22
Even inside the temple, cocooned in her sleeping bag and wearing several layers of clothing, Nina still woke up shivering. Eddie was already awake, heating water on the stove. ‘Morning, sunshine.’
‘Morning,’ she said blearily. ‘What time is it?’
‘About twenty to seven. Sun’ll be up soon. We’ll need to get moving once it is. Got a lot of walking ahead.’
‘Can’t wait.’ She sat up, seeing that the outer door was ajar, letting in a slit of predawn light. ‘Where are Kit and Girilal?’
‘Kit’s gone for a piss. Dunno where the old guy is; he went out about twenty minutes ago. Maybe he’s taking a dump.’
Nina groaned. ‘I could have lived without you putting that image in my head, Eddie.’ She unzipped the sleeping bag. ‘What’s on the menu?’
‘Coffee first, then breakfast. Lots of high-calorie stuff - we’re going to need it. Cereal, porridge, that kind of thing.’
‘Mmm. Delicious,’ she said, unenthused.
‘Hey, you wanted to come here. I had another look at the map now we’ve seen the terrain first-hand, by the way. Think I’ve worked out a route. Girilal thinks it’ll be safe.’
‘How well does he know the area?’
Eddie smiled conspiratorially. ‘Better than he lets on. Sneaky old sod. I don’t think this is the first time he’s been up here in the winter.’
Nina indicated the next hall. ‘He must come to worship at the Shivalingam. Poor guy. Whatever it is he’s doing penance for, I don’t think he believes he’ll ever be forgiven for it.’
‘Well, maybe he’ll get a better crack at things in the next life.’ He looked up as Kit re-entered the temple.
‘Morning, Kit,’ Nina said. ‘Is Girilal outside?’
He briskly rubbed his cold fingers. ‘Yes. He said he wanted to watch the sun rise.’
‘He must be freezing!’
‘He must be mad,’ Eddie amended. ‘Kind of ironic, since that’s what he was already pretending to be.’
Nina shook her head. ‘He’s just looking for forgiveness, and I don’t see how he’s going to find it, because he can’t forgive himself. I feel really sorry for him.’
‘No need for that, Dr Wilde,’ said Girilal cheerfully, skipping over the sandbags into the temple. Nina blushed at having been overheard. ‘But I feel sorry for you. You will not find the Vault of Shiva, because it is not there. Please, make this old man happy and go back to Gaurikund. Do not risk your lives for a legend.’
‘That’s sort of what we do,’ Eddie said with a wry smile.
‘And you say I am mad!’
Nina smiled. ‘Thank you for caring, Girilal, but I’m afraid we’re long past that point.’
‘Well, I can at least wish you well and see you on your way.’
‘After breakfast,’ she said. ‘Care to join us?’
He laughed. ‘Of course! I am mad, not stupid!’
 
By the time they left the temple the sun was up, though the sky was mottled with cloud. Girilal shook their hands. ‘Please, come back down the mountain with me,’ he said hopefully. ‘It will snow later, I can tell.’
‘We’ll be fine,’ Nina assured him, her breath steaming in the cold air. ‘Thank you for all your help.’
He bowed his head in modesty. ‘I am only doing what should be done. But I have asked Lord Shiva to watch over you, and I hope he will be generous.’
‘I hope so too,’ said Kit, peering up apprehensively at the ridge.
‘Then have a safe - and uneventful, ha! - journey. Perhaps we shall meet again if you return.’
When we return, you mean,’ Eddie said.
When you return, of course! Dr Wilde, Mr Chase, Mr Jindal . . . be safe.’
‘You too,’ said Nina. ‘Will you be okay getting back to Gaurikund?’
Girilal grinned. ‘I shall sing, and I shall dance, and I will be back there as quickly as if I had flown like a bird!’ He did a little jig in the snow.
Eddie held up a hand. ‘Listen, mate - we know you’re not really mad. So you don’t need to keep up the act.’
Girilal pursed his lips. ‘I didn’t even realise what I was doing. Perhaps I have been doing it for so long, it has become natural.’
