Adrik walked over to them. She had a look of concern on her face.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. “Why you no follow?”
“Because you’re walking too fast and we can’t keep up!” Kane yelled at her.
“Why no tell me?” Adrik said.
“You were too far ahead to hear us,” Vero said with a razor edge to his tone.
“Boys, stop, everything’s fine,” Nora said. “Besides, this is no way to start a pilgrimage.”
“I am most sorry.” Adrik smiled, bowing her head. “I will slow down.”
Nora bowed in return. Vero noticed that Adrik’s smile quickly faded, leaving him with the feeling that he needed to keep his mother close.
They made their way across a narrow bridge with a slow-moving river below. On the other side Vero saw a forty-foot-long statue of a Buddhist woman in a maroon robe, lying on her side. On second glance, maybe it was a man? He shone his flashlight at the face for closer inspection, but he still couldn’t decide one way or the other. About twenty feet away from the statue, a stone arch marked the base of the stairs—the entrance gate. Vero looked closer at the arch. It was made completely of stone, yet the top was highly ornamental. Carved into it was an image of a man in prayer flanked by two elephants on either side. Their trunks formed a heart-like image over the man. On top of that was a carved face of a creature that Vero did not recognize. It had large, round bug eyes and a row of long top teeth that appeared to be smiling. Vero thought it was some kind of mythological animal.
Vero heard a British accent, and discovered it belonged to a couple in their early thirties. They were taking a selfie while standing under the arch. Only a handful of other pilgrims began the climb.
“Where is everybody?” Tack asked. “I thought the climb was supposed to be crowded.”
“Most begin at two in the morning,” Adrik said. “I like to climb now before too crowded.”
“So what was the rush?” Vero said in a low voice to Tack, who shrugged.
Nora looked up the trail of stairs. Dim lights lit the path in a shroud of mystery. Nora looked disappointed.
“I was hoping for more light,” Nora told Adrik.
“More light the higher the climb,” she answered. “You weel see.”
“Good thing we brought plenty of flashlights and batteries,” Nora said as she stepped upon the first wide step. She turned back to the others and smiled. “Let’s do it!”
Readjusting their backpacks, the group climbed upon the concrete stairs. A two-foot stone wall edged the stairs on both sides. The path was sheathed in a white mist as if the night fog was claiming its hold on the mountain.
“One,” Clover said as she stepped on the first step. “Two,” she said with her foot on the next one. “Three,” she continued. “Four . . .”
“Are you going to do that the whole way up?” Vero asked, already irritated.
“Thought it might make the climb more interesting if we kept track of our steps,” she answered.
“Well, count them in your head,” Vero said.
Adrik took the lead with Nora keeping pace directly behind her. Vero walked slightly behind his mother.
“Is anybody else ready for a break?” Tack asked, out of breath.
“We just started!” Clover shouted at him.
“I should have brought my iPod.” Tack sighed.
“Guys, you’ve got to keep it down. Walking up these stairs is supposed to be a religious experience,” Kane scolded.
The stairs grew steeper and narrower as the path twisted around a dense clump of trees. The small retaining wall that flanked the path had crumbled on one side, which Kane explained was from years of encroaching tree roots.
“Careful through this stretch,” Adrik told the group.
The overhead lights flickered. Vero looked around nervously when, suddenly, the trail was plunged into darkness. An earsplitting shriek split the night air. Vero instantly knew the voice.
“Mom!” he yelled.
Vero shone his flashlight in the direction of the scream, but Nora was gone. The crackling sounds of splintering bramble filled Vero with dread. He raced to the edge and peered over, searching with the flashlight. The others raced over to Vero, crowding around him, their eyes following the beam.
“There she is!” Tack pointed.
The shaft of light illuminated Nora, who was lying on her side about thirty feet below them. Her eyes squinted from the bright glare.
“Mom, are you all right?” Vero shouted.
Before Nora could answer, Adrik jumped down off the stairs. Swatting tree branches out of her face, she beelined straight for Nora. Vero followed, climbing over rocks and fallen tree trunks to reach his mother.
“Mom!” Vero yelled. “Are you okay?”
“My ankle! I really hurt my ankle,” Nora answered, grimacing in pain.
Adrik reached Nora and placed her hands on her ankle, examining it. Nora winced at the touch. Vero knelt beside his mother. He saw her face was scratched and dirtied.
“Maybe broken,” Adrik said.
“Is it only your ankle?” Vero asked.
“Yes,” Nora said, sitting up while holding her leg.
“Can you walk out of here?”
“We help,” Adrik said. “Grab under arm,” she told Vero.
Vero and Adrik hoisted Nora to her feet. Vero’s mom tried to put a little pressure on her left foot, but wasn’t able to.
“I can’t do it,” Nora said.
“Lean on us,” Vero told her.
Adrik and Vero walked Nora back up the hillside. With one hand, he clasped his mother, while the other held the flashlight and lit the way. When they reached the steps, Kane and Tack jumped down and lifted Nora onto the stairs. Vero noticed the trail’s lights had turned back on.
