Chapter 6
he rain fell just as heavily the next day, and again Jane was forced to stop work by late afternoon. After she called a halt, she turned and started in the opposite direction from Sikor Gorge.
“Where are you going?” Ruel asked as he fell into step with her.
“I have to inspect the supports of the bridge over Lanpur Gorge.” She added curtly, “Go back to your hotel.”
“I’ll toddle along.” He strolled beside her. “How far is it?”
“A quarter of a mile around the bend.” She looked straight ahead. “And I don’t want your company.”
“You’ll have to become accustomed to it. We have to talk sometime. Where have you hidden Kartauk?”
“You don’t need to know that yet. When you have a plan, tell me about it and I’ll decide if it’s necessary for you to meet him.”
“It’s necessary now.”
“Too bad. I don’t agree.”
“Jane, listen to me.” His hand fell on her arm. “I intend to—”
“Don’t touch me!” She jerked back away from him, her eyes blazing.
“Why not?” he asked softly. “Do you like it too much?”
“I hate it.”
“No, you may hate me, but you don’t hate my hands on you. Never lie to yourself. I made that mistake, and look where it’s brought me.”
“I’m not lying to myself.” Sweet Mary, could he be right? She felt sick her body could betray her so easily, and yet she had felt something besides anger when he had put his hand on her arm. No, she would not permit it to be true. She whirled away from him and trudged on through the mud. “Why do you want to see Kartauk?”
“The most selfish of reasons. I want him to help me.”
“You’re supposed to be helping him.”
“I will help him, but after you left last night I considered the situation and decided there may be a way we can help each other.” His lips tightened. “I’ll be damned if I’ll give up my plans for this quixotic idiocy.”
“No one could accuse you of being quixotic.”
“I’m glad you understand me at last. Though, you must admit, I’ve never aspired to virtue.”
No, he may have used her, but he had never pretended to be anything but what he was. “What can Kartauk do for you?”
“According to Abdar, Kartauk lived at the palace for years and had the favor of the maharajah before he decided to leave so precipitously. He must know him very well, perhaps well enough to tell me the way to persuade him to my way of drinking.”
“You wish only to question him about the maharajah?”
“I wish to know everything there is to know about His Imperial Majesty.”
“Why should I help you? I don’t care if you get what you want.” She added fiercely, “It would serve you right if you didn’t.”
“But we seldom get what we deserve in this world,” he said mockingly. “And almost always get what we’re capable of taking. As to why you should help me, it will keep me happy.”
She stared at him in astonishment. “You’re mad if you think that matters to me.”
“Oh no, if I’m happy with the way my own plans are proceeding, then I’ll be less likely to regret abandoning Abdar’s cause for your own. Since you obviously don’t trust me, wouldn’t it be wise to make sure there are boons to keep my loyalty intact?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Tomorrow.”
“I said I’ll think about it,” she said curtly. “Stop pushing me.”
“I have to push. I’ve wasted too much time already.” His mockery had been replaced by bleakness. “When I get your Kartauk out of Kasanpore, the odds are Abdar will make certain I don’t get another chance at the maharajah. I have to have that bill of sale before we leave.”
“Bill of sale?”
“I’m going to buy a piece of property from the maharajah.”
She stared at him incredulously. “You did all this for a piece of property?”
“A very special piece of property. I want to see Kartauk tomorrow and ask him—”
They had rounded the bend. The roar of the water racing through Lanpur Gorge drowned out the rest of his sentence.
The water was running even faster here than in Sikor Gorge, she noticed anxiously. This branch of the Zastu received the drainoff from the hills, and yellow-brown water was exploding through the gorge past the flat rocks bordering the steep banks as if shot from a pistol.
“They seem to be holding firm enough,” Ruel shouted over the roar, his gaze on the two steel posts supporting the bridge over the gorge. “You must have built strong foundations to resist this flood.”
“Of course I did.”
“Then why were you worried?”
“I wasn’t worried. I just wanted to check to be sure. Patrick should reach the gorge and start laying the track on the bridge in the next two days.”
“Then what happens?”
“We join the track from Narinth ten miles beyond the gorge.”
“And you’re finished?”
“Patrick will ride horseback along the track from the gorge to Narinth, examining it for any damage. Then we do a trial run in the train to Narinth and back again. The next day we officially turn the train over to the maharajah.” Her lips tightened grimly. “And get our money at last.” She turned away and started back the way they had come.
