The Call of Mount Sumeru

by Elyse Salpeter

  Kelsey lay down and then raised her head once more.

  Ari glanced at her questioningly. He still hadn’t moved.

  “And don’t snore or I will throw the lamp at you.” And with that, Kelsey lay down and went to sleep.

  Chapter 10

  Kelsey woke early and quietly used the bathroom. Then she slipped on her jacket and stepped over her still-slumbering ass of a brother. Closing the door as silently as possible, she zipped up her coat and laced up her hiking boots which rested next to the cabin door. With a spring to her step, she skipped down the stairs. The sun had just risen and it was the time of morning she always treasured. The start of a new day. She and Desmond used to get up early and sit on the Great Lawn in Central Park to watch the sun rise. At times, they’d felt like they were all alone in the world.

  She recalled the incident from the night before and skipped around to the back of the cabin. The footprints were still there. Something really had been standing right outside her cabin window. Something with a baby’s cry. Those yellow eyes.

  She strolled towards the main temple, hoping to catch the 6:30 morning meditation she’d seen on the schedule. It was always great to start the day with spiritual exercises and with everything that had been going on, she’d been lax in her studies. Not to mention she wanted to see how Sitaula handled them. She hoped they’d have some time that afternoon to talk about the artifacts.

  As she walked, her mind drifted to her last frustrating encounter with the Emperor and Empress in Xanadu. She needed to remember during her mediations today not to get so involved and lost in the prayers that accidentally sent herself to Xanadu. She found it so easy to do now and she knew she was still too angry to confront anyone at the monastery. She was concerned she’d say something she’d regret. Well, something she’d regret even more than she’d already said.

  Even the promise of riding Ishu, her fedelia, wasn’t enough to make her want to go to Xanadu. Still, she was content to know that her fedelia was happily residing with Desmond’s mare, Dorje. At least they’re together. Someone should be happy…

  Kelsey breathed deeply and tried not to think of Desmond, but she couldn’t help it. All her thoughts strayed to him and his safety. Where was he? Why had Finley needed to take him away? But more importantly, why wouldn’t the Emperor and Empress help her? The entire thing was maddening. The cold seeped through Kelsey’s leather coat and she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck.

  A quick stroll brought her to the main temple, but when she turned a corner in the trail, the sight of a police cruiser idling with its emergency beacons rotating startled her. It sat in the parking space in the front of the temple next to a beat-up forest green colored Jeep Cherokee.

  She arrived at the front of the building at the same time the doors to the temple opened and Sitaula emerged with a police officer at his heels. Sitaula caught her eye and beckoned her to join him and she was instantly alarmed. The monk’s brows were creased with worry and his eyes appeared red, as if he’d been crying.

  The policeman hadn’t seen her yet. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Sitaula. We’ll let you know if we hear anything.”

  The cop turned and finally noticed her. “Is this the guest you told me about?”

  Sitaula nodded and then raised his brows when Ari strolled around the temple and ambled up to them. “But I don’t know who that man is.”

  Kelsey started to speak but Ari interrupted her. “I’m her boyfriend. I arrived late last night.” He put his arm around Kelsey’s shoulder, and it took all her effort not to shrug him off and punch him in the face.

  Sitaula squinted and tilted his head. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”

  Ari shrugged. “I don’t think so. I must have one of those faces. I hear it all the time.”

  Sitaula nodded and tried to smile, but he faltered. “Yes, that has to be it.”

  The police officer spoke to Ari. “You arrived late last night? From where? Can you verify your whereabouts?”

  Ari nodded. “Of course. I came in on a prop out of Juneau, had dinner in town at that great crabshack and then a local named Jeb Miller dropped me off around eleven o’clock at the end of the street.”

  The policeman wrote in his notebook while Sitaula chewed his lip nervously. “Were both of you in your cabin last night?” the cop asked.

