Bones of the Earth~An Inspector Shan Tao Yun Mystery by Eliot Pattison

Author:Eliot Pattison [Pattison, Eliot]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1250169682
Amazon: B07D2BT3QD
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2019-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

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Shan passed a desperate night at a pilgrims’ rest near the road to the prison camp, keeping nervous watch as Lokesh, Jampa’s belongings arranged before him on a rock, continued reciting the death rites, which would take days to complete. He relented only for quick swallows from Shan’s water bottle and bites of the rice cakes Shan had in his pack, then later, long after midnight, for quick responses to Shan’s questions about his trip to Lhadrung. Lokesh had hitched a ride on a truck with a Tibetan driver after riding a horse to the nearest road. The joyful old man, who was like a close uncle to Shan, was showing conspicuous signs of his age. His firm, steady stride which had taken them over hundreds of miles of pilgrims’ trails, had slowed and sometimes was only a tenuous shuffle. His bright eyes were watery, and at times Shan saw a tremor in one hand.

They were outside the gate when the boxy old sedan, dented and badly in need of new paint, pulled up at the 404th People’s Construction Brigade. They had not been the first in line despite arriving before dawn, and Shan recalled from his years as an inmate that relatives often arrived the day before for the infrequent family visitation days, spending the night in sleeping bags or wrapped in blankets, sometimes after traveling for days.

“I’m sorry, Tserung,” he said as the mechanic wearily climbed from behind the wheel. Shan had called to ask him to bring Yara for the long-awaited visit when he had realized he would never make it to Yangkar and back in time. “But at least you have a companion for the ride home. Find a safe place for him until I get back,” Shan said and opened the back door of his car.

“Lokesh!” Yara exclaimed. Her cry awakened the old man, who groggily returned her embrace and let himself be pulled to Tserung’s car.

Ko was no longer counted among the high-risk prisoners, so he was not chained to a chair for the visit but rather allowed into a side yard, enclosed with razor wire, with other prisoners and their families. Mothers and wives wept. Fathers and sons clenched their jaws and tried not to glare at the armed guards as the thin, ragged prisoners filed in, some supported by other inmates. Half a dozen prisoners, the oldest, never had visitors but were allowed to sit at the perimeter and contentedly watch the brief, tearful reunions. The families of hard labor prisoners never knew whether a loved one would survive to the next visit. More than once Shan had seen family members collapse, sobbing, as they were greeted not by the prisoner they had come to see but by a certificate attesting to his death.

Shan hung back as Ko appeared, letting Yara run forward and wrap her arms around him. They held each other tightly, without a word, until a couple of prisoners nearby noticed and laughed. When Ko finally released the Tibetan woman, there was a new, deep strength behind his eyes.

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