Just before first light Jack nudged Anita and signaled her to awaken Kathy but keep her quiet. Anita rolled over and put her hand over Kathy’s mouth. Kathy recognized Anita in the gloom and sat up. Jack moved over close to them and told Kathy that they were sure Bahadur was in a narco/terrorist group, and they were in real danger. They all needed to act normal. It was very important Bahadur not even suspect they were suspicious of him. Kathy crawled over to Jack and whispered, “I’m not sure I like waking up with you. I like cheerful things in the morning.”

Jack could hear some stirring in the Land Rover and told everyone Bahadur was up. Anita and Kathy left the tent to find a place to urinate. Jack called after them to watch for the snakes.

Anita turned, glared at him, and said, “You bastard! You know I’m terrified of those fucking reptiles.”

Minutes later they were on the road, more aptly described as a track. Bahadur told them it would be another hour to Devghat, where they could get some tea and a snack. Then an hour’s trip through the jungle on elephant back, and they would be at the river camp. Referring to the map, Jack saw that Devghat was a small town situated at the confluence of the Trisuli and the Kali Gandeki rivers. From that point south into India the rivers merged and became the Narayani.

The Narayani continued its journey south through gorges that at times compressed the river into a raging torrent smashing against the cliffs until its waters eventually flowed more tamely into the Ganges.

Bahadur said he could take his boat up the Trisuli River another mile or so beyond Devghat before running into a stretch of rapids and shallow water. From there they would have to walk into Kathmandu, about a five-day journey. In this kind of terrain, the porters considered a ten-mile-a-day pace to be the maximum. Carrying light loads (no more than 40 pounds) and going hard from first light to twilight, well-conditioned hikers could cover twice the distance.

Jack was delighted to see the small riverside restaurant at Devghat served omelets. Telling all to load up, Jack ordered a double-sized omelet with tea and toast. Anita and Kathy settled for hot tea and small omelets. Jack noted Bahadur was introducing them as his clients and friends. To him, it meant they were safe at least until they arrived at the river camp. Bahadur was too smart to bring down the local law over how he lost three clients between the restaurant and his camp. Elephant travel was not that dangerous.

The Nepalese government prohibited the building of roads in the reserve area. Bahadur said it suited his purpose. His clients were always excited and impressed with the elephant ride to camp. Occasionally, they would flush a tiger while moving through the high grass.

Just outside of Devghat, the Land Rover pulled over and stopped where the road really became a trail. Everyone but the driver got out just as two elephants emerged from the jungle. Each elephant had a driver, or mahout, who sat on the elephant’s neck and guided it with a series of commands backed up with a short wooden pole with a blunt steel hook on one end.

Bahadur told them he had dispensed with the howdah, a wooden platform seen in art books. The damn things were uncomfortable, and the elephants didn’t like them. Instead, a single thick hemp rope ran around the elephant’s girth just behind the front legs. With the elephant kneeling, the passengers stepped on the elephant’s bent right front leg and taking a firm hand hold on the rope pulled themselves up on its back. The next passenger relied on holding on to the passenger in front. Anita mounted behind Bahadur, and Kathy, with some help, climbed up behind Jack. Once they had the hang of it, it really was quite comfortable. The side-to-side swaying that made people motion sick while riding in a howdah was gone. When they first started, Kathy had a death grip on Jack’s belt. After a couple of hundred yards, he could feel her relaxing.

Jack was impressed with the elephant’s ease in moving through the jungle. At one point they had a short climb up a very narrow trail. The elephant put one foot in front of the other on a trail just more than a yard wide. Crossing a shaded pool in the jungle, Bahadur called out to have them look at python tracks along the short expanse of sand on the edge of the pool. Kathy laughed as Anita grabbed on to Bahadur saying, “God should never have made such a large snake.” It looked to Jack as if someone had rolled a smooth car tire zig zag across the sand. As he was studying the track, a comb dropped out of his shirt pocket into the pool. The mahout gave a guttural command and, to Jack’s amazement, the elephant picked up the comb with her trunk and handed it back over her head to him. Jack looked back at Kathy and said, “You know, I could get used to this place. Too bad we have to be on serious business.”

Kathy nodded and said, “I have often seen elephants in the bush but have never ridden one. Very impressive!”

Jack looked back over his shoulder and said, “Bahadurji, I see why you use the elephants. They are awesome. I’m sure many of your clients feel this ride is worth the fee.”

“That they do, especially the young ladies. But these beasts are expensive. In the monsoon season when client traffic is scarce, elephant overhead literally eats into the profits. I have to keep them even with virtually no tourist traffic. They would be very difficult to replace. It takes a skilled trainer about seven years to produce a well-trained elephant. The insurance is not trivial, either. Watch closely now, we are going to enter a kilometer stretch of elephant grass. The grass will be nearly up to your chest while you are sitting on the elephant. I often see tigers in this area. It will cost you more if we flush one. A few minutes into the grass, the elephant snorted and raised her trunk. The mahout spoke sharply to her, and she settled down but still seemed nervous. Jack and Kathy could feel the elephant shuddering under them. Looking down, Jack saw a gold and black shape darting back and forth in the high grass. At times the tiger ran under the elephant.

Bahadur called out, “Look at the tiger! I think she took a couple of villagers near this area last month. She won’t bother us. Elephants and tigers know better than to start a fight. Something like ‘mutually assured destruction’ from the Cold War strategy.”

Jack smiled at Bahadur and said, “I can see why you like it here. We’ll tell all our adventurous friends about this place.”

“Please do. A place like this operates on word-of-mouth advertising. And just around the next bend in the trail, you’ll see my river camp.”

Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan.