again, smiled, and tucked it into the arrangement on my dresser.

  Wiggling under my covers, I fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 13

  The next morning I got up and found a backpack half full by my door with a note from Mr. Kadam. It said that I should pack about three or four days’ worth of clothes and include my swimsuit.

  The swimsuit, hung overnight, was dry now. I tossed it in my bag, included a towel for good measure, piled the rest of my things on top of that, and made my way downstairs. Mr. Kadam and Ren were already in the Jeep waiting for me. I bustled quickly out the door and hopped in.

  Mr. Kadam handed me a breakfast bar and a bottle of juice and sped off as soon as my seatbelt clicked.

  “What’s the hurry?”

  He answered, “Ren has added a detour to our trip and would like to stop off somewhere on the way.

  The plan is…I will be dropping the two of you off for a few days and return to pick you up later. After that, we will proceed to Hampi.”

  “What kind of a detour?”

  “Ren would prefer to explain it to you himself.”

  “Hmm.”

  I looked at his face and knew that, no matter how I wheedled him, he would not be divulging any details.

  I decided to set aside my curiosity about the future and focus on the past instead.

  “Tell me more about yourself, Mr. Kadam.”

  “What would you like to know, Miss Kelsey?”

  “Well, how about you tell me what your life was like growing up and then go from there.”

  “Alright…let me see. I was born twenty-two years before Ren in 1635 in June. I was an only child born in a military family of the Kshatriya caste. So, it was natural for me to be trained to enter the military.”

  “What’s a Kshatriya caste?”

  “The caste system of India is very similar to the feudalism of Europe in the Middle Ages. The plague, or

  the Black Death, put a halt to the practice in Europe. But, unfortunately for India, the caste system, though officially outlawed for the last fifty years or so, is still practiced in certain areas of the country.”

  “By feudalism, you mean lords, serfs, and peasants, right?”

  “Yes. India has four castes or varnas. The Brahmins—who are teachers, priests, and scholars. The Kshatriyas—who are rulers and protectors. This was the class that Ren and I were born into, albeit on different levels. The Vaishyas—who are farmers and traders. And the Shudras—who are craft workers and servants.”

  “So there are different levels in each caste?”

  “That is correct. Ren was born in the royal family, which puts him at the top level of the Kshatriya caste,

  while I was born into the bottom level of the same caste, to a soldier father. There is another group that was originally the lower part of the Shudras caste, which were split off and called the Untouchables.”

  “Why were they called untouchable?”

  “They were deemed untouchable because they did jobs that were considered unclean or participated in activities that were polluting. For example, people who had to end life, such as a fisherman or a rancher who killed animals for meat, were considered a part of that caste. People who did laundry or cleaned for others were thought to take the filth of other men into themselves. These people often had to labor at night, so they weren’t seen by other people. They weren’t allowed to enter temples or schools or even drink water from the same wells.”

  “What if you fell in love with someone from another caste? Like if you, a soldier, wanted to marry an artist?”

  “It wouldn’t have happened. People of different castes never mingled with one anothe
r during any part of their life. Their entire life was lived within their own group to prevent that from ever happening.”

  “Was your wife from the same caste as you?”

  “It was easier for me to continue my role as a retired soldier who was highly favored by the king, so the answer is yes. We were married in the eighteenth century, so the caste system was still in effect.”

  “But was it an arranged marriage? I mean, you loved her, right?”

  “Her parents arranged it, but we were happy together for the time allotted to us.”

  I stared at the road ahead of us for a moment and then glanced at Ren, who was napping in the back.

  I said, “Mr. Kadam, does it bother you that I ask so many questions? Don’t feel like you have to answer all of them, especially if they’re too personal or painful for you.”

  “I don’t mind, Miss Kelsey. I enjoy talking with you.” He smiled at me then changed lanes.

  “Okay, then. Tell me a little bit about your military career. You must have fought some really interesting

  battles.”

  He nodded. “I started training when I was very young. I think I must have started at age four. We never went to school. Our entire young lives were devoted to being good soldiers, and all of our studies were in

  the art of warfare. There were dozens, perhaps even a hundred different kingdoms in India at the time, but I was fortunate to live in one of the most powerful ones under a good king.”

  “What kinds of weapons did you use?”

  “I was trained in all variety of weapons, but the first thing we were taught was hand-to-hand combat.

  Have you ever seen martial arts movies?”

  “If you mean like Jet Li and Jackie Chan, then yes.”

  “We were trained in the martial arts first. Fighters who were skilled in hand-to-hand combat were highly

  sought after. As a young man, I rose in rank quickly because of my skill in this area. No one was able to best me in sparring matches. Well, almost no one. Ren has beaten me on occasion.”

  I looked at him with mock surprise, “Mr. Kadam! Are you telling me you are a master of karate?”