‘I told you, all I want to do is finish my mother’s work. I give you my word.’
Another long silence from the other side of the world, then: ‘We will not tell you more about the Midas Cave over the telephone. Only in person.’
‘Wait, that’s not what—’
Amaanat seemed to anticipate her objection, interrupting even with the time lag of the satellite transmission. ‘If you come to the monastery – and keep your promise that you will not tell others of the Midas Cave – then your questions will be answered. And your mother’s.’
‘You want me to come to you? In Nepal?’
‘If you decide to come, telephone and tell us when you will arrive. We will be waiting.’ The line’s hollow echo ceased abruptly.
Nina blinked in surprise. ‘What the hell just happened?’ she said.
But the more important question was unspoken: what was she going to do about it?
‘You want to do what?’ Eddie demanded.
‘I want to go to Nepal,’ repeated Nina. ‘The monks at Detsen monastery know about the Midas Cave. The abbot said he’ll tell me the secret – but only if I go in person.’
‘Are you fu— frickin’ kidding?’ She had sent Macy to play in her room before starting a discussion that she knew would become heated. Even so, Eddie only barely managed to hold back an obscenity. ‘You can’t go to Nepal!’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s fu— sod— really stupid! How do you know they’re not having you on?’
‘Eddie, they’re Buddhist monks,’ she said. ‘I don’t think they’d ask me to fly to the other side of the world for a joke.’
‘I don’t mean they’re joking. I mean they might be lying.’
‘Seriously?’
‘They lied to your mum.’
‘Yes, but to protect the cave’s secret. Now that I know it’s there, they’re willing to tell me about it, in return for my keeping quiet.’
‘And what if they decide to make sure you’ll keep quiet by pushing you off the mountain?’
‘Yeah, I’d thought of that. But I’ll let the IHA know where I’m going, even if I don’t say why, in case anything does happen to me. And you’ll know too, of course,’ she added.
‘Of course,’ he echoed sarcastically. ‘So you’re going to jet off to Nepal for a week on your own?’
‘I won’t be gone a week! Three, four days, tops. Fly out, travel to the monastery, see whatever’s in the cave, leave.’
‘Nepal isn’t exactly known for its network of motorways and bullet trains.’
‘I already checked,’ she said. ‘I can fly into Kathmandu and charter an internal flight to Bajura or Jumla. There’s a road to within about ten miles of the monastery, and I can ride or hike from there.’
‘Oh, just like that?’
‘Eddie, I have done this before,’ she protested.
He shook his head. ‘It’s still a stupid idea.’
Nina knew she wouldn’t convince him with logistics alone. ‘This is really important to me, hon,’ she said, her voice softening. ‘It’s . . . it’s a connection to my mom, one I didn’t know I had until now.’ She glanced across to the photograph on the wall of herself with her parents. The image brought back thoughts of the day it had been taken, the strands of which she tried to follow to other memories of her mother. But time had blurred and fragmented them, turning their life together into a dissociated collage . . .
‘I’m losing her, Eddie,’ she admitted. ‘As I get older, and further away, she’s fading in my mind. I don’t want that to happen. I want to do something that’ll bring us close again – something that’ll honour her memory.’ She gestured at the stacked notes. ‘She worked on this for years, and was so close to finding the truth. If I go to Nepal, I can finish what she started. There’s something else, too,’ she added, sensing that he was about to raise another objection. ‘You remember at the movie premiere, when Marvin asked “What have you done for us lately?” That really hit home.’
He frowned, perplexed. ‘It was just a joke.’
‘Maybe, but it felt true. What have I done lately? I wrote my books, and I did the interview circuit and some lectures, but . . . that’s all. I’m an archaeologist, and I’ve said it before: it’s not just what I do, it’s who I am. And for the past few years, I haven’t done any new archaeological work. I haven’t been able to be who I am.’
‘That’s ’cause you’re something else an’ all,’ he reminded her. ‘You’re a mum. A good one, too – a bit weird, mind—’
‘Thanks.’
‘—but you’ve always been there for Macy. Isn’t that more important?’