“Tomorrow?” Ruel asked as he fell into step with her. “I need to see Kartauk.”
He was persistent as the devil and would probably continue to plague her until he got his way. Why was she wasting her strength resisting? she wondered impatiently. As he had said, it would be safer to assure his loyalty with self-interest. “Be at the bungalow tomorrow morning at nine.”
“Am I mistaken, or have we been going around in circles since we left the city gates?” Ruel asked.
“You’re not mistaken,” Jane said as she pushed aside the wet foliage overhanging the path. “Your friend, Pachtal, may still be watching me, and if we didn’t lose him in the bazaar, I want to make sure he won’t be able to follow us.”
“Or that I would never be able to find my way back here,” Ruel added shrewdly. “Are we going to go through this maze again on the way back to the city?”
“Of course.” She gave him a level glance. “I’m not a fool to take you at your word until you prove yourself. I have no intention of sacrificing Kartauk to your ambitions.”
He suddenly chuckled. “Good for you. When you agreed to take me here yesterday, I was a little disappointed in you. It always pays to be cautious of Greeks bearing gifts.”
“Or Scots,” she said dryly. She glanced hurriedly away from him and strode ahead into the underbrush at the side of the path. “The temple is just ahead.”
“Temple?”
“An abandoned Buddhist temple.” She added deliberately, “One of many in the area that were left deserted hundreds of years ago.”
“You’re warning me that I couldn’t describe it accurately to Abdar if I chose?” He nodded solemnly. “Kind of you to save me the bother.”
“You find this amusing?”
His smile disappeared. “Actually, I’m taking all this with great gravity, but it never hurts to laugh at little things. You’ll find that out as you grow older.”
“I’m not a child.”
“That’s what I told Ian, but I find myself in a position of trying to relegate you to a status where you’ll be safe from me.”
“I am safe from you,” she said defiantly.
“No, you’re not.” He met her gaze. “Not if I choose to make it so. I’m very good at making the forbidden seem irresistible.” He glanced away from her and said lightly, “My experience as a running patterer, no doubt. I spent a great deal of time and effort learning that trade. At any rate, I refuse to rob you again, so I believe we’ll try to keep you in the realm of childhood.”
“You have no—”
“May I ask what you’re doing here?” Li Sung stepped out of the bushes and limped toward them. “Besides making so much noise, I was forced to tramp through this mud to find out who was approaching.”
“This is Ruel MacClaren. He’s going to help us get Kartauk away from Kasanpore.” She handed Li Sung the knapsack she carried and turned to Ruel. “This is my friend, Li Sung. He’ll take you the rest of the way to the temple. I’ll join you later.”
“Where are you going?” Ruel asked.
“I’m going to retrace my steps to be sure we weren’t being followed.”
“After all that weaving to and fro? Aren’t you being a little too careful?”
“No,” she said baldly.
A flicker of indefinable emotion crossed his face. “I believe I may have to take measures to rid you of that distrust. It’s becoming tiresome and may get in the way.”
“He’s not to be trusted?” Li Sung asked Jane.
“Within limits. Take him to Kartauk.”
She turned and walked away from them.
“How far is it to this temple?” Ruel asked as he followed Li Sung through the jungle. “Not far.”
“Why hide in a temple?”
“Kartauk wanted it.”
“Why?”
Li Sung didn’t answer.
“Why?” Ruel repeated.
Li Sung glanced over his shoulder. “You ask many questions.”
“Because your answers don’t reveal very much.”
“They’re not supposed to. Jane doesn’t trust you.”
“And is her judgment infallible?”
“No, she has a loving nature and wants to believe in people. It has often caused her great hurt.”
“Then, since she doesn’t believe in me, I’m no threat to her.”
“Unless you’ve already hurt her.”
“And what would you do if I had?”
“Find a way to punish you.” Li Sung smiled coldly. “We Chinese are very good at causing pain. Do you think because I am a cripple I am less than a man?”
“I would never make that mistake again.” Ruel grimaced. “I was once in a barroom brawl in Sydney and a sailor named Hollow Jack kicked me with his pegleg and nearly emasculated me. Then once he had me down he took the damn thing off and clubbed me on the head with it.”
“How interesting.” Li Sung’s face was expressionless. “Perhaps I should trade this crushed limb for a more practical appendage. What did you do to the sailor?”
“What could I do? When I woke up he had already hopped a ship for New Zealand.”
Li Sung studied him. “You are lying to me,” he said flatly.
“Why should I do that?”
“You seek to win me over and think by glorifying this crippled sailor you will make me feel better about my own infirmity.”
Ruel threw back his head and started to laugh. “You’re a clever lad.”
“It will do you no more good to flatter my mind than my body. Though that last statement held far more truth than the tale about the sailor.”
Ruel shook his head, his face still alive with laughter. “But that story was true.”
Li Sung raised his brows.
“Well, most of it,” Ruel amended. “I was a trifle irritated, so I followed the sailor to New Zealand.”
“And?”
“It’s enough to say that he won’t be using that pegleg to rob any other man of his virility.”
“Yes, quite enough to say.” Li Sung’s lips twitched. “I believe you and Kartauk may get along very well.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You will see.” He increased his pace and a moment later they emerged from the jungle.
Across the clearing Ruel glimpsed the ruins of a large, weather-stained stone temple. A tide of green vegetation flowed around the building, creeping halfway up the broken steps as if the jungle were trying to devour the square, columned structure. At the apex of the steps was a statue of Buddha whose serenity was seriously compromised by a shattered head and a missing foot.
“Quite a splendid domicile,” Ruel murmured.
“It keeps the weather out,” Li Sung said. “Or it did before we were afflicted by the monsoons. Now these stones seem to breathe in the damp.” He shrugged. “But Kartauk likes it here. He says if he cannot live in a palace, a temple is almost as fitting an abode for him.”
“Indeed.”
“Watch your step. This place is teeming with snakes. There is a poisonous tree snake that is almost the color of the vegetation and moss growing on the steps.”
Ruel stiffened. “Snakes?”
Li Sung smiled. “You do not like them?”
“I hate them.”
“Kartauk!” Li Sung called as he negotiated the high temple steps with difficulty. “We have a visitor.”
“Tell him to go away … unless it’s Abdar,” a deep voice boomed from within the temple.
A ripple of shock went through Ruel. He called, “You want to see Abdar?”
“Of course, it is my dearest wish. I want to see Abdar … dead.” Laughter boomed again. “I suppose you may come in. You’ve disturbed my concentration anyway. Who is he, Li Sung?”
“Ruel MacClaren. Jane says he is going to help you leave Kasanpore,” Li Sung said as they entered the temple.
“Ah, what a noble soul.”
In the center of the temple a wood fire burned in a huge bronze brazier. Other than the brazier, the chamber appeared barren of furniture except for two cots set against the far wall and a long trestle table by a window facing toward the north.
“You come to save my glorious gift for posterity?” John Kartauk stood at the table, his hands deftly molding clay around a form before him. He appeared to be in his late thirties, a man whose size was as big as his laugh, dressed in loose trousers, long white cotton tunic, and sandals. As Ruel drew closer, he seemed to grow even larger in dimension as he noticed the bulging biceps of Kartauk’s arms and massive shoulders. His dark brown hair flowed free to his shoulders, and an equally silky brown beard accented the goldsmith’s strong jawline, but his other features were undistinguished except perhaps for deepset brown eyes and slashing black brows.
“Are you a priest or a saint that you—” Kartauk looked up from his form and stiffened, his eyes widening as he looked at Ruel. “Good God, what a face. Come here in the light, where I can see you.”
Ruel moved forward to stand next to the window. “Is this good enough?”
Kartauk nodded and took a step nearer. “Turn your head to the right.”
Ruel obediently turned his head.
“Magnificent,” Kartauk murmured. “The symmetry is nearly perfect.”
“May I move now?” Ruel asked politely. “The rain is coming in the window and I’d like to get rid of this slicker and dry off.”
“I suppose so.” Kartauk reluctantly stepped back and watched Ruel step away from the window. “Superb …”
“It warms my heart to be appreciated.”
“Are you a sodomite?” Kartauk asked suddenly.
Ruel blinked. “No, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere for your pleasure.”
“Oh, I’m not of that persuasion.” Kartauk made a face. “God knows how many times I’ve wished I were, stuck out here in the jungle all these weeks.” He cast a sly smile at Li Sung. “However, Li Sung is no doubt grateful. The poor crippled rascal couldn’t have gotten away if I’d seen fit to vent my lust on him.”
“I’d have managed,” Li Sung said calmly as he sat down by the brazier and held his hands out to the fire.
Kartauk’s gaze shifted back to Ruel. “The reason I thought you might be a sodomite is that most men don’t accept their own physical beauty so readily.”