Nora sat on a step, her leg straight out in front of her. “I’m sorry, guys, but I can’t go on.”
Clover bit her lip while anxiously glancing at Vero.
“We have to take her back to the room,” Vero said. “And find a doctor.”
“Agree,” Adrik said.
“How did you fall?” Clover asked.
“When the lights failed, I must have misstepped and lost my balance,” Nora said.
“You don’t sound so sure,” Clover said.
Nora had a puzzled look on her face, as if she was lost in thought.
“What?” Vero asked.
“It’s crazy, but it almost felt as if I was pushed.”
Vero’s eyes narrowed at Adrik.
18
BRIDGE IN THE SKY
But I . . . we . . . have to go,” Vero pleaded to his mother as she lay in bed inside their bungalow, her foot propped up on pillows. “We’ve come so far, and it’s the chance of a lifetime.”
“Sorry, but I’m not comfortable sending all of you . . .” Nora said as she looked to Clover and Tack, who sat on the bottom of the bed. “Without me.”
“But we’ll be okay,” Clover said. “It really wasn’t that tough a climb. We’re just walking up a really big set of stairs.”
“Yeah,” Tack said. “I saw old people doing it barefoot.”
“Just because you fell doesn’t mean we will,” Vero said. “And besides, the doctor said it’s only a sprain. You can sleep and we’ll be back by the time you wake up.”
Nora shook her head. There was a knock on the door, then Kane walked in with Adrik. She was carrying a bag of ice.
“How you feel?” Adrik asked as she placed the ice on Nora’s foot.
“Better, thank you,” Nora answered as she sat up and repositioned the ice bag.
Adrik turned to the kids. “Ready to go?”
�
�Mom won’t let us,” Vero said.
“Ah, no,” Adrik said. “We must go to top.”
“Me lying here changes things,” Nora said.
“I take good care of them,” Adrik said to Nora.
Vero looked to Adrik, doubting her sincerity. He didn’t trust something about her, but she was his ticket to the mountain. There was no way his mother would allow him to climb it without Adrik.
“It’s a shame to come all this way and not climb it,” Kane said.
“I know, but . . .” Nora said.
“Mom, I have to climb that mountain,” Vero said forcefully, looking into his mother’s eyes with conviction.
Nora looked taken aback. She held Vero’s gaze for a few moments, then slowly nodded.
“We’ll be all right,” Vero said to her.
“Now I really wish we had let you bring your cell phones,” Nora said, sadly.
“They no work here anyway. But not to worr-ee. I take good care of the children.” Adrik smiled to Vero.
The path was more crowded than it had been when they had first started climbing with Nora. They had lost a few hours while taking Nora back down the mountain, and then waiting for the doctor; it was now nearly two in the morning, and most pilgrims had begun their ascent. Despite the path being well lit, Vero and Tack had put on headband flashlights. They would be ready should the lights unexpectedly go out again.
Kane, Adrik, and Clover climbed a few steps ahead of Vero and Tack. Vero’s legs burned as he climbed. Oh, how he wished he could fly to the top! Vero looked over to Tack, who seemed exhausted. Sweat dripped down Tack’s forehead over his headband. A Sri Lankan man giving his young son a piggyback easily climbed past them.
“Really?” Tack said as he watched the father and son begin to fade from view. “Why doesn’t he just climb two at a time?”
Then Tack watched as the man climbed two steps at once.
“Show off . . .” Tack groaned.
“Are you feeling anything?” Vero said in a low voice to Tack.
“Yes. Pain.”
“I mean which way to go.”
Tack nodded. “Higher.”
After climbing another twenty minutes, they reached a tea stall. The group took off their backpacks and sat on a bench while Adrik brought them cups of hot tea to help defend themselves against the frigid night air. The black tea tasted harsh without sugar, but Vero was grateful for its warmth. They relaxed for a few minutes. Clover moved to sit down next to Vero.
“Anything?” she asked in a low voice.
“Not yet.”
Tack suddenly stood. Vero watched as he walked from the bench onto a dirt path. Vero could tell that his friend had picked up on something. Tack turned on his headlamp as he walked farther into the brush. Vero got up and followed him.
“Where they go?” Adrik asked.
“I think nature calls,” Clover quickly answered.
Vero followed Tack for a few minutes, until Tack abruptly stopped and spun around.
“It’s this way.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I think so.”
“How far away?”
“I don’t know,” Tack said, his eyes fixed in the distance. “But it’s far enough away that Adrik will never let us go there.”
“We have to ditch her,” Vero said.
“Ditch who?”
Vero and Tack turned and saw Kane walking up to them, his flashlight beaming.
“We need to go this way,” Vero told Kane. “We’re sure of it.”
“So we need to ditch my aunt?” Kane asked.
“Yeah, though we’re worried she’ll never let us leave the pathway,” Vero said.
“So let’s just go now,” Kane said.
“We need Clover,” Vero said.
“Then let’s climb a little higher, let my aunt take the lead, and we’ll duck out when we can,” Kane said.
“Okay,” Vero said, nodding. “I’ll clue Clover in.”
