Day Nine

“WHY DO ALL THE bungalows have this raised step in the doorway?” Ben asked.

“It’s to keep scorpions and other crawlers out,” Rani said.

“You mean snakes? A snake could crawl over it?” Ben asked.

“Guess so. And it could crawl all over YOU!” she said, running away, her hair flying out behind her.

Ben had the fanny pack wrapped in his towel again where he could see it from the water. The swimming was even more fun than the day before. When they were too tired to jump the waves anymore, Rani suggested they build sand temples.

“Sand temples? I’m there!” Ben said.

On their hands and knees, they cleared a wide area, scooping up the top sand to get at the deeper wet sand. Then, like six-year-olds, they set to work. Gulls cried out in a shrill chorus above them, and gusts of wind flicked at the tops of waves, throwing cool water along their backs.

“How’s that?” Rani said, leaning back to admire her creation.

What Rani had built was like no other sandcastle Ben had ever seen. A large dome with towers on the corners, it was just like the Taj Mahal.

“It’s awesome,” he said.

“Yours is like an English castle,” Rani said.

“I guess it is,” said Ben. He’d never seen an English castle and wondered why, like every other kid in Canada, he’d always built a sandcastle that looked like one.

Rani put the finishing touches on the river behind her temple. “Tell me about your school.”

“Not much to tell. The kids are okay. A few of the guys are into cigarettes or dope. I’m not.” Ben sat back on his knees.

“It’s good you don’t want to smoke.”

“Yep. I worry I might have inherited the smoking genes from my dad. Anyway, it doesn’t appeal to me.”

“Me either,” Rani said. She thought for a minute. “I guess you have girls at your school?”

“Yep, but we don’t talk much,” Ben answered.

“Mine is a residential school. It’s all girls, so I don’t talk to boys at all.”

“But you’re so easy to talk to.”

“You too,” Rani said. She gave Ben a shy smile. “You know Indian girls are often chaperoned when they’re with a boy. I’m lucky my mother lets me go with you to show you around.”

“My grandmother hasn’t been letting me go anywhere on my own until we came here.”

“Tell me about your mother.”

“Oh, she’s okay, but lately she’s after me because I play computer games all the time. The games I like all have a kind of battle and a quest. You can spend hours playing them, but when I think about it now, they’re sort of lame compared to this real life search for Shanti. I just wish someone from Shanti’s school would answer my email.”

“I have an idea, Ben,” Rani said. “Do you know about Ganesh?”

“I do. I like Ganesh. In fact, he’s the god who showed me the way out of the temple where I was lost in Varanasi.”

“Ganesh has already helped you then!” Rani said.

“It felt like we connected.” Ben smoothed the sand in the moat around his castle.

Rani said, “Lots of young people in India call on Ganesh for help to overcome obstacles.”

“How do they do that?”

Rani seemed pleased with herself. “I’ll show you when we get to town.”

“Hindus have so many gods and goddesses. The temple I was lost in was Black Kali’s temple.”

“How scary for you! Kali is frightening.”

“Why do you have a goddess like that? A goddess of destruction with blood and everything?”

“Well, Christians have a hell, and as I understand it, there is a red devil that is scary. And people can burn in hell.”

“Sure, but most people think they won’t go there.”

“Right, and I guess Kali scares people into being good.”

“Worked for me. I’ve been good. Most of the time,” Ben said, and they both laughed.

Ben brushed the sand off his hands and got out his camera. “Wait a minute. I want to take pictures of your sand temple … and you.”

Ben showed Rani the photographs on his memory card. She liked the ones of the Red Fort and the ghats at Varanasi, and she agreed that the poor elephant outside the Kali temple looked neglected. “You’ve got some good pictures there, Ben,” Rani said.

“Hope so. I have to put them into a project for school when I get home.”

Later they went to the resort office so Ben could check his email. Again, even with the new website, the screen showed the disappointing: No Messages. That was the end of the trail. If no one had contacted him by now, it meant that there was no one out there who knew Shanti.

He might as well forget about finding her. Maybe now he could tell Gran he’d been trying, but not until four o’clock when he saw her again. As he sat there, a new message popped up. It was from his mother.

Hi Ben!

Thanks for your email. I’m proud of you for looking after Gran. Hope you aren’t lonely when she’s in the hospital. We’ve had nothing but snow here the past two days. Lauren says to tell you her hockey team made the semi-finals.

