The Hunt for Xanadu

by Elyse Salpeter

  “Nearly one million this year alone. Moving the goods through Mexico to the United States.”

  “That’s not so much yet.”

  “True, Raul, but the year isn’t over.”

  “What does the DEA’s Barranquilla Resident Office say? Haven’t we paid them off enough this year? They were supposed to tell us of any new activity.”

  Pedro glanced at the other men. “They did, but while you were in the States the new head of the Colombia National Police came down on them. He fired nearly all of our men.”

  Raul stubbed out his cigar. “There will be others we can buy. Find their weaknesses and get to them.” He turned to the man who hadn’t spoken yet. A squat Columbian with a ridged forehead, protruding lips and a massive amount of body hair. “Marcus, you get Chico and Dee to go with you and talk to these brothers. Let them know exactly how we feel. See if they have any daughters…” He let that comment hang in the air.

  Marcus nodded. “Of course, Raul. With pleasure.”

  Kelsey and Desmond listened for a while longer as the men talked more business, until Pedro finally changed the subject.

  “Raul, we’ve been out to the monastery twice already, but I don’t think they know anything. They’re just three old monks from Tibet meditating out in the jungle in a tent. I can’t imagine what they think they’re doing here. Preaching to a bunch of monkeys if you ask me.”

  Raul fingered the key around his neck, musing. “Old Tibetan monks might hold secrets. Tomorrow morning, we’ll pay them a little visit and they’ll either tell me what I need to know or we’ll get rid of them. Ah, we’ll get rid of them anyway. They’re so far from the city, they won’t be discovered for weeks.”

  Talk turned to business and Kelsey and Desmond shrank back into the jungle.

  “The monastery is only five miles away,” Desmond said. “If we leave now, we could make it by morning, though I’d prefer not to go trekking through the jungle at night. Taking one of the vehicles would be a lot better, and faster. Unless you want to steal the map tonight while they’re sleeping?”

  Definitely not. Kelsey shook her head. “No, not here with armed guards swarming all over the property. If we get him on the way to the monastery, or there, we’d have a much better chance of success. Less people around, and then we’d be sure he’d have the map on him.”

  They crouched their way around the perimeter of the property towards the garage and watched silently as an armed guard roamed casually by, smoking a cigarette. At one point, he took out a silver flask and took a deep sip, then moved back around the house and out of sight.

  A few dirty jeeps sat in the driveway along with two pick-up trucks and a beat-up Chevy. Two roads jutted off from the garage. One led back out through the compound and the other one went into the forest. The second one was rarely used, as moss and ferns crowded the once cleared path. This was the one they would take.

  Desmond glanced back at the house. All the lights were still on and they could see the servants moving about inside. They could faintly make out Raul still by the pool. He had just taken off his clothes and gotten into the hot tub with the giggling girls.

  Kelsey’s muscles tensed she stared at Raul. She didn’t want to wait. What she really wanted to do was storm into the house and shoot the bastard and everyone else with him. She stared at Desmond for second and realized it was a foolish, impulsive thought. He could get killed. Wait, her first thought was to keep Desmond safe? What was that about?

  She didn’t want to let that thought linger. “We might as well get some rest. I don’t think we’ll have a lot of it tomorrow.” She turned and moved further into the jungle.

  Desmond followed her and they hiked until they were far enough out that they could no longer see the lights from the house. Kelsey took out a small portable flashlight and watched as Desmond removed one of the palm-sized sleeping bag packets from his bag. He glanced up at Kelsey, a pained expression on his face. They could each have their own sleeping bag, but these were built for two and it would be so much better to conserve the other one in case they were outside for another night. There was no way of knowing how long they might be sleeping in the jungle.

  Kelsey saw Desmond stare at the littered floor, knowing he must be thinking of the millions of insects which roamed through the rot. She remembered reading there were at least twenty-five million different types of insects in the Amazon--ants, beetles, and 3,600 different species of spiders. Tarantulas, jumping spiders, wolf spiders. She’d come to realize quite quickly that he hated bugs. He was probably terrified, but hiding it for her. At least the sleeping bag would zip around them, protecting them with its sturdy outer layer from anything crawling on them while they slept.

  She watched him open the packet, spread it out, and sighed, in frustration. Oh, I really don’t want to get in there with him. It was one thing to have to sit next to him on a plane, or travel with him, but to be pressed against him in a sleeping bag and try to sleep? This was going to be unbearable.

  He moved into the sleeping bag and looked up at her, since she hadn’t moved.

  “Kelsey, come on. Unless you want to waste another one, will you please get in before something crawls in here with me?”

  With a groan she dropped her knapsack on the ground, shut the flashlight and shimmied into the sleeping bag, keeping her back to Desmond. He quickly zipped it up around them. How it was supposed to fit both of them comfortably confounded her. He was just too big. He tried to turn his back to her, but it was way too tight and with their backs pressing together their faces were plastered against the walls of the sleeping bag.

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake, just turn around, Desmond,” she grumbled. “If you don’t, I will.”

  Desmond flipped himself around and pulled himself close to her, gently laying his arms on top of hers. She couldn’t help tensing. He was careful to keep most of his body away from her. Thankfully. She could feel him adjust his legs, putting his knees against the back of hers and then there seemed to be an enormous amount of room. Oh my God, this is just awful. Her stomach flip-flopped and it suddenly turned hot. She was sure it wasn’t only because they lay on the floor of a rainforest and it was still eighty degrees outside.

  She was glad they were both fully clothed.

  “Hey, it’s not so bad, Kelsey,” he said, trying to sound light.

  She couldn’t say a word. He was too close to her and she was so damned heady from it. What was it about this man? She had to relax, but she was sure he felt her body taut as a wire. Thankfully, as time went on the sounds of the jungle lulled both of them to sleep. As she drifted off she felt his arms fall around her, and hold her close, with her head against the crook of his neck and his breath tickling her cheek.

  That was the last thing she remembered until she started screaming at him a few hours later.

  * * * * *

  Desmond was flying. The city was so tiny below him. He could see the people walking on the sidewalks and the yellow taxis whizzing by, all as small as ants. As small as tiny spiders, scurrying to their destinations throughout the city. He swooped down, circling through it all, over cars and busses and over buildings. He flew through a wooded park, through the trees and playgrounds and then soared up again into the sky, over the skyscrapers and into the clouds. His hair blew against his brow and his arms were spread out like wings. He couldn’t stop grinning. He flew by a passing plane, so close he could see the pilots’ surprised expressions as he waved at them. He banked up further into the clouds, fluffy white pockets of cotton which felt wet and cold on his cheeks.

  He flew even higher and saw, off in the distance, the colors of an aurora borealis hovering on the horizon. He reveled in looking at them and flew contentedly for a while just basking in their rays.

  He dreamed a lot of flying. He felt exhilarated when he flew, like he could do anything in the world.

  The dream shifted and changed and he flew back to the park he had seen before, but Kelsey was now there, sitting on a bench. He
glided down next to her. She was dressed in a black Tae Kwon Do uniform, her hair cascading down her back and her make-up picture perfect, just like she had appeared at Garters. She held a bouquet of red roses in her hand. Three kittens frolicked at her bare feet, batting each other playfully. She gently poked at them with her toes. Without any preamble, she put the roses aside, leaned in towards Desmond and kissed him. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her against him, feeling her body in all the right places. Pressing his mouth to hers, he could hear her sigh, pleading with him and egging him on. She called his name…asked him a question…

  “Desmond, what are you doing?”

  The dream shifted again. Kelsey had turned around and her back was now to him. He started kissing her slender neck and her long hair tickled his face. She seemed so small and vulnerable in his arms and he wrapped them around her protectively. For some reason he felt she needed protection that only he could give. He ran his hands up and down her body, realizing she was naked. He couldn’t get past how warm and soft she felt. He sensed himself getting aroused and pulled himself even closer to her. He felt her back against his chest and her perfect breasts as he fondled them. He couldn’t get enough of her, like she was the very air he needed to breathe. She called his name again…

  “Desmond, I swear if you don’t let me go I’m going to beat the living crap out of you!”

