Mountain of Fire (6 page)

“What, Fitri? What are you reading?” he shook her shoulder impatiently. She finished reading it and then told her brother what she had finally remembered.

“Some years ago, a group of
bule
came to the mountain. They were called archaeologists. These people dig around for things that existed hundreds of years ago. They look for them in the ground and study them.”

“What kind of things? Like the knife we found?”

“Yes,” said Fitri. “But it could be anything. Buildings, people, all kinds of things. This group of archaeologists had been looking for signs of a lost civilisation buried by the Merapi's eruption hundreds of years ago and...”

Agus interrupted her. “Wait, wait. What do you mean buried by the Merapi's eruption? The whole kingdom?”

Fitri nodded. “Yes, yes, the entire kingdom. It must have been a huge eruption. In the year 1006 exactly. When I first heard what they were doing, I couldn't believe it either. It was called
Pralaya Mataram.
The death of Mataram.”

Fitri continued, “Ayah had taken me to see these people – these archaeologists – digging. Their campsite was close to our village. There were many foreigners, along with Indonesians, at the campsite. Our village had given them some food, water, and warm blankets. One day, when I went with Ayah to see the archaeologists working, I saw this piece of paper in the mud.”

She showed it to him.

The piece of paper was a brochure, now worn and tattered. But the wording on it was clear: Archaeology Department – National Museum, Jakarta. It talked of the Hindu Mataram kingdom and about a temple buried in the 11th century when the Merapi erupted. She had found it all so exciting; could the Merapi explode with such force that the explosion buried an entire civilisation?

She had kept that piece of paper and then forgotten all about it – until now. The brochure also mentioned a reward for the person who could give the museum and the government any clues as to where the kingdom lay buried.

“The archaeologists had been digging in the wrong place.” She paused. “I think this is what you have found. The lost kingdom, Agus! The Hindu Mataram kingdom!”

Agus was dumbstruck. He, “Funny-face Agus”, “Raksasa Agus”, had found a lost kingdom that the archaeologists and government had been looking for?

“How do you know, Fitri? There are no pictures on the paper.”

“Of course there are no pictures, silly! It has not been found yet and there were no cameras hundreds of years ago!” Fitri said.

“Then how do you know that this is the lost kingdom?” Agus asked urgently.

“What else could it be? We found the statue of the elephant head. That's a Hindu god, Ganesha. I learned about him in school. He has the head of an elephant and the body of a man. This was a Hindu kingdom. The archaeologists had been digging just a few kilometres away. It's got to be it,” she said. She was tempted to tell him about her dream but he was looking shocked enough. She decided not to shock him anymore.

Agus looked as if one of the boulders from the Merapi had hit him on his head. “What should we do now, Fitri?” asked Agus.

“Let me think. Let me think,” she said scratching her head. “I think we should see what else we find up there. Then we can tell Ibu and Ayah. Maybe we can get the reward, Agus! You will be a hero!”

Agus liked that idea a lot. In fact, it was the best idea that Fitri had had in her life! This made him feel powerful and almost made him forget he had an ugly face. He had discovered the secret to the lost kingdom. He had found it – not those awful boys who spent hours tormenting him.

And what amazing fun it would be to announce the discovery of the lost kingdom to everyone! And show people the treasure! He couldn't wait to see their faces! He, Raksasa Agus, had found the lost Kingdom of Mataram buried by the Merapi!

So they decided not to breathe a word to anyone. They did not know it yet, but that decision would get them into all kinds of trouble.

SEVEN : THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

The children spent the week going back to the secret cave. Their school had stayed closed because of the volcanic activity. Small boulders would often spring loose and come crashing down the mountain due to the tremors. It just wasn't safe anymore to walk to school. Yet, Pak Eko said that there would be no evacuation.

Pak Andersen had gone back to the city, saying he would return soon with more information.

Life at the village had come to a standstill. All people did was watch the volcano dome and wait for the night of the
Tapak Bisu
and hope that nothing else would happen.

The day of the Tapak Bisu

Every chance they had, the children would run down the steps and into the world of the lost kingdom. They had dragged some branches and leaves and covered up the opening in the ground, hoping no one would go near that area.

Agus found a shovel in the house and had taken it to the cave to dig with. They had found many other small items: a glass, a coin and a spoon. Slowly, they had managed to uncover almost the entire head of the elephant god.

“Are you sure it's a god?” asked Agus. “I've never seen a half-man, half-animal god before.”

“Yes, I'm sure. This was a Hindu kingdom. They pray to Lord Ganesha. This is the god... ” Her voice trailed off.

She had heard a rustling sound at the top of the steps. It was some sort of animal squealing and running around. Both brother and sister froze.

“Must be a chicken. Running around,” said Agus. Fitri shushed him. She could hear a chicken squalling, but there was another faint sort of rustling, cutting across the other forest sounds. The sound of a person moving around in the forest is distinctive, unlike any other.

She thought she heard someone. Fitri grabbed the torch and softly went up five steps. On the sixth step, the smell hit her, wafting down the entrance to the cave: a smell that reminded her of someone. Fitri looked at Agus and knew from his face he smelled it too.

Menthol cigarettes!

