Behind the Veil

Behind the Veil


The date was the 23rd of September 1994. I, along with my friends, got a very rare opportunity of accompanying a group of mountaineers to Mount Sauna. The peak was 2400 meters high. There was a small village close by, named Sara. The base camp was laid two kilometers south of the village and one kilometer away from the foot of the mountain. Snowcapped peaks surrounded the village on all sides.
We stayed at Sara for a day before we set out for the base camp. The village was small in size but it had a pretty good number of souvenir shops. June, a friend of mine, bought a book named ‘The Mysteries of the Mountains’ as a souvenir. The hotel where we spent our night was small but homely.
Next morning we took a car to the base camp. As the temperature went below the freezing point, we all started to rub our hands together. The mountaineers left us at the base camp and went on their way. We were to stay there until they returned, which would be at least a week.
The base camp was just some tents except the main building where we stayed was made up of wood. Snow covered the slanted roofs and the snow-white mountains soothed the view from the windows of our rooms.
We were the happiest lot of all. We had nothing to do, nowhere to go. And best of all there was no one who would stop us from staying awake late at night. We told stories to each other and June read from her book.
“And up the mountains they went. Strong winds blew against their faces. They had no idea where they were going…” June was telling her story.
“Why didn’t they have any maps or compasses with them?” I asked from under the blanket.
“Don’t be stupid. They can’t use those things in the middle of a storm.” June snapped.
“Oh, they were in the middle of a storm. I didn’t know.”
“Then why don’t you keep quiet!” Lily yelled.
I fell quiet. Suzy caught my eye and we smiled together before we attended the story.
“Even in the storm they heard the sound. And then they saw it.”
“What?” We asked in unison.
“A yeti-- the legendary abominable snowman.” June said and silence followed. Suzy and I could not stop giggling.
“Was it real?” Suzy asked. “Or did they see one of them and thought it to be a yeti in the storm?”
“It was real.” June became serious.
I could not believe it. Besides me and Suzy, everybody believed the yeti to be true.
“Alright. That was a very nice and exciting story. But it’s one in the morning and we’d better go to sleep.” I said and turned off the light near my bed.
Every body went to bed and turned out the light. The room turned dark.
I know them very well. They love reading stories but they don’t know the barrier between fantasy and reality. They would believe anything that’s written in the books. Now they have heard that there are yetis dwelling in these mountains. I was afraid that they might want to see it and regrettably that fear of mine came true.
The next morning they came to me to say that they had planned to go mountaineering. To answer my question as to why, Lily said she was getting bored, June said she loved mountains, Sony said she wanted to feel the snow, etc.
“You want to find the yeti, right?” I asked.
June lowered her head a bit, and then said, “You wouldn’t go with us if I tell you the truth and we can’t go without you.”
She was right about that. Before the mountaineers went their way their leader, Mr. Brent, dispensed me with the responsibility of the girls’ group. I knew I would get into trouble with it and couldn’t deny it. But still I denied the girls at once. I knew I broke their heart but otherwise I would have taken a big risk. But if you are destined to get into trouble there is no force on Earth that can save you. They kept on talking about the yeti. Suzy was the only one who was a little different from them and had a sense of reality. But somehow they managed to convince Suzy to go with them.
“You too!” I was very surprised to see Suzy come and ask me to go on with them. “I thought you had more sense than they do.”
“Sorry, but I think one small trip won’t hurt.”
“Mr. Brent will kill me if the cold doesn’t. And besides, going to the mountains is not a walk through the park. It needs experience and…” those words did not hold much water. Finally, I had to agree to go. I could not stand the long faces they made.
Next morning we packed our backpacks. They did not allow me to tell the superintendent where we were going. We lied to him and sneaked our bags out.
I don’t know what how the girls thought it would be, but it was certainly not a walk in the park. Our inexperience did not help us to get the job done the right way. We tied each other with ropes so we were separated by three feet from each other. I was in front and Suzy was at the back. Sony was right behind me followed by June and then Lily. Even a half hour walk made me feel sick. I did not know about the others, but Sony's face looked terrified.
“Feeling the snow Sony?” I shouted at her. She nodded and I think saw her frown.
The weather was fine when we started. There were a few clouds floating by and a steady wind. I am no mountain expert or weather predictor but I had a feeling it might start to snow soon. After an hour I felt it too much.
“I think we have had enough for our first expedition girls. Let’s go back.” I said.
“Not now. A little further.” June shouted from behind.
“Look over there.” Suzy pointed at something and we all turned to what it was.
“I don’t see anything.” Lily complained.
“Look at the sky.” I said and gathered everyone together. “There's a storm brewing. We will have to get back, right now.”
“But we have not seen anything yet.” June whined.
“We won’t be able to see each other once the storm starts. These mountain blizzards are dangerous, June.”
The wind grew with every minute. We had no idea where we were going; we could hardly see any thing. The storm was blinding us. The wind was high and nothing was audible. But even in that condition I was able to hear a cry.
“Sony was that you?” I called.
At the same moment, Suzy called to me. “Did you cry?”
We stopped. If none of us did, then who was it? We stood in a circle, not knowing where to go and how to go. We heard it again – a cry. It was like someone or something was groaning in pain. Then we heard a grumbling sound. We looked all around but could not find the source. A couple of seconds later I felt a vibration under my feet and looked up to see a huge mass of snow rolling down the slope.
It was an avalanche.
We ran as fast as we could. It was hard to run but we had to get out of the way. Someone slipped and we all fell down. We started to roll down the hill. There was no stopping and we were trapped. I heard the girls calling out names and crying but there was nothing I could do. We were run over by the avalanche and under a blanket of snow and ice in a fraction of a second. I stretched out my hands just with a faint hope that someone might see and save us.

