Page 70 of Tiger's Voyage

Ren laughed wryly. “I consider myself duly warned.”

He walked off as I whispered, “But I’ll still loveyou.”

If he heard me, he didn’t stop. I stood at the rail for a long time trying to figure out how to swallow again. Emotion clogged my throat, and I could only inhale in shallow breaths.

Ren was true to his word. I didn’t see him that whole week. The rest of us went diving as scheduled. Everyone kept their eyes trained on me, but I was much more composed and did fine. I even saw a nurse shark swimming on the seabed and didn’t freak out. I had lost my appetite though, and Kishan kept trying to shove food in my face.

One morning, I’d skipped breakfast. Wes found me sitting on top of the wheelhouse in a little spot I thought nobody else knew about. He took a seat next to me.

“Whoo-wee! This looks like about the top of the world. Why, I think I can even see the curve of Earth from up here.”

I nodded.

“So your feller called it quits, I hear.”

I didn’t respond, so he went on. “A good feller’s as scarce as teeth on a chicken. I sure am sorry about that, honey. A guy that would dump a pretty, sweet little gal like you … well, it just don’t make no sense. The boy likely figures the sun comes up just to hear him crow.”

“Have you ever broken up with anyone?”

“Once. I still regret it.”

“What happened?”

“She was my high school sweetheart. Everyone figured we’d graduate, and I’d go off to college. She’d go to the local community college until I was a junior, and then I’d come back and slap an engagement ring on her finger. My whole life was planned out for me. It wasn’t a bad life, but I wanted to have some say in it. When I started getting itchy feet, I quit her before I even quit the college. I loved her. Still do. She might’ve even come with me. I suspect she waited for me awhile, but when I didn’t call or write, she gave up and married another.”

“Maybe you should call her now.”

“Nah. She’s got young ’uns now. And once you let that cat out of the bag … well, let’s say it’s easier to let it out than it is puttin’ it back in.”

“I understand. Regret is a hard thing to live with.”

“She probably happily hates me now. I imagine it’s better that way.”

“I can’t imagine she’d hate you. I could never hate Ren.”

He rubbed his jaw. “You couldn’t, huh? Well … maybe someday I’ll write her a letter.”

“You should.”

“Your Mr. Kadam says y’all are goin’ to town tonight. He said you have some business near Mangalore. He’d like to talk with you about it. Want to head down with me?”

“I suppose.”

Wes escorted me to Mr. Kadam, who was busy researching. He indicated a chair nearby.

“Thank you, Wes. I would have sent Kishan, but he seems to be missing at the moment.”

“He’s probably running errands for the invisible man,” I commented.

“Yes. Perhaps.” Mr. Kadam patted my hand sympathetically, and Wes left with a nod.

Getting straight to business, Mr. Kadam turned his laptop around to show me a picture of a temple. “This is the Sri Mangaladevi Temple near Mangalore. We will be going there around midnight to try to awaken the goddess Durga once again. I believe that tonight’s offerings should be related to the pillar representing water. Here is a picture of it. It’s slightly damaged, but you can still make out the carvings.”

The picture showed the goddess Durga at the top of a stone pillar ornately carved with starfish, shells, and fish. The images showed fishermen gathering their nets from the sea, a river sprouting from a conch shell, and farms with rain clouds above them. Villagers offered basins of water along with the bounty of the sea.

Mr. Kadam continued, “I thought you and I could go shopping today to gather some items we may need while I secure access to the temple after hours.”

I shrugged, not caring what we did.