Chapter 24 #2
“Fine, then.” She handed the folded paper to Himmat. “Would you please see this delivered immediately to the First Cavalry Light Brigade post? It is imperative that Lord Wilshire receive it straightaway.”
“Yes, miss. I shall have Abdullah take it.”
“Oh, Abdullah! We will need him to take us somewhere. In a carriage, or bullock cart—whatever is most readily available.”
His old brow wrinkled. “Would you care to ride a mount?”
Sophia brightened and turned to Charity. “Do you ride?”
“Not so well. I fell off a pony when I was but ten and have since been terrified.”
Sophia looked to Himmat, who nodded. “I shall send for Abdullah and a carriage.”
Sophia paced back and forth from the large banyan tree to the porch while Charity alternately bounced and wrung her hands. Sophia’s worry grew by the moment when she thought of Beatrice attempting to confront the late prince’s advisors by herself.
Himmat appeared at the porch, his face grave. Sophia rushed to him, her heart sinking. Now what could the problem be?
“Abdullah is at the bazaar.”
“For the love—” Sophia spied a familiar figure crossing the foyer and called to her. “Rachael!”
Rachael came to the door and shaded her eyes against the ever-sinking sun.
“Is Professor Gerald here?”
“No, he is at the University.”
“Oh!” Charity stomped her foot and tears filled her eyes.
Rachael looked at Sophia, brows raised high. As Sophia told her the story as quickly as she could, Rachael’s expression turned from grim to horrified. She grasped Sophia’s arm. “We must go right now.”
“We are trying to, but Abdullah isn’t here and Charity cannot ride.”
Rachael turned to Himmat. “Please, will you have a curricle readied?”
“You drive?”
Rachael nodded. “I do. I believe the Pilkingtons’ is a two-seater, but we can manage.” She looked at Charity. “As she is the smallest, she shall be the tiger.”
Within a matter of minutes, the three women were settled into the curricle, Charity situated behind in the seat normally reserved for the driver’s groom.
The palace was roughly two miles away. Rachael had ridden to it on horseback with several ladies and a handful of soldiers the afternoon before, though they had not entered the palace compound.
Rachael handled the curricle and team of matched grays admirably, and Sophia was impressed.
They left Malabar Hill and headed toward the palace on a road that was fairly well groomed for most of the journey.
They had traveled fifteen minutes in tense silence when Rachael pulled on the reins at a fork in the road.
“We have a decision to make.” Rachael looked at Sophia.
“The groomed road takes us directly to the palace and, from what I gather, directly to the outer courtyard. We shall likely encounter a show of force by way of soldiers and possibly a tiger or two.” She glanced back at Charity. “An actual tiger.”
Charity lifted a finger. “I should like to hear the second option.”
“The path to the right circles around the palace and approaches from the side. When I came here before, we took that path, but it grows quite thick with underbrush. We could go with the horses only so far before turning around. On foot, we could have pushed through.”
Sophia took a breath and blew it out. “What are the dangers, do you suppose, of approaching from the side?”
“As much as we were able to tell, there were no tigers circling the perimeter outside the palace walls. The horses were not spooked, at any rate, and the tigers we did see inside the walls were contained with long lengths of chain. We did not encounter soldiers, but the wall around the compound is quite high so I cannot say for certain what sort of defenses lay beyond it.”
Sophia nodded. “The logical thing to do is approach the front gates and request an audience as Beatrice suggested she was going to do.”
Rachael shook her head. “Supposing we are detained? They would certainly separate us. Once inside, we are utterly defenseless.”
“My sister is in there,” Charity whispered.
Sophia made a decision. “By this time, or surely before long, my note will have reached Lord Wilshire. He will return to the mansion, gather fresh horses or possibly Lords Pilkington and Braxton, if they are back from their hunt, and come here. We needn’t go in ourselves at this point.
I suggest we secure the curricle, take this path to the right while we still have some daylight, and see what we can on the other side of the wall. ”
Rachael nodded once. “Excellent.” She drove the curricle some distance down the path, which did, indeed, become rougher with each turn of the wheels.