  Ari gave him a lascivious grin. “Of course we were. I haven’t seen Kelsey for months since I’ve been traveling overseas. I can vouch we stayed inside all night.” He wrapped his hand in Kelsey’s and she dug her fingernails deep into his palm. Hard enough to hurt, though he didn’t flinch.

  “Did either of you see anything out of the ordinary last night?”

  Kelsey shrugged Ari off. “Like what? What’s happened?”

  Sitaula answered her. “One of my students went missing last night. One of the young boys you met. After their lessons, I made them dinner and then they walked home together but they were attacked in the woods.”

  “Attacked? By who?” Kelsey asked.

  The police officer flipped through his notebook and read. “By ‘what’ is the more operative word. Our witness says that at about eight o’clock the two of them were supposed to use the main road back to town as instructed, but decided to take a short cut through the woods. He claims a large animal emerged from the forest, grabbed his friend and took off with him.”

  Kelsey stepped forwards. “Officer, late last night I thought I heard a baby’s cry and then I saw something outside my window. It left a set of footprints underneath my cabin window.”

  The police officer and Sitaula exchanged a knowing glance and then Sitaula stared into the woods nervously. The officer raised his brows and spoke to Kelsey. “You heard a baby’s cry? What time was this?”

  Kelsey thought about it. “It was about two a.m.”

  Sitaula passed a trembling hand in front of his eyes and made a small sound in the back of his throat.

  The police officer grimaced. “Show me the prints.”

  Chapter 11

  When the officer and Sitaula left the cabin and Kelsey and Ari were finally alone, she turned on her brother. She was furious. “What the hell kind of game are you playing? Why did you say you were my boyfriend? Sitaula has met you before, Ari, remember?”

  Ari brushed her concerns aside. “Please, I met him for all of five minutes before prom. He took a few photos and then we left in the limo. That was seven years ago and he’s never seen me with a full beard. And why the hell doesn’t he look a day older than when I saw him last? Did he get hair implants and a facelift?”

  Kelsey’s nostrils flared. “I don’t know what the hell he did. And what’s with you and the beard? Between that and your fake tan, you look like a terrorist.”

  He grinned and spread his hands wide, trying to be cute. “Come on, you don’t like the look?”

  She crossed her arms and did not take the bait. “No, I don’t. What do you want? Why are you really here?”

  Ari sat on the edge of the bed and took a moment to gather his words together. “I want to say I’m sorry.”

  She glared at him and placed her hands on her hips. “Sorry for what, exactly? For butting into my life? For trying to kill my boyfriend? For always and forever being competitive and trying to be better than me at anything I do? Or, for trying to find a way to hide your true feelings for me?”

  Ari’s jaw dropped.

  Kelsey squinted. “What, you think I don’t know how you feel about me, genius? How you watch me when you think I’m not looking?” She sidled up to her brother and leaned in close to whisper seductively in his ear. “You don’t think I know that you slink up next to me, pretending you want to whisper something in confidence, but what you really want to do is get close enough to just smell my perfume?” She grazed his neck with her lips.

  Ari flinched and jumped quickly away from her. He stammered denials and she brushed them all aside with a wave of her hand and a disgusted expression. “Save it. For thirteen years
you’ve had a hard-on for me and it’s why you’ve had a problem with every single guy that’s wanted to get close to me. God forbid they take my attention away from you and your incessant innate desire to have me for yourself.”

  “That’s not true!” Ari spit out. “And for the record, I didn’t have anything against Harry or Thomas. And for that matter, I don’t have a hard-on for you! Are you crazy? I’m your brother.”

  Kelsey gave him a sad look. “Do you forget who I really am, Ari? Do you forget where I come from? Whose daughter I really am? I can read your physical emotions like a book and I know very well how you feel about me. I’ve known it for years. You think I didn’t know why you used to spar with me all the time? You were looking for any excuse to touch me, and if I hadn’t wanted to beat the crap out of you just as much back, I wouldn’t have even wasted my time. Denying any of this only makes you look like a fool.”