‘Perhaps you’ve been doing it too long,’ said Nina pointedly.
‘Perhaps. In that case, I shall walk in a very normal way back to Gaurikund. Goodbye. And good luck.’
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘And I hope you find what you’re looking for.’
‘So do I,’ the old man said, waving as he set off back down the long path.
Eddie turned to gaze up at their own destination. ‘Okay, that gap in the ridge is about three miles from here, and over a mile higher up. We’ve got a long bloody climb. Let’s get started.’
Nina detected a new tone in his voice. ‘That was very military, Eddie. Were you like that in the SAS?’
‘If I was doing things like in the SAS, we wouldn’t still be standing here - we would have been running up the mountain with full gear and weapons before the sun was even up.’
‘Speaking of weapons,’ said Nina, regarding him suspiciously,
‘did you bring . . .’
‘Course I did.’ He unzipped his coat to reveal the Wildey tucked in its holster.
She put a hand to her head. ‘Oh, God. Why?
‘Hey, you never know - we might run into a yeti.’
‘Yeah, that’s just the headline I want: “Legendary Himalayan creature discovered - and has its head blown off by demented Englishman”!’
‘Better than “World’s most famous non-fictional archaeologist eaten by snow monster”, innit?’ He started uphill. ‘Well, come on. The Vault of Shiva’s not going to find itself. And, oi! What do you mean, “demented”?’
Nina and Kit followed him, sharing a smile.
 
The ascent began relatively easily, but before long parts of the slope became steep enough for them to need to use telescopic aluminium climbing poles and even their hands to scrabble up it. The grass hidden beneath the snow gave way to nothing but earth and rock.
They kept climbing, Eddie scouting out the best route. Even with his experience, they had to double back a few times when the way ahead became too steep to ascend without climbing gear, something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible. But there was a route to the foot of the ridge, however convoluted and draining.
Rest breaks became more frequent the higher they got. ‘God, this is killing me,’ Nina gasped as she flopped down on a boulder. She pulled off one glove and rubbed her temple.
Eddie was with her in a moment. ‘Got a headache?’
‘A bit. It’s not serious,’ she assured him. ‘I just need to get my breath back.’
‘You took some altitude sickness medicine this morning, right?’
‘Yeah, I did. Really, I’m okay. What about you, Kit?’
The policeman was taking deep, slow breaths. ‘I’m fine. I think. This is the most exhausting case I have ever been on.’
‘Art theft doesn’t usually take you up the Himalayas, I suppose,’ said Eddie, surveying the area. The landscape below was hidden by mist, but he could see clouds visibly rising, strong winds pushing them up the mountainside. He looked higher. The patches of cloud had grown thicker and darker, and the air was noticeably more hazy than when they had left Kedarnath. ‘Girilal was right. I think we’re going to get snowed on.’
Nina regarded the clouds unhappily. ‘Nice Christmas cardy snow, or horrific flesh-stripping blizzardy snow?’
‘Three guesses. How’s your head?’
‘Better. A bit.’
‘Give it another minute, then.’ He patted her shoulder.
As she waited for her headache to subside, Nina’s attention went to the ground around them. Even under the snow, it had a distinctly stepped appearance, as if long terraces had been dug into the slope. ‘Have you noticed this? It almost looks like it was once cultivated.’
‘Up here?’ Eddie said sceptically. ‘There isn’t even grass this high up.’
‘There have been warmer periods in the past - there used to be vegetation in the Antarctic, remember. Maybe the priests at Kedarnath in Talonor’s time grew things up here. Or maybe there were people who lived closer to the Vault of Shiva - they’d need to get their food from somewhere.’
He shook his head. ‘Could just be a fluke of layers of rock or something.’
‘Yeah, I know. And if it were used for cultivation, it would have been a long time ago - there’s a lot of erosion. It’s still an interesting possibility, though.’
‘Depends on your idea of interesting.’
‘Quiet, you.’
