The Wandering Shadow: Chapter Nineteen
19 "This doesn't make any sense," David grumbled. The three of them had spent the past two days camped in the lowlands, enjoying the more temperate climate created by Nepal's highly varied geography. Will and Jenna were out side, tending to the camp while David sat inside the cart, trying to figure out where it was they were meant to be going. Laid out before him were Max's book and a map of Nepal. For his part he was finding it difficult to make sense of the few clues Max had left to indicate where the supposed monasteries were located. He growled with frustration. "Dammit Max...couldn't you have given me more to work with here?" He ran both hands through his hair, sliding them down his head to brace the back of his neck for a moment. He then leaned forward, looking more closely at the meager resources he had to work with. "This doesn't make any bloody sense!"
Will sat on a wooden folding chair, stoking their camp's fire. Jenna was beside him, sprawled out on the ground with her belly toward the fire. About a meter away was their tent, the beige fabric standing out against the green grasses all around them. Taking a moment to look around, Will noted not for the first time how strange it seemed to see so much that was green and growing when surrounded by mountains. Also strange to him was how at peace he felt. There he sat, halfway around the world from his home, facing the possibility that there might be no solution for his and Jenna's problems, and yet all he could feel was...serenity. Will smiled. "You know, even though we've had some pretty bad stuff happen the past couple months, a good thing or two has come out of it all." Jenna raised her head to look at him, a questioning look in her eyes. "Well, just look at where we are right now," he explained. "If it weren't for all the bad things that have gone on, we never would've had an excuse to travel all over the world. We wouldn't be here, in what may be one of the most beautiful places in the world. We wouldn't have gone to Paris...traveled across the Mediterranean...London...Cairo...all these places. Sure, things haven't been great--they've been pretty shitty, in fact--but there is a bit of a 'silver lining', so to speak." Jenna rose slowly into a sitting position, looking all around. I hadn't really considered it, but he's kinda right, she thought. Who knows, maybe someday we'll be able to look back on some of this fondly. A comfortable silence fell between them, and for but the briefest of moments it was like they were back home. The moment passed when they heard a cry of frustration from the cart, surprising them and startling Vincent. Will sighed. "I suppose we should see what's got him upset." Jenna grumbled and nodded reluctantly. They stood and walked over to the cart, stopping for a moment to soothe Vincent's nerves. The poor horse had put up with traveling across half the world. The least they could do was keep him from being unduly stressed. With the grey shire colt calmed the two of them continued around to the back of the cart, where Jenna stood on her hind legs and the both of them poked their heads inside. "Is everything alright in here?" Will asked. David looked over at them, his eyes twitching slightly. "Oh yeah, just brilliant. You know, aside from the fact that I can't figure out where we're supposed to be going." Will pushed the canvas aside and hopped into the cart, holding it open so Jenna could follow suit. They then sat down and looked over David's maps. After a moment Will asked, "So what is the problem?" David groaned. "Okay, so it starts with Max's book. See, he makes it pretty damn clear that these monasteries--should they exist--are somewhere in Nepal." "Right. Not seeing the problem yet." "Oh, you will soon enough," David assured him. "Because you see, he provides four coordinate sets, and says that he thinks that they're the most likely places for the monasteries to be. Well, as it happens, none of those coordinates are actually in Nepal. They're all just outside the country." "Uh huh...are you sure that you have the coordinates right? I mean are you sure you didn't make some mistake somewhere?" "No, I triple checked. Each one is just outside the country." David pointed to the map of Nepal, and pointed in turn to four black dots he had drawn on the paper. "There they are. All outside the country." Will and Jenna both immediately noticed that the four dots formed a roughly square pattern. When Will asked if David had noticed the shape the illusionist said, "Yeah, I did, but I'm not sure what to make of it." Will nodded. "Did Max write anything else? Maybe some clue that could help us here?" "Not as far as I can tell," David groaned. Even so he picked up Max's book and passed it to Will. "It's open to the right page. It's all there." Will read through it a few times, holding at an angle so that Jenna could see as well. When he was satisfied he set the book down and asked, "Do you have a pencil?" David nodded and--after rummaging in his pockets--handed a stubby pencil to Will. Will took it and pulled the map of Nepal toward him. Using the pencil he began to connect each of the four dots David had already put down. He spoke as he drew out each line. "While there was no explicit clue, there was one line that I think might just hold an answer. Max mentioned something about all of the sites being connected, but he didn't say how. Looking at this though..." He pushed the map away, and they could all see that all four of the locations were connected and not only was there a definite box around part of Nepal, but there was also a large "X" through the country. Will pointed to the spot at the center where the lines crossed. "Since we have no better theories, it may pay to check there." "Now see, I thought of that too," David said while shaking his head, "But I think that seems a bit too easy, don't you?" Will shrugged. "Why do things have to be complicated? It's okay for things to be simple once in a while, don't ya think?" Jenna nodded in agreement. She would be more than happy for something easy after everything they'd been through. "Alright then," David sighed. "I guess we don't have any better ideas. Looks like that spot isn't too far from here. We could be there by this time tomorrow. Though...do you have a back up plan?" Will shook his head. "Not a one. But at this point back up plans aren't really possible. We have to go one step at a time." "Lovely. Well, no point in waiting then. Let's move out, yeah?" Will and Jenna both nodded in agreement, and within the hour they left their campsite behind.
