“Fanindra!” I cried and crouched down to see if she was okay. If she looked bad before, she was much worse now. Desperate, I pulled the flagon of firefruit juice out of the pack and dribbled a few drops into her open mouth, making sure it didn’t drip out onto the ground beneath her. After a moment, she revived a bit but her body was still as white as death. She managed to turn herself into jewelry though and I picked her up and put her in the bag.
A familiar estate sat atop a hill in the distance and I recognized Ana’s home. Hefting my bag, I made my way toward it. As peaceful as the place looked from afar, I quickly realized that something had disturbed the peace the closer I got to the home. Servants ran from building to building and men were gathering at the stables. Mounts were being brought out, and before I could get close, a horn sounded, signaling the men. They raised their voices along with their swords and headed off on a dirt road away from the house, leaving the elderly and the women wringing their hands and sobbing.
“Good woman,” I said when I reached a stooped lady working in the garden, “what has happened here?”
As she turned to look at me, fat dears dripped down her wrinkled cheeks and wet her dusty blouse. “They’ve taken my precious girl.”
“Who?” I shook her shoulder lightly. “Did someone take Ana?” My heart went cold as she just shook her head, her keening cry ululating as she bent back to her work.
I headed toward the house, unable to swallow the lump in my throat, and was distracted by a rustling coming from the side of the barn. The neigh of an irritated horse was followed by a curse. I caught the word durbala and smiled. Anamika had insulted me with that word once. Rounding the corner, I expected to find her, but instead found her twin brother, Sunil, trying vainly to mount an irascible pony.
“Hold still!” he yelled, one foot caught in the stirrup. He danced on the ground as his mount turned, barely able to keep upright.
“Need some help?” I asked, taking the reins.
“Thank you,” he said as he quickly scrambled atop his pony. It shook its head, trying to break away from my grip, but I held it steady. “Hey,” he said, recognizing my face. “You’re the one who disappeared two months ago.”
Two months? Apparently, Fanindra was unable to bring me back to the precise moment we left. Poor snake. I hoisted my bag. At least we were in the right place, if not the exact time. It would have to do.
“Yes,” I replied. “That’s me. How is your sister?” I asked, trying to feign nonchalance. “Did she recover?”
“Anamika woke up right after you left. She couldn’t remember you or the woman who’d been with you or even fainting at all.”
“Really?”
“My father was really mad when you disappeared.”
“Yes, well, the girl I was with ran off into the trees and she was badly hurt so I had to follow her. I just wanted to make sure your sister was okay first.”
Sunil nodded sagely. “That’s what I told him, but my father didn’t believe me.”
“So,” I said. “Is she here? Your sister, I mean?”
At that, Sunil broke into tears. “She’s been taken. That’s why I’m leaving. I know her better than anyone. I can find her.”
“Taken?” My heart leapt in alarm. “Who has done this?”
“That’s just it. My father doesn’t know. Mika was taken in the night by thieves.”
“How do you know it was thieves?” I asked. “She could just be hiding.” Though I said the words, I didn’t fully believe them. I knew in my gut that this circumstance was precisely what Kadam had warned me about.
“We wasted most of the day looking for her, but then, late this afternoon, my father found boot prints in her room,” he said. “My father summoned trackers to follow their trail.”
“Does your father have an enemy?” I asked. “Someone who’d want to hurt your family?”
Sunil shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t understand who would do this.”
I clapped Sunil on the shoulder. “I can help. I’m a good tracker.”
His eyes brightened. “You could go with me!” he said excitedly.
Cocking my head, I considered him. “Is your mother aware you are joining the rescue?”
Sunil bit his lip, giving himself away.
“I think I should introduce myself to your mother first. Perhaps then she will allow the two of us to leave. Do you have another horse I can borrow?”
He nodded vigorously. “Come on,” he said, sliding down from his mount. “I’ll take you to her now.”
I followed him to the house, and he led me through an open portico to a lush garden in the back. The arched gate dripped with purple bougainvillea that hung down in long clusters and tickled my shoulders as I ducked beneath them. The garden was full of flowering plants, roses, marigolds, rhododendrons, lilies, orchids, and of course, jasmine. It was easy to see where Anamika had gotten her love of flowers.
Fingering a delicate lily, I thought of the girls I’d loved. Both Yesubai and Kelsey had loved flowers. It felt right somehow that Anamika loved them too. Sunil dashed around me and cried out, “Mother!”
We came upon a lovely woman with eyes like Sunil’s and hair like Ana’s. She was older. Her cheeks were tinged red and she’d been crying, but despite her grief, she saluted me with graciousness and led me into the house. After she summoned a servant and I was refreshed with a cool drink, I told her I was a pilgrim traveling home and had heard the story of the man who’d taken her daughter.
When I offered to help search for her and asked her to share all the information she knew, she waved a hand. “My husband will find her. Nothing under the heavens will stop him.”
I nodded deferentially. “Dear woman. I have particular skills in rousting out villains. I promise you, I can be of great assistance.”
“Me too, Amma!”
“No, ladka. If you were to go, then who would stay to protect me?”
As Sunil argued with his mother, I thought about what I needed to do. Without my tiger nose, I couldn’t track scents. It had been a long time since I’d had to use human skills to track, but I was fairly certain I could still remember most of my tricks.
“Perhaps I could see the room where she was taken?” I asked.
The woman considered me and then shook her head. “I appreciate your offer, sir,” she said. “But you are a stranger. I offer you our hospitality but I cannot send you on this errand until my husband returns.”
The trail would go cold if we waited too long. I bit my lip and considered, then offered her a smile. “Then I will graciously accept your hospitality, for I am road weary and would like to rest.”
Sunil groaned his displeasure, and after she sent him off to tell the cook I’d be joining the family for dinner, I told her about her son’s attempt to follow his father. “It would be best to keep an eye on him,” I warned.
“Thank you,” she said. “I wish to impart my humble thanks.”
“No, dear woman. It is I who should thank you for your kindness during such a trying time.”
She nodded courteously and strode from the room.
After a too long meal, I was shown to a comfortable chamber. I’d have to wait until the house had gone to sleep before I examined Ana’s room. While I waited, I pulled the contents of the backpack out of the bag and spread them on the bed. Fanindra fell atop the blanket and hit the phoenix egg with a clunk. I winced and picked her up but flakes of gold littered the top of the bed.
“Fanindra?” I murmured softly.
The snake came alive, elongating her body and thickening her coils. She shuddered and opened her mouth almost as if she wanted to talk to me, but instead she moved away. Her tail was still hard and metallic. It was as if she couldn’t actually complete the transformation. Pushing aside my bundle of clothing, I found the firefruit juice and uncorked the top. “Take some more,” I said, holding out it toward her.
She looked at the jug and then purposely turned aside. Fanindra wrapped her weakened body around the egg, once, twice, three times, leaving golden scales and skin behind as she did so. Her poor flesh was sore and red beneath the ripped scales. Wearily, she rested her head on the metallic piece of her tail.