by Gloria Mur
- "What's he riding on?" asked Nastia, looking at the stranger.
- "He's lit up or something," – said Andrei, not taking his eyes off the riverbank, "he looks like he's from India."
The river turned away from the road. The man became hidden from view. They all turned at once to Samir.
- "Who was that?!"
- "How should I know," answered the instructor. He took off his hat and wiped away the sweat that had suddenly appeared on his face. His eyes became totally opaque.
The driver interrupted the conversation:
- "It's probably a pilgrim. There's a lot of them around here. They're looking for Shambhala. The Country of Happiness, in their language. They say there's eternal life there and all that good stuff. We call them the Roerichites. Roerich is the last name of one of their important figures- he knows a lot about that Shambhala. Briskly clever, that one."
Marina looked at the driver with respect.
- "I see," smiled Nastia, "Roerich really did come here."
- "But all the same, what was he riding on?” – asked Margo.
- "It was the Mahatma!" - said Marina. – "He was flying. The Supreme Spirit of Shambhala. This is a sacred place.”
The traveling companions looked at one another. Boris frowned, but said nothing.
Marina shrugged her shoulders. She was used to skeptics by this point.
9* The river seemed unreal. It was a piercing, light-blue, with crystal water. The kind of river imagined by a child who believes in fairy-tales. The rays of sunlight pierced the water in a golden grid all the way to the bottom. The Katun river was calm, but carried its waters through the little Altai villages, eternal mountains, dark fossilized forests, and bright tents filled with tourists, scattered in many spots along the riverbanks.
10* Silence and beauty reigned on its low banks. Dark blue-green mountains, like broad-shouldered giants surrounded the river on all sides, carefully embracing it with large stone hands, covered with pine trees. And all around, the protected land bloomed. Just as it's always been here. Be it one hundred, one thousand or ten thousand years ago... That thought is breathtaking on its own, and for any person who's coming here for the first time, it feels that you are blending with Time itself.
11*
12* A small camp stretched out on one of the banks. Four tents stood in a circle. Not so far away, on the sand, lay an inflatable boat, covered in huge drops of morning dew. Life-jackets and helmets had been dumped nearby. By an old, crooked pine, there was an extinguished fire smoldering, with a tea kettle hanging over it. There were two large boxes piled beside it, covered with foil. The tents, and the trees shined trough the white fog of the river, and it was all covered by the pink-gold morning. The night, not yet having succeeded in obscuring the Moon and a few stars, hurried to run away from the unbearable light. Morning spilled its fantastic color on the earth, and released the music of birdsong.
13* One of the tents came to life, and a moment later, a young woman's face appeared in the door. Rubbing her eyes, Nastia stopped, struck by the beauty of the morning. For several seconds she looked from side to side, and afterwards, turned to the tent:
- “Margo! Margo! Wake up! Come look at the beautiful sunrise!"
- "Uhhh," came her discontented answer.
- “Margo! Have you seen the sunrise in the mountains?”
The sleeping bag next to her growled a negative.
- "Then wake up right away! This beauty is why we live on earth!"
- "I want to sleep!"
- "Come on, we'll go skinny dipping. While everyone else is still asleep, huh?"
- "Give up."
- “Margo, come on! Margie! Time to get up!”
The bag took a heavy sigh, stirred a bit, and sat up. A disheveled head with closed eyes appeared:
- "Nastia, you could wake the dead."
- "Well, did you come here to sleep?"
- "With you, I can only nap." Margo slowly unstuck her eyelids and crawled out of the tent. "I can't believe you!"
- "What did I say? Let's go!"
Hiding in the bushes, they quickly undressed and got into the water. Their skin burned with the cold. The girls let out twin "ah"s in chorus. They quickly dunked their heads under the water and raced to the shore.
- "Nice!" – laughed Margo, flicking droplets of water from her body.
- "Cool! It's like swimming in living water! My whole body is burning," confirmed Nastia. And added, looking at Margo, "you're such a knockout, Rita!"