Fitri grabbed her brother and ran up the steps. There was no one around. Not even the chicken. The air was still and humid.

“Let's go, Agus,” Fitri said, feeling like she suddenly couldn't breathe. “I think someone is around.”

Before Agus could protest, she grabbed her brother's hand and ran towards the tiny stream, splashing across the rocks.

“Sshhh, Fitri, you are making a real racket. Has someone seen us?” asked Agus, half-running and half-walking behind Fitri.

“I don't know. But there was that smell,” she said.

“Plenty of people smoke menthol cigarettes, Fitri. Nadia's grandmother does too,” Agus replied, trying to be reassuring. “It may not have been Pak Eko. I really don't know why he makes you so nervous anyway.”

“Agus, I really don't think Nadia's 90-year-old grandmother is roaming the mountainside smoking cigarettes! Don't be silly!” She paused. “And Pak Eko doesn't make me nervous. He's just strange.”

Then she said thoughtfully, “Maybe it's time to tell Ibu and Ayah about the secret cave.”

The children had now crossed the stream and were walking down the mountain path, approaching the watchtower, when Agus stopped, his fingers on his lip.

“What is it?” But then his sister heard it too. Her blood froze and she took her brother's hand in hers. “Keep walking,” she said softy.

Before Agus could answer, they heard a muffled cry. It sounded like someone had fallen and was now trying to pick himself up. Whoever it was was not doing it quietly.

“Stay here, Agus,” Fitri whispered to him. “I'm going to see who this is.”

“Be careful, Fitri! If it's Pak Eko, be nice.”

Fitri glared at him, pushed her brother up a tree, and slowly took a circle which would take her behind the person making the noise. It was somewhere to her left. She ducked and crawled the last few feet on the damp foliage, ignoring the ants that were biting her legs. Slowly she approached the person grunting, popped her head up in a flash and then down again.

Aditya! His foot had gotten stuck in some vines and he was trying to pull it free.

How long had he been following them? How much had he seen? She had to catch him and find out. But that was easier said than done. He was bigger than her and if she just pounced on him, he would be able to beat her up. Agus wasn't around to help either.

A slow smile spread across her face. He may be stronger than her but she was definitely smarter.
Look at him now creating a racket when he was supposed to be following us
quietly,
she thought.

She crept backwards. She had to work quickly if her plan was to work, before Aditya found them and figured out what was happening. She slipped away and ran back to Agus.

“Agus! Come on down. It's only Aditya.”

Aditya! Agus turned pale. Aditya had been particularly nasty to him and Agus had been petrified of the boy ever since the anthill incident, worried that the bully would somehow find a way to get his revenge.

Fitri pulled him down from the tree and whispered her plan to him. A big smile lit up his face and he ran off. Fitri, meanwhile, continued to walk through the forest, as if she had heard and seen nothing. She chattered loudly, pretending that Agus was still with her.

Agus headed straight for a part of the forest that had a few jackfruit trees. But he wasn't interested in the fruit; he was interested in getting his hands on the tree sap. The tree sap of the jackfruit tree was extremely sticky and the villagers used it as glue. It was collected in small cups attached to the tree trunk, and Agus ran through the trees, quickly collecting four cups.

He had to be careful not to spill any on himself. Once he was sure he had enough, he quietly ran to the road that went down from the watchtower back to the village. There he carefully poured out the sap right across a large area. Unless someone was looking for it, the sap was impossible to see. And it was impossible to miss.

Soon enough he heard his sister coming down the mountain path.

“Psssst, Fitri, here. Behind the rock,” Agus gestured to her frantically. They hid behind the boulder, just off the road and waited for Aditya to come along.

Sure enough he did. He looked around him and saw nothing. He frantically ran up the watchtower, hoping to catch the siblings there. He came back down and hurriedly started walking towards the village, mumbling to himself.

And walked right into the sap.

“Aaaarghh!” he yelled. Immediately, both his feet were stuck firmly in the sticky, gooey sap. The more he struggled, the more he got stuck, till he looked like a chicken dancing around on hot coals. Agus stuffed his shirt into his mouth and laughed so hard he fell and rolled out from behind the boulder.

“You, you little insect! You did this to me! I'm going to kill you!”

‘You have to get free first, Aditya,” Fitri said, coming out from her hiding place with her hands on her hips.

Aditya went red in the face. He lost his balance and fell on the road, his behind firmly stuck in the goo. Now he was stuck on the ground, both his hands and legs in the tree sap. By now Agus was rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach.

“What were you doing following us, Aditya?” asked Fitri.

“I'm not going to tell you anything,” yelled Aditya. “Help! Help!”

“It's getting sooooooo dark, Aditya,” Fitri said, rolling her eyes. “If we leave you here, who knows what might happen.”

“Yes, Aditya, maybe the spirits from the Merapi are free and roaming around,” said Agus, feeling brave now that his arch enemy was behaving like a simpering fool.

Aditya looked like he was going to throw up. No child from the village liked the thought of being left stranded in the dark so near the Merapi.

“The two of you are up to something. I know it. I've seen you sneak off all by yourself, up the mountain,” Aditya whimpered.

“And?” Fitri said, narrowing her eyes.

“And I was going to find out what it was!” Aditya yelled out. “Up to no good I bet!”