Chapter 5. The Miracle Recipe
- After the grass burns out, carefully mix the ashes with this oil and take the lubricant with you," Caelian continued, and the monk deftly tossed Kate the vial of dark glass that had previously been hidden in the folds of the caisse. - Then up the stairs in the rock, hidden behind the altar, to the prayer platform at the top of the temple mountain, and then all the tireless, insistent powers of the Creator will be at your complete disposal. A love bed of sun-heated stone, the powerful energy of the sky, and the soft grace of the earth will allow you to feel not only separately, but also in each other. Be together as much as you can, love and enjoy each other, and your still weak, inactive life juices will find their life-giving essence. When your mind will fall into a dormant powerlessness, and your bodies will become malleable and weak-willed, mighty energetic connections between the Creator and the Creator, between heaven and earth, will flow through them, and new life will definitely receive its effective impetus from the dormant powers of fertility.
Seeing Kate's incredulous eyebrow raised, the monk bowed twice, as if to emphasize the truth of his words.
- I can see Mrs. Castle's skepticism," Caelian raised his right hand in a fluid gesture, "but, believe me, it's not nothing. Only an unwavering, mutual faith will encourage true knowledge of the greatness and mystery of nature.
Listening to the intricate speech with undisguised interest, Rick even leaned forward. If Kate had not held his hand, Castle would have set his bangs on fire, since he was so eager to hear his guide's every word and had no regard for caution.
- I'll do anything! - He nodded sharply and agreed eagerly, but the monk, with only a modest raise of his eyebrows, muttered something softly to Caelian.
- Much depends on you, Mr. Castle," the Taoiseach said with a low sigh, accompanying the courteous wai, "but without Mrs. Kate's lively participation you have little chance of success.
- Eh, what exactly is required for that? - Castle cautiously inquired, swallowing, imagining in advance HOW his wife would react. - Does she have to perform some kind of ritual? After all, it was a little, so to speak, not her style.
At that, the men, all as one, looked at Kate. Wandering in uneasy contemplation, she stared blankly at the fire, but when a pause arose, she perked up and lifted her head. Castle managed to notice Kate warily biting her lower lip.
- Yes!" the Thai said firmly, with a confident gesture clearly demanding her attention. - One, but a very important one! As soon as your "staff of fertility" divinely "rises," rub the grease into it with the hands of Mrs. Castle!
- Rub... where? - Rick's eyes widened in exasperation. He seemed to expect to hear anything but that.
- That's where, Castle," Kate sighed, and smiled sadly as she stroked his pants below the belt buckle. - To exorcise the dark forces forever, the big boy with the enormous "rod" takes communion in an ancient and mysterious rite. I hope that's clear to you?
- I-I got it! Are you sure about this?" Rick perked up for a moment, turning to the monk and Caelian at the same time, but his doubts made him grow sad again. - Is it really that simple?
- If I didn't know, I wouldn't tell you," Caelian nodded affirmatively on the monk's behalf. - You live in a soulless, stone jungle and have no idea of the mighty, life-giving forces of nature. Open your hearts to it, "present" your souls, and then you will succeed.
- We'll try," Castle's eyebrows drew together tensely, gently stroking Kate's thin wrist, "otherwise it's not the best way out for us.
- You will succeed! Burn the herbs in the chalice and place them on the ledge beside the altar," Caelian followed the monk up, shaking off the dust from his pants. - Before taking the potion, bow deeply to the Buddha three times, always thinking of what you hope for. This is sure to set you up for a reciprocal, graceful, loving union. And now it's time.
- Let's go! - Castle sprang briskly to his feet, but pulled his wife after him not so much cautiously. - Let's just take the essentials.
They took their luggage and left almost at once. As long as the moon was helpfully illuminating the evidently perilous path, it was not too difficult to make their way. The sparse, low shrubbery, the scattered clutches of ferns, and the flat plateau beneath their feet contributed to their normal pace, but that changed instantly as they rounded a rock with a waterfall.
It was as if they had entered a completely different world. There was practically no rainforest sound, only the occasional bird disturbing the sullen darkness with its piteous voices. The jagged cliffs on the edges of the gorge jutted into the starry sky, blocking it from the moonlight, and the outlines of objects were lost in the stuffy Siamese night. The narrow, stony path, which began at the foot of the steep cliff, became even narrower, the shrubbery, somewhere behind the ridge of which lurked an abyss, spread ungodly with its flexible, clinging paws, and the freely growing fern obsessively braided around the knees of travelers, impeding the progress.
- I don't want to break my nose! - Castle grunted grudgingly. He slid one of the straps off his backpack as he went, and took a pair of headlamps from his pocket. Rick didn't seem to take the monk's presence into account at all, but he didn't seem to care. Without the slightest illumination, nimble, springy and silent, the novice confidently slipped into the rare gaps between bushes, bent down and timely dodged overgrown branches.