Once Nina’s headache faded, they set off again. The ridge loomed over them, a colossal wall of stone. From this distance, the ‘notch’ was revealed as a deep pass in its own right. Eddie checked it with binoculars. ‘There’s a way up to it. Pretty steep, and there’ll be a lot of zigzagging, but I think we can do it without having to rope up.’
‘Can we reach it before it starts snowing?’ Kit asked.
He looked at the sky. The clouds had thickened still further. ‘Probably not. It might not be too bad, though. Not much wind at the moment.’
‘Let’s hope it stays that way,’ said Nina.
They picked their way up the steepening route to the pass. About half a mile short, they stopped to eat. It was now past midday; only five hours before sunset. Rested and nourished, the trio pressed on until they reached the bottom of the path.
The sun was lost behind cloud, the temperature falling. Nina realised the clouds themselves were closing in. Kedarnath’s peaks were already obscured, and the upper parts of the ridge disappeared into the leaden grey. As she watched, a lone snowflake drifted past. It seemed to be a fluke . . . then another appeared. And another.
‘Shit,’ muttered Eddie as the fall began in earnest. He tried to pick out the switchback path above him. ‘We’ve got about another three hundred feet to climb, and there’s nowhere to put up a shelter if it gets bad. We’ll either have to go back down and wait it out, or get to the top no matter what the weather does.’
‘Can we make it all the way up?’ asked Nina.
‘Dunno.’ He studied the clouds. ‘If the wind doesn’t pick up we should be able to, but . . .’ A shrug. ‘Depends how keen you are to see what’s up there.’
‘There is kind of a time factor,’ Nina reminded him. ‘If the Khoils figure out the Kedarnath connection, they’ll be on their way here too - and probably by helicopter.’
‘Bad weather’ll affect a chopper just as much as us. If we can’t get up there, neither can they.’
‘But as soon as it clears, they’ll be able to fly straight there.’ She looked at the winding path above. ‘If you think it’s too great a risk, then . . . we’ll wait it out until the weather improves,’ she said reluctantly. ‘But if you think we can make it, we should try. For all we know, the Vault of Shiva might be right on the other side of that ridge. It might be in that ridge.’
‘Great, dump all the life-and-death decisions on your husband . . .’ Eddie stared up at the pass once more. ‘Okay, we’ll try it. You all right with that, Kit?’
‘If you think we can make it, I will trust you.’ He smiled. ‘You seem to know what you’re doing.’
‘Christ, I wish that was true all the time! Okay, let’s go. Be careful.’
Eddie took the lead, probing the rock beneath the snow with his aluminium pole. Fat snowflakes whirled around them, eddies of wind gusting them up the ridge into the climbers’ faces.
The path narrowed as they moved higher, the steep slope transitioning to actual cliff. Mid-afternoon, but beneath the overhanging clouds it felt more like evening. The landscape below disappeared into a dismal sea of grey as more snow fell. The pass above was only vaguely visible through a disorienting swirl of snowflakes.
They continued the ascent. Before long the climbing poles became useless, everyone needing both hands to keep a firm grip on the rock. At the end of another leg of the zigzag path, Eddie stopped and squinted up through the falling snow. ‘Not far to go, but if it gets any narrower we might have to get out some spikes and rope up. It’ll slow us down, but it’ll be safer.’ He shifted his gaze to the main mass of Kedarnath - and his expression changed. ‘Wait, fuck that! We need to get to the top, right now!’
Nina looked. ‘Why? What’s happening?’ A dark cloud bank had moved across the peak, angling upwards from the mountain’s side like a Nazi salute.
‘A storm’s coming! That cloud - it’s called a flag cloud, and when it’s tilted up like that it means the wind’s blowing really fast.’
‘How fast is really fast?’ Kit asked nervously.
‘Seventy, eighty miles an hour - it’s a fucking blizzard, and it’s coming right at us! Move it!’ He started up the path.
‘I’m movin’, I’m movin’!’ cried Nina, side-stepping along the narrow ledge as fast as she dared. Kit was right behind her. The wind picked up, its shrill whistle chilling in more ways than one.
