The Moghul Part 76

"The army will be there, men with half-pikes." He smiled easily.

"You're in no danger."

Ahead the woods seemed to open up, and the gra.s.s was shorter, perhaps only as high as a man's waist. Deer darted wildly from side to side, contained by high nets that had been erected around the sides of the clearing. As they approached, Hawksworth saw a long line of several hundred water buffalo waiting, heavy bovine animals with thick curved horns dipping back against their heads, each fitted with a leather saddle and reined by a rider on its back. The reins, which pa.s.sed through the buffalo's nostrils, were held in one hand by a mounted soldier, whose other hand grasped a naked broadsword.

"Those men may well be the bravest soldiers in the army." Nadir Sharif pointed to the riders, who were all saluting Arangbar's arrival.

"Theirs is a task I do not envy."

"What do they do?"

"You will see for yourself, Amba.s.sador, in just a few moments."

From beyond the other side of the clearing, as though on an agreed signal, came the sound of beaters. As the Imperial elephants drew near the gray line of buffalo, their riders began to urge them ahead. The buffalo snorted, knowing what waited in the gra.s.s, and then they lumbered forward, tossing their heads in disquiet. The line of buffalo was curved in the shape of a half-moon, and Arangbar urged his elephant directly behind them. The gra.s.s ahead swarmed with frightened game, as deer and antelope dashed against the nets and were thrown back, and from the woods beyond, the clatter and shouts of the beaters increased.

Suddenly from out of the gra.s.s a tawny head appeared, with gold and black stripes and heavy whiskers. The animal dashed for the side of the enclosure, sprang for freedom, and was thrown back by the heavy net.

Hawksworth watched it speechless, unprepared for the size and ferocity of an Indian tiger. It was enormous, with powerful haunches and a long striped tail. The tiger flipped to its feet and turned to face the line of buffalo with an angry growl.

Arangbar clapped his hands with delight and shouted in Urdu to the line of riders, all--Hawksworth now realized-- Rajputs. The buffalo snorted and tried to turn back, but their riders whipped them forward. The tiger a.s.sumed a crouching stalk along the gray, horned wall, eyeing a large dark buffalo with a bearded rider. Then it sprang.

The buffalo's head went down, and when it came up a heavy curved horn had pierced the tiger's neck. There was a snort and a savage toss of the head that flung the wounded tiger upward. As it whirled in the air, Hawksworth saw a deep gash across its throat. The Rajput riders nearby slipped to the ground and formed a wall of swords between Arangbar and the tiger as the line of buffalo closed in, bellowing for the kill. In what seemed only moments the tiger was horned and pawed to a lifeless pulp.

"Superb!" Arangbar shouted something to the enclosed _howdah _that Hawksworth did not understand. "A hundred gold _mohurs_ to every man on the line."

The Rajputs remounted their buffalo, retrieving the reins from the b.l.o.o.d.y gra.s.s, and the line again moved forward.

"This is a variation on His Majesty's usual tiger hunt," Nadir Sharif shouted through the dust, above the din of bellowing buffalo and trumpeting elephants. "Often he shoots, but today His Majesty elected merely to watch. Actually, animal fights have long been a favorite pastime in India."

At that moment a pair of tigers emerged from the gra.s.s and stared at the approaching line of buffalo. They did not seem frightened, as had the first, and they watched the line coolly, as though selecting a strategy. Then they dropped into a crouching stalk, moving directly toward the center of the line.

Hawksworth noticed Arangbar suddenly order his mahout to hold back his elephant. The other Imperial elephants had also paused to wait. Then Arangbar turned and ordered the servant who rode behind him to pa.s.s forward a long-barreled, large-caliber sporting piece. Allaudin, whose fright was transparent, also signaled for a gun.

Hawksworth's mahout pulled his elephant directly behind Arangbar's, as though for protection.

The tigers seemed in no hurry to engage the buffalo. They scrutinized the approaching line and waited for their moment. Then, when the buffalo were no more than ten feet away, both sprang simultaneously.

The female was speared on the horn of a buffalo, but she flipped in midair and sank her teeth into the leather shielding on its neck. As its Rajput rider slipped to the ground, the male of the pair dashed past his mate and sprang for him. The Rajput swung his broadsword, catching the tiger in the flank, but it swatted him aside with a powerful sweep of its paw and he crumpled, his neck shattered. Other Rajputs rushed the male tiger with their swords, as their buffalo closed in to kill the female, but it eluded their thrusts as it circled Arangbar's elephant. Soldiers with half-pikes had already rushed to form a barricade between Arangbar's elephant and the tiger, but the Moghul seemed unperturbed. While the panting male tiger stalked Arangbar, the female tiger was forgotten.

As Hawksworth watched spellbound, his pulse pounding, he caught a yellow flicker out of the corner of his eye and turned to see the female tiger slip past the ring of buffalo and dash toward the rear of Arangbar's elephant. It was on the opposite side from the armed soldiers, where the Moghul's elephant was undefended.

Hawksworth opened his mouth to shout just as the female tiger sprang for Arangbar, but at that moment a shot rang out from the enclosed howdah of Queen Janahara and the female tiger crumpled in midair, curving into a lifeless ball as it smashed against the side of the Moghul's mount.

The jolt caused Arangbar's shot at the male tiger to go wide, merely grazing its foreleg. A dozen half-pikes pierced its side as it stumbled forward, and it whirled to slap at the Rajputs. Allaudin also fired his tiger gun, but his shot missed entirely, almost hitting one of the men trying to hold the tiger back. It whirled in a b.l.o.o.d.y circle for a moment, and then stopped.

It was staring at Hawksworth.

