Valley of the Mountain Goddess - Table of Contents  

 They surveyed the cliff-top. To their left and right, the rock rose steeply to scores of feet. The only way out was in front of them where the rock lay flat for a few hundred feet and afterwards fell steeply to the lake. Climb down a hundred feet, and they would be in the lake!
 There were several shrubs growing on the cliff-top, some small and some large.
“Let’s make some more rope and tie it to one of these shrubs. We can go down supporting ourselves on it,” suggested Sabu.
 During the next few days, they worked continually to make the required length of rope. In four days, they made some three hundred feet of coir and transported it in instalments to the cliff. This time, making the rope was easier because it was only one-third the size of the rope they had originally made. 
Fastening the coir to a young tree, they climbed down the rather steep face of the rock holding the coir.
 As they went down further, they saw that the face of the cliff on this side was not as steep as it was on the valley side. With a slight support on the coir they could walk down easily.
 They had not considered how they would get to the shore once they were in the lake.  As they scanned the lake, they noticed a small islet some three hundred yards from the point where they would reach the lake. Beyond the islet were the bamboo forest and the marsh, in which they had landed more than a year before.
By afternoon they returned home. In the traps they found a few birds. Sabu stoned down a fowl too. They reserved these for their journey, expecting that the trek home might take quite a few days.
 Now they went on a farewell visit to all the important spots in the valley. First they went to the cave of the robbers. The thieves had never visited it for more than a year now.  The tunnel through the thicket was now almost impenetrable, numerous branches growing into it.
 They went to the cave that had given them asylum during their initial days in the valley and squatted inside for a while and lay down with some emotion.  Then they went to the stream and the large pond where they used to swim and catch fish. They swam in it for the last time and said farewell to it as if to a close friend. Past the tree by which Sabu had climbed down to safety and the small tree that had supported Rajan on his fall from the cliff, they moved to the skeleton on the rock. It looked as though it was bidding them farewell with admiration.
After visiting every nook and corner of importance, they returned to their hut by nightfall.
 “I’d like to take home something as a souvenir,” said Rajan.
 “Let’s take a skull each,” suggested Sabu.
 “Oh! No,” disagreed Rajan. “Our peers would be quite upset.  Let’s take home some feathers of the birds we’ve caught.”
 When they woke up next morning, the sun was yet to come up and it was very cold.  They did not wait for the air to get warmer, but started off to the cliff top by their swing.
 Sabu hung the kitbag on his shoulder, and Rajan took the bundle of tattered clothes. They climbed down briskly, supporting themselves on the rope and plunged into the cold water.
 They kept close to the rock, and before long, they realised that they had started too early. The water was ice-cold and their limbs began to freeze. Moreover, it seemed that the distance to the islet they were heading was more than what they had thought.
 When they finally reached the islet, they fell on a rock like two logs, shivering out of cold and exhaustion.
 In half an hour they recovered somewhat. They spread their wet rags on the rock and surveyed the surroundings.
 Seeing a vallom towards the north, Rajan pulled out the binoculars from the kitbag and watched. His face darkened with fury as he watched an approaching vallom.
 Without a word he handed the instrument to his friend. Sabu too saw the vallom and his fist clinched in anger at what he saw in the approaching craft.