City of the Yeti

A. Love Robert

Description

It's October 1922, and fourteen-year old Danny Hawthorne is determined to uncover the truth about the Yeti. During a family horseback trip through the Himalaya foothills of Nepal, Danny and his younger sister Rachel are isolated by an accident in a remote valley. Here they encounter tall strangers in animal-skin clothing who are neither ape-like nor quite human. Are these creatures responsible for the legend? The children are escorted to an ancient, uncharted city, and invited to stay for a few days. They watch a horseback competition, learn archery, and even teach local youths to play football. Communication is possible thanks to the creatures' telepathic skills, which begin to rub off on the children.Every century, this community entrusts a few, select humans with far-reaching secrets, and the two are now given the opportunity. Danny and Rachel's departure for home is delayed when an old, inter-clan feud erupts, and again when winter storms arrive early. Meanwhile, their parents organise search parties to find the missing children. The city is spotted by plane, and Nepali forces prepare to move in after the first thaw. However, Danny and Rachel are sympathetic toward their hosts, and must devise a way to preserve the lost civilisation, while also ensuring a Hawthorne family reunion.A unique children's book,City of the Yetiis a fantasy novel aimed at readers aged 10 and upwards. Set in the evocative and mysterious mountains of Nepal in the 1920s, this book takes a refreshingly different and compassionate look at the Yeti, and the consequences of human encroachment on their territory.

Sujets

• Népal
• Nepal
• Children's

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 28 novembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785894503
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2016 Robert A. Love
Cover Illustration by Frank Attmannspacher
Map illustration © Mike Reagan 2015

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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ISBN 9781785894503

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Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

For my mother, who taught me
the true meaning of empathy
Contents
Prologue

Part I
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six

Part II
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen

Part III
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three

Acknowledgements



Prologue
Phil dared a whisper. “Ryan, there’s something outside the tent.”
Ryan rolled over in his sleeping bag and frowned. “It’s just the wind. Turn off your lamp and go to sleep. We’ve got two thousand feet to climb tomorrow.” He buried his head under the covers.
“All right, all right,” Phil said. “I need to finish these notes first.”
Phil’s hand was shaking. He wasn’t sure whether it was nerves or the cold. The thermometer read zero degrees even though it was summertime. But at an elevation of three miles, that wasn’t unusual. He also knew that, up here, another problem might be low oxygen. Ryan, being a physician, would be a good person to ask, but he was already snoring.
Phil took several deep breaths, and struggled to complete his journal entry.

Day Three at base camp in Tibet. Still adjusting to the elevation. Can see the summit clearly now. Besides Ryan and myself, there are six others: two British engineers and four Sherpa guides. Tomorrow, we push on to establish a second base camp. We’re crossing glaciers that no human has ever set foot upon. I’m optimistic we’ll be able to map an approach to the north face. Philip Hawthorne; British reconnaissance expedition to Mount Everest; 18-July-1922.