The approaching storm seemed as tangible as the rockface, a black wall closing in to crush them. Eddie reached the last leg of the path, the entrance to the pass at its top. He stretched his legs wide to clear a broad gap in the ledge - and felt stones shift underfoot, adrenalin kicking at his heart as he fought to keep his balance. He rasped his boot against the rock until it found solidity, then hopped over, warning the others to be careful.
Nina reached the final section, seeing the pass - and also the storm lunging down like an attacking bear. Panting, the freezing air searing her lungs, she moved to the gap. The wind was roaring now, tearing at her clothes. Kit clung to the rock wall a few steps behind her.
Eddie waited on the far side, hand out. She steeled herself, jumped - and cleared it. ‘Kit, come on!’ she called.
He leapt—
The storm hit.
It was almost a physical blow, the wind slamming against them. Visibility was reduced to inches in a second. Eddie clutched Nina’s hand; she reached back with her other to grab Kit’s sleeve, pulling as hard as she could as he clawed for a handhold. The weight of his backpack made him wobble, one foot slipping - then he found support. She tried to yell for him to follow, but couldn’t even hear her own voice over the fury of the storm. All she could do was tug the Indian in the same direction Eddie was pulling her, and hope none of them fell and dragged the others over the edge . . .
Perversely, the last few feet were the hardest, the steep, snow-slicked slope offering no handholds. Eddie kicked his toes hard into the frozen scree, dragging Nina after him. His outstretched hand, already numbing, touched something solid.
The wall of the pass. They had made it—
And were no better off. The split in the ridge was barely eight feet wide at its foot - and it acted as a channel for the storm. The vicious wind chill made the temperature plummet. Within moments, the group’s backs were coated in snow and ice, their clothing flapping like flags in a hurricane.
‘Keep moving!’ Eddie gasped. If they stayed in the natural wind tunnel, they would freeze to death in minutes - there was no chance of erecting a tent in time, even if it could withstand the storm. One arm over his face, he reached back with the other to pull Nina along. Kit held on to her backpack, stumbling in their wake.
Now Eddie understood why this part of the mountain had such a fearsome reputation. The pass was an obvious short cut - but if the weather changed suddenly, it could become a deathtrap.
How long was the pass? He lowered his arm, the cold biting at his eyes. Nothing visible except wind-driven snow streaming past.
He squeezed Nina’s hand, hoping to feel her do the same in return, but got no response. Another look ahead as he staggered on. Still nothing visible but the disorienting hyperspace tunnel of rushing snowflakes. He could feel ice forming on his eyelashes, freezing them together.
He used his elbow to find the wall. There might be some nook, a fallen boulder, a tiny cave that could provide just enough shelter for them all to huddle inside until the storm passed. But he felt nothing except solid rock . . .
The wind suddenly changed, blowing at him not from behind, but from the side. A tornado of snowflakes whipped round him. Forcing his ice-crusted eyes open, he looked round. The rock walls seemed no different from the rest of the pass.
Why had the wind shifted? Something was diverting it - maybe even blocking it. Shelter. But he still couldn’t see anything—
He looked up - and found it.
About seven feet above in the eastern cliff was a fissure, a horizontal slash in the rock. Roughly five feet high, and deep enough that nothing but shadow was visible within. If they could all squeeze inside . . .
He turned, taking the icy blast directly into his face as he shouted to Nina and Kit. ‘Cave . . . up there! Nina, climb up!’
She pushed her hood against his. Even that close, he could barely hear her over the wind. ‘Can’t feel . . . hands.’
‘It’s our only chance! Come on!’ He shoved her to the wall. ‘Kit, help her up!’
The two men took hold of Nina and lifted her. ‘Reach up!’ Eddie shouted. ‘Get into the hole!’ She stiffly raised her hands, groping numbly for the gap. Finding it. Eddie and Kit pushed her higher, and she all but fell inside. Realising that the wind had dropped, she crawled deeper into the fissure.
