Mountain of Fire (7 page)

Fitri sighed in relief. He didn't know anything – yet. They had been lucky. Yes, it was definitely time to tell their parents.

“Come on, Agus, let's get this poor fool out of the goo.”

Both Agus and Fitri grabbed hold of Aditya and pulled him till he was free. As she gave one last pull, Fitri fell backwards.

She started to pick herself up, and a flash of white to her right caught her eye. Just for that brief second, she thought she saw a face under the white. An angry face, a face with a slick moustache drooping down on both ends. Just as quickly, it was gone.

Fitri lay rooted on the ground staring at the spot in the forest where the face had appeared. Shaken. Had she imagined it? Fitri shrugged it off; maybe the evening light was playing tricks on her eyes.

Suddenly she just wanted to get to the safety of her home, to her parents and tell them everything.

The kids left Aditya there to slowly stumble down the path. They raced through the village and ran home.

“Ayah, Ibu, we have...” Agus started to say excitedly but he stopped short and his voice trailed off.

There was chaos in their house; neighbours milling around, all talking at once.

“What's going on, Ibu?” Fitri asked.

Ibu affectionately tugged at Agus' hair. “Ayah and me need to get ready for the walk tonight,” she said. “The
Tapak Bisu.
Did you kids forget? Thank God it will be done with.” She sighed.

The Silent Walk was tonight! They had been so busy with their secret kingdom that they had forgotten all about it!

EIGHT : THE SILENT WALK

The Silent Walk would start at the entrance of the village, near the welcome board, and go towards the crater. The group would pass the watchtower and go up the mountain road, towards the no-entry zone. To get there, the group would pass the entrance to the cave.

Fitri clutched at Agus' arm. “Agus! We forgot to put the leaves and branches over the hole to hide the entrance!”

The group would walk past their secret kingdom! Fitri was a mountain child and knew what a full moon night in the forest looked like – it was as bright as any city. And everyone would be carrying fire lamps.

Their secret place would be discovered!

Agus' face crumpled as he realised that the moment of greatness he had been imagining in his head might not happen after all.

“What should we do, Fitri? Does this mean... I won't be able to tell anyone that this is my discovery?”

Fitri saw his little face and felt awful. How could she have been so stupid! This would have been his chance, the moment when everyone would have looked at him as a hero, instead of someone deformed who needed pity. And she had destroyed it in her hurry to get away from the cave.

Should she tell their parents now?
She looked out of the window and saw Ayah with a group of women getting the fire lamps ready for the walk. Some distance away, she saw Pak Eko. He and the
polisi
were involved in some sort of animated discussion. It looked serious. Her mother would be in the kitchen with the other women. No, this was not a good time to say anything.

She looked at the clock: 6 pm. Six more hours before the walk. Was there enough time to run back to the cave and cover it? No, she would never be able to sneak out of the house now.

There was just one thing left to do. She told Agus her plan.

Agus looked aghast at her. “Are you crazy! That is a crazy plan, Fitri. Children are not allowed on the
Tapak Bisu.”

But Fitri was adamant. “I know, but I need to know what happens.” Besides, she had to make it up to her brother. Her plan was to follow the villagers and, if the villagers saw the secret place, she would then just have to tell everyone that they had been the ones who had found it first.

“Are you crazy?” Agus said once again. “You are going to tell everyone, in front of Pak Eko, that you have been following them. Just jump out from behind a tree! That's a dumb plan.”

“Well, you have a better one?”

“No,” Agus sighed. “But then I'll come with you. Don't go alone.”

“Nooooooooo, Agus. It will be difficult to hide both of us. And it's not safe.”

“No way! I know that part of the mountain better than you and if it's not safe for me, it's not safe for you either!”

This was true. With all the time Agus spent following Pak Eko around, he did know that part of the mountain better. But she hadn't told him the real reason she was worried – the face in the forest earlier that day. Had she imagined it?

Fitri reluctantly gave in. They decided they would pretend to be asleep and then slip out after their parents at midnight.

When midnight came, they put some pillows on their bed and covered them with quilts. In case an inquisitive neighbour came around to check, it would seem like there were two children in bed, fast asleep. Instead of running around the mountainside in the middle of the night.

The Silent Walk Continues

Fitri snapped back to the present. The ceremonial plate was on the floor and someone was exclaiming loudly. The tree sap! The person who was walking first in line had walked right into the tree sap and dropped the ceremonial plate.