Hugs and kisses

Mum

Ben had a funny cut-off feeling after reading his mother’s message. It gave him a nervous flutter in his stomach. He could see the North Shore mountains covered in snow. And the snow in their front yard. The house always looked so tidy against all the whiteness. He could see his mother’s face, feel her smooth cheek when she hugged him. He really was far away — far away from his mother, from the snow and from her hugs.

With Gran in the hospital, he was more or less taking care of himself. That was fine. He could do it. Gran would be better soon, and in a week, they’d be flying home.

Ben put on the fanny pack and rushed to meet Rani. She’d probably think he looked ridiculous.

But Rani didn’t comment on it when she saw him, just showed him a bike and asked if he was ready to see cobras. He was. Rani led the way as they cycled through the town and onto a bumpy gravel road. The road wound past small farm houses with goats tethered in the yard and children playing in the shade of coconut trees. She signalled to Ben. “We turn here.”

On either side of the narrow path, long fan-shaped leaves flopped through the undergrowth onto the trail. Overhead, tall trees blocked the sun. The chattering of parrots filled the air, and Ben caught flashes of their bright green plumage, like Christmas lights, up among the branches.

“Up there,” Rani said, pointing to the tallest trees. “See the family of howler monkeys?”

Ben heard the monkeys before he saw them. Their deep whoops and howls echoed across the swaying treetops. Ben counted eight monkeys of all sizes swinging from branch to branch, one arm stretching over the other and their long curled tails acting as a third arm. His bike wobbled as he tried to watch the monkeys overhead and navigate the narrow path at the same time.

Then Rani stopped at a grassy clearing and pointed to some clay-coloured rocks. Beside the rocks, three men crouched on the ground, giving their attention to something between them.

“They’re the venom collectors,” Rani whispered. She and Ben lowered their bikes onto the grass and moved closer. One of the men held onto the mid-section of a cobra about two metres long. It had a thick body ringed with black and yellow bands and a creamy yellow underbelly. The snake’s wide hood flared around its head. Ben saw a second man cupping his hand behind the hood with his fingers on either side of the cobra’s head, immobilizing it.

“He presses milk out from the poison glands beside the eyes,” said Rani.

Ben saw the snake’s eyes flash. “Not a happy snake,” he whispered.

A third man held a glass dish under the snake’s open mouth. Ben saw the two pale fangs, like long hypodermic needles.

“Those fangs puncture the skin of a victim and the poison goes into their blood stream. I did a project on cobras at school,” Rani said. “See the yellow serum coming from the fangs into the dish.”

Shivers rippled up Ben’s entire body. “Do the men ever get bitten?”

“Sometimes, but watch how calm and slow their movements are. They are followers of the god Shiva, who protects them from snake bites.”

Ben remembered that Shiva was the father of Ganesh. He also protected people from snake bites? What next?

Ben took some photographs and caught a good one of the men carrying the snake back to the rocks after they’d finished the milking. As the snake was released, the men stepped back quickly and the snake slithered into a hole under the rocks.

“My grandmother and I saw snake charmers in Delhi, at the Red Fort. They looked dangerous,” Ben said. “My grandmother spazzed.”

Rani laughed. “Oh, those snakes are harmless. I see them often in shows and they’ve had their poison sacs removed. When they strike out at the crowd, it’s effective for the shows, but it’s just a trick to make money.”

“That’s wicked!”

Rani went on. “I’ll tell you something else. People don’t know it, but cobras are deaf, so the music the snake charmers play on their flutes is just for dramatic effect.”

“Worked on me!” said Ben.

Ben stood in the clearing beside Rani. The sun was warm on his back, the scratchy-voiced parrots kept up their raucous calls, monkeys howled from high in the trees, and nearby two incandescent blue and orange butterflies chased each other in a flashing dance.

None of it felt real to Ben. Here he was, Benjamin Leeson from Vancouver, standing in the jungle beside an Indian girl, a metre away from men milking a poisonous snake! Somehow, the things you saw in India filled your head and didn’t leave space for anything else.

Rani interrupted Ben’s trance. “It’s after four o’clock, Ben. We’d better get back to your grandmother.”

He hadn’t given Gran a thought for hours. “You’re right. We have to go.”

