The pythia pondered his comment. “Americans would worry about national image too if the international press covered nothing but stories about Appalachian hill folk.”
“Precisely.” Griffin nodded in agreement.
The two lapsed into silence, absently watching as pedestrians ambled along the promenade or took pictures of the ocean view.
Cassie changed the subject. “So where are we headed today?”
“We’re going to see if we can find the island tower mentioned in our mysterious riddle. What better place to start than a city constructed entirely of islands.”
She glanced dubiously at the landscape surrounding the hotel. “You’re telling me that this city of twenty million isn’t a single land mass?”
“Originally, no.” Griffin dabbed at his mouth with his napkin and pushed his coffee cup away. “Mumbai, or Bombay as it was called until quite recently, was an archipelago of seven islands separated by swamps. The islands were home to a series of fishing colonies. Over the course of five centuries, various land reclamation projects connected all the islands into the metropolis you see before you.”
The pythia contemplated the high-rises ringing Marine Drive. “I suppose it makes sense to look for an island tower in a city of islands but...” She paused and shook her head. “I don’t know how you expect to find that tower in the middle of all this.”
“Not quite in the middle of the city,” Griffin corrected with a slight smile. “The place I have in mind is separated from here by eight miles of geography and a few thousand years of history.”
Chapter 9—Ferry Tales
Later that morning, after collecting a still-groggy Erik, the trio left the hotel and turned down Marine Drive in a southeasterly direction. They dodged a variety of foot traffic from sightseers and locals. As the sun rose higher, so did the humidity and temperature. Fortunately, the breeze off the water persisted.
When they came to the intersection of Madame Cama Boulevard, Griffin announced, “It’s this way.”
Cassie and Erik obediently followed him down the palm-lined street for several blocks.
“So where are we going anyway?” Erik murmured.
“He’s alive!” Cassie announced, nudging the paladin in the ribs.
He had lost enough of his earlier grumpiness to smile at the observation.
“We’re going to the ferry landing,” Griffin replied.
“We get to travel on a boat?” Cassie asked in disbelief. “Now that’s something we haven’t done lately. What’s the destination?”
“You’ll see,” the scrivener said mysteriously.
“Oh great, he’s being cryptic again,” she confided to Erik. “I hate it when he does that.”
“Huh?” was all the paladin could manage.
After a few more turns, they emerged onto an open plaza.
Erik paused to stare at the enormous edifice on their right. “Is this some kind of government building? It looks Victorian.”
“That’s the Taj Mahal Palace, not to be confused with the monument,” Griffin informed him. “It’s a hotel built at the turn of the twentieth century, hence the Victorian facade.”
Cassie turned to the paladin in surprise. “You don’t know the local landmarks? I thought I was the only sightseer in this group.”
Erik shrugged. “For whatever reason, I never got assigned to fieldwork in India. This is all new to me too.”
The scrivener led them past the hotel and across the square that fronted on Mumbai harbor. Dominating the open space was a monument of some sort. It appeared to be a tourist attraction because clusters of people stood around taking photos of a stone archway with themselves beneath it.
“Lady and gentleman, this is the Gateway to India,” Griffin announced grandly.
The trio paused to contemplate the structure. The arch stood over eighty feet high. It was constructed of a brown stone which Griffin said was basalt, and the design appeared to be a mixture of Indian and Arab architectural styles.
“The Gateway was built to commemorate the visit of King George the Fifth and Queen Mary during the time when India was still part of the British Empire. It was completed in 1924,” Griffin explained. “It’s since been used as the ceremonial access point for dignitaries visiting India.”
“That probably made more sense when everybody traveled by sea,” Erik observed.
“Yes, but it’s still fulfilling its welcoming function by being a popular tourist attraction,” the scrivener said.
Cassie studied the sightseers milling around the base of the monument. They constituted a jumble of nationalities. Some Asians from Japan and China. Europeans and Americans. Indian men wearing western clothing and women dressed in saris. Despite their varied clothing styles, they all sported camera phones aimed at the arch.
Griffin worriedly consulted his watch. “We’ll need to hurry if we’re to catch the next ferry.”
Cassie and Erik trailed him down a flight of stone stairs in front of the Arch. Several boats were docked at the bottom of the steps and were taking on passengers.
The trio climbed aboard a wooden vessel with tire bumpers lashed to the sides. Both the upper and lower decks were open to the elements.
Cassie was reminded of the water taxis that plied the Chicago River. Back home, open air compartments were unthinkable. Passengers needed to be protected from the Windy City’s frequently foul weather. Not so in central India where it was safe to assume a balmy temperature year-round.
An attendant helped Cassie step down onto the lower deck of the boat. Seating consisted of wooden benches lining the sides of the ferry. In the middle of the deck, plastic chairs had been positioned in rows and bolted to the floor.
“Let’s go topside,” the pythia suggested to her teammates.
They climbed to the open deck where the sun was shining through a haze of humidity and air pollution. More plastic chairs lined the upper railings with rows of additional seating in the middle. Only a dozen other people had decided to make the trip, so the boat wasn’t particularly crowded.
Cassie chose a seat next to the rail, and her companions followed suit. Noting the destination sign posted onboard, she turned to Griffin and asked, “So we’re going to an island called Elephanta? Are any elephants still out there?”
“The only elephants that ever inhabited the island were of the
