by Collen Houck
surrounded the home, turning the grounds into a lush paradise. I recognized ornamental bamboo, tall royal palms, thick ferns, and leafy banana trees, but there were many others as well. A curved pool and hot tub were lit up on the side of the house, and a glittering fountain sprayed water from the pool into the air while rotating its patterns and colors.
The outside of the house was painted white and cream, but it was offset by a bright variety of plumeria flowers in red, orange, and yellow set in front of a border of vivid orange bird-of-paradise plants.
When Ren and I approached the marble and teakwood entryway, I twisted the knob and found it unlocked. The outside was warm and vibrant, reflecting the intense, bold colors of India. The inside was opulent and lovely, decorated in cooler and more relaxing shades of color. We stepped into the wide, dramatic foyer. The entryway highlighted vaulted ceilings, exquisite marble flooring, and a curved sweeping staircase with ornate ironwork balustrades capped by a dazzling chandelier. Huge windows showcased the panoramic view of the surrounding jungle from inside each room of the main floor.
I slipped out of my dirty sneakers, left them and my bags at the door, and then Ren and I padded across the foyer and into a beautiful room. I found myself in a soaring double-height handsome gentleman’s library. Dark brown leather chairs, ottomans, and cozy couches sat on a beautiful rug, and dark wood side tables with lamps were set next to those. A large globe stood in the corner, and the walls were full of
books. There was even one of those sliding ladders that you could climb to reach the top shelves. A large
heavy desk sat to one side with a leather chair. It was meticulously neat and organized, immediately reminding me of Mr. Kadam.
I picked up a pen and grinned when I saw it was an old-fashioned ink pen, the kind used for calligraphy, rather than the typical ballpoint. A carved stone fireplace took up one wall. The fireplace was cold and dark now. I couldn’t imagine when a fireplace would ever be used in India, but it was a beautiful show-piece nonetheless. A tall golden vase full of peacock feathers had obviously inspired the accents and design of the room. Throw pillows and rugs stood out in teal, green, and purple. I thought it was the most beautiful library in the world.
As we made our way into the house, I heard Mr. Kadam’s voice. “Miss Kelsey? Is that you?”
I had been determined to be upset with him and Ren, but I couldn’t help but be relieved to hear his voice. “Yes. We’re here, Mr. Kadam.”
I followed his voice to a large, stainless steel gourmet kitchen with a black marble tiled floor, granite countertops, and double ovens, where he’d been busy preparing a meal.
“Miss Kelsey.” He rushed forward to take my hand. “I’m so glad you are safe. I hope you aren’t terribly angry with me.”
“Well, I’m not too happy about how everything happened, but…” I grinned at him and looked down at the tiger, “…I blame this guy more than you. He admitted that you wanted to tell me the truth.”
He grimaced apologetically and nodded. “Please forgive both of us. We never intended to cause you discomfort. Come. I have prepared a meal for you.” He bustled back to the kitchen, pulled open the door to a deep walk-in pantry, and disappeared inside for several minutes. When he stepped out, he deposited his selections on the kitchen island and opened another small door. I peeked inside and saw shelves full of fancy dishes and goblets including an impressive collection of silver. He pulled out two delicate china plates and two goblets and then set them on the table.
“What’s that room called?”
“It’s a butler’s pantry. Used for a variety of things today, but in the olden days butlers actually used to sleep in there to protect the family silver.”
“Hmm…” I pointed to a small beveled glass door. “And this?”
He smiled. “I call that my spice room.”
I slid open the door and saw shelves full of spices. My nose was overwhelmed with fragrance. The strongest smells were cloves and cinnamon. Some of the spices were ground, but most were still in seed or pod form.
“I like to grind my own spices. They taste better that way.”
I closed the door. “Mr. Kadam, something’s been bothering me.”
He teased, “Onlyone thing?”
I laughed. “For now. I’ve been wondering…did you everreally ask Mr. Davis to come with you to take care of Ren? I mean, what would you have done if he’d saidyes and I’d saidno ?”
