The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter XXXIX: The Burning Train- Part One

Carey was carried out on a stretcher made of sticks, through the jungle and towards the city. He had lost a lot of blood and was unconscious. Everyone was surprised at the amazing display of his powers. He had chased the Black Witch away but they had still a huge distance to cover. The city was over 10 kilometers from the forest and the sun was out in full swing but they kept going on. Raza was now beginning to doubt his decision, maybe he should have never followed them. There was no treasure anywhere, it was like a spiritual adventure and the foreigner keeps acting strange and blacking out. But if quits now, he might miss something important and again he would have to meet his men to tell them about going to Tibet…

Somehow they managed to get to the city. Carey had finally woken up and was quieter than usual but he was filled with a renewed sense of purpose and was rummaging through his notebooks. They hired a carriage, got the supplies and hurried to the train station. On the way, he finally broke his silence and started to talk with the Princess. He said that he was now sure that the pieces of the Orb were somehow providing him unusual abilities. He believed that these abilities were from the previous life and he explained to her how they both were destined to find Shamballa together. It was their duty in the previous life to protect the ancient kingdom and now it is their destiny to discover it and protect it too. The Princess explained to him how she had doubts that someone might have been following them all along just to make sure he delivers his promise. He assured her that he wouldn’t give up on the mission.

An hour later, they arrived at the crowded train station. The passenger train would lead them out of Kathmandu and into the rocky cold mountains of Tibet. They preferred to change their outfits and pack as much food and supplies they could, along with some warm clothes. Fortunately, Raza saw some of his men in the train station by sheer luck. He signaled them from a distance to follow him on the train. Fifty of them got on the train, disguised as coal mine workers, hiding their weapons with them. He was now sure that his secret mission would not fail. He didn’t have to use his smoke signal- he might have underestimated his men- it seemed that everything was going according to his plan. He would ambush the Princess and the foreigner and force them to give up the treasure that they were after. He knew that the foreigner had some strange abilities but he had devised a plan where he would mix something in his drink so that he would fall asleep. There was no way that the Princess and the Thug would be able to take on fifty of his best men…

Seated on the first class compartment was the Dutchman, quietly sipping some champagne. He had noticed Carey getting on the train as he hoped, and now he was sure that he was going to Tibet- good thing that he had brought some warm clothes. At around 1.00 in the afternoon, the train hustled out of the station. It had segregated compartments, around ten of them. The first three were reserved for the foreign dignitaries and their families. The next three belonged to the local businessmen and travelers. The next two were meant for servants and valets and the last two were for the workers. The train had a steam engine and a large pantry attached to it. There were four armed guards on every compartment, except for the workers compartment. There were two guards even in the engine room and a commanding officer on the first compartment who was dining with the guests. Carey and his group got into the second class compartment that was meant for local businessmen. They booked an entire berth and kept their doors closed at all times to maintain privacy. Raza and Ram Babu had to carry the luggage but Carey preferred to keep his personal items close to him along with the two pieces of the Orb. After they got settled down in their berth, Carey checked his bag of gold coins. He had spent almost ninety five percent of them and there were but forty gold coins left. Gold coins weren’t a form of currency as their authenticity and exchange value could not be determined easily. But they served them well for no one would say no to a handful of them shiny coins. The proper way to deal with them was to take them to a gold merchant and exchange them with currency notes of equal value but none of them had the time for that. Besides it would look really suspicious if one of them tried to get the bag of coins exchanged for the police were always there monitoring for suspicious activities. They could be easily mistaken for a group of rebels or misfits.

Everything seemed to be going fine with the journey for a while. The berth was satisfying and comfortable and there were four bunkbeds on either side with a wooden door at the centre and two windows on either side. They brought warm and delicious food and Carey even took a shower. He thanked the Nawab, in his thoughts for the coins because if he hadn’t had the coins, he couldn’t have travelled so far.

As evening approached, the Princess and Carey started to chat while Kali sat by the window and stared out into the open. Raza excused himself and went out to check on his men. With great difficulty he reached the last compartment, where his men enjoying cheap rice beer and singing merrily. As soon as he set foot in the compartment, they went silent and welcomed him in. He spent more than an hour discussing with them about how they would rob the foreigner. A few of them got too excited under the influence of alcohol and yelled-

“Let’s burn this train down!”

“Shut up! You idiots, this is not what I’ve been planning, we will rob them when they get to the treasure- now sit down and behave or else you will alert the guards,” said Raza and stormed out of the compartment.