“A pleasing face is only a tool to be used, like a strong back or a keen mind.” Ruel shrugged. “Sometimes it works to my advantage, sometimes to my detriment.”
“But you still use those tools?”
“Of course, that’s what they’re here for.” He smiled as his gaze went to an ivory-handled chisel on the table beside the clay model. “Would you keep a useful tool like that in a cabinet just because it was fashioned to please the eye as well as the hand?”
Kartauk’s laugh boomed out. “I like him, Li Sung.”
“Jane said we must use care with him.”
“But of course, anyone interesting can always be a threat. I knew that the moment I saw him and I will learn more as time goes on. I have the keen eye of a great artist and can rip aside the outer trappings and bare your very soul.”
“It sounds a trifle chilly,” Ruel said mildly.
“I want to model a head of you.” He frowned. “Unfortunately, I have no proper medium. I’ve been using wood and clay, and you deserve better.”
“Are you asking me to pose for you?”
Kartauk nodded briskly. “I’m going mad here with nothing to do.”
Ruel’s gaze went to the objects on the table. “You appear to be keeping yourself busy. That monkey is very fine.”
“You have a good eye. I like it myself.” He reached under the table and brought out another wooden bust. “You might appreciate this.”
Jane, her hair loose and flowing, not tightly braided as he was accustomed to seeing it. She was smiling, vibrantly alive, and looked younger than he had ever seen her. He reached out and gently traced the curve of her cheek with his index finger. “I’m surprised she consented to pose for you.”
“Oh, she didn’t. She said she was much too busy. I did this from memory … and imagination. It was a great challenge. All that strength and yet no one is more vulnerable than Jane.”
Ruel’s finger moved down to trace the line of the statue’s lips. “You must know her very well.” Kartauk didn’t answer, and when Ruel raised his eyes from the statue, it was to see the sculptor’s gaze fixed intently on his face. His finger dropped quickly from the statue. “Of course, your statue of Kali is a good deal more powerful.”
Kartauk shrugged. “Abdar liked it.”
“But I prefer the serpent on the golden door.”
He chuckled. “A tiny jest I couldn’t resist. Our Jane was not pleased.”
“She knew it would cause her great trouble,” Li Sung said.
“Yes, I know, and I was properly repentant … for almost a quarter of an hour.” He shrugged. “There was little danger. I knew the maharajah wouldn’t care even if he noticed the resemblance.”
“But Abdar noticed,” Ruel said. “He called it an exquisite abomination.”
“Truly? I can’t tell you what pleasure that brings me. You know Abdar?”
“I’ve met him.”
Kartauk’s smile faded. “He is an abomination, you know. He claims he worships artistry but twists it to his own purposes.”
“Like the Kali statue?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” He was suddenly grinning. “But he also has an excellent eye. I imagine he told you that you’d be a splendid addition to his collection.”
“He did mention something to that effect.”
“A statue?”
“A mask.”
“How … interesting. What do you think of him?”
“Not much. He found me equally unpleasant. I can’t imagine why.”
Kartauk slapped his thigh. “By God, I do like him.”
“I knew you would,” Li Sung said. “I recognized several deplorable similarities in your characters.”
Kartauk’s glance shifted back to Ruel. “Well, will you pose for me?”
“Can’t you do me from memory as well?”
He shook his head. “Too many layers. Will you do it?”
“Perhaps.” Ruel took off his slicker and strolled over to seat himself on a large square stone across the huge brazier from Li Sung. “If we can come to an agreement.”
“He is here to rid me of the burden of your presence, not to pose for you,” Li Sung said.
“It will take only a day or so,” Kartauk said. “Time doesn’t matter.”
“Jane would disagree. She wants you safe.”
“I’ll be safe,” he said abstractedly, his gaze dissecting Ruel’s features. “What do you say?”
“If you pay my price.”
“And that is?”
“How well do you know the maharajah?”
“I created a statue of him when I first came to the court. No one knows him better.”
“Ah yes, you stripped him bare also?”
“To the bone. It wasn’t difficult. There wasn’t much there beyond what you see.”
“I need something from him.”
“And you want to know the key to getting it?”
“Yes, can you help me?”
“Oh yes, I can help you. I can tell you the way to get anything you want from the maharajah.”
Ruel felt a leap of hope. “How?”
“After I get my statue.” Kartauk smiled. “How do I know you won’t flit away?”
“How do I know you can really help me?”
“We’ll just have to trust each other, won’t we?”
“I seem to be the only one required to trust,” Ruel said dryly.
“Which is only fitting. My work is worth more than any prize you can hope to win from the maharajah.” “How do you know?”
“Because my art is worth more than anything in heaven or hell,” Kartauk said simply.
“I see.” Ruel gazed at him a moment before nodding. “Three days?”
“Four.” Kartauk smiled. “Come early tomorrow morning and be prepared to spend all day.”
At that moment Jane entered the chamber and moved toward them. “No sign of Pachtal. I went back two miles and I think I would have seen him.”
“Does that mean I’ve been washed clean of the suspicion of perfidy?” Ruel asked.
“No, it means Pachtal didn’t follow us … this time.” She took off her coolie hat and slicker and dropped them on the stone floor before stepping closer to the fire. “Hello, Kartauk.”
“Jane.” Kartauk nodded. “You’ve grown thinner since I last saw you. Are you well?”
“Of course.” She didn’t look at Ruel as she addressed Kartauk. “He has something to ask of you.”
“We’ve already come to an understanding,” Kartauk said.
“Already?”
“Fortunately, I discovered I had an unexpected prize with which to bargain,” Ruel said lightly. “Kartauk likes my face.”
She nodded with instant understanding. “I should have known.”
Kartauk laughed. “Yes, you should have. It’s a cheap price to pay for a face like his.”
“Perhaps not so cheap.” She turned to look at Ruel. “I believe it’s time you told us just what property you want to buy from the maharajah.”
He tensed. “Why is that important?”
“It’s not important in itself, but you know everything about us and we know nothing about you. That knowledge gives you an advantage I don’t want you to have.”
He was silent a moment and then said, “I want to buy an island called Cinnidar from him. It’s about two hundred miles off the coast in the Indian Ocean.”
“And why do you want to buy this island?”
He hesitated again. “Gold.”
“You’re mistaken,” Kartauk said instantly. “If there were gold on any island owned by the Savitsars, Abdar would have known about it. He’s mad for gold and scoured the entire province for deposits.”
“I’m not mistaken. It’s there. A mountain of gold, the richest strike I’ve ever seen.”
“Then why has no one found it before?”
“It’s not accessible. The mountain is on the north end of the island and sheer cliffs make it impossible to breach from north, east, and west. A deep canyon over a hundred miles wide intersects the center of the island and cuts it off from the south.”
Kartauk’s brows rose skeptically. “It’s impossible to get to but you know it’s there?”
“I’ve seen it.”
“How?” Jane asked.
“I believe I’ve said enough for your purpose.” Ruel smiled crookedly. “Now you know enough to pique Abdar’s interest in Cinnidar and destroy my plans if I betray you.”
“If you’re telling the truth.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Kartauk said slowly, his gaze fastened on Ruel’s face. “Tell me, have you ever heard the story of El Dorado?”
“Yes.”
“That gold was supposedly at the bottom of a fathomless lake. Your Cinnidar gold may prove just as elusive and your money wasted.”
“Cinnidar is no El Dorado. If I can get the maharajah to sell me the island, I’ll find a way to get the gold out.”
Kartauk suddenly smiled. “I hope you do. There can never be too much gold in the world for me.”
“Since I’m laboring to provide you with material for your art, I suppose you wouldn’t consider waiving payment for your information?”
“Certainly not. If Abdar finds out what you’re trying to do, he’ll undoubtedly cut your throat, and then where would I be?” Kartauk turned to Jane. “So you must bring him here for the next four days so I may capture his likeness while his neck’s still intact.”
“Unless you’d care to give me directions on how to get here,” Ruel added.
“I’ll bring you.”
“I thought that would be your choice,” Ruel said. “You’d be much more comfortable out of the rain in your cozy little bungalow.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” She shivered and drew closer to the brazier. “Though it’s much chillier in here than out in that warm rain. This fire is dying down. We need more wood, Li Sung.”
“Soon. First you need to dry off.” Li Sung got up and limped toward the cot in the corner. “I’ll get a towel.”
“I don’t have time. I’ve wasted half a day already,” she said. “And when I get back to Kasanpore, I need to go to the site and—”
“Make sure Patrick is doing his job,” Li Sung finished for her as he grabbed a towel and came back toward her. “Do you intend to spy on him every day?”
“I’m not going to spy on him. I want only to make sure the job is going smoothly and he knows everything I’ve been doing.”
“And that he is truly working and not sitting under a tree guzzling whiskey.” He knelt beside her and brusquely wiped her face before shifting to a position behind her. He lifted her heavy braid and closed it between folds of the towel to dry it. “It’s a wasted effort. You can do little if he chooses that course.”