  Ari balled his fists. “Look, it’s not my fault you’re the reincarnation of a sexual goddess and exude a kinky vibe to everyone around you. What, I’m not human? You think I’m immune when you walked around the house in just your bra and panties? How many times did Dad have to yell at you to put your clothes on, but did you? No, you just laughed. But you know what? I’ve never done anything inappropriate with you. Ever.”

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “So what is the problem then with me dating? Why do you have an issue with everyone who wants to get close to me?”

  Ari blew out an exasperated breath. “I don’t. What I have a problem with is guys like Logan Webber or Desmond who want nothing more than to get into your pants.”

  She smacked her hand to her forehead in exasperation. “What is your problem? Desmond didn’t go out of his way to get in my pants! You ever hear of fate? And maybe you don’t remember that you don’t own me. You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do with my own body. You can’t tell me who I can be with and who I can love. You don’t have to like the guys I’m with, but you have to let me live my own life.”

  He raised his brows. “And when have I not let you live your own life? Did I say a word when that dirtbag you call a boyfriend took advantage of you?”

  “He’s not a dirtbag!”

  “Oh, really? You were a virgin, for god’s sake. You told him you’d never done it before and still he went ahead and had his way with you. You can’t get something like that back, Kelsey! That sounds like a dirtbag to me.”

  Kelsey threw up her hands. “That’s not how it happened. Things just got out of hand and the fact is, I wanted it as much as he did. Oh, forget it, I don’t know why I bother talking to you about this. It’s none of your business anyway. And stop denying you didn’t say anything because you had a stinking tantrum in your office about it. You broke a mug if I remember correctly.”

  “Kelsey, look, I just wanted to protect you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, and when the monk came to me…”

  Kelsey interrupted him by putting up her hand. “Stop right now. It wasn’t a monk, it was Ustha and you know it. Stop making excuses you know are lies.”

  Ari clicked his tongue. “Yes, fine, it was Ustha, but I didn’t know it at the time. Come on, give me a break! I was dreaming, just like you do when you go to Xanadu, and so I thought I was really there. Maybe I should have caught on sooner or maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe when I woke up and really thought about it I’d have questioned it. But the fact is, I tried to help you when someone told me you were in trouble, and when they claimed if I didn’t do anything you were going to get killed. What do you think I should have done? Ignore it?”

  “You should have talked to me.”

  “They told me I couldn’t tell you anything. That if I did, it would hurt your path. You have to believe me, Kelsey. I was just trying to protect you.”

  She took a threatening step towards him, but he held his ground. “Protect me? You should have told me what was happening, especially if it had something to do with Desmond. Don’t you think I would have been able to see through the ruse? I’ve tried to take you to Xanadu how many times now? And how many times didn’t it work? All of them. You can’t go there for whatever reason. So while you think you didn’t tell me what was happening because you didn’t want to hurt my path, the real reason is because you didn’t want to face the truth that this wasn’t some amazing fantasy world finally come to life for you.”

  She poked him hard in his chest. “The hard truth is, you wanted Desmond dead and you nearly got your wish. Now he’s gone and I can’t find him, and there’s nothing you can do about that, is there, genius?” She trembled with barely controlled rage.

  Ari and Kelsey glowered at each other in stony silence until Ari finally spoke. “Did you know I was the one that found the information about Wilfrid and the Yetis? Did you know for the past few weeks I’ve been using every resource at my disposal to help you uncover the missing link to find Desmond?”

  Kelsey scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, so now you’re trying to take the credit from Josh? You’re pathetic.”

  Ari’s response was nearly a whisper. “It was me, Kelsey. It was always me. Josh just took the credit to get into your pants. If you can read people so well, you obviously know how he feels about you, too, and why he’s been at your constant side and beck and call for the past two months. Or, do you just conveniently disregard everyone else’s feelings for you, except mine?”