Ben ran for his bike, Rani followed and they wheeled onto the path. Ben began to cycle furiously, glancing behind to be sure Rani was following. How could he be so selfish? He was the only person Gran knew in India and he’d said he’d be back at four. Now it was over twenty-four hours since he’d seen her. She could have started vomiting again. Or worse.

Bumping over ruts in the road and sliding too fast around corners, Ben heard Rani call out behind him. He braked and turned around. Rani had crashed her bike and was lying on the rough gravel road.

Ben dropped his bike and ran back, but as he reached her, Rani sat up and looked at Ben with startled eyes. There was dirt on her blouse and along the skin of her arm. She held her arm with her other hand, and her face was twisted in pain.

This was his fault. He’d rushed away in a panic, thinking that Gran might be dead, and poor Rani had been trying to keep up. His fault.

“Please help me stand, Ben.” Rani’s voice was unsteady. “Take my other arm.”

Once on her feet, Rani tried to brush the dirt off her blouse, but Ben could see it hurt too much. Not until she gave him a weak smile could Ben allow himself to speak. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I made you rush.”

“I wasn’t watching and I hit a dip in the road back there. I’m okay, Ben.”

“Your arm is hurt,” Ben stammered.

“Not badly. Let’s keep going to the hospital. The outpatient infirmary will take care of it. You should get to your grandmother. Come on, Ben.”

Ben picked up her bike. At least it was still working. Ben wheeled both bikes beside Rani as she set the pace for a quick trip to the hospital. Rani still used her left hand to support her right arm. She was pale; her arm was probably broken. Ben’s watch said it was almost five. He didn’t know who to worry about the most — his grandmother or Rani. But he knew who was to blame for everything.

He led Rani to the hospital infirmary, where a nurse told her to take a seat. Rani waved him away. “Leave me here, Ben. Go to your grandmother.”

“Okay,” Ben said, gratefully. “But I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

At the end of the long room Gran was sitting up in the hospital bed, eating from food on a tray. Her face looked normal, not the grey colour it had been the day before, but when she saw Ben her lips began to tremble. “Where have you been?”

“Oh, Gran. I’m sorry I’m so late. I forgot about the time and then —”

“Ben. I’ve been worried that something had happened to you.” She started to cry; when she tried to wipe her eyes with the hospital gown, she knocked over a bowl on the tray.

“All night and all day with only the nurses to talk to.” She was making a mess of wiping up the soup and sobbed even harder. “I saw you drowning. Or hit by a truck. And I wasn’t there to help you. I’m responsible for you and I was stuck here.”

Ben took the tray and put it on the side table. He put his hand on his grandmother’s arm. “I’m sorry. Really sorry. But you shouldn’t have worried. I was fine. Rani took me to watch cobras being milked —”

“You were watching cobras being milked? Oh, heavens, it scares me out of my mind to hear you say that!” There was soup all over her hospital gown and tears dripping down her face.

Ben moved closer. “It was so interesting. The snakes were so huge —”

“Don’t say another word!” Her face was getting red and she was waving her arms wildly in the air.

A nurse appeared at the bed and leaned over to Gran. “What happened, Mrs. Leeson?”

He heard Gran say something and the nurse pulled the curtain, shutting him out. Ben stood limply outside the curtain. When would he learn? He shouldn’t have mentioned snakes.

The nurse hurried away and came back with a cold cloth and a glass of water. Ben waited until she left, and Gran called to him.

Her face was puffy. “Sorry for the outburst, Ben. I’m ashamed I made such a fuss. I’ve just been so worried about you and then to find out you’ve been with cobras —” She pointed to the chair beside her bed and Ben sat down.

Now it was his turn. Ben could feel the tears pushing against his eyes. Don’t cry, he told himself. It had all been too much: worrying about being late, then Rani’s accident and now being yelled at. Gran handed him a tissue.

“Don’t be upset, Ben. They’ve taken good care of me here. Dr. Dhaliwal is wonderful. He’s coming by this afternoon to unhook me from this contraption.” She pointed to the needle in her hand. “If all’s well, he says I can go back to our bungalow tonight.”

She patted his arm. “How’s Rani?”

“She’s in the infirmary.”

“What’s the matter?” Gran said, alarmed.

“A bike accident on our way here. I was rushing to see you and she crashed her bike. I’m worried her arm is broken.”

“Oh, my heavens. Poor Rani.”

Just then Dr. Dhaliwal arrived. “Your grandmother’s done well, Ben. You can pick her up tonight at seven, but she’ll need to rest the next few days.”