“It’s different this time.” She started to turn her head to look at him. “He really is—”
“Sit still. How can I dry this ugly hair if you keep swiveling your head about?”
“I didn’t ask you to dry my hair.” She looked forward again. “And this is foolish. It will only get wet again when I leave.”
“That is true, but it will make you feel better and I will know I did the proper thing.” He continued to dry her hair. “Now be quiet and let me behave foolishly if I wish.”
Ruel felt a queer pang as he gazed at them across the fire. The bond of affection between them could not be mistaken. Affection … and trust. Christ, what was wrong with him? For some reason the sight of them together filled him with anger and rejection. What did he care if she gave the Chinese boy the trust he had forfeited? Yet, he did care.
“No, you’re no sodomite.” Kartauk dropped down next to him.
Ruel turned to see the sculptor studying him again and was immediately on guard. “I told you that.”
Kartauk spoke softly so the two across the fire would not hear. “You did not tell me you lusted after my friend Jane.”
He felt a ripple of shock. “And if I had told you?”
“I would have warned you to take care. She has done much for me and I will not have her destroyed.”
“I have no desire to destroy her.”
“Desire and carelessness are two different things.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “But she is on her guard with you. Perhaps I will not have to act.”
“Thank you,” Ruel said dryly. His gaze returned to Jane and Li Sung across the fire. That nagging dissatisfaction was growing within him with every passing minute.
“They are very close,” Kartauk commented. “It’s natural that they take care of each other.”
“So I see.”
“It disturbs you.”
“Why should it disturb me? God knows, she needs someone to look after her. Reilly appears to make a poor job of it.” He changed the subject. “Why do you enjoy working in gold?”
“It’s the metal of the gods, the only one fit for a great artist. That’s why I stayed so long at the palace. Not many patrons can afford to furnish such rare materials.”
“Then why did you leave?”
“I thought where my work was concerned the end always justified the means.” He shrugged. “I was mistaken. To my infinite horror I found I possessed a conscience.”
“What do you mean?”
“Abdar wished me to perform certain tasks I found distasteful. I refused him.”
“And he was angry?”
“Extremely. He threatened to cut off my hands if I did not obey him. Naturally, I could not permit such sacrilege. When I left, he persuaded my weasel of an apprentice, Benares, to do what he wished, but Abdar knows there is no comparison.” He raised his voice and called across the flames in the brazier. “I hope you brought something in that knapsack other than rice, Jane. I’ve eaten so much rice my eyes are starting to slant like Li Sung’s.”
“What a fortunate miracle,” Li Sung murmured. “That is how all eyes should be shaped.”
“I brought beef and beans.” Jane smiled at Kartauk. “I hope by the time they’re gone, you will be too.”
“But where?” Kartauk grimaced. “Great artists must have patrons, and patrons enjoy displaying their treasures. Inevitably, Abdar will hear of one of my magnificent creations and find me.”
“Yes, where?” Jane turned and challenged Ruel. “You said you’d find a safe haven for him.”
“Which now includes a patron who keeps his work secret,” Ruel said testily.
“You’re the one who said you’d give me anything I wanted.”
His lips tightened. “And I will.” He turned to Kartauk. “What about returning to your home in Turkey?”
“I left only jealousy behind when I left. It’s no safer than anywhere else for me.”
Ruel frowned. “Then I’ll have to think about it.”
“Think first about how to get him out of here,” Jane said.
“I’ve already decided about that.”
Her eyes widened. “You have?”
“The trial run to Narinth the night before you officially turn the railroad over to the maharajah. We station Kartauk on the line somewhere outside Kasanpore, pick him up when we’re out of the city, and hide him on the train. We deboard him before we reach Narinth and from there he can make his way to the coast.”
Kartauk chuckled. “Very clever. I can see why you decided to let him help us, Jane.”
“It might work,” she said slowly. “If Abdar doesn’t suspect anything.”
“Oh, he probably will suspect. It’s our job to misdirect those suspicions.”
“How?”
“I’ll think of something. I’ll have plenty of time to meditate while Kartauk is baring my soul.” He stood up and reached for his slicker. “In the meantime, I think we’d better start on our way back to Kasanpore.” Ruel smiled. “And not so I can rush immediately to the palace and reveal our friend Kartauk’s whereabouts to Abdar. I thought I’d go see if Patrick is tending to duty.”
