The Offer · Eleven Steps From the Edge · Pulse Beat
In the autumn, a large expedition company wrote to Tashi. It was a polished, expensive letter on thick paper. They had heard, it said, of his course, and wished to hire him as head guide for the…
In the autumn, a large expedition company wrote to Tashi.
It was a polished, expensive letter on thick paper. They had heard, it said, of his course, and wished to hire him as head guide for the spring season. We would offer a salary of four times what you earned previously, it read, and we are keen to promote your training in the community. There was a number at the bottom. It was more than the village's whole income.
He sat with the letter on the kitchen table for a long time. His sister, watching from the stove, did not say anything.
"I could do a lot with that," he said at last. "The school. A clinic. Karma's fees."
"You could."
"And I'd be back on the mountain."
"You would." She wiped her hands on her apron. "Do you want to be?"
He looked out of the window, where the ridge stood white against a hard blue sky. The honest answer was: yes, and no, and that he did not know any longer who he would be, up there, without Dorje on the rope ahead.
"Go and ask the mountain," said his sister. "You always did."