“She was so comfortable because she was familiar with your rooms,” Shan ventured. “She had been here before, more than once, I think. Because Lhakpa was here more than once.”

Shiva glanced warily at Shan then went back to painting her tortoise. “A snow monk is owed charity. It is the obligation of the devout.”

“I know how you work, Shiva. Special charms require much discussion with the person requesting them, so they can be tailored to the person and the place he is going to.”

“Or the demon he is going to encounter when getting there,” Shiva added in a professional, matter-of-fact voice.

“What charm did you give him, grandmother?”

Shiva lowered her brush and weighed his words. “In the old days astrologers were almost always monks or nuns. Words shared with a monk or nun are personal and confidential. What can be more personal than a horoscope?”

“But he wasn’t looking for a horoscope,” Shan suggested. “He wanted a charm. It would have been an old one, a Bonpo charm. The deity he was going to meet was Gekho the protector god.” He pointed to a spatter of paint on her easel. “You would have needed that blue paint for it.”

Her eyes flared for a moment, and she looked around as if worried someone might be listening. “Speak softly of such things,” she said in a low voice, then slowly nodded. “The Wrathful Demon Destroyer, they called him. I hadn’t heard his name spoken for years. They say he was one of the original gods, from when the mountains and humans were still being shaped. People say they are dead, but we don’t believe it. They are just sleeping. But it is very difficult to wake them,” she added in a troubled voice.

“We?” Shan asked. When she did not reply, he looked about the room, wondering if he had missed something. He discovered it on her little altar, a reversed swastika sign behind her little bronze Buddha, and realized he should not be surprised. Shiva herself respected the old Bonpo ways.

“You know that Gekho’s valley has been overrun by machines,” he said. “They are scouring everything from the surface.”

“We are taught that surfaces can be misleading,” the astrologer observed.

Shan was no longer sure what they were talking about. “I need to find Lhakpa, which means I need to find the path to Gekho.”

“Some things are more likely to come to those who don’t seek them.”

“I fear he is in grave danger.”

“The dangers, as the joys, of this life are fleeting. What endures is the truth.”

Shan was beginning to feel like he was participating in a Bonpo teaching. He tried a different approach. “I want the same charm you gave to him,” he said.

Shiva’s eyes went round. “No! You mustn’t ask! A charm for one man can be a curse for another. I told him so, especially for an outsider.”