When Phil shut the small logbook, he heard scratching again, like something scraping against the canvas. The noise was distinct from the familiar wind that howled around the tent. He decided to wait until dawn, only a few hours away, before investigating; getting dressed was just too much trouble.
He lay down, exhausted, and pondered his role here. The mission was to chart a safe route up the world’s highest mountain, but not to actually finish the climb. That would happen next summer. However, Phil’s participation in future expeditions seemed unlikely, even as a renowned Oxford professor and expert on Asian cultures. It was simply a matter of age. At sixty-two, this excursion had already pushed him to his limits. He drifted off to sleep quickly.
As first light filtered through the tent, Phil awoke to something strange: silence. The wind had died, and he heard no activity outside. The Sherpas were usually up early, preparing breakfast and packing equipment. Had everyone overslept? He pulled on his thick pants, parka, and wool cap, and then leaned over to wake Ryan. His younger friend’s sleeping bag was empty.
After exiting through the double flap system of the tent, Phil looked around, puzzled. There was no one in sight. He walked a few yards to the nearest Sherpa tent and poked his head in. They were gone. It was the same story at the other Sherpa tent.
Phil plowed through a snowdrift to the final tent, presumably occupied by the two British engineers. Surely Ryan would be in there with them. But he found only clutter, as if they’d left in haste.
Realizing he was alone, Phil instinctively scanned the horizon. Clear skies allowed him to see across most of the glacier. The closest landmark was a cliff, about a quarter-mile away, with a small cave at the bottom. It was the only possible place the team could be, unless they’d all fallen into a crevice on the glacier.
It took Phil nearly an hour to cover the distance, since he took small steps and probed the surface carefully, checking for any cracks in the ice. Finally entering the cave, he was shocked to find the entire team sitting on the ground, leaning back against rock walls, unconscious. Fortunately, everyone had dressed for frigid weather; otherwise they wouldn’t still be alive.
Phil ran over to Ryan and shook him. “Ryan! What are you doing here?”
Ryan replied in a groggy voice, “We noticed something moving around and followed it.” Suddenly his eyes popped open, and his face twisted in panic. “I saw it, Phil! Some type of giant gorilla, with a hideous face!” Ryan tried to stand, but his knees kept buckling. “We have to get off the glacier!”
“We can’t leave now,” Phil said. “Too many people are counting on us. You had a bad dream, or a hallucination. Maybe the oxygen levels…”
The others stirred after hearing the two men talk. The Sherpas recovered quickly and fled in silence toward their home villages. The two British engineers staggered out, muttering that they’d seen enough of this place. Ryan stumbled along behind them, but Phil grabbed his arm.
“Wait! We can’t abandon the mission,” Phil said. “How will you explain this to the organizers? We won’t get paid, much less get any credit for our work.”
“I don’t care anymore. Sorry, my friend, but I want to live ,” Ryan said.
Phil glanced around. “What do you mean, live ? There’s no danger here.”
Ryan broke free and trudged off across the ice without looking back, leaving Phil at the entrance.
Confused over the sudden turn of events, Phil sat on the cavern floor to think. After several minutes, he concluded that he’d have to return as well. He rose up, but then froze at the sound of muffled footsteps behind him. A tall figure was emerging from the blackness.
Phil had half-expected this. Why else would the team have been so frightened? The figure approached slowly; it didn’t rush at him like a wild animal. In fact, it walked almost like a man. Finally, the stranger came close enough for its face to become visible. Phil was scared, but his curiosity as a scholar overcame any desire to flee. He thought of his wife Helen, his grown sons James and Colin, and his cherished grandchildren Danny and Rachel. The memories were comforting, and he relaxed, waiting for the creature to make the next move.

Part I
In Search of a Legend
As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

Herman Melville, from Moby Dick
Chapter One
The beast’s bloodshot eyes were fixed on mine; I knew I had to act quickly. The elephant had lowered its head to the ground and was holding perfectly still in front of me. This was my cue to climb on, yet I hesitated, fighting the memory of the last time I tried and fell off. My younger sister Rachel, already sitting on the animal’s neck, taunted me from above, “Hurry up, Danny! What are you waiting for?”
Several locals had gathered to see whether a British boy could handle this simple maneuver. If that weren’t enough, our lifelong friend Kumar stood nearby and teased, “Daniel, being fourteen in India means you’re a man. Be brave and climb aboard.” Kumar was two years older than me but matched my height and weight. An all-white set of slacks and open-collared shirt highlighted his dark brown complexion, and kept him cool in the September heat.
Suddenly, a pack of wild monkeys invaded the plaza, screeching and running all about. No one was trying to stop them, of course – not in this country. My heart raced with panic as I remembered the bite I’d received only a few months earlier. The little monsters were headed straight for me, arms waving wildly above their heads.
I had to choose between the lesser of two evils, so I hopped forward, clutched the leathery hide just above the elephant’s eyes, and scrambled up the bulky forehead. The gentle giant rose to its feet, unfazed. I crawled over behind my sister and sat on the blanket covering its neck.
Kumar applauded from below. “Very good! Now we’re off to the marketplace. There’s something I want to show you. You’ll be safe up there, in case our local tiger shows up for a human dinner!” He tried to hide a mischievous grin.
This time Rachel was spooked. “What? Didn’t somebody shoot it last week?”
“Nope,” Kumar said. “And even if they had, another would’ve taken its place.”
“Don’t listen to him,” I whispered in her ear. “He’s just trying to scare us. No tiger would enter a big city. Now, let’s pretend we’re the Duke a