  Something wasn’t right. She was upset? The dream changed. Kelsey yelled at him again. He felt himself shift, the scene blur and suddenly…

  * * * * *

  He opened his eyes, but it was pitch black and for a moment he wasn’t sure where he was. All he knew was he had his arms wrapped around an unhappy young lady, his body pressed fully against hers, excited as hell, his hands grabbing her chest and his lips pressed wetly to the back of her neck.

  With a startled cry, he released her. She flipped herself around, grabbed the zipper and opened it up, jumping out of the sleeping bag.

  She kicked him hard in his side. “What the hell were you doing?” she barked.

  What had he been doing? Good question. “I - I must have been dreaming. I’m so sorry.”

  “Dreaming? That’s the stupidest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

  “No, Kelsey, I swear. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

  A howler monkey sounded next to them, its cry piercingly close, and Kelsey jumped.

  He pushed himself out of the sleeping bag and then crumpled it up, thinking frantically about how to fix this. Hell, there was nothing he could do. He had practically humped this girl as he slept. Probably had. Just perfect, Desmond.

  Kelsey reached down and smacked her backpack a few times to brush off the bugs and then put it on, glaring at him. “Let’s go. Unless you need time to calm yourself down enough to be able to walk.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he mumbled.

  As they trudged through the jungle, he could imagine how angry Kelsey must be at him. He couldn’t blame her. Face it, he had no control around her, but it made him smile, nonetheless.

  The house came into view and they moved towards the garage. He glanced at his watch. 3:30 am. All the lights were out in the house, although up ahead he could see the faint glow from the front of the compound and hear the low hum of vehicles moving in and out of the facility. The drug trade never slept.

  Slowly inching around to the front of an old Jeep, he leaned into the driver’s seat. “The keys are in the ignition,” he whispered, surprised.

  Kelsey glared at him and then glanced around for the guard, who was slumped on a chair by the garage door, sleeping. The open, empty flask lay sideways on his stomach. His rifle was lying on the floor. She leaned in and put the car in neutral. Together they pushed the jeep towards the dirt road, its tires crunching on the gravelly driveway. Thankfully, the sounds of the jungle drowned most of it out. Once they got out of sight of the house, they jumped in. Desmond started the ignition and seconds later they were jostling down the back road towards the monastery.

  Chapter 22

  BACK TO TEDANALEE

  The jeep bounced wildly as Desmond drove the jungle road, littered with downed trees and deep potholes. It was like driving in a pool of black soup. The front headlights barely broke through the darkness. Many times they had to stop to remove debris before continuing. It was an arduous task in the dark, with the ever present threat of meeting one of the paramilitary groups. Now and again, there was a gap in the trees, the full moon illuminating a stitch of jungle that appeared like a photo taken from another world.

  Kelsey constantly monitored the GPS tracking system, trying to keep them on the right path. It was early in the morning and they thankfully passed no one, except masses of howler monkeys.

  “It should be right up ahead, about a half a mile.” She was still annoyed at Desmond, but what was she going to do about it? Absolutely nothing. She was stuck with him. At least he seemed embarrassed. Good, I hope you choke on it. She peered down the road. “There!” A side road jutted off and Desmond slowed down to make the turn. He drove the car into a copse of trees and left it there, hidden in the brush. They made their way to the temple, which was supposedly just a few hundred yards in.

  What a monastery was doing in Colombia in the jungle was beyond her. It made no sense. There was no one here to enlighten unless they were expecting to edify the souls of those who ran Raul’s drug ring – a doubtful idea. Otherwise, the closest village was easily twenty miles away.