“I did ask him first, just to keep up appearances, but I also subtly suggested to Mr. Maurizio that it might
be in his best interest to persuade Mr. Davisnot to go. In fact, I offered himmore money if he would insist
Mr. Davis stay with the circus. As far as what to do if you had turned us down…I suppose we would have had to make you a better offer and keep trying until we found one you couldn’t refuse.”
“What if I still said no? Would you have kidnapped me?”
He laughed. “No. If our offer had still been turned down, my next step would have been to tell you the truth and hope you believed me.”
“Whew, that’s a relief.”
“ThenI would have kidnapped you.” He started chuckling at his joke and turned his attention back to our dinner.
“That’s not very funny, Mr. Kadam.”
“I couldn’t resist. Sorry, Miss Kelsey.”
He led me out of the kitchen to a small breakfast nook. I sat at a round table next to a bay window that overlooked the illuminated swimming pool. Placing a plate in front of me, he went back and fussed in the
kitchen for another moment, brought out a plate of his own, and sat down across from me. Ren settled himself at my feet. Mr. Kadam wanted to know everything that had happened to me since I’d last seen him. I told him about the truck, and found out that he paid the driver to leave me stranded, and then we talked about the jungle and Phet.
He asked me many questions about what Phet had shared with me and was particularly interested in my henna hand design. He turned my hand over and closely examined the symbols on each side.
He leaned back in his chair and smiled. “So youare the favored one of Durga.”
“How did you know I was the right person? I mean, how did you know it wasme who would be able to break the curse?”
“We were not really sure that youwere the right person until you met Phet and he confirmed it. When Dhiren was in captivity, he could not alter his form. Somehow, you spoke words that set him free. It allowed him to change to a man again and contact me. Also, you fit the description that Phet gave me, so wehoped that you were the right person, the one that we’d been searching for, Durga’s favored one.”
“Mr. Kadam, what does that mean exactly? Whois Durga?”
He excused himself and went into the other room. When he returned, he was holding a small golden statuette. He placed it delicately on the table facing me. It was a beautifully carved Indian goddess with eight arms. She was shooting a bow and arrow, and, what was even more interesting, she was riding a…
tiger .
Touching a delicate carved arm, I said, “Please tell me about her.”
“Of course, Miss Kelsey. In the language of the Hindus, Durga meansinvincible one . She is a great warrior and considered the mother goddess of many of the other gods and goddesses of India. She has at her command many weapons and rides a magnificent tiger named Damon into war. A very beautiful goddess, she’s been described as having long curly hair and a bright complexion that glows even brighter
when she is engaged in battle. She’s often dressed in cerulean robes, the color of the sea, and jeweled ornaments of carved gold, precious gemstone, and shiny black pearl.”
I turned the statue. “What are the weapons she’s holding in her hands?”
“There are several images of her, and each one has a slightly different array of weapons. Some pictures show her with ten arms, some with eight, and some with six. This statue has eight. Let’s see which weapons this one shows. Ah—there is a trident,
a bow and arrow, the sword, and a gada, which is what you would call a mace or a club. On the other side, we see a kamandal, or conch shell, a discus, a snake, and armor with a shield. Some of the other pictures have a length of rope, a bell, or a lotus flower, and then she is also depicted showing various hand shapes. She’s able to manipulate lightning and thunder as well.”
I picked up the statue and looked at it from different angles. The eight arms were fearsome. If she came in battle against me, I’d be sure to run the other direction.
Mr. Kadam continued, “She fought a demon, Mahishasur, who was half human and half buffalo. He terrorized the earth and the heavens, and noman could kill him. So, Durga took the form of a warrior goddess to defeat him. Thus, the goddess Durga was born out of the river to help humanity in their time of need. She is also calledThe Fair Lady because of her great beauty.”
Placing the statue back on the table, I said, “Mr. Kadam, I don’t mean to be disrespectful and I hope I don’t offend you, but I don’t really believe in this kind of stuff. I think it’s fascinating, but it seems…too weird to be real. I feel like I’m stuck in some kind of Indian myth inThe Twilight Zone .”