Rick, on the other hand, had a hard time. His large-sized figure struggled to squeeze through the dense brushwood, and wiping his wrist with profuse sweat, Castle cursed the inhospitable tropics. The sprawling rhizomes got tangled under his feet, and it was easy to break his nose; the invisible, clinging like traps between the rocks threatened to fracture, and his backpack, once again caught in the thorny branches, tended to to tip its owner over on his back. I had to stop to tighten the straps and, gritting my teeth, try to ignore the uncomfortable, frightening stillness that pressed so hard and inexorably on my psyche. Stronger only was the persistent anxiety for the courageous, patient and proud wife, stubbornly not believing in miracles, but cheerfully and hand in hand to overcome the vicissitudes of fate. Though the spot of her flashlight flickered to his left and right, Rick could barely make out the monk's skinny back, looming in the dense thicket almost at the edge of his line of sight.
Half an hour passed at this measured, uneventful pace, and their languid movements showed a growing weariness. Because the monk had no thought of making the pass, Castle looked longingly at the phosphorescent clock face and the clear, cloudless sky, longing to own not food or other useful stuff, but something like a glider from "Star Wars". At the very least, a three-man hydrogen-powered helicopter. We'd be flying in comfort, navigating beneath those magnificent stars, spitting dismissively at the endless, malignant thorns. It would save strength and shorten the journey. It remains to be seen how difficult and dangerous their road really is, with no elevator at the end. What can you do, primitive savagery!
Awkwardly dodging a springy, sprawling branch, Rick sighed heavily. No matter how their fate would turn out, this was a road worth traveling. First of all, for Kate and their future, and then for the new, unusual experiences that would undoubtedly turn into entertaining texts. Colorful and on the fly, he will write exciting, interesting chapters, and his beloved, climbed on the couch with his feet and a laptop, will read and reread these lines, noting the insignificant in appearance, but important in fact. The tumultuous experiences of the trip were layered on top of others that were no less memorable, but the most poignant and fateful ones were yet to come. Of that Rick was firmly convinced, as well as of the fact that they were moving inexorably toward their destiny. His efforts should not be wasted, because it was not for nothing that he, Richard Castle, meticulously studied esoteric literature, interested in the history, rituals and traditions of Buddhism. His unwavering faith in their own powers should not go to waste, and they can do anything, surely the three of them, the four of them, or better yet, the five of them. It was only a pity that Kate had never got rid of her skepticism, but he would dispel it up there with the greatest tenderness and affection; he would devote himself to her, as he was used to, as he had done more than once, it simply could not be otherwise.
Dreaming big, Castle smiled broadly and was immediately slapped across the face with a sharp, painful slap.
- Ouch! Damn!" he cursed, his fingertips scratching his cheekbone and neck, and then stumbling backward for what must have been the hundredth time he'd fallen. - I wondered how monks were able to navigate in total darkness.
- I guess wizards don't lie about the third eye," Kate teased him good-naturedly, "and it's quite possible you've got one, too. Only it's not working at its full potential.
Beckett didn't shove behind Rick, who was tweezing his sore spots, but squeezed between his mighty torso and the unfriendly bush, heading toward the monk, who was leaning patiently on a staff by a large boulder. Mua Tuo, easy on the climb, had gone a little ahead, but seeing that the couple were lagging behind, finally relented and made a little halt.
- Yes? And where exactly should I look for him? - Castle was seriously puzzled. He caught up with Kate and stood beside her, shoulder to shoulder, anxiously groped her forehead, the top of her head, and long ruffled the short hair at the back of her head, then sighed wistfully:
- There's no trace of it, and without a brain scan you'll never find it. Honey, what do you think? - He turned hopefully to Kate.
With a quiet chuckle, Beckett directed the flashlight reflector upward and, taking Castle's face in the palm of her hand, kissed her softly on her brackish lips. She knew exactly what to do if Rick had another fantastic idea.
- If there is a third eye, only a thick cap will do," Kate patted Castle on the shoulder in a friendly manner, and gently tucked the collar of his sweat-drenched shirt, "otherwise the eye, even in sleep, will be awake all the time. Otherwise it would be nerve fatigue, which would affect your physical and mental activity, and when you do not sleep," she lifted on tiptoe and whiffed warmly in his ear, "you're such a bear cub!
- Oh, that's me! - Castle smiled, encouraged by the encouragement. - I will definitely take your advice to heart, and I already know where they make such hats.
Castle hugged his wife tightly, sensually, with a pulling kiss on the lips.
- I wonder how much further we have to go? - he asked, as if Kate were the guide, and when she shrugged her shoulders in surprise, turned to the monk. The monk didn't make a sound in reply. The monk, motionless as a statue, stood at the mossy, black boulder, the outline of his figure almost blurred in the darkness.
