“No, not that anyone recalls.”
Danny studied the ruins, his chest tightening. Whatever spirit had resided here in the Khurja tower was likely dead. He tried to swallow past the tightness in his throat and failed.
“And no one saw anything strange around the tower when it fell?” Daphne asked.
“There was one thing, but it’s silly. Right after it fell, the ghadi wallahs who came to inspect the damage saw that the clearing around the tower was wet.” She traced the circle with a finger through the air. “They said it was like someone had poured water around the tower before destroying it.”
“Did anyone report the same thing about Rath?” Danny asked.
“Yes, I believe so.”
Danny studied the outer ring of the tower. Sunlight stung the back of his neck as he bent to inspect the ground, but there was nothing more to see. Just pebbles, dirt, and frighteningly large ants.
Still, there was something he couldn’t quite place. That sharp feeling, but intensified. It wasn’t the jagged sensation of time malfunctioning, but a sweeter ache, like the experience of savoring something you’ve craved for longer than you can remember. The gasp of satisfaction after a drink of water in the desert.
“You feel it, too,” he said when Daphne moved toward him.
“What is it? I’ve never felt such a thing.”
“Neither have I. Whatever it is, it’s fading.”
“If it fades, do you think time will Stop?”
Danny thought about it, then shook his head. “No. Time is stable here. More stable than it would be with a clock tower.” He bit his thumb. He couldn’t stop thinking about the spirit of the tower, and where they had gone.
The mechanics jotted down notes and theories in the journal Daphne had brought, then sat in the shade as Meena and Akash bought a lunch consisting of buttered flatbread, spiced lamb, and thick buffalo milk.
“Do you have any theories?” Daphne asked Meena as they walked back through the bazaars.
The girl fiddled with her long braid. “There are people saying it’s the work of the gods. Our gods,” she clarified. “That maybe Lord Vishnu has decided to free us of one oppression, at least.” She shot them a nervous look. “Their words, not mine.”
Danny remembered how he’d searched for Caelum’s symbol on Akash’s plane, but couldn’t find it. “Do you have stories of the Gaian gods here?” When Meena and Akash gave him confused looks, he told them the story of the elemental gods: Terra, Caelum, Oceana, Aetas, and their creator, Chronos.
“You mean the vasus,” Meena said.
“The … I’m sorry, the what?”
“The ashta vasus, attendant deities of Indra. Hindu gods of the elements. We have eight, but it sounds as if the British only have five. Let’s see … Prithvi for earth, Varuna for water, Vāyu for air, Agni for fire.” She counted them off on her fingers. “But here, we consider Agni more than fire. Fire is something we need to live, and what else do we need to live? Time.”
“So here, Aetas is also Agni,” Daphne said.
“Yes. Some believe he is the one causing mischief, but I am not so sure.”
“Seems like everyone has a different theory,” Danny said. “It’s going to be difficult, whittling it down to one.”
“Do you think any other cities are in danger?” Daphne asked Meena.
“Yes,” she said gravely. “Or else why stop at two?”
Much to the alarm of its pilot, Danny nearly threw up in the Silver Hawk on their way back to Agra to discuss their findings with Major Dryden. The major seemed disappointed, but they all agreed that this would be a difficult problem to solve. The other mechanics weren’t having any luck either.
Every morning for the next week, Danny and Daphne woke with the reveille and traded theories until their brains stalled. Meena sometimes joined them, contributing her own ideas. It was the work of humans, a god, a reincarnated fish. They usually parted in worse spirits than when they met.
At the end of the week, the rain came. It fell intensely for hours then tapered away, only to return later in full force. While Danny was glad for the dip in temperature, he couldn’t leave his bungalow without being soaked within seconds. Just looking out the window made him feel wet.
The palms swayed as the monsoon swept through Agra for another week, making soldiers and sepoys dash across the roads. Some actually appeared to enjoy it, much to Danny’s bewilderment. He sometimes watched them run about outside, laughing as they roughhoused with one another.
Danny noticed that the British and Indian soldiers did not mix company voluntarily. In fact, when he and Daphne spoke with Meena or ate with her and Akash in the mess, they drew stares. Still, the more time he spent time with the two of them, the more Danny grew to like Meena’s dry humor and Akash’s stories about growing up in India.
One day the siblings came to his door. They held well-loved cricket bats and wore identical smiles.
“What’s all this?” Danny asked.
“Come with us and you’ll see.”
They recruited Daphne from her hut before setting off for the field behind the cantonment where the men usually gathered to play field hockey. The grass was dark and moist, the ground swollen from this morning’s rain. Dark gray clouds above promised more.
“Let’s see how good an Englishman and Englishwoman are at cricket,” Akash said.
“What?” Danny and Daphne asked at the same time.
“We’ve had no one to play with in a long time,” Meena explained. “You know how, don’t you?”
Danny recalled nursery school outings to the cricket field, where the other boys had poked Danny with their bats and hit him with the cricket ball on purpose. “I know how,” he muttered.
“We won’t believe you until we see with our own eyes.” Akash tossed Daphne the ball, and she caught it without fumbling.
“Erm,” Danny said, looking upward, “not to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but isn’t it going to rain soon?”
“Do the British melt when they get wet?” Meena asked. Akash sniggered.
Daphne arched an eyebrow and nodded at Danny. “All right, we’ll play. What have we to lose?”
Her expression conveyed what Danny was already thinking: that this was the perfect opportunity to get to know their new guides better. If they were going to figure out what was happening to the Indian towers, they’d need to work as a team.
Much to Danny’s surprise, Daphne turned out to be a solid thrower, but Akash was quite the batter. Meena wasn’t as proficient as her brother, but Danny was a much sloppier bowler than Daphne, so he accidentally allowed Meena her fifth inning before he was able to get her out.
As Daphne took to bat, it finally began to rain. Danny watched as she cracked the wood against the ball and scored two—four—seven innings. When Akash got her out, she noticed Danny’s expression. “Used to play with the neighbor boy all the time,” she said.