Sympathy stirred in Margo's eyes. Casting her gaze on the thin, almost child-like silhouette of her friend, she said,
- "If only you'd listen to me, we could make a perfect ten out of you.. Look, you've got great skin and hair.. A bit of makeup, some shopping..."
Nastia blushed at Margo's stare:
- "Stop it! You know I'm not into that stuff."
Suddenly, they heard footsteps. The friends weren't quite able to get covered up. Andrei came out of the bushes with his camera around his neck. Seeing the naked girls, he was thunderstruck. Nastia threw on a towel. Her face became covered in purple spots.
- "So, what? Are you feeling this?” – asked the nude Margo.
Andrei muttered something, averting his gaze. He turned in place, and rushed headlong back into the bushes.
- "Where are you going, Andrei!" – screamed Margo, "don't you want to take a picture?"
- "Margo! Don't!" - pleaded Nastia.
- "He was quite embarrassed!" Margo grinned.
- "He's a decent person, that's all!" - growled Nastia. Her eyes became a very dark blue. – "He saw us naked and got embarrassed! It's normal! Get it? It's a nor-mal re-ac-tion!”
- "What's got you all fired up?"
Margo looked carefully at her friend.
- "Have you got a crush on him or something? Huh? You've got a crush! I say go for it! He's a typical nerd. Oh the things a simple pair of glasses can do! He looks like our Physics professor, remember her, Klava Eduardovna? That's why he's afraid of women. And do you think he's ever seen naked women before? I've found who you've got a crush on. I'm figuring you out..."
- "He liked you, and not me," interrupted Nastia.
- "Yeah, I need him like a bear needs a parachute!"
- "Let's go put our heads under one more time," said Nastia, changing the topic.
She turned towards the river and suddenly stopped.
– "What the... What is that?
In the middle of the Katun, a yard above the water, there was a man hovering in the lotus position. His eyes were closed, his arms were folded on his knees.
- "Jesus! Nastia! My God!" - whispered Margo.
- "Do you see it too?"
Nastia turned white. Her freckles began to stand out more. Margo dropped her towel in the water.
- "I see it. But... But is that... Samir? Our instructor?! I knew I didn't like him right away, that weird Samir!"
- "Let's get out of here Margo!"
Nastia grabbed her friend by the arm.
"I'm scared, Margo! Let's call the others!"
They slipped on the damp stones, getting dressed on the way, quickly clambering ashore.
- "Faster!" they cried out, vying for attention, "there's that man!" Walking on the river! He's floating!”
Everyone threw themselves at the Katun.
The dampened Samir stood on the rocks, wringing out his long hair. He smiled upon meeting the tourists.
- "Are you going swimming? The water's great! Just don't dive too deep, where the flow is stronger."
Margo and Nastia stared at the instructor with rapt attention. He raised his eyebrows inquisitively.
- "Is something not right?"
- "We saw you there, above the river," said Nastia.
- "Ah, you saw me swimming?"
- "No, we saw you hovering above the water."
- "Hovering? Come on, you're joking!" Samir chuckled
- "Hovering?” Asked Boris again, "what crap! I t
hought someone was dead in the water! The man! He's floating!" – he said, imitating Nastia.
Nastia and Margo looked at each other. Marina looked carefully at Samir, but was silent.
"The mountain air," explained Samir, "works like a drug on the first day. Your city-slicker brains aren't used to the lower oxygen levels yet."
The friends returned to their tent.
- "Margo! Did we really just hallucinate that?" - asked Nastia.
- "Like hell we did! He's obviously lying! He set us up to look like complete idiots. I'll swear on anything that I saw him. Just who is he?! He has eyes like an alien! When he looks at me, I get goosebumps."
- "Maybe he's a yogi?"
- "Yogi? Can yogis suspend themselves in midair now?!"
- Well, you know they say levitation is possible…"
- "Well, I'm pretty creeped out all the same," said Margo, "I feel a tingling cold in my chest from these thoughts."