She gave him an icy look. ‘Sounds like you’re saying I should give up everything to stay home and look after my baby.’
Eddie was wrong-footed by the accusation. ‘That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it.’
‘No? I never stopped you from doing what you felt you had to do after Macy was born. Well this is what I do, Eddie. It’s a part of me, something I can’t deny. And I can’t fight it for ever. I’ve got the itch.’
He gave her a half-smile. ‘There’s a cream for that.’
Nina returned it. ‘I knew the moment I said it that you’d come back with something like that.’ But the joke had cut through the rising tension. ‘Look, I know you probably think I’m crazy. But I need to do it. I need to know. You understand that, don’t you?’
Eddie nodded reluctantly. ‘Yeah, I understand. And I do think you’re crazy . . . but I knew that when I married you.’ He sighed. ‘You’re definitely, absolutely going to go, aren’t you?’
‘How can I not? But you and Macy’ll be able to do whatever you want without me fussing around. I’m sure that’ll be great fun—’
‘If you’re going, I’m going.’
Nina was startled. ‘You want to come?’
‘I don’t want to come,’ insisted Eddie. ‘But I know what you’re like. If I don’t keep an eye on you, you’ll get distracted by some ancient relic and start chasing around the world on a massive treasure hunt.’
‘No I won’t. I told you, as soon as I’ve seen the Midas Cave, I’ll come straight back. But if you come, what about Macy?’
‘We’ll have to ask Holly to look after her.’
‘What if she can’t?’
‘Then maybe, just maybe, it might be a good idea for you to wait a while before doing this,’ he said pointedly. ‘For that matter, maybe you should see what Macy thinks. She might not want her mum and dad to go away for three or four days.’
‘Are you going away?’ came a small voice. They both turned to see Macy peeking around the doorway.
‘We might be, love,’ said Eddie. ‘We haven’t decided yet.’
‘Can I come with you?’ Macy asked.
‘I’m sorry, but no,’ Nina told her. ‘We’ll have to go a long way, and it’ll be very cold when we get there. And it might even be dangerous.’
Her expression became one of alarm. ‘But what if you don’t come back?’
‘We’ll come back,’ Eddie assured her. ‘That’s why I’m going too, to keep Mummy safe.’
‘But if you go away with Mommy to keep her safe, you won’t be here to keep me safe!’
He gave her a loving smile. ‘Glad you think that way about me, love. But nothing’ll happen to you.’
Macy was not mollified. ‘Hey, it’s okay, honey,’ said Nina, picking her up. ‘We’re not going to go away for ever! We’d never do that, we love you too much. It’s just something Mommy needs to do.’
‘And Daddy needs to do to keep her out of trouble,’ added her husband.
‘Why do you need to go?’ asked Macy.
Nina carried her to the desk, showing her the notes and map. ‘Before I was born,
my mommy looked for something special hidden in a country called Nepal. She never found it, but now I’ve got the chance to find it and finish off her work. Nepal’s a long way away, though, so if I go, it’ll be for a few days.’ She gave Eddie a look. ‘But if you don’t want us to go, then . . . then we won’t.’
Macy regarded the map for a moment. ‘Did you love your mommy as much as I love you?’
‘Yes, I did,’ Nina replied, her voice catching unexpectedly. ‘I still do, even though she’s not here any more.’
‘Will it make you happy if you find what your mommy was looking for?’
‘I hope it will, yes.’
The little girl’s face crinkled in deep thought. ‘I don’t want you to go, but . . . I want you to be happy. So you can go if you want to.’ She managed an uncertain smile.
Nina kissed her. ‘I love you,’ she said. ‘I love you so much.’
‘Are you absolutely sure about that, Macy?’ Eddie asked.
She hesitated before answering. ‘Yes . . . ?’
‘If we go, we’ll ask Holly to look after you—’
The smile became wider. ‘Oh yay! I love Holly! She’s got nice hair, and she talks like you, Daddy! Only better.’
‘Ha!’ said Nina.
