The Sacred Vault

He composed himself, and lowered his head. ‘No, I should apologise. I should have told you what I was doing, and asked you not to disturb me. It is my fault.’

Despite wanting to respect his privacy as he prayed, Nina couldn’t help but look at the altar. ‘Is that . . .’

‘The Shivalingam, yes.’ While lingams were usually cylindrical, this was instead a small three-sided pyramid of polished black stone, red stripes painted across it. ‘For those who have reached enlightenment, Lord Shiva will manifest himself as a pillar of cosmic light and bless them.’

‘Have you . . .?’

‘No.’ He shook his head with sad resignation. ‘I am not worthy. I have too much to seek forgiveness for.’ He picked up the candle, and gently but firmly ushered Nina out of the chamber. ‘Now,’ he said, his voice becoming more positive, ‘you said something about food?’

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.