  Kelsey exhaled loudly and then squeezed her eyes shut. Why is this so complicated? “Fine, I know how he feels about me, too. I’ve known it for a long time.” She paused for a moment and then glanced at Ari. Her expression softened. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to be me sometimes? How hard it is to trust people? Even my best friends?”

  “I think I know what you mean.”

  She raised her brows. “Do you? Do you know what it’s like that when anyone looks at me, most times they want something I simply will not give them? That there’s this longing in their core for something that they can’t even put a finger on and for others, it’s flat out obvious. But after all this time, I thought the one person in the world who I could trust was you, and you shot it all to hell. You betrayed me.”

  He reached out and bravely took her hands in his. She froze and scowled, but didn’t pull away.

  “It’s not true,” he said. “You can always trust me. I would never willingly do anything to hurt you. I don’t know how many times I can say I’m sorry for what I did. But know that I love you and care about you. I won’t deny that. I always have. And it’s true. At first when I was younger I didn’t know why I had these feelings for you, but I’m older and understand them for what they are now.” He paused for just a moment and then whispered. “But no matter what you think, and no matter how many times you ask, and no matter how much you beg me, I will never, ever sleep with you. You’re just not my type.”

  She froze for a moment at his unexpected joke and after a few moments she began to laugh. Soon she couldn’t stop. It was infectious and soon the two of them had tears pouring from their eyes. The tension over the past two months finally eased a bit.

  “Are we good now?” Ari finally asked, trying to catch his breath.

  Kelsey held on to her aching stomach. “Are we good? Well, we’re better, though far from perfect. Help me find Desmond and you and I will be okay, but I don’t vouch for how Desmond will feel. I think you’re going to have to start sleeping with the lights on.”

  “I can handle him.” The edge was back in Ari’s voice and the mood between them sobered quickly. “Kelsey, let me let you in on a little secret. You may think I have romantic feelings for you, but it’s not you who I really want. It’s Bianca Sitaula. It’s always really been Bianca, and I can’t have her because she disappeared. And I believe in my heart Sitaula had something to do with it. In fact, I’m sure of it. Why don’t you think the man is dirty? Did you learn anything different? Did you possibly get him to talk to you about her?”

  Kelsey relayed what Sitaula had said happened to
his daughter.

  Ari shook his head, considering. “It’s easy enough to check his story.” He took out his cellphone and dialed Julia.

  Her brash voice came on after the second ring and her words tumbled out New York whippet fast with attitude. “So you made it there in one piece, hero? I don’t suppose you’ll thank me for setting everything up flawlessly, as always. Even without a working laptop.”

  “Thank you, Julia. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.” He kept his tone as sweet as syrup and rolled his eyes at Kelsey. “Now, I need you to look something up for me.”

  Chapter 12

  In a small town, word gets around fast. Things were no different in Skagway and with less than one hundred and twenty kids in the entire school system, everyone knew what had happened to little Bobby Witherell. His family belonged to the Tlingit tribe and his parents were both well-known artisans in the area. They had a retail store downtown where they sold their weavings and carvings, and now, at just eight in the morning, police cars were flanked in force in front of their shop. A host of people were congregated outside the store, talking heatedly. It was a mix of elderly native folk, burly fishermen, and a gaggle of young twenty and thirty-year old transplants who had come to Alaska to do tours over the summer and never left. Everyone seemed agitated and scared, and Kelsey could feel the tension in the assembled group.

  Ari and Kelsey were ushered to the front of the crowd to tell everyone what they had seen and heard from the night before.

  “It’s Kushtaka, the Otterman, I’m telling you,” an elderly woman cried out. Her voice had a high-pitched whine to it that grated on Kelsey’s nerves. The lady had long black hair streaked with white, and dark wrinkled skin. An elaborate yellow and black Chilkat blanket enveloped her bony shoulders to ward off the cold. The fringe draped down past the woman’s knees and Kelsey couldn’t stop staring at the complex circular weave patterns within the blanket.