The river lazily carried their rubber raft. The sun, which had been beating down since morning, had heated up the sides of the boat, making it smell like rubber. All the travelers were getting hot. Plastic helmets and life-jackets are not appropriate attire for a 90 degree oven. The raft floated along the river, and the tourists lazily laid down inside. Only Samir sat on the edges, sometimes picking up an oar to keep the boat in the middle of the river. Nastia and Margo exchanged glances, watching the instructor. But nothing about Samir especially stood out. He sat firmly in the boat and made no preparations to take flight. Everyone but Marina was silent.
- "You should not think that Shambhala is a fiction. I read that there was an expedition and they found it! Yes, it's been found! There were pictures and drawings. And the entrance, well, one of the entrances is here in the Altai mountains," said Marina, continuing her monologue that had begun a half-hour ago.
- "So, wait, it's been found?" – exclaimed Nastia in surprise, "I know about Roerich's expeditions, but as for pictures…"
- "Yeah, and I'm the Culture Minister of Papua New Guinea," snorted Margo, crossing her eyes and blowing a bubble with her gum. Marina, not even slightly embarrassed at the reaction, continued,
- "At some point, after the Great Flood, they gathered the best representatives of humanity. We know it as Noah's ark. They landed in the high mountains. And from then on, they've been watching over us..." and Marina delved into the intricacies of the esoteric. No one but Nastia listened. Samir followed the river. Boris was studying a geographic atlas. Margo was appreciating the journey, and Andrei was snapping pictures. The trip began quite normally
Chapter 3. The Crash
This place has a bad name. Quite a few tourists have made this their permanent resting place, having not fully respected the insidious will of the edge of the "Akkem inflow." This is where the Akkem river empties into the Katun, changing it from a lazy stream into a raging torrent. The nature of the Katun sharply changes. It changes an obedient, svelte lady with piercing eyes into an unbridled teenage boy, who's next move you can never guess. Trying on its new, "grown-up" manner, the Katun becomes deeper, wider, more angry, the color becomes dirtier, loses its crystal clarity. The banks become steep cliffs. Getting back to dry land is impossible after the current from the "Akkem inflow." The water boils, whirlpools swirl, mist rises in waves against the flow and hits the rocks that come out of the water with furious force.
The tourists made land near the threshold of the current. The men went out to explore. The female half of the team listened to the thundering water ahead. Even Marina was quiet.
- "Judging by the sound, there must be a waterfall there," Margo said, trying to joke.
No one smiled. The foolhardy tourists were obviously scared.
- "Good day!" came an unfamiliar voice. A tall bearded man with long hair came out of the forest. He was wearing a white robe and carrying a staff.
- "Hello…" Nastia called out.
- "Hi. Where are you from taiga-man?"
frowned Margo, sizing up the stranger.
- "I'm a pilgrim," the guest answered. - "I was looking to ask for a ride. I'm in a big hurry."
- "Is it comfortable to wander the taiga in a bed sheet?" wondered Margo aloud.
- “I've fallen behind my party,” said the stranger, ignoring the irony, "but I'm sure I could catch them in your raft."
- "This isn't a taxi service,”
said Margo.
Marina, her eyes bulging, came closer to the guest. She touched her clothes. He smiled. She went around in a circle and took a look at his face. The traveler laughed, looking at her with interest. Having determined that this man was in fact made of flesh and blood, Marina walked away. Margo glanced at Marina like she was looking at a crazy person.
Nastia looked at the guest. Doubt stung her heart. There was something unreal about him... His clothes! He looked just as if he had been recently released from surgery. There wasn't even a trace of dirt or grass, neither on his robe, nor on his old braided sandals. How is this possible- he was walking through the forest! Where did he come from? Was it him that we all saw roll-flying along the bank yesterday? Nastia wanted to share this with Margo, but didn't have time.
The men returned. In a minute, the man in white had made an agreement with the instructor. He put on his life-jacket and took a seat in the raft.
The river struck out at the tourists like a predator at its prey. They set out to the very center of the rapids. The heavily-laden raft tossed in the waves like a toy. The river roared, crying out its desire to swallow up the outsiders who dared disturb it. The water flew up on all sides, making the paddles useless. Sprays of ice shot over them. The river cried so loud that it seemed as if a horde predatory aquatic creatures was attacking from all sides.