He smiled. “Ah, Miss Kelsey, don’t worry. You do not offend me. During my travels and my studies while trying to help Dhiren, I have had to open myself to new ideas and beliefs that I too had never considered before. What is real and what is not is for your heart to decide and for your heart to know.
“Now, you must be tired from your journey. I will show you to your room where you can rest.”
He led me upstairs to a large bedroom decorated in plum and white with gold trim. A round vase of white roses and gardenias lightly perfumed the room. A four-poster bed with mounds of plum-colored pillows adorning it was set against the wall. Thick piled white carpet covered the floor. Tall glass doors opened to the large veranda I’d seen before and overlooked the pool and fountain.
“It’s lovely! Thank you, Mr. Kadam.”
He nodded and left me, closing the door softly behind him. He’d brought up my bags for me and set them beside the bed. I yanked off my socks, wanting to walk barefoot on the plush carpet. Zipping open my backpack and pulling out some clothes, I walked to the dresser with gold burnished knobs and opened the drawer. There were other clothes already in the drawer, so I took my backpack with me and opened a side door that led into a spacious white bathroom.
Textured glass doors opened into a stunning bath. It was bigger than any bathroom I’d ever been in.
There was a white marble deep-plunge spa tub and a huge shower that could also be a steam room. Soft plum-colored towels hung on a heated rack and glass bottles held soaps and bubble bath in lavender and creamy peach fragrances.
Next to the bathroom was a walk-in closet with white padded changing benches, hutches, and drawers.
One side was empty and the other side held a rack of brand new clothes still wrapped in cellophane. A whole wall was built just to hold shoes, but it was mostly empty. One new shoebox sat there waiting to be opened.
After a thoroughly relaxing shower in the opulent bathroom, I unpacked my few clothes and arranged them in the closet and the dresser. I set my makeup, compacts, hairbrush, and ribbons on a mirrored tray lying on the marble sink and rolled up the cord of my flat iron and stowed it in a drawer. I’d considered not bringing makeup since I thought I was going to a tiger reserve and then right back home to Oregon, but I was glad I’d brought it.
Leaving the bathroom, I scooted to the back of my bed in my flannel pajamas and had just pulled my poetry book out of my travel bag to read for a while when I heard a tapping on the window. I looked out at the veranda and my heart started pounding in my chest because a man was standing out there. I caught a flash of blue eyes, remembered it was Ren, and got up to open the door. The funny thing was, even after I knew it was Ren, my heart kept on beating in a fast rhythm.
It’s not that I felt…scared. I don’t know what to call it, really. I guess I just wasn’t used to him in this form. He’d walked off a few paces and was looking out over the veranda into the jungle. I stepped out and walked toward him. He turned to look at me, gestured to the pool, and said, “Want to go for a swim?”
“Umm…maybe later.”
His hair was wet, and he smelled wonderful, something like… waterfalls and the woods mixed together.
He was so good looking that I felt a bit mousy standing there beside him in my flannel pajamas.
He looked me up and down and frowned at me. “Why aren’t you wearing the clothes I bought you?”
Confused, I said, “What clothes? These are my pajamas.”
“The clothes that were put in your closet and dresser. I even included some pajamas.”
“Oh. You mean…those clothes are forme ?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t…But…Why would you…How…Well, anyway, thank you. And thank you for the use of the beautiful room.”
He smiled at me widely and almost knocked me off my feet with his attractiveness. He captured a wisp of my hair that had flown out in the breeze, tucked it behind my ear, and said, “Did you like your flowers?”
I just stared at him, then blinked and managed to squeak out a tiny yes.
He nodded, satisfied, and gestured to the patio chairs.
I bobbed my head faintly and sucked in a breath as he took my elbow and guided me to a chair. After making sure I was comfortable, he moved to the chair opposite from me and sat down. I guess because I was just staring at him and not managing to come up with a coherent thought of my own, he began speaking.
