We Are Not Eaten by Yaks by C. Alexander London Page B

was or how he got there. He smiled his winning smile, as if nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened. Then he fell down again.
    Lama Norbu came over and helped the explorer to his feet once more.
    â€œGreetings, Lama Norbu. So nice to finally meet you.” Dr. Navel pulled a long white silk scarf from under his shirt and presented it to the old man, bowing his head low. His children watched him curiously, but the old man did not seem surprised.
    â€œGreetings, Ogden,” said Lama Norbu, using their father’s first name, which almost no one ever did. He accepted the scarf graciously and hung it around his neck under his cloak.
    â€œWell, my friends, shall we be on our way, then?” their father said. He wiped his hands on his pants and looked up and down the cliff. “Lama Norbu, lead the way, sir!”
    â€œBut there’s no path,” Celia pointed out. “We’re on the edge of a cliff.”
    â€œThere is always a path,” explained Lama Norbu. “If your mind is open, you will find there is always a path out of your troubles. And in the quest for Shangri-La there are many paths . . . and many troubles.” He laughed at his little joke, and then pointed in front of him. Sure enough, there was a narrow path along the edge of the cliff, leading down into the forest below. “The path provided is not always the easiest,” he explained. “But it is always what is needed. We are meant to descend into the valley, it seems.”
    He slung his gun onto his back and started to walk down.
    â€œWhat about going to see the protector-spirit, Dorjee Drakden?” Dr. Navel asked. “Won’t we need his blessing?”
    â€œThe path tells us to go down, so we go down,” the lama replied quickly. “Perhaps the spirit will find us, perhaps not. And truthfully,” he said, lowering his voice to a near whisper, and losing his smile for the first time, “I do not know if we can trust the protector anymore. He has grown unpredictable. Times are dangerous.”
    For a moment Celia thought she saw a guilty look slide across Lama Norbu’s face, but the moment passed and his face snapped back into a smile. He turned and continued down the path, singing a little tune. Dr. Navel shrugged and followed close behind.
    â€œOh, children,” he said, turning over his shoulder to look at the twins. “Stay close so you don’t fall or get dragged off by any demons. And watch out for the Dugmas —Poison Witches can be tricky. And also thanks for”—he pointed up at the sky—“you know, whatever you did. Well done!” He smiled broadly, as if this whole situation was just the most fun he’d ever had, which in his mind it may have been. Then he turned and continued after the old monk scrambling down the side of the canyon.
    Oliver and Celia looked at each other in disbelief. Was that really all they got from their dad after saving his life? Celia scooped up their backpack, threw it onto her back and sighed. Oliver turned to go first, like always. Reluctantly, they followed their father down, toward the sound of howling monkeys and dangers they wouldn’t even want to see on television.

12
    WE LEARN ABOUT LAMAS AND LEOPARDS AND LIFE ITSELF

    THE NAVELS FOLLOWED Lama Norbu down the narrow path for what felt like hours, tripping over gnarly rocks and bushes. Oliver and Celia were tired from traveling all night and most of a day, falling out of an airplane, hanging from the edge of a cliff, being rescued by a machine-guntoting lama, and hiking into the deepest canyon in the world. They usually found Mr. Busick’s gym class exhausting.
    A scorpion scurried up a rock face as they passed, and two dark black birds chirped at them, flashing their wings to show the bright feathers on the underside, brilliant rainbows of color that seemed to glow against the rest of their ink-black bodies.
    â€œThere’s nothing to watch,”