- "Row! Everyone row!" Samir shouted with all his strength. "Stronger! We still need more power! We're leaving the middle of the river!"
He stood in the center of the raft and worked his huge paddle with all his might. The muscles in his arms trembled from the strain, his swarthy face soured. Every now and then they were hit in the chest with a burst of water. – "Boris! Stronger! Right side – stroke! Again! And again!"
Marina sat motionless, holding on for dear life to the rope that was securing their things with her whitening fingers. She whispered something. All the others were cutting through the water with their paddles.
- "Left side! Samir! Back! Back! Barrel roll!" – Andrei suddenly cried out, trying to turn around with his short paddle. But Samir, instead of helping, exchanged glances with the new passenger and... they threw their paddles overboard. The river tossed the boat around, flinging it toward the cliff-sides.
- "Turn around!" Nastia tried to listen. The raft took flight. There was a horrible grinding noise. A water column hit her in the face. Holding her breath, and dying from fear, Nastia glued herself to the floor of the raft. When she opened her eyes, she saw a green haze and bubbles. She figured it was the last thing she'd see in her life...
And suddenly the bubbles began to swirl, turning into a huge funnel. It picked up Nastia and turned. Her eyes grew dark from suffocation. The girl, not able to hold on any longer, opened her mouth. But... air, not water rushed into her lungs. On the inside of the funnel, she could breathe. The whirlpool sent her deep down and... disappeared above her with a squelching sound. Nastia stood to her feet.
She was in a cave. It was lit by a small kerosene lamp, standing on the ground, which allowed her to see. It was quite spacious, but more importantly, it was a completely dry cave. Only the water, dripping from her clothes, spoke to the fact that Nastia had just been at the bottom of the Katun. Instead of a roof, the cave had... a river. Nastia looked up in shock for a few seconds at the rapids overhead. Stones thundered, the sound of the whirlpool bounced off the walls of the cave. It was as if Nastia was looking into the window of a huge washing machine. It was impossible, but she had no choice but to believe her eyes. Some force was holding the water back, not allowing it to come down. "What kind of glass c
ould be strong enough to hold a tonne of water?" thought Nastia, when suddenly a hole appeared in the "glass" and Margo fell right on Nastia. The hole closed immediately. Coughing and spitting, Margo, with eyes full of horror, stared at her friend. Nastia was not able to say anything. One after another, all the others fell into the cave as well. The last to fall in, was the man in white.
- "We've drowned!" screamed Marina and an echo came back from the depths of a tunnel that continued into the cave. "We've drowned! What's that?!" – she shrieked, pointing at the watery ceiling.
The others looked around, trying to figure out what happened.
- "Ok, so I didn't drown," said Margo, drying off her bruised elbow, "my whole body hurts. The floor seems to be stone."
- "Where are we? I don't understand a thing," answered Nastia.
- "Samir, you threw your paddle! I saw you!" Andrei shouted in a rage.
The water washed his glasses away. His face became much nicer without those old rims. Though, he obviously didn't feel comfortable, squinting around. He stepped toward Samir. A vein swelled on his forehead.
- "You threw that paddle on purpose! I saw you!"
- "I couldn't do anything about it," answered Samir.
- "You've drowned us!"
- "Knock it off, Andrei!" – Nastia pleaded, "it's better to think what to do next."
- "We're drooowwwnned," sobbed Marina
Boris embraced his wife. You could see his left eyelid twitching.
- "What the...? "What's that?!" - he asked Samir, pointing up.
- "It's an underwater cave," he answered, taking off his life-vest. - "I've heard of that before. Hot air from underground rises up and holds the water back. Large bubbles of gas come back down the funnel. They suck anything in that falls into them."
The travelers looked at one another There wasn't really a good explanation. It was clear to anyone with even a slight understanding of the laws of physics. But the circumstances were such, that they had to believe. The tourists were standing at the bottom of the Katun. And water, defying the law of gravity, flowed over their heads.
