Chapter 13 — The Camera on the Ground

On the morning of November 14th, Rohan was not on the boat when the others woke.Madan Das had been awake — he slept on the boat in two-hour intervals, an old fisherman's habit — and he had not seen Rohan leave. The gangway was rigged, the shore was accessible. The mud on the gangway showed a footprint going out and no footprint returning.They called for him. No answer.They searched the immediate area — the permitted landing platform, the accessible bank on either side, the edge of the mangrove margin.Haripada stood at the boat's stern and looked at the forest."He's gone back," he said."Back where?" Samir said. "Back to—""To the temple," Haripada said. He said it without particular emotion. The way you stated a fact whose implications were already known."Why?" Priti said. "Why would he—""The taking is not always complete," Haripada said. "Sometimes what the temple takes is not enough. Sometimes it takes a little and then — calls for more." He looked at the forest. "The ones it calls back go. They can't not go.""We have to follow him," Samir said."You can try," Haripada said."That's not—will you take us?"Haripada looked at him. The inventory look."Yes," he said. "But I want you to understand something. When we find Rohan—and we may not find Rohan—what we find may not be Rohan anymore. Not entirely.""What does that mean?""It means the temple doesn't give back what it takes," Haripada said. "What goes back to the temple stays there. What walks out afterward is whatever is left."