The group climbed for a few minutes longer with Adrik ahead of them all. The path was now teeming with pilgrims, as the sun would rise in less than three hours. The large crowd seemed like another divine coincidence, as it made sneaking away much easier than if they’d followed Adrik’s original departure schedule.
Vero eyed Kane; he could not wait any longer. Kane dipped his head in agreement. It was time. Vero threw his arm out in front of Clover and Tack, stopping them. He waved his head to the right. Tack and Clover nodded back in understanding. All four let a group of pilgrims pass and then slipped behind a wooden food stand. Vero peered out from the stand; Adrik was lost in the sea of travelers. He did not see her anywhere.
“Let’s go,” Vero whispered. “Tack, lead.”
Tack turned on his headlamp. “Stay close behind.”
Tack took them through a forest so dense that even the moon’s silvery rays could not penetrate the canopy above. Although they all had either flashlights or headlamps, it was of little comfort in the utter blackness. Every crunch of a twig or dead leaves underfoot echoed forebodingly into the thick night air. Clover suddenly stopped.
“I just remembered something,” she said with fear etched across her face.
“What?” Kane asked.
“Leeches,” Clover said to Kane. “You said they’re all over these woods.”
“Yeah, but you’re wearing long pants and a long shirt. If you get any, they’ll only stick to your clothes.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Clover said.
Kane shrugged.
“Tack, how much longer?” Clover asked.
“It’s a ways still.”
“Are you still convinced it’s a blue sapphire?” Kane asked Vero.
“Yeah, that’s what Rahab said.” Vero noted the discouraged look on Kane’s face. “What?”
“This mountain is supposedly loaded with sapphires. Sri Pada and some of the surrounding peaks are considered one of the richest gem-mining areas in the world—and not just for sapphires, but rubies, emeralds, and topaz too.” A puzzled look came over Kane as he just put two and two together. “Now that I think of it, they say that the footprint is actually a blue sapphire.”
“What do you mean?” Vero asked.
“The rock footprint at the top, the one you can see, isn’t the real one.”
“What?” Clover looked outraged.
“The real footprint, the sacred one, is actually protected underneath it. And supposedly, the sacred footprint is imprinted on a large sapphire.”
“You don’t think that’s the Book of Raziel, do you?” Clover asked.
“I hope not,” Kane said. “The visible footprint is always under the careful guard of the monks.”
Vero’s heart sunk. He’d never be able to get to it.
“That may be,” Tack said. “But I’m feeling that it’s this way,” he said, pointing straight ahead.
“Doesn’t sound right.” Kane’s voice was hesitant.
“I know what I’m doing,” Tack said, unwavering.
Vero looked from Kane to Tack as he tried to decide.
“We follow Tack,” Vero said.
Kane nodded.
As they made their way through the woods, Clover yelled. She thrashed around, entangled in something. The others shined their lights on her. Clover had walked right into a tree heavy with moss.
“Clover, chillax, it’s only moss,” Tack said.
“Sure? ’Cause it felt like a giant spiderweb,” she said as she pulled a chunk of green moss from her hair and flung it to the ground.
“You gotta toughen up, because we’re not there yet,” Tack scolded Clover.
As if on cue, Tack began to scream at the top of his lungs. A face appeared before him in the trees. It was ugly, with deep-set eyes, a pink, wrinkled snout, and a whorl of hair on its head.
Kane put his hand on Tack’s shoulder. “Dude, it’s a monkey.”
Tack stopped screaming.
“They’re all over Sri Lanka.”
Clover grabbed Tack’s arm and dug her nails into him. “Where there’s one, there are more,” she said.
The monkey ran back up high into the tree.
“They won’t bother us if we stay out of their way,” Kane said. “Just keep your knapsacks on your backs or else they’ll steal ’em!”
As Tack continued walking, Clover held on to the back of Tack’s shirt. They walked a few feet ahead, until Clover pulled Tack toward her. “Look where you’re going, bozo!” she yelled, reminding Vero of Greer. How he wished Greer could be here right now to toughen everyone up, himself included.
Tack looked below. They were standing on the edge of a steep cliff.
“Thanks for the heads up.” Tack nervously smiled to Clover.
“Be careful,” Clover chided him.
“Now which way?” Vero asked.
“Same direction—straight ahead,” Tack said.
Vero shined his light out in front of them. On the other side of the deep ravine below stood another steep cliff, about a hundred yards away.
“We need to get over there.” Tack pointed.
“It’ll take forever to climb all the way down and up the other side,” Kane said.
“Not to mention dangerous,” Clover added.
“Looks like it’s our lucky day,” Vero said as he illuminated a rope suspension bridge to their left that stretched high above the ravine below.
Kane walked over to the bridge. Wooden planks lined the floor of the bridge while rope railings on either side supported it. Kane tapped his foot on the first wooden plank, testing it.
“Is it sturdy?” Vero asked.
“Could probably hold us,” Kane said.
“I’ll go across first,” Vero said. “If I make it, then you guys follow me.”
“Sure you can’t fly us across?” Tack asked.
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