‘You next!’ Eddie told Kit. The Indian said something, but it was lost in the wind. Eddie bent to give him a leg up, taking hold of Kit’s boot with his freezing fingers. Legs flailing, Kit wormed into the tight opening.
Eddie jumped up after him, but the edge of the little cave was slick with ice. His hands, useless lumps of meat, couldn’t get a grip. The storm was sapping his strength by the second - if he didn’t get into shelter very soon, he never would . . .
Kit reappeared in the cave mouth. He knelt and held out his hands. Eddie reached up. Kit grabbed his wrists and pulled. With the last of his strength, Eddie scrambled up the wall, boots rasping on the rock.
He slumped into the fissure, almost knocking Kit over as he landed on him. The cave was deeper than he had thought; they moved into the darkness, flurries of snow still clawing at them in a last-ditch attempt to stop their escape before the ferocious wind finally dropped.
‘Thanks,’ Eddie gasped, getting a weak grunt of affirmation in return. He saw Nina in the shadows ahead and dragged himself to her. ‘Help me . . . with the heater.’
She pulled off his backpack and opened it. A minute later, the paraffin heater was lit. They piled their packs up behind them to block the wind. Eddie massaged Nina’s hands through her gloves as the trio hunched tightly round the heater. ‘Don’t try to warm up too fast,’ he warned. ‘Get the circulation back first.’
‘Will we have frostbite?’ she asked, worried.
‘I don’t think we’ll have to saw off any fingers, but no point taking chances. Can you feel anything?’
‘Yeah. Pins and needles.’
‘Believe it or not, that’s good. How about you, Kit?’
Kit flexed his fingers. ‘Feeling better. And I think all my toes are still attached . . .’
‘Great. Let’s see where we are, then.’ He fumbled in his pack for a torch.
Nina blinked in annoyance as she was momentarily dazzled, then followed the beam as it slid over the rocks around them, moving deeper and deeper. ‘How far back does it go?’ The passage twisted out of sight about thirty feet away.
‘Dunno. Think we’ve found a good place to sit out the storm, though.’
She looked at the cave floor, which was coated with grit and small stones. ‘Looks alluvial. It must carry meltwater during the spring thaw.’
‘I didn’t know you were a geologist,’ said Kit.
‘It’s useful stuff for archaeologists - helps us figure out how deep things might be buried.’ She took the flashlight from Eddie and scanned the walls. ‘Where does the water come from, though? It must open out somewhere.’
She made as if to crawl down the passage to investigate, but Eddie pulled her back. ‘Oi! Get properly warmed up first. Might as well have something to eat while we’re at it.’
‘Well, if we must . . .’ They smiled at each other, then Eddie poked through the packs for supplies.
After half an hour, they were more or less recovered and ready to move. Nina had already taken the lead. ‘It carries on round this corner,’ she reported, shining the light ahead.
‘How far?’ Kit asked.
‘I don’t know - I still can’t see the end. But it gets wider.’ She continued on.
‘Jesus, slow down,’ Eddie complained. ‘It’s not like we’ve found the Vault of Shiva . . .’ He tailed off.
‘Do you think . . .’ said Kit, eyes widening.
‘With her luck, I wouldn’t be bloody surprised. Come on!’ He shuffled down the confined passage after his wife, Kit behind him.
They caught up with Nina. The tunnel was indeed getting wider - and higher. ‘I can see daylight,’ she said. A faint grey cast over the rock walls was discernible ahead.
Eddie tugged down his hood. ‘There’s no wind.’ That wasn’t entirely true - he could feel a breeze on his cold-reddened cheeks - but it was nothing compared to the gale blowing at the other end of the tunnel. There was another bend to traverse, but the gloomy daylight was now clearly visible beyond it. ‘It opens out,’ Nina said, Eddie and Kit flanking her as they rounded the corner.
And stopped, frozen in surprise.
‘Well, bloody hell,’ said Eddie as he took in the incredible sight. ‘I think we found it.’