“Thanks. It’s a great hospital you’ve got here, Dr. Dhaliwal.”

“We’re proud of our Indian hospitals,” said the doctor. “Please come with me, Ben, to get medicine for your grandmother.”

Ben told Gran he’d be back before seven and waited outside the pharmacy until Dr. Dhaliwal came back with some pills. “These will balance your grandmother’s system and get her back to normal.”

Ben took the pills. This was his chance. “Dr. Dhaliwal, do you remember you told me that you went to medical school with a man called Dr. Mukherjee? We heard that Shanti’s brother went to medical school.”

“Could be the same man. He was a nice fellow. Let me look him up in the medical registry to see if I have an address for you.”

“That would be great,” Ben said.

“My advice is not to tell your grandmother about this yet. She doesn’t need another disappointment while she’s getting her strength back.”

“I agree. I already scared her talking about snakes,” Ben said. “I hope you find the man’s address. It could be a good lead, Dr. Dhaliwal.” Ben didn’t say it but there weren’t any other leads. If this one failed, the game would be over. No camel hair in the desert. No pen pal.

Dr. Dhaliwal turned to go. “I’ll let you know when I come by the resort tomorrow.”

The nurse in the infirmary had just finished wrapping Rani’s wrist in an elastic bandage. Rani smiled at him. “It’s just a sprain, Ben. Don’t be so alarmed.”

The nurse helped her up. “You’ll be fine in a few days, young lady. Take it easy on that bike.”

“Does it hurt?” Ben asked Rani on the way out of the hospital.

“A little bit.”

“I wish I hadn’t made you rush.”

“Now you’ll have to help with my morning chores,” Rani laughed, and Ben knew she was all right.

Rani was able to push her bike beside him through town. She stopped at a statue of Ganesh outside a small temple. Ben saw that again, the elephant’s large head was festooned with a ring of marigolds. There was a bowl of candy at his feet.

“I wanted to show you this. See how children put sweets beside Ganesh? They’re asking him to help with a problem.”

“Let’s try it,” Ben said.

On their way to the shop, Ben realized that Rani hadn’t mentioned the fanny pack and thought he should explain. He pointed at it. “I know this makes me look geeky, but I promised my grandmother I’d take care of our money.”

Rani nodded. “Oh, the money belt. Lots of people wear one.”

“You’ve seen teenage boys wearing a pack like this?” Ben asked.

“All the time. Makes good sense.”

Well, if he could call it a money belt, maybe it wasn’t so bad. Ben pulled the wallet out of his pocket. “Think I should use my own money to buy the sweets.” He bought lemon candy for Ganesh and roasted cashew nuts for his grandmother.

After he’d placed the candy at Ganesh’s feet, Ben looked into the statue’s eyes and sent a silent message: You helped me find a way out of the temple, Ganesh. Please help me again. Let Dr. Dhaliwal find an address for Shanti’s brother.

To Rani he said out loud, “We’re running out of time. I sure hope this stuff about Ganesh works.”

Dear Mum and Lauren

Gran will be home tonight. She spazzed when I told her I saw cobras being milked. Now I’ve got Ganesh, the elephant god, helping me 2 find Shanti.

Good luck in the semis, Lauren.

Ben

By eight o’clock, Gran was back in the bungalow and tucked up in bed with a bowl of cashew nuts on the table beside her, and the room filled with the peppery-sweet smell of the yellow jasmine that Mrs. Gurin had placed on the table.

“I’ll be fine here. I just want to sleep,” Gran said. “Why don’t you go and see how Rani’s feeling?”

“I won’t be late,” Ben said. He knocked on the Gurin’s door and asked Rani if she felt well enough for another game of chess.

“I’m there,” she said, and they both laughed. “But if I lose, I’ll have my injury as an excuse!”

Chess was a bit like computer battles. You moved the players around and tried to knock out your opponents. After an hour, Ben paused, thought for a long moment, then moved his rook to threaten Rani’s king. “Check,” he said, trying to hold back a smile. Rani studied the board and looked up at Ben.

“Mate,” said Ben. “Checkmate!”

“Quick learner,” Rani said.

“Good teacher,” Ben answered.

As Ben returned to his bungalow, the familiar pounding of the breaking waves rolled across the grass toward him. Rani would be okay and his grandmother was well again. For the first time in a long time, all seemed right with the world.