The Lost Temple of Karttikeya by Laura Baumbach

Author:Laura Baumbach [Baumbach, Laura]
Language: nld
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

61

noise almost sounded like his name. He shook his head, but the tune didn’t change from a singsong cry of Bran-don.

He pulled open his canteen and gulped down two large mouthfuls of water. The heat of the jungle was getting to him. Birds were talking to him now. Lord, he needed some coffee.

With sugar. He turned away from the bird, but found watching Christian’s behavior just as unnerving.

“No. I don’t think you’re getting it, Detective. The weird part is there aren’t any other birds in the tree. Anywhere.” Christian slowly rotated on his heel, gaze scanning the hillside and vegetation. “Look around, Brandon; the trees, bushes, they’re all empty. There should be at least a dozen different species flying around. There were this morning when we broke camp.”

A howl that was closer to a blood-curdling screech cut the air. Christian’s frown furrowed deeper and the carriers became silent. Brandon stepped back, his shoulder making contact with Christian’s as they moved in a circle, back to back, studying the trees. The air was oddly still, except for the occasional, random repeated screech that reminded Brandon of a cat in pain.

The temperature was over one hundred degrees, but a shiver skittered down Brandon’s spine as sweat rolled down his temples.

Hari moved from the perimeter of the makeshift campsite to stand nearer to Christian.

He scanned the entire area repeatedly, dark eyes nearly black, mouth furiously working over an old wad of tobacco chew. He spit a stream of brown into the undergrowth, lips pulling back to reveal a row of crooked yellow teeth. Dressed in the same traditional lungi as the carriers, his gnarled hands worried the waist knot of the sash, belying his terse reassurances to the frightened men.

The babbler leapt from its branch and landed on a broad leaf that looked too flimsy to hold its weight, but the leaf didn’t even quiver under the bird’s feet. The new spot brought it to eye level with Brandon. The Bran-don cry split the air, magnifying the unnatural hush.

The call was clear and crisp, enunciated so well that this time even Christian frowned and muttered, “What the hell?”

Unwilling to pull his gaze away from the fascinating creature, Brandon lowered his voice so the men couldn’t hear him. For some bizarre reason, he hoped the bird couldn’t, either. “That was my name, wasn’t it? That’s not normal.”

“Nope.” It was a short snap of a response, tension evident in Christian’s defensive body language. “Not even a little.” Discarded machete reclaimed and hefted in one hand, his obvious apprehension kicked Brandon’s up a notch.

“Should have known.” Another earsplitting screech echoed off the tropical canopy, much closer this time. “Nothing about this trip has been anywhere near the ‘normal’ scale.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.