“But I was going to—”
“And now I’m going instead.” He picked up her slicker and put it over her head. “Call it a penance. Don’t you think I deserve a penance?”
“Oh, yes, I’m sure you deserve anything anyone could think of to—”
He interrupted. “Then send me out in the rain after our charming Patrick.” He picked up her wide-brimmed hat and put it on her head, carefully tying the cords beneath her chin. The service gave him an odd, deep, primitive sense of satisfaction, soothing the abrasive unrest he had known. Suddenly he realized Kartauk was not as perceptive as he believed himself to be. It hadn’t been lust ripping at him this time. This was what he wanted when he had watched her with Li Sung. He had been fiercely resentful of the bond of affection and trust that allowed Li Sung to perform those services instead of him. He quickly turned away and said gruffly, “Besides, I’ll get a chance to look over the terrain and decide on the best place to hide Kartauk while waiting for the train.”
“How did Jane find you?” Ruel asked Kartauk.
“Hold your head still.” The goldsmith carefully shaved the plane of the cheek of the wooden statue on the table in front of him. “She didn’t find me. I found her. I was hiding in the bazaar at the time and, when I heard she was inquiring about a goldsmith to execute the door, I went to her bungalow.”
“You took a big chance.”
“I was desperate,” he said simply. “I hadn’t been able to work for nearly three weeks and I felt as if I were starving to death. I’d had to leave my tools at the palace when I bolted and couldn’t carve so much as a chess piece. I couldn’t stand it any longer.” He turned the model so more light would fall on the left side of the statue. “I might have been able to resist if the door was to be anything but gold. Jane tells me your passion for gold equals my own.”
“What else did she tell you?”
“That you’re ambitious, ruthless, and self-serving.”
“True.”
Kartauk laughed. “And honest.”
“Did she say that?”
“No, that’s my own judgment.” Kartauk’s gaze wandered across the chamber to where Jane and Li Sung sat on the floor playing cards. “She appears to be having trouble accepting you might also have a virtue or two. I didn’t disabuse her. She’s much safer believing only in your satanic qualities.”
“You told her Abdar was searching for you and she still let you do the door?”
He nodded. “I didn’t intend to tell her, but after we met and I realized what she was, I decided the best course would be to throw myself on her mercy.”
“And what is she?”
“A caretaker. She can’t help herself from nurturing and caring for those in need. Didn’t you realize that?”
“I’ve never thought about it.”
Kartauk shot him a shrewd glance. “Or never permitted yourself to think about it?” He didn’t wait for a reply. “Anyway, I cast myself under her wing and let her care for my needs in return for my labor on the door.”
Ruel frowned. “You didn’t care that your presence would endanger her?”
“I cared, but I had to work. I couldn’t let anything stand in the way of that.” Kartauk lifted his head. “You should understand. I’d judge you’re also a driven man where your Cinnidar is concerned.”
“Yes.” His resentment and condemnation of Kartauk was completely unreasonable, but then, nothing about his attitude toward Jane made any sense. “Li Sung said you were the one who chose this temple as a hiding place.”
“I found it suitable. A temple should always shelter beauty and greatness. Besides, I knew I could dismantle one of the interior walls for my furnace.”
Ruel’s eyes widened. “You tore down one of the temple walls?”
For the first time Kartauk’s tone became defensive. “It had fine square stones and I needed a furnace to cast the door. No one ever comes here to worship anymore, and it’s much better I put the wall to good use.”
Ruel chuckled. “I’m sure it is.” His smile faded as his gaze was drawn to Jane, as it had constantly been during the past days. He had told her he was going to try to think of her as a child, but that intention had gone up in smoke that first day at the temple. What the hell was wrong with him? It had never been like this with any other woman. He couldn’t keep his eyes away from her. He wanted to touch her.
Jane’s plaited hair shone deep red in the firelight, and an odd tingling started in his fingertips. He wanted to loosen the heavy braid, comb his fingers through the silken mass until it flowed wildly about her shoulders. He wanted to see her as naked and abandoned as she had been beneath him on the floor of the railway car. A surge of heat tore through him as he readied, thickening until he ached with the weight of it.
She stiffened and he knew she was aware he was watching her. She kept her gaze fixed on the cards in her hand but she knew, dammit. She reached up nervously to smooth a tendril of hair back from her temple, and the sleeve of her shirt fell back, revealing the smooth symmetry of her forearm. Another bolt of heat wrenched through him, bringing anger and frustration in its wake. All right, he would somehow keep himself from raping her, but he would not be alone in this. Look at me, he willed her. See what I’m feeling. Admit what we’re feeling.