I heard someone cough. Then I saw the soft snowfall through the window.
“You are slow to come around.” I looked over to find Suzy sitting beside me.
“We are alive.” I mumbled.
Suzy smiled.
“Is everybody alright?” I asked.
“Yes.” A heavy voice said.
I jumped off the bed. It was Mr. Brent.
“Now may I know what you people were doing out in the middle of nowhere?”
“It’s our fault.” June said.
It’s useless to mention that we got a very good scolding for our foolishness. What happened was that the mountaineers got the forecast of the storm and were heading back. The superintendent discovered us missing and informed the mountaineers. They came our way and found us buried under tons of snow.
Later, we were all in our bed but none could sleep. We had the same thoughts in our minds. What were we doing? How foolish could I be to allow them to do such a dangerous thing?
“I am sorry.” June spoke up suddenly. “If I had not forced you to take us to the mountains none of this would have happened.”
“Stop crying now.” Suzy said slowly.
“We should have given it more thought.” Sony replied.
“I don’t believe it. We almost got ourselves killed for that yeti.” Lily growled from under her blanket. “Why did we have to hear that story?”
I heard June weeping in her bed.
“Stop it.” I said to stop Lily. “It does not matter what happened. What matters is that we are all safe. Now everybody better go to sleep. Tomorrow is a new day.”
Every body fell quiet and turned in their beds.
“June,” I called; she was still crying. “Crying won’t solve your problem. You have to know what you are doing before you take any further steps. It you want to find the yeti then you need to study about them. You need to know the mountains, feel them.”
“Thanks.” June wiped her tears but was still crying.
“No problem.” I said and then added, “You know I am going to cook tomorrow’s lunch.”
“What?” her face changed completely.
“Yes. Just try my cooking. Wouldn’t you like to taste it?”
“Oh, no. You better stay away from the kitchen.” She laughed a bit and turned to sleep.

I was trying to sleep but one thing kept me awake. What was that sound we heard before the avalanche hit? Who was that crying? It was like someone was warning us. If I had asked the girls they would have said that it was a yeti. But I can’t take it that for granted. I think it was one of the unsolved ‘Mysteries of the Mountains’.