‘She’s a southerner, she can’t even pronounce simple words like “bath” right,’ he complained. ‘But you’d be happy if she looked after you?’ Macy nodded vigorously. ‘That’s that question answered, then. We still need to ask Holly if she’s actually up for babysitting for a few days,’ he reminded Nina. ‘If she isn’t, your whole plan’s down the toilet, because there’s no one else I’d trust to look after her.’
‘I know,’ Nina replied ruefully. ‘We’ll have to offer her more than fifty bucks this time, I guess! And as for you . . . are you sure you want to come with me?’
‘You’ve got to do what you do,’ he said. ‘And I’ve got to do what I do. Which is watch out for you!’
‘Hey, not for a while,’ she pointed out. ‘It’s been more than three years since anything bad happened to us.’
He snorted. ‘Great, you just jinxed it.’
‘Oh come on. What could happen? The monastery’s remote, but it’s not like we haven’t been to isolated places before – we went to frickin’ Antarctica once! As long as we’re prepped, we’ll be fine. It’s not as if there’ll be any bad guys.’
‘I’ll remind you of that when half a dozen helicopter gunships start shooting at us,’ he said, with a wry grin. ‘But I actually know someone in Nepal, an old Gurkha mate. I’ll see if I can get hold of him. He’ll be able to sort things out for us. Although the first person I need to call is Holly.’
Nina saw Olivia’s card still amongst the papers on the desk. ‘I’d better make some calls of my own.’
‘So you’ve found the Midas Cave?’ said Olivia over the phone half an hour later. ‘That’s wonderful! Where is it?’
‘I think I’ve found it,’ Nina corrected. ‘If I’m right, it’s more or less where Mom thought it was all along. She just didn’t consider that a key piece of data was flawed. If she’d known that, she might have found the cave forty years ago.’
‘I’m so happy to know that. Oh, poor Laura. If only . . .’ Olivia sighed, then her voice became more measured. ‘So where exactly is it?’
‘That’s what I’ll hopefully find out in Nepal. I’m going in a few days to see for myself.’
Her grandmother had clearly not expected that. ‘What? You’re going yourself?’
‘Yes.’
‘Surely that’s not necessary. It’s a lot of time and effort, and expense. And what about Macy?’
‘Her cousin’s agreed to look after her for a few days. And Macy actually seems quite excited at the prospect of our going away. I’m not sure if that’s a relief or a worry!’ She laughed a little, then went on: ‘You know, I thought you of all people would want me to find out if the cave really exists.’
‘I don’t want you to take any risks on my account,’ Olivia replied. ‘I’ve only just met my granddaughter; I’d rather not lose her to an avalanche!’
‘I know what I’m doing. I have done this before. And actually, the other reason I’m going – the reason I want to go – is something I should thank you for.’
‘Me? What would that be?’
‘Because you gave me a way to reconnect with Mom – a way to honour her memory. And it’s also giving me a chance to get back to doing what I do best – being an archaeologist. So thank you.’
‘My pleasure,’ the elderly woman replied, though she sounded troubled. ‘What are you going to do now?’
‘Set everything up. We’ve got to book flights, arrange transport, deal with the Nepalese government – although I can call in some favours at the IHA to take care of that, so I’m not expecting any problems. There are some advantages to being famous.’
‘Well, if you feel you must head off on a trek through the Himalayas, I doubt I’m going to talk you out of it. You certainly have your mother’s . . . resolve.’
‘I’m sure Eddie would use a different word.’
‘Your grandfather felt just the same about me. It runs in the family.’
‘Glad to find that out. Okay, I’ll talk to you when I get back.’
‘Good luck, Nina,’ Olivia replied. ‘And . . . take care.’
‘Thanks.’ Nina rang off. She briefly wondered why her grandmother had been so unsettled by the thought of her going to Nepal, but dismissed it; she imagined she herself would have much the same response if Macy declared she was heading off on a whim to some remote corner of the world. Something to look forward to once her daughter turned eighteen, she told herself, before directing her thoughts to her own impending journey.
