The Secret Ruby by Imogen White

Author:Imogen White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd

The man jerked his head and flicked his dagger to his left, indicating for Rose and Rui to walk that way.

“Do what he wants, Rui,” Rose whispered, her breath short. Had they just fallen into an elaborate trap?

The langur monkeys chattered and scampered back, allowing just enough space for Rose and Rui to edge around a large boulder. On the other side, a v-shaped cave opening gaped uninvitingly. Bahula was still nowhere to be seen.

“He wants us to go in there,” Rui said with a swallow.

“Well, I ain’t arguing with him.” Rose glimpsed over the ledge, which fell away to a steep mountain pass covered in fallen rocks and sharp edges.

They crept into the blackness. Rui grabbed Rose’s hand and squeezed it tight. Taking tentative steps and feeling the cold uneven walls, they followed the glow of flickering light that came from somewhere deep inside, where crazed, chanting voices were gradually gaining strength. Rose gripped her pendant.

“Aur tej!” The stranger grunted, shoving Rui’s back.

“He’s telling us to hurry, Rose.” Rui’s voice was strained.

Rose tried to move faster.

The chanting got louder. Unfamiliar guttural words echoed off the walls, multiplying the voices.

Rose and Rui blinked as they rounded a corner into a wide cavern at least thirty feet high. A large stone statue of Hanuman, the monkey god, stood proudly in the centre. Incense burned, and offerings of flowers nestled by his feet. An impossible number of candles illuminated the space, with what looked like a hundred years’ worth of wax cascading from their flames in solidified rivers. Langur monkeys perched on ledges, grooming themselves. They all stopped moving as Rose and Rui entered, chattering to each other agitatedly and watching. The chanting faded – but Rose still couldn’t see any people.

“Yah un logon ke lie hai?” A croaky voice called out from somewhere, the echo amplifying the disembodied words. Rose stared around, but it was impossible to tell where the sound came from. Her pulse thumped so hard it seemed deafening.

“Haan!” the man behind them grunted.

“What’s he saying?” Rose breathed.

“It seems as though we were expected, Rose.” The fear in Rui’s voice shot a needle of panic up her spine.

A wild figure stepped out from behind the statue, and stared, unblinking, through the dim candlelight. Rose jolted backwards, her hand covering her mouth. As he got closer, Rose could see he was bent with age, and had knotted hair hanging to his waist. He wore nothing but a sheet wound around his hips. And from top to toe he was coated in chalky ashes. He looked as if he’d been dragged to life from the dead. Ignoring Rui, he stared at Rose. The top of his face was painted saffron yellow, with a red stripe dashed along the centre of his forehead to the bridge of his nose.

Rose gasped and tried to back away, but their captor blocked her. The old man pointed a long gnarly finger towards her, several beaded necklaces jingling on his chest. Rose wanted to scream, but she felt it best to keep her mouth closed.

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