Bahadur’s driver dropped them off in the black of night. Bahadur led with Anita following closely behind him. Jack brought up the rear with Kathy in the middle. Their passing left no sound, only shifting tracks in the thick dust. Jack knew Kathy was only a few yards in front of him, yet he couldn’t see her. He could separate her fragrance from the strong smell of dust and wondered how in the hell Bahadur could see where he was going. Jack could see the lights of Birganj, and Bahadur was keeping them on their right.
At one point he led them up a short flight of cement steps. At the top Bahadur raised his hand and then dropped it down toward the ground. Anita dropped on one knee and reached back to Kathy to pass on Bahadur’s warning. Bahadur listened intently. The night was quiet with no moon or wind.
Anita couldn’t see anything beyond Bahadur’s crouching silhouette, but she could hear faint sounds of footsteps shuffling along in the deep dust. The shuffling sounds came closer. Anita could tell they were coming directly toward them. Suddenly she heard Bahadur say something in a low voice. The shuffling stopped. Bahadur reached back, took Anita’s arm, and they both stood up. Jack heard a faint laugh from the darkness, and the footsteps faded away into the night.
Bahadur, leaning close to Anita’s ear, said, “Smugglers. No problem.” She passed on the word to Kathy who passed it back.
About an hour later, Jack felt a gravel road under his feet. Bahadur turned around and said, “Welcome to Nepal. See, nothing to it. We have a half-mile to go to the Land Rover. If a vehicle comes, get off the road to the right and take cover.”
No car came and ten minutes later they were in the Land Rover. A mile farther up the road, the driver pulled into an opening in the bush and stopped in a clearing twenty yards off the road.
Bahadur leaned over the front seat and said, “We’ll spend the night here and get an early start in the morning. It really isn’t wise traveling these roads at night. If it’s not the Maoists causing trouble, it’s the government patrols suspicious of cars traveling in the jungle at night.”
Looking at Jack, Bahadur said, “Your party can sleep in the tent we will put up. Air mattresses and sleeping bags are in the back. The driver and I will stay in the Rover. Here, use this mosquito repellent as well as the nets. Malaria is back, you know.”
Bahadur had the tent pitched in the middle of the clearing only about 30 feet from the Rover. Jack had no sooner rolled out the air mattresses and bags when Kathy dropped down and was almost instantly asleep. After the light in the Rover went out, Jack nudged Anita and quietly said, “You might think I’m either paranoid or crazy or both, but I’m getting a very uneasy feeling.”
She whispered, “Me, too.”
“I know I’m not as experienced as you and Bahadur about border crossings, but that just seemed far too easy and Bahadur either had things fixed or he is very good. I don’t understand Hindi, or whatever he spoke out there in the border area to those smugglers, but the exchange sounded to me to be very friendly. And why would a man who runs a tourist business on a river be so good at crossing this border? Why would he need to?”
Anita was silent for a moment and then replied, “I’ve been worried about what he said as well. He knows I don’t understand Nepalese, but I know some Urdu. Bahadur said something like ‘don’t worry, it’s me.’ Then the other group laughed quietly and went on their way. I am not a novice at border crossing and that one we just did was phony. The only reason a man like Bahadur would be so familiar with crossing this border illegally is because he’s involved in running drugs from Kathmandu into India, or he’s part of something very illegal, like working with the Maoists or some other illegal group or both.
“Kathy told me Kathmandu is a trans-shipment point for drugs going to India on their way to western markets. Insurgency and terrorism eat money, and drug running can supply that need. I’m afraid I trusted an old friend too much and told him too much. I think he’s been bought by the narco-terrorist crowd. The Maoists transport the drugs, most likely raw opium or heroin, through the countryside along the less frequented mountain and jungle trails. Al-Qaeda with its Muslim and Arab roots could not recruit the devout Buddhist and Hindu Nepalese. Not even the Maoists would touch them. Most likely Bahadur is the middle man. He takes the drugs from the Maoists and works with al-Qaeda to move them into India. I bet we will see the hand of al-Qaeda at the river camp. They would have to monitor the flow of drugs and coordinate shipments using Bahadur’s boats, Land Rovers and elephants.”
Jack said, “I should’ve spotted it sooner. New Land Rovers, expensive watch and rented bungalow. Sure! Most likely he owns it. How many bungalows have you seen in India with thick bars on the windows and steel plate on the outside doors and on one of the bedroom doors?”
“I’ve known Bahadur for seven years. The bottom line is Bahadur always lived as high as he could manage and always had money troubles. No way is he going to wile away his time running a poorly paying tourist camp on the river.”
“Okay. Sounds right on to me. I just don’t see how he can let us live. He must intend to kill us on the river.”
“Right now he is thinking how he can separate you from some of your money, and that may be the only reason we are still alive.”
From the maps she had studied in New Delhi, the overland trip looked like a three to five day trek. She thought, depending on when and how they managed their escape from Bahadur, they could make it in four days. They didn’t need him to guide them to Kathmandu. All they had to do was get on the east bank of the Trisuli and keep the river on their left all the way to the Mahesh Gola, a large gorge branching off to the east toward Kathmandu. As soon as they awakened in the morning, they would have a surprising tale for Kathy.
By the time sleep took over, Jack and Anita at least had a plan. There would be time in the morning to bring Kathy up to speed. Six months ago, Jack would’ve believed he and Anita were paranoid. Now, he believed Bahadur planned to kill them somewhere on the river tomorrow.
Facts and Fictions 