8
Nepal
‘Well, this is nice, innit?’ said Eddie as he stepped down from the small turboprop aircraft. The runway of Jumla airport, over two hundred miles west of the capital Kathmandu, was a bumpy line of snow-scabbed asphalt along a narrow valley floor, meagre little fields abutting the boundary fence. The surrounding mountains were blanketed by clouds, a chill morning dampness permeating everything.
‘Lovely,’ Nina replied, huddling in her thick jacket. ‘This friend of yours, will he be here yet?’
‘Jayesh? Yeah. If he says he’s going to do something, it gets done.’ They collected their backpacks and headed for the small terminal building.
A short Nepalese man with a drooping grey-speckled moustache awaited them. ‘Chase,’ he grunted, the tip of the cigarette dangling from his mouth glowing red. ‘Huh. You got fat.’
‘I’m not fat! It’s just the coat, you cheeky old git,’ Eddie replied, grinning, as they shook hands. ‘How’ve you been?’
The Nepali shrugged. ‘All right, I suppose.’
Eddie made introductions. ‘Nina, this is Jayesh Rai. I worked with him in Afghanistan when I was in the SAS – he’s a Gurkha. Jayesh, this is my wife, Nina Wilde.’
‘Namaste,’ said Jayesh.
Nina almost extended her hand to him, before remembering from her research on the country that it was considered impolite for a man to shake a married woman’s hand. ‘Namaste,’ she echoed instead. He gave her a tiny nod that she took as approval. ‘I’ve never met a Gurkha before. You’re supposed to be the best soldiers in the world, aren’t you?’
‘They like to think so,’ Eddie sniffed.
‘Better than SAS. Got some stories about Chase,’ Jayesh told her. ‘Caught him once in training. Jumped out of a bush behind him and put my blade to his neck. Thought he was going to soil himself.’
She turned to Eddie, unable to hold in a smile. ‘Really?’
‘Nope,’ he said, frowning at his former comrade. ‘He’s full of . . . poop.’ Jayesh’s stony face almost displayed something re
sembling amusement. ‘So, you got transport?’
‘Truck outside,’ the Nepali said. ‘Two hours to the end of the road. Got something else to go up the mountain. Come on, then.’ He donned a brimless felt cap and a multicoloured scarf, then started for the exit.
‘Right charmer, isn’t he?’ said Eddie as he and Nina followed him outside.
‘He’s . . . brusque, yeah,’ she agreed. ‘So are the Gurkhas really that good?’
He dropped his voice. ‘Annoyingly, yeah. If you’re ever in a fight, you don’t want to be on the opposite side to the Gurkhas. Don’t tell him I said that, though.’
They wedged their bags into the rear bed of a dented Toyota pickup truck. ‘Cigarette, Chase?’ asked the Gurkha, offering a crumpled golden packet.
‘I gave up,’ the Englishman told him.
That produced Jayesh’s first visible display of emotion: surprise. ‘Gave up? You?’
‘Realised it wasn’t doing me any good, so I quit. And I’m definitely not going to start smoking again – I’ve got a little girl now.’
Jayesh shook his head. ‘Weird world,’ he muttered, though it wasn’t clear which of the two revelations he found more unexpected. ‘Okay, get in.’
They boarded, Jayesh taking the wheel after reluctantly stubbing out his cigarette. Eddie regarded the gloomy mountains ahead. ‘Glad I brought my warm socks,’ he said. ‘You ready for this, love?’
‘Yeah, I am,’ said Nina. ‘Let’s go in search of history.’
‘I know it’s the name of your book, but it’s still a rubbish catchphrase,’ Eddie replied. She glared at him. ‘Think we’d better move before she chucks me out on the street,’ he told Jayesh.
‘She hasn’t already? Must be love,’ the Gurkha remarked before starting the engine.
Jayesh’s estimate of the journey time proved optimistic, the road into the mountains in a dismal state of repair. But when the bumpy ride finally ended in a small village, Nina was even less impressed by the mode of transport the Nepali had arranged for the final ten miles. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
He shrugged. ‘This, or walk.’