He heard his mahout shout in terror as the tiger sprang for the head of their elephant. A wrap of yellow fur seemed to twist itself around the elephant's forehead as the tiger dug its claws into the protective leather padding. As k.u.mada tossed her head in panic, the mahout screamed again and plunged for safety, rolling through a clump of brown gra.s.s and scrambling toward the soldiers.

The tiger caught Hawksworth's eyes with a hypnotic gaze as it began pulling itself over the forehead of the terrified elephant, directly toward his howdah. k.u.mada had begun to whirl in a circle and shake her head, futilely trying to dislodge the wounded fury slashing at her leather armor. The tiger slipped momentarily, then caught its claws more firmly and began to climb again.

Almost without thinking, Hawksworth reached forward and grabbed the _ankus_, the short pike and claw used for guiding an elephant, that the mahout had left lodged in a leather fold behind the elephant's head. He wrenched it free and began to tease the tiger back.

k.u.mada was running now, wildly it seemed, toward a large _pipal _tree at the edge of the clearing. But the tiger had pulled itself atop her head and, as Hawksworth jabbed its whiskered face with the _ankus_, he heard a deep growl and saw a flash of yellow and claw as a sharp pain cut through his shoulder.

He knew he was falling, dizzily, hands grasping against smooth leather as he slipped past the neck of the elephant, past its flapping ear, against a thundering foot that slammed the dust next to his face.

k.u.mada had suddenly stopped dead still, throwing him sprawling against the base of the _pipal _tree. He looked up to see the tiger suspended above him, glaring down, clawing at the face of the elephant and bellowing with pain.

Then he heard the snap of the tiger's spine, as k.u.mada slammed it again and again against the ma.s.sive trunk of the

tree, Only when the tiger was motionless did she let it drop, carefully tossing its body away from Hawksworth as it tumbled lifeless onto the gra.s.s.

Hawksworth looked up through the dust to see Arangbar pulling his elephant alongside.

"That was most auspicious, Inglish. It's an ominous and evil protent for the state if a tiger I have shot escapes the hunt. If that beast had succeeded in going free, we would have had to send the entire army into the countryside to find and kill it. Your k.u.mada saved me the trouble. The G.o.ds of the southwest have been auspicious for our reign today. I think you brought us luck."

"I thank Your Majesty." Hawksworth found himself gasping for breath.

"No, it is you we must thank. You were quick-witted enough to keep the tiger where k.u.mada could crush it." Arangbar called for his own elephant to kneel, and he walked briskly to k.u.mada, who was still quivering from fright. He stroked her face beneath the eye and she gentled perceptibly. It was obvious she loved Arangbar. "She's magnificent. Only once before have I ever seen an elephant do that. I hereby promote her immediately to First Rank, even though a female." He turned to Nadir Sharif. "Have it recorded."

As Hawksworth tried to rise, he felt a bolt of pain through the shoulder where the tiger had slapped him. He looked to see his leather jerkin shredded. Arangbar seemed to notice it too and he turned and motioned to Nadir Sharif, who signaled to another man, who called yet another. Moments later a physician was bending over Hawksworth. He probed the skin for a painful moment and then slammed a knee against Hawksworth's side, giving the pained arm a quick twist.

Hawksworth heard himself cry out from the pain and for a moment he thought he might lose consciousness. But then his mind began to clear and he realized he could move the arm again. The pain was already starting to abate.

"I suggest the shoulder be treated with compresses for a few days, Majesty." Nadir Sharif had dismounted from his elephant and was there, attentive as always.

"Then he must be sent back to Agra."

"Of course, Majesty." Nadir Sharif stepped closer to Arangbar. "But perhaps it would be equally wise to let the _feringhi _rest somewhere near here. Perhaps at the old city." He turned and pointed toward the west. "There at Fatehpur. I think there may still be a few Sufi hermits there who could attend the shoulder until _shikar _is over. Then he could return with us."

Arangbar turned and shaded his eyes as he stared at the horizon. Above the tree line could be seen the gate of the fortress at Fatehpur Sekri.

"But my shoulder is fine now." Hawksworth tried to move into the circle of conversation. "There's no need . . ."

"Very reasonable." Arangbar seemed to ignore Hawksworth as he turned back to Nadir Sharif. "You can escort the Inglish to the fortress. Call up a palanquin for him. Leave your elephant here and take a horse."

As the physician bound Hawksworth's arm in readiness, a palanquin was brought from among the women's elephants. "A contingent of Rajputs can go with him." Arangbar shouted instructions to the captain of his guard and watched the men fall into formation. Then he remounted his elephant and signaled for the buffalo to resume their sweep of the tall gra.s.s.

As the party started forward, Hawksworth saw Nadir Sharif shout orders to one of the servants attending him. And as four Rajputs lifted Hawksworth's palanquin off the ground, a servant rushed forward to shove a flask inside.

It was brandy. Hawksworth turned to see Nadir Sharif grinning, a gleam in his eye.

She watched the palanquin ease up the weathered, winding path leading to the fortress gate. The procession had moved slowly through the gate at the northeast corner of the city's walls and now the Rajputs were cl.u.s.tered around the palanquin and the lone rider. The night was still, awash in a wild desert fragrance, and the moon was curing slowly from white to a rarified gold. Her vantage, in a corner turret of the wall, was shadow-less and perfect. She examined the rider and smiled when she recognized the face.

Nadir Sharif. You have kept your part of the bargain. All of it.

As she studied him through the half light, she wondered why they were coming a day earlier than planned. Then the palanquin stopped and the other figure emerged. She hesitated before looking, at last forcing herself, willing her eyes to see.