Some distance into the trees, she reined in the horses and set the brake.
She secured the horses and vehicle while Sophia and Charity ventured slowly ahead.
Rachael caught up to them, and Sophia set a brisk pace along the path.
The farther they traveled, the more the walls of trees and plants closed in around them.
Animals sounded to the left and right. Birds squawked at the invasion, as did several angry monkeys who swung from branch to branch and chattered.
Charity pulled her arms close to her body and walked right next to Sophia, who was irritated and yet strangely comforted by the contact.
She didn’t want to be afraid, but once under the thick of the jungle canopy, what little light still in the sky dimmed significantly.
“Not much farther.” Rachael walked ahead and shoved at branches, holding them aside for the other two. Her dress snagged, emitting a horrible ripping sound. She looked down and then back at Sophia with a wry grin. “My petticoat is exposed, but not my ankles. My modesty is preserved.”
Sophia laughed, grateful for Rachael’s presence. Had she come alone with Charity, they would probably have been eaten by the tigers at the front gate.
They continued to walk until Sophia was convinced Rachael had been confused in her directions. As she was considering suggesting they turn back, Rachael called out in triumph.
“Aha. Ladies, I give you, the wall.” Rachael looked at Charity with an encouraging smile, and Sophia realized the other woman’s aim all along had been to keep Charity busy, to distract her from fretting herself into insanity.
“Excellent,” Sophia said. She examined the bank of trees that grew up, over, and into the stone structure.
The roots were gnarled, exposed, and great knobby protuberances stretched from the wall into long branches that hung on either side of the property.
The wall itself stood fifteen feet off the ground, which meant that one of them needed to climb the tree.
Sophia remembered her experience with the elephant and exhaled slowly.
She wanted to be the heroine but doubted her ability to stay in the tree once up high enough.
The air was humid; she was sticky, filthy, and exhausted. Animals scuttled, insects chirped, and the air—already cooler under the canopy of vegetation—seemed to drop degrees steadily.
Rachael examined one of the trees, fumbling in the dark and slipping as she stepped on a low hanging branch.
A breeze blew across the jungle canopy, and Sophia put her palms together and thanked Vishnu, the preserver, for the tiny relief.
The falling twilight illuminated the small space, and another gust of wind showed a bright moon rising and settling over the jungle.
The smell of coming rain permeated the air, and the leaves overhead continued to rustle.
Light danced over the trees, casting flickering shadows on the wall.
Low music and chanting from within the compound propelled Sophia forward, and she took to the tree beside the one Rachael had claimed. The music from the palace was rhythmic, steady, and stately, and Sophia’s heart climbed into her throat even as she climbed higher into the massive tree.
Charity’s words echoed in her head. Prince—dead—ritual. The acrid smell of smoke filled the air, and Sophia remembered a summer evening the year before when her family had visited one of the estates and enjoyed a village bonfire.
No, no, no . . .
Sophia reached the wall and shimmied onto a thick branch that rested atop the stone.
She started at movement beside her and nearly lost her grip, only to see Charity perched on the branch next to hers.
She looked to her left at the next tree over and realized she was close enough to grab Rachael if she stretched—somehow it brought a measure of comfort.
The sun had fully set, and the sky deepened by degrees from the horizon. Directly overhead, stars popped into view and began filling the sky as she watched. She shifted for a better view of the palace grounds, leaning to her left toward Rachael, who leaned to her right.
The grounds were pristine, and a procession lined beside a funeral pyre set on a bed of carefully groomed logs.
The fire had already been lit, and the wrapped form atop the pyre was far enough away that exact details were unclear.
There was nobody else on the pyre, however, and Sophia hoped desperately it would remain that way.
Her pulse pounded, and she looked at Rachael, who met her gaze, her eyes mirroring the uncertainty Sophia felt.
She turned to her right to ascertain how much Charity was able to view, and her heart sank to see the girl’s attention riveted, focused.