His words trailed off as he pushed through the gloom—and realized what lay on the other side.
Where the back wall should have been lay the opening to a stone-walled staircase that descended into a steep channel in the earth.Arched arcades braced the walls in cake-like layers.Green vines spilled down over the lip of the ground.Cool air wafted up strangely from the obscure depths ahead.
“It’s so lovely!”Constance’s voice was softly breathless as she gazed at the narrow, haunted descent.
Neil’s mind spun with scholarly fascination.“But all of this is deliberate!Think of the pressure that must be pushing in on all of this at the soil levels—that’s why they built all those arches.They’re systematically designed to hold everything in place.Have you any idea the complexity of that sort of engineering?And all of this must have been designed nearly a thousand years ago!
“The engineering is very nice,” Constance conceded.“But now let’s see where it all goes.”
She tugged him onto the stairs.Soft light alternated with deeper shadow as they passed under the stacked arches.
Moss clung to the walls.Small flowers and ferns grew tenaciously from the cracks in the mortar.
The heat of the day faded, replaced by a cool stillness that whispered of damp and smelled of ancient stone.
They passed under another tower of arcades, and Neil craned his neck back to see the layers climb four stories to the distant ground above.
“The calculations that must have been involved…” he wondering wistfully, itching for a theodolite and a measuring tape.
The stairwell fell into a tunnel carved through solid bedrock.Neil tore his attention from the marvels overhead to follow Constance inside.Gloom fell over him and then receded as the tunnel ended—and they reached their destination.
Neil found himself at the base of a shaft cut into the earth.It soared up to a distant square of light dimmed by the far green leaves of the trees.Galleries lined the space at each level, ornately carved pillars framing shadowy recesses carved into the stone.
At his feet, a few short steps led down to a landing that ringed a deep pool of still, green-tinted water.
Old readings burst back to life in Neil’s brain, filling him with both recognition and a wild sense of wonder.
“Municipal water systems!”he burst out, his voice choked with excitement.
“What’s that?”Constance frowned at him from where she was making her way around the lower gallery, examining the structure.
Neil waved his hand at the towering shaft.“It’s a stepwell!We’re standing in a stepwell!”
Constance’s eyes flashed with amusement.“You’re going to have to elaborate on that, Stuffy.”
Neil quickly circled the pool as he craned his neck at the distant opening overhead.“They’re meant to provide access to water during times of drought.Indians have been building them since ancient times, but I’ve never actually seen one before, only read about them.”
A quick flapping sounded from behind him.Neil whirled toward it, nearly losing his footing and tumbling into the water.He managed to right himself as a sparrow darted out of the shadows of the gallery.The bird made a frantic circle of the well before disappearing between the pillars of the upper level.
Something about the shadows where the bird had emerged tugged at Neil’s attention.He moved closer, and a figure emerged from the gloom.
Neil startled, his hand automatically flailing for his sword until he realized that he wasn’t looking at an intruder but rather a shape carved from pale gray stone.
The statue was straight and still, its hands pressed together over its chest in a gesture of prayer.The stone form was decorated with carved beaded bracelets, armbands, and necklaces, but it was the distinctive features of its face that made Neil’s eyes go wide with surprise.They reminded him of the irritable langur that had guided them to this place—with the wise gaze and rounded jaw of a monkey.
“Oh, it’s Hanuman!”Constance darted over for a better look.“He must be here to mind the well.He’s meant to be very devoted and courageous because of how loyal he was to Lord Rama.”
Neil pulled up what he could recall about the god.He had been Rama’s companion, as close as a brother to him, standing by his side and lending aid throughout Rama’s quest to free his wife from the demon Ravana.
But Hanuman had also turned out to possess supernatural powers of his own, thanks to his unknown history as the…
“Son of the Wind!”Neil blurted out.
“Are you cursing?”Constance prodded.
“No…” Neil stammered.“I’m talking about Hanuman—in the Ramayana.It’s some sort of divine conception, which is most likely a metaphor for—”
“Stuffy,” Constance warned.