  They pushed past another group of trees and stopped at a wide clearing. “This is it?” She stared incredulously at the gher, lit only by the light of a full moon. The temple was no more than a group of three patchwork felt tents, the same kind they used in Tibet when they rebuilt the monasteries after the purges from various factions over the years. “Desmond, this makes no sense.”

  Nothing in Kelsey’s teachings explained why a sect would open up a monastery, no matter how small, in such a location. Many of them were in remote locales, but they, at least, had a large brethren with them. This one supposedly only had three disciples, and elderly ones to boot.

  “It looks like it’s a Vajrayana sect,” Desmond said, pointing at the small picture on the front of the tent of Mindroling Trichen, a spiritual leader of the Nyimapa division. He turned to her. “Just like they follow in Tibet. In fact, just like at the Bodhidharma Monastery, but these seem to be influenced by Theravadu as well.”

  She stared, baffled, as they moved towards the gher. Usually sects adhered to one discipline or another. She remembered bits and pieces of her times in Tibet, where it seemed the monks that taught her combined the various doctrines of different Buddhist theologies, mixing them all together at times. In all her studies back in the States, she never remembered seeing that type of teaching anywhere else. She had thought she must have misunderstood them because she had been just a kid, but here again that very ideology was before her.

  As if they were expecting them, an old, wizened monk came out. A vivid sense of déjà vu hit Kelsey hard and she took a startled step back. This man reminded her exactly of the monks from the Bodhidharma monastery who had taught her for the two years she lived there.

  He seemed to have emerged from the past, dressed in the traditional robes of monks from twenty-five centuries ago, though they were worn and filthy from his time in the jungle.

  He wore the uttarasanga, the large, red, rectangular kashaya robe. It covered his left shoulder and left his thin right shoulder bare. Under the uttarasanga, he wore the antaravasaka wrapped around his waist like a sarong. This covered his body from his waist to his knees.

  While it was warm in the jungle, the monk still had a folded sanghati, an extra robe, draped over his shoulder.

  He stared straight into Kelsey’s eyes, and she shivered.

  “Don’t be afraid, child.” His voice, something about his voice. Out of the blue, a vision came unbidden to her mind.

  “I see you’ve been studying your scriptures, child. I’m pleased to see this. You’re a quick s
tudy.” His kind brown eyes in his wizened old face smiled down at her.

  “Thank you, Bhante Shingen,” Kelsey said, her nine year old visage staring at him adoringly. “I’ve been studying hard.”

  “I can tell, and yet, there are many distractions in this world that attempt to take you away from them,” he said.

  Kelsey’s eyes widened. “It’s true, Teacher. I’m trying not to let them sway me. Sometimes it’s so hard. As if there are things out there pushing me away from your teachings, but I keep making myself come back.”

  “I know, Kelsey. We all have desires. It’s our control of them that allows us to keep to the path. You’re doing wonderfully. Just follow your heart and do the best that you can. That is all that anyone can ask of you.”

  Kelsey turned back to her books, ignoring the birds chirping outside the window and the gardens blooming. There would be time for that later, after she studied. She loved the Tibetan culture. Loved studying the language and learning about the foundations of Buddhist tradition. She’d been with their school for a year already, ever since her parents had brought her to Tibet, and she took to the lessons eagerly. She was secretly proud, that because of her intellect, she’d been hand-picked from some of the other children to learn the noble truths, the more advanced meditation to take her to further enlightenment. She loved learning the various ceremonies and practices and could do the invocations and mantras in her sleep.

  A bell sounded and another monk called to Bhante Shingen. “It’s time. Bring the child.”

  That voice. Yes, that was the one.

  “Come, Kelsey,” Bhante Shingen said. “We’ll do these lessons later. Let us go to the inner sanctuary. It’s time to travel…”

  Kelsey blinked. “I know you, don’t I?”

  The monk simply stared at her.

  Desmond pushed past Kelsey. “Venerable sir, please, we must leave here with your brothers immediately. There are men coming who intend to do you great harm. They’ll be here very soon and they won’t leave without ending your path in this world.”