Pak Irlandy! He had been first in line, insisting that he knew the way to the crater best. And now he was stuck in the goo, just like Aditya a few hours ago. A few men pulled the old man loose as he grumbled, careful not to get stuck in the sap themselves.

“He's complaining loud enough to wake up all the spirits in the Merapi,” a woman whispered to Fitri's mother. Ibu smiled and hushed her.

Once the old man was free, the group started moving again. Agus nudged his sister to bring her back to the present. “Let's go, Fitri. They are moving again,” he whispered.

Her heart was thudding away as they neared the watchtower. This was the tricky bit. The trees were going to get scarce and there were very few hiding spots in that part of the mountain. They would have to be extra careful.

The group approached the small stream, just before the climb to the cave started, when suddenly Pak Eko raised a hand and asked the group to stop.

“I will go on alone from here,” said Pak Eko.

A silent shiver of agitation rustled around. This was most unusual. A group always performed the ceremony. Why was Pak Eko doing it alone?

The Guardian of the Merapi bowed in front of the group, took the ceremonial plate from a shocked Pak Irlandy, and a fire lamp. He seemed to vanish almost instantly, swallowed up by the folds of the mountain. All they could see was a flickering light in the distance, slowly becoming smaller, till it disappeared completely.

Fitri was at a loss and frustrated. The group had made enough noise to mask the sound of the two children following them. Following the old man alone was asking for trouble. The man's hearing was supposed to be fantastic – that allowed him to hear the sounds deep in the volcano. She tugged at Agus' hand and gestured that they should return, before the group turned around.

Agus shook his head. He wanted to stay.

“Agus, we shouldn't. Ayah and Ibu may reach home before us,” Fitri whispered.

“It's fine. Then we will tell them the truth. I want to know what Pak Eko is doing. Why did he go up alone?” Once again, Fitri thought her little brother was braver than anyone could imagine.

The group of people slowly turned and started their descent. The kids could hear their parents too, animatedly discussing Pak Eko's strange decision. When she was sure that everyone was clearly out of earshot, the two came out from behind the bushes.

They started walking up the mountain path, past the watchtower for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. Cautiously the two kids walked across the gurgling stream. The water felt cold splashing on their feet. They stopped there unsure of what to do next. The full moon had blanketed the forest with a pale light, and there was no Pak Eko in sight. The children had a torch with them, but did not dare to turn it on.

“Maybe he didn't see it,” said Agus.

“Maybe he's down there, waiting for us to come in,” whispered Fitri. “And catch us red-handed.”

They peered down the hole, to see if they could hear anything. But dead silence greeted them. Agus walked down the steps tentatively.

“Shine the torch here, Fitri.”

Fitri did not feel good at all. It was unusually hot. It should have been cooler at this time out on the mountain, but she realised she was sweating. And she felt that the smell of sulphur was definitely stronger.

“Agus, get out of there. We should go,” his sister said. “Let's cover the hole and go. If Ibu and Ayah find out... ” Her voice trailed off and she let out a loud shriek.

A hand had clutched at her shoulder and a voice behind her said, “Finally! It's been long enough.”

NINE : TAUFAN FINDS THE KINGDOM

AGUS came running out of the cave as Fitri shrieked. He saw his sister struggling with a flurry of white. Fitri's torch had fallen and rolled down the mountain road and was now moving back and forth, throwing a bizarre beam of light on the gurgling stream. The man had a white turban around his head, a long drooping moustache, and hard eyes.

“Agus, run!” Fitri yelled.

“I wouldn't do that, Agus,” the man in white snarled. Agus saw a flash of metal in the man's other hand. He had one arm around Fitri and was holding a knife in the other.

“Stop struggling,” the man hissed at her, raising the knife menacingly. Fitri stopped immediately.

Even if he had wanted to run, Agus couldn't have. His legs seemed to have stopped working and he stood rooted to the spot.

“Now, listen, both of you, and listen well,” Taufan said. “I have come a long, long way to find the treasure. I need you to go inside that cave and take out everything you have found.”

“Agus, don't do that!” Fitri spoke out.

Agus, keeping his eyes firmly on the knife, managed to stutter, “Who... who are you?”

“My name is Taufan but it doesn't matter who I am. All that matters is who the two of you are. You are the descendants of the Priestess Aini.”