As David had predicted they neared the spot on the map where the lines intersected late in the afternoon the next day, the cart ferrying them through passes lined with mountains that towered to heights beyond seeing. While Will and Jenna were hopeful, David was notably pessimistic. This was only multiplied when they passed by a village that was unmarked on their map. "You see that?" He asked, pointing to the settlement. "There are people living in this area. If there was some kind of temple or something in this area, wouldn't word of it have spread?" "I don't think so," Will replied, shaking his head. "Just because they live here doesn't mean they know everything about the area. Besides, maybe they've agreed to keep the secret. We didn't even know they were here...so if anything it proves there could be places hidden around the area." David didn't reply, merely rolling his eyes and thinking that it was foolish to be so optimistic at this point. An hour or so after they passed the village David poked his head into the back part of the cart and said, "Looks like we're coming up on some kind of valley. I think it's the end of the line." Will and Jenna poked their heads out, looking ahead with no small amount of excitement. Coming out of the mountain pass they pulled out into a valley that was roughly u-shaped. Half of its space was taken up by a small body of water and the rest was taken up by some kind of knee high grass. Nowhere to be seen though was any kind of temple or monastery. The area was devoid of any human life except for theirs. Will and Jenna climbed out of the cart, both walking out ahead and looking around as though hoping that something would appear if the simply looked in a different direction. Will dropped down to sit on the ground, the grasses now coming up to his chest. Jenna sat beside him, whining mournfully. He placed a hand on her head, gently pulling her a bit closer. "It's...okay Jen. We knew this was a long shot, right? We'll just have to look somewhere else." They sat there for a while, quiet. As David watched he could tell that neither of them would be in much of a mood to do anything else for the day. "I'll uh...set up camp for the night, yeah?" He received no response, decided it didn't matter, and got to work on clearing a spot. A cold wind began to blow down from the mountains, sweeping across the field of grass. Will shuddered and drew his cloak closer around him as Jenna moved in closer to him, putting her head under his chin. He kissed the top of her head and brushed a hand through her fur as he looked over the vale. It was really too bad it was so pretty to look at, as all he could feel was disappointment. He let his mind wander as he looked over the field of grass, being brushed by the wind. Will stood without warning, his eyes wide and wild. Jenna grumbled over being knocked aside by him, but he ignored her, staring at something intently. "It couldn't be..." he whispered. He bent over and came back up with a small rock, setting off toward the far side of the valley. Jenna followed at his heels, wondering what was going on in his head. He stopped about a hundred meters from the cart, still staring ahead. Will rolled the rock between his fingers a few times then threw it out ahead of him. Jenna's eyes went wide with surprise and Will smiled triumphantly when the rock seemed to bounce off thin air. "I knew it." He turned and yelled, "David, don't bother with the camp! Just bring it all over here!" "What are you on about now?!" The illusionist yelled back. "Just get over here!" Will and Jenna waited less than patiently as David guided the cart over to them, asking, "What is it?" when he jumped down from the driver's bench. Will pointed. "There's something hidden here." "And how do you know that then?" "Because of the wind. It's blowing all the grass in the valley, but not in this area." Indeed it seemed that was the case, as there was a large, roughly rectangular area where the grass was still even when all the grass around it swayed. If one looked close enough it was even possible to see that some of the stalks were bouncing off the same invisible barrier that had stopped Will's rock. Feeling skeptical though, David reached out and found that his hand too met unseen resistance. David cleared his throat. "Alright, so there's something here then. I actually feel kinda thick for not spotting it...but assuming this is what we're looking for, how do we get in?" "Just start feeling along the wall. If we're lucky, we might find an opening." It was only a minute later that David yelped in surprise as he stumbled slightly, pulling back from the invisible wall. "I uh...found an opening." Resisting the urge to make some joke at the illusionist's expense, Will said, "Alright, no point in lingering out here then. Let's see just what we've found." The three braced themselves as they faced the spot David had passed through. There was a spark of anticipation in the air, and a rising chill of uncertainty that they did their best to ignore as they stepped through the veil and into the unknown.