- He doesn't understand you, Castle," Kate said angrily, fixing her disheveled hair.
- He would if he were an emissary of the Guardian and not some reptiloid of Aludran," Castle replied confidently, pushing the knapsack down over his shoulders as he struggled to his feet. Now Rick's flashlight, shining above and to the right of the monk's head, somewhere there, on the border of light and shadow, "felt" a space free of tropics. Hmm, had they really come after all? True, the monk was still stoically silent.
They walked up to him with their hands under their arms, and Mua Tuo's friendly, nonchalant face blossomed into a white-toothed smile at the sight of the tired but still charming travelers. He waved a raised hand while turning his torso somewhere behind his back. Seeing the couple's genuine bewilderment, he folded his fingers into a pinch and poked them intermittently, first into Castle's chest, then into Kate's shoulder, then moved two fingers up and down, muttering something indistinctly.
Noisily, exhaling deeply, Rick frowned. It was hard to get into the gist of a conversation that resembled a dialogue between a mute and a deaf, but he had to. Castle let go of his beloved's thin hand, and, shining a light in the intended direction, shifted a couple of steps to the right. He extinguished the lantern. Kate followed his example. Now, in the total darkness, so dense that even faces were hard to see, only the pesky breathing of people could be heard, and the monotonous chirping of tireless cicadas.
- Kate, do you see anything out there? - said Rick, straining his eyes. There seemed to be a fuzzy yellow blur at the edge of the dark sky and the sullen cliffs.
- Blink a couple of times, Castle, and if the vision doesn't go away, that means we're seeing the same thing," Kate replied, sighing softly.
- I blinked a hundred times before my eyes went blind, and since my perception is absolutely unchanged, it's easy to figure out the nature of light," Castle suddenly chuckled foolishly, guessing that their tedious journey is finally coming to an end. - These are the laser beacons of the Agents of the World Escort, which, as they approach them, will flash noticeably brighter, illuminating the right path.
- Oh, Castle," Kate slyly rolled her eyes and even playfully pinched his lower back, "I'm begging you! Well, why waste your time with delusional fantasies? It's more likely to be the reflections of bronze candlesticks, or, more likely, the gas torches of old Hephaestus inserted in the wall niches," she nudged Rick mischievously. - Don't you agree with me?
- The gods are almost the same people, but one step closer to heaven. I'll look up the address of an underground forge on the internet," Castle wasn't embarrassed, "and when I find it, I'll order a blade from the Creator, like Damascus steel. It's to fend off the evil mertonians who dive at this altar. Now, let's get a move on, but I'll have a little more time with the monk.
There was an audible click, and a bright beam fell on the face of the still unperturbed Mua Tuo. The guide narrowed his already narrow eyes and bowed his head respectfully.
- Excuse me, sir, but are we there yet? - Castle coughed politely, wiggling up and down with two fingers, then stomped the tips of them on the other palm, imitating footsteps. - Are we really here?
Muah Tuo seemed to really understand them. He let out a long tirade with a deep wai, then waved his hand again toward the darkness. He put his staff under his arm and with his palms parallel to the ground rubbed them together in a sly grin.
- Oh, yes! I understand that gesture! - Castle cheered up and repeated it exactly. - That way, right? The two of us?
In answer, the monk poked his index finger first at the couple, then at the darkness, then at the sky, and repeated the hinting motion.
- It seems that we are firmly sent to the very place where, among a tangle of turbulent energies, our bodies will be intertwined in a mad dance of love, - sparkled a smug smile Rick. - Darling, I hope you don't mind this unusual seclusion? I've got a gauze blanket and mosquito repellents, soft blankets for comfortable sleeping, and food to satisfy your wildest hunger. Well, you get the idea.
- Didn't you take the fast-neutron coffee machine?" Beckett sighed with relief. I could tell she was tired from the trip, too.
- I still don't know if there's an outlet," Castle squinted slyly and looked appreciatively at the monk. Mua Tuo interpreted his gaze in his own way and took a step back and bowed with a friendly, reassuring smile. Rick responded in kind and shone a light into Kate's face. There was a lively, unmistakable light in her eyes now.
- I've never been with a man in such an unusual place before," Beckett bit her lip in a particularly sweet way, and suddenly opened her mouth in astonishment, "and where is Mua Tuo?
The monk had indeed disappeared, as if he'd vanished. The treacherous tropics seemed to have sucked his blood dry, dissolved his skeleton, and scattered his ashes in the wind.
- Gee! - I think I've heard of something like that before! Where's the end point of this secret portal, I wonder?
- Well, you'll probably never know," she grinned modestly. She touched her lips to Rick's chin, biting lightly at the coarseness of his short hair. - So, Castle, shall we go burn some grass?