The dark thoughts followed her, circling just overhead, like a buzzard waiting for her last breath. She followed the snowleopard and the American tiger along the river trail, alternately grasping at tree branches to steady herself, and rolling up the long legs of her borrowed slacks.

The dark canyon gave her a chill, despite the warm air. The fetid smell of jungle blossoms in each wet breath reminded her of the dank cavern she had been imprisoned in not but an hour before. So this Dominic wasn't finished with his jeux de salon. Bien sur, she could accomodate him. Maybe he could not die by rifle shot, but he could die another way perhaps. She would have to take her time, gathering l'information as she went.

As the three exited the canyon, Annette once again stopped to roll up the legs of her pants. She looked up, squinting in the new light, to see the magnificent Banyan tree. It looked like the beautiful women at the Mediterranian in late spring, gingerly extending a toe to the water, but hesitant to jump in. Around her ankles stood the sherpa and the red- headed man, as if they had been waiting for them all along.

As the two men shouted to the travelers, Annette hurried her pace to keep up with Tirseng. She noticed wonderment in his gaze as he looked at the cheveux du rouge.
"Hello George," Tirseng said, then he turned to her, "Annette...Mr George Mallory".

"Hello... Monsieur Mallory," she started. The short man covered the distance between them in a few short strides. Grasping her hand, he gave a slight but elegant bow and kissed the back of her hand before saying "Mademoiselle, Enchanté."
Taken aback by the stranger's perfect manners, Annette could only stand wide-eyed, while Tirseng managed a chuckle. "He was never one to take the easy path.."

The three had become five. Sitting beneath the skirts of the Banyan belle, they conversed quietly. There was no one in sight but they, yet Annette could not shake the feeling that someone was listening. Mallory and the sherpa explained to them that they weren't the only travellers making the trip to Shangri-La, but they were the first to arrive. If they wanted, the pair would guide them further and return for the others.

Tirseng and Mallory had sequestered themselves near one of the belle's roots, and Annette could barely overhear Tirseng telling him about their journey thusfar. When he reached the story of the ledge, and Curioso's accident, Annette bit her lip and fought back tears.
"The ledge, where?" asked Mallory
"Just upon entering," replied Tirseng, "After the labyrinth at the end of the Khumba.."
"Are you sure, old friend? I may be in this valley now, but I climb every chance I get, and I'll be damned if I don't remember there being a ledge there..."

Hearing this, Annette vaulted over the root and knelt in front of Mallory. "Vous dites cela encore! Again! What did you say?"
"I-I-I was only mentioning that I hadn't noticed a ledge in that portion of the trail before..."
"C'est lui! Tirseng!" she turned to her friend "The same as in the cave...the waterfall...gone when I looked again!"
"Dominic," sighed Tirseng.
"Oui, but don't you see? He might still be up there...alive!"
"Lizard," said Tirseng reproachfully, "We both saw him fall..."
"Yes, but we also saw this ledge, n'est pas? We might have seen him fall, but we never saw him land.."