She darted him a flickering glance from the corner of her eye. Her spine went rigid as she met his gaze. Oh yes, she knew, he thought grimly. Her eyes widened and then her head snapped back around and she was once more staring down at her cards, deliberately ignoring him again.
He wished he could do the same. Christ, why the hell couldn’t he look away from her?
“Yes, she’s much safer believing you’re Lucifer incarnate,” Kartauk murmured. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”
Ruel jerked his gaze away from Jane. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Kartauk smiled. “I mean that if I were doing a full statue instead of a head, I might be forced to employ an extraordinary multitude of fig leaves to mask a certain portion of your anatomy.”
Ruel carefully kept himself from glancing back at Jane. “Then it’s fortunate you’ve confined yourself to a limited area.”
“Particularly since the transformation occurs so frequently. At first I wondered if I should send her away.” His attention returned to the statue. “The signs of desire aren’t confined only to the nether parts, you know. The jaw tightens, the nostrils flare slightly, the mouth—”
“I regret to have caused you artistic difficulties.”
“Oh, no difficulty. I would not have permitted that to happen. Actually, your lust gave the work an added shading of primitive beauty.”
“And, of course, that’s worth any amount of discomfort I might experience.”
“Any discomfort,” Kartauk agreed.
Ruel shifted restlessly on the stone block on which he was sitting. “When will you be finished with that blasted head?”
“Tomorrow.” Kartauk added wistfully, “It’s quite wonderful, one of the best pieces I’ve ever done. I’m truly magnificent. If I only had—”
“Gold.” Ruel chuckled. “I’m beginning to think your passion may be even greater than mine.”
“I have no doubt it is. To me, gold means beauty, to you, power; but beauty always triumphs in the end. Kings fall, empires fade, but art and beauty endure.” He paused and then sighed. “I suppose you wish your reward?”
“It seems a small price to ask for contributing to your greater glory.”
“Do I discern a note of disrespect?”
“You wouldn’t recognize it if you did.”
Kartauk’s laugh boomed out. “I would recognize it. I’d just lose faith in your judgment.” He went back to work. “Toys.”
“What?”
“Send the maharajah a toy.”
Ruel gazed at him blankly. “What kind of toy?”
“A child’s toy. Trust me.”
“I’m to give one of the wealthiest maharajahs in India a child’s toy?”
“He is a child. That’s the whole point of the matter. How do you think I survived his eccentricities for six years? He would have driven me mad if I hadn’t learned how to distract him when I needed to send him off in another direction.” Kartauk saw Ruel’s doubtful expression and continued impatiently. “It’s true. The maharajah has the mind of a child. The Savitsars are Hindu and have adhered strictly to the caste system for hundreds of years. Since there are not that many choices in the upper castes, they’ve been forced to inbreed. It’s no wonder the maharajah and Abdar’s minds are not what they should be.”
“Abdar doesn’t have the mind of a child.”
“No.” He smiled sardonically. “But I assure you, there is no one more twisted.”
“Toys … you make it sound simple.”
“Not simple, but possible. Go to Namir on the Street of the Palms, a brilliant craftsman. Tell him to sell you a toy like the ones he occasionally made for Kartauk. Maybe something with an elephant. The maharajah’s mad about elephants.”
Was it possible Kartauk was right about the maharajah? Eagerness began to surge through Ruel as he remembered what he had heard about the monarch’s unreasonable demands, his tantrums and idiosyncracies.
He’s not interested in anything but his toy of a railroad.
He likes a bit of flash.
Everything he had heard about the maharajah substantiated Kartauk’s claim. The maharajah’s self-indulgent behavior and unreasonable demands could certainly have been that of a child.
“Why isn’t anyone else aware of this?”
“Perhaps they are, but it’s not wise to question the sanity of a ruler who has the power of life and death. It’s safer to assume he’s merely spoiled than feeble-minded. Besides, not everyone has my great powers of perception.”
“If I do send the maharajah a toy, what guarantee will I have he won’t merely accept it and then forget I exist?”
“No guarantee. I gave you the key, it’s your task to unlock the door. I’ll be interested to see how you accomplish it.” He scowled. “And stop frowning. I knew I should have waited until tomorrow to tell you. Now you’ll be plotting and planning and I’ll have a much harder time getting the forehead right.”