The black tiger took off running into the jungle, with Ren chasing after him. Their two angry roars echoed through the trees, frightening a flock of birds that took off squawking. The fight continued as they moved from one part of the jungle to another. I could follow their path by standing on my rock and watching the trees shake in the jungle and tracking the procession of irritated birds, rousted from their comfort-able perches.
Ren finally barreled back into the campsite with his brother half riding his back, sinking in his claws and biting his neck. Ren stood up on his back legs and shook his brother off. Then he leapt up onto a large rock overlooking the pool and turned to face him.
Gathering himself, the black tiger leapt on top of Ren, who jumped up to block him. The move ended up pushing them both into the pool of water.
I stood at the side of the pool watching the fight. One tiger would explode from the water and pounce on the other, pushing him under. Claws raked faces, backs, and sensitive underbellies as the two large cats battered and mauled each other repeatedly. Neither one seemed to dominate the other.
Just when I thought they’d never stop, the fighting seemed to wane. Kishan dragged his battle-weary body up out of the water, walked a few paces away, and collapsed on the grass. Panting heavily, he rested for a minute before starting to lick his paws.
Ren was next out of the water. He placed himself between his brother and me and buckled at my feet. Deep scratches covered his body and blood oozed from cuts that stood out sharply against his white fur. A nasty gash went from his forehead to his chin, slicing across his right eye and his nose. A large puncture wound from a bite on his neck seeped slowly.
I stepped around him and quickly retrieved the backpack. I dug through the bag until I found the first aid kit, popped it open, and took out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and a large roll of gauze. My innate fear of blood and wounds was set aside as a natural protective instinct kicked in. I was more scared for them than of them and knew they needed help. Somehow, I found the courage.
Moving to Ren first, I flushed rocks and dirt out of the wounds with clean bottled water, and then I poured rubbing alcohol on the gauze and pressed against the worst of them. He didn’t seem mortally wounded, as long as I could stop the bleeding, but there were several deep rips. On his side, the shredded skin was torn so badly it looked like it’d been through a meat grinder.
He softly growled as I moved from his back to his neck and cleaned the puncture wound. I took a large padded bandage from the kit, sprinkled rubbing alcohol on it, pressed it over the badly shredded section on his side, and put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. Ren softly roared at the sting while I grimaced in sympathy. I left the pad in place. Last, I cleaned his face and murmured reas-suring words as I worked on his forehead and nose, careful to avoid the eye. It didn’t look as bad as it did the first time I saw it. Maybe I was imagining it was worse than it was.
I did the best I could, but I was worried about infection, and I was seriously concerned about Ren’s side and eye. A tear fell down my cheek as I pressed gauze against his forehead.
He licked my wrist as I worked. I stroked his cheek and whispered, ‘Ren, this is awful. I wish this hadn’t happened. I’m so sorry. It must hurt terribly.’ A tear dropped and splashed on his nose. ‘I’m going to go take care of your brother now.’
I wiped my eyes and retrieved another roll of gauze. I went through the same process with the black tiger. A particularly bad, gaping tear started at his neck and went down to his chest, so I spent a lot of time on that area. A bite on his back was deep and full of dirt and small pieces of gravel. It was bleeding profusely at first, which was probably a good thing because the blood helped to flush out the wound. I applied pressure for a few minutes, until the blood slowed enough that I was able to clean the bite. His back quivered, and he growled when I put rubbing alcohol on it.
I held the gauze over the wound, and more tears dribbled down my chin. I sniffed, ‘You could probably use stitches on that one.’ Address-ing both tigers, I scolded softly, ‘You two will probably get an infection and your tails will fall off.’
Kishan made a huffing noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter, which made me stiffen and get a little angry.
‘I hope you both appreciate the fact that cleaning your wounds freaks me out. I hate blood. Also, for your information, I will decide who will or won’t be touching me. I’m not some ball of string that gets tossed between you two cats. I’m also not the person you’re really fighting about either. What happened between you two is long over and done with anyway, and I really hope you can learn to forgive each other.’
Golden eyes looked into mine, and I explained, ‘The reason we came here is because Ren and I are trying to break the curse. Mr. Kadam’s been helping us, and we have a good idea of where to start. We’re going to be looking for four gifts to offer Durga, and, in exchange, you both get to be men again. Now that you know why we’re here, we can get back to Mr. Kadam and be on our way. I think both of you may need to go to a hospital.’
Ren rumbled in his chest and started licking his paws. The black tiger rolled to his side to show me a long scratch that went from his neck down to his belly. I cleaned that one too. When I finished with him, I walked back to my bag and placed the bottle of rubbing alcohol inside. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and jumped when I turned and found Ren’s brother standing behind me as a man.
Ren got up, alert, and watched him carefully, suspicious of Kishan’s every move. Ren’s tail twitched back and forth, and a deep grumble issued from his chest.
Kishan looked down at Ren, who had crept even closer to keep an eye on him, and then looked back at me. He reached out his hand, and when I placed mine in it, he lifted it to his lips and kissed it, then bowed deeply with great aplomb. ‘May I ask your name?’
‘My name is Kelsey. Kelsey Hayes.’
‘Kelsey. Well, I, for one, appreciate all the efforts you have made on our behalf. I apologize if I frightened you earlier. I am,’ he smiled, ‘out of practice in conversing with young ladies. These gifts you will be offering to Durga. Would you kindly tell me more about them?’
Ren growled unhappily.
I nodded. ‘Is Kishan your given name?’
‘My full name is actually Sohan Kishan Rajaram, but you can call me Kishan if you like.’ He smiled a dazzling white smile, which was even more brilliant due to the contrast with his dark skin. He offered an arm. ‘Would you please sit and talk with me, Kelsey?’
There was something very charming about Kishan. I surprised myself by finding I immediately trusted and liked him. He had a quality similar to his brother. Like Ren, he had the ability to set a person completely at ease. Maybe it was their diplomatic training. Maybe it was how their mother raised them. Whatever it was made me respond positively. I smiled at him.
‘I’d love to.’
He tucked my arm under his and walked with me over to the fire. Ren growled again, and Kishan shot a smirk in his direction. I noticed him wince when he sat, so I offered him some aspirin.
‘Shouldn’t we be getting you two to a doctor? I really think you might need stitches and Ren—’
‘Thank you, but no. You don’t need to worry about our minor pains.’
‘I wouldn’t exactly call your wounds minor, Kishan.’
‘The curse helps us to heal quickly. You’ll see. We’ll both recover swiftly enough on our own. Still, it was nice to have such a lovely young woman tending to my injuries.’
Ren stood in front of us and looked like he was a tiger suffering from apoplexy.
I admonished, ‘Ren, be civil.’