“Kelsey, I know you have many questions for me. What would you like to know first?”
I was mesmerized by his bright blue eyes, which somehow sparkled even in the dark. Finally, I snapped out of it…whateverit was. I mumbled the first dumb thought that came to my mind: “You don’t look like
the other men around here. Your skin is gol…umm, lighter. And your eyes are…not like the other…
guys’zez.” I stammered lamely.
He didn’t seem to notice my total lack of sophistication.Why can’t I get it together? He took my comment seriously.
“Why don’t I look like the other men of India? Well, my father was of pure Indian descent, but my mother was Asian. She was a princess from another country who was given to my father to become his bride. Plus, I’m over three hundred years old, which might make a difference too, I suppose.”
“Over three hundred years old! That means you were born in…”
“I was born in 1657.”
“Right.” I fidgeted.Apparently, I find older men extremely attractive. “Then why do you look so young?”
“I don’t know. I was twenty-one when I was cursed, I don’t think I’ve aged since then.”
“When did you meet Mr. Kadam? How old is he? And how does Mr. Kadam’s boss fit into this? Does he know about you?”
He laughed. “Kelsey…I’mMr. Kadam’s boss.”
“You?You are his wealthy employer?”
“We don’t really define our relationship that way, but his explanation was more or less accurate. Mr.
Kadam’sage is more… complicated. He’s actually a bit older than me. He was once my man-at-arms and my father’s trusted military advisor. When the curse was placed upon me, I ran to him and was able to change to a man long enough to tell him what had happened. He quickly organized things, hid my parents and our wealth, and has been my protector ever since.”
“But…how can he still bealive ? He should have died a long time ago.”
He hesitated. “Yes. But he’s kept alive by the Damon Amulet.”
I shifted forward in my seat. “Damon? Isn’t that the name of Durga’s tiger?”
“Yes, the name of Durga’s tiger and the amulet are the same. I don’t know much about the amulet’s origins, but the man who cursed me was seeking toreunite the amulet by taking the pieces that belonged to my brother and me. Mr. Kadam wears my piece now. We believe that the amulet
’s power has somehow protected him and has kept Anik, Mr. Kadam, alive all this time. Though he’s aged, it has been, thankfully, very slow.”
I sat back in my chair intrigued and shocked at the same time.
He went on, “So, having my piece has enabled him to continue to manage my affairs. It was our only option really, but I’m glad because he’s a trusted friend. He’s given up much to help my family through the years. I can never repay my debt to him. I don’t know how I would have survived all this time without him.”
He looked out across the pool and whispered, “He cared for my parents until their deaths, watching over them when I couldn’t.”
I leaned over to place my hand on top of his. I could sense his sadness as he thought about his parents.
His lonely ache filled me somehow and meshed with my own. He turned his hand over and began absentmindedly stroking my fingers with his thumb as he stared out at the landscape, wrapped in his own
thoughts.
I would have expected to feel awkward or embarrassed to be holding hands with a man I’d just met, but, instead, I felt… comforted. His loss echoed my own, and his touch gave me a sense of peace. As I looked at his handsome face, I wondered if he felt the same way. I understood the sting of loneliness and felt great pity for him in that moment. Three hundred years without human contact, without communication, without anyone looking in your eyes and knowing who you are. Even if I had been uncomfortable, I couldn’t have denied him that moment of human contact.
He turned back to me and smiled in a warm, lazy way and then kissed my fingers and said, “Come, Kelsey. You need to sleep, and my time is almost gone.”
He pulled me up so that I stood very close to him, which caused me to stop breathing. As he held my hand, I felt a slight tremor pass through it. He pulled me along to my door, said a quick good night, bowed his head, and then he was gone.
The next morning when I got up, the first thing I did was check the clothes in the dresser and the closet to see what Ren had purchased for me. I was surprised to see that they were mostly modern, practical clothes that American girls would wear, like jeans and blouses, but they were in the bright, vivid colors of
