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Chapter 20

Part IV

Spirit

He who sees in s in me, is never far from me, and I am never far from him

THE BHAGAVAD GITA

Chapter 20

The road was just wide enough for the two of us to walk side by side The grass on either side was as high as an elephant's eye We could see blue sky above us, and exactly as far along the path as the next curve, which could have been any distance away, because there's no perspective in an unbroken green trench We'd been traveling on this road most of the day, and passed only one old man and a couple of cows, but noe could hear what sounded like a large party approaching us, not far off, perhaps two hundred yards away There were men's voices, a lot of the, the continuous screams of a woman either in pain, or terrified, or both

"Young masters!" came a voice from somewhere near us

I jumped in the air and calass knife drawn and ready Josh looked around for the source of the voice The screarass a few feet away fro masters, you must hide"

An impossibly thin e for his skull popped out of the wall of grass beside us "You must come Kali comes to choose her victims! Come now or die"

The face disappeared, replaced by a craggy brown hand that rass The woman's scream hit crescendo and failed, as if the voice had broken like an overtightened lute string

"Go," said Joshua, pushing rass

As soon as I was off of the road soh the sea of grass Joshua latched onto the tail ofAs we ran the grass whipped and slashed at us I could feel blood welling up on my face and arms, even as the broraith pulledoffro trampled

"They follow," said the broraith over his shoulder "Run unless you want your heads to decorate Kali's altar Run"

Over my shoulder to Josh, I said, "He says run or it will be bad" Behind Josh, outlined against the sky, I saw long, swordlike spear tips, the sort of thing onesomeone

"Okey-dokey," said Josh

It had taken us over a h hundreds of ed country we had ever seen Ah the e robes doors were flung wide and larders opened We were always fed, given a war as ished We offered obtuse parables and irritating chants in return, as was the tradition

It wasn't until we carassland that we found ourmore disdain than welcome One man, of obvious wealth (he rode a horse and wore silk robes) cursed us as we passed and spit at us Other people on foot began to take notice of us as well, and we hurried off into solass dagger that Joy had given me into my sash

"What was he going on about?" I asked Joshua

"He said so about tellers of false prophecies Pretenders Enemies of the Brahman, whatever that is I'm not sure what else"

"Well, it looks like we're more welcome here as Jews than as Buddhists"

"For now," said Joshua "All the people have those marks on their foreheads like Gaspar had I think without one of those we're going to have to be careful"

As we traveled into the lowlands the air felt as thick as wars after so many years in the mountains We passed into the valley of a wide,in and out of a city of wooden shacks and stone altars There were huardens, but no one seemed to bear them any mind

"The last meat I ate as left of our camels," I said

"Let's find a booth and buy some beef"

There werevarious wares, clay pots, powders, herbs, spices, copper and bronze blades (iron sees of what seeparticularly friendly

We found grain, breads, fruits, vegetables, and bean pastes for sale, but nowhere did we see any meat We settled on some bread and spicy bean paste, paid the woe banyan tree where we could sit and look at the river while we ate

I'd forgotten the se of people, and waste, and s for the clean air of the mountains

"I don't want to sleep here, Joshua Let's see if we can find a place in the country"

"We are supposed to follow this river to the sea to reach Tao the people"

The river - wider than any in Israel, but shallow, yelloith clay, and still against the heavy air - see thing In this season, anyway Dotting the surface, a half-dozen skinny, naked men hite hair and not three teeth apiece shouted angry poetry at the top of their lungs and tossed water into glittering crests over their heads

"I wonder how ," said Josh

All along the muddy riverbank women washed clothes and babies only steps fro shallow boats along with poles, and children swa bobbed flyblown in the gentle current

"Maybe there's a road inland a little, away from the stench"

Joshua nodded and cli to a narrow path that began on the opposite bank of the river and disappeared into sorass

"We'll have to cross," I said

"Be nice if we could find a boat to take us," said Josh

"You don't think we should ask where the path leads?"

"No," said Joshua, looking at a crowd of people ere gathering nearby and staring at us "These people all look hostile"

"What was that you told Gaspar about love was a state you dwell in or so?"

"Yeah, but not with these people These people are creepy Let's go"

The creepy little brown guy as dragging rass was named Rumi, anddash through a leviathan , spear-waving decapitation enthusiasts, Ruer - no s fu master and the savior of the world in tow

"Eek, a tiger," Ru, a mere depression really, where a cat the size of Jerusale away on the skull of a deer

Rumi had expressedto let er," so I listened quietly as urine filled my shoes

"You'd think all the noise would have frightened hier looked up from his deer

I noticed that our pursuers see on us by the second

"That is the way it is usually done," said Ruer to the hunter"

"Maybe he knows that," I said, "so he's not going anywhere You know, they're bigger than I iers, I mean"

"Sit down," said Joshua

"Pardon me?" I said

"Trust me," Joshua said "Remember the cobra ere kids?"

I nodded to Ruer crouched and tensed his hind legs as if preparing to leap, which is exactly what he was doing As the first of our pursuers broke into the clearing froain the height of a rass, crushing the their backs as he leapt again After that all I could see was spear points scattering against the sky as the hunters becaer screaer crawled to their feet and li

Rumi looked from the dead deer, to Joshua, to row even larger than before "I arateful for your affinity with the tiger, but that is his deer, and it appears that he has not finished with it, perhaps"

Joshua stood up "Lead on"

"I don't knohich way"

"Not that way," I said, pointing in the direction of the screauys

Rurass to another road, which we followed to where he lived

"It's a pit," I said

"It's not that bad," said Joshua, looking around There were other pits nearby People were living in them

"You live in a pit," I said

"Hey, ease up," Joshua said "He saved our lives"

"It is a humble pit, but it is home," said Rumi "Please make yourself comfortable"

I looked around The pit had been chipped out of sandstone and was about shoulder deep and just wide enough to turn a cow around in, which I would find out was a crucial dile rock about knee high

"Have a seat You may have the rock," said Rumi

Joshua smiled and sat on the rock Rumi sat on the floor of the pit, which was covered with a thick layer of black sli to the floor beside him "I'm sorry, we can only afford one rock"

I didn't sit "Rumi, you live in a pit!" I pointed out

"Well, yes, that is true Where do Untouchables live in your land?"

"Untouchable?"

"Yes, the lowest of the low The scue my existence I am Untouchable"

"Well, no wonder, you live in a fucking pit"

"No," Joshua said, "he lives in a pit because he's Untouchable, he's not Untouchable because he lives in a pit He'd be Untouchable if he lived in a palace, isn't that right, Rumi?"

"Oh, like that's going to happen," I said I'uy lived in a pit

"There's more room since my wife andit was only Vitra, one too There is plenty of room for you if you wish to stay"