Airship Stowaway

Into Lhasa

The days sped by in a blur of work and training. Joanna still thought of home and her mother, usually in the evenings, when 

she liked to go up to the rooftop landing pad, and meditate. But the pain was much less. She still wanted to return home, but she knew now that she could manage on her own. The desperation was gone, and in its place was a strong desire, a goal, that she was confident of achieving in time.

One day, after morning meditation, Deepak came rushing up to Joanna. "A group of us are going down into Lhasa today. Do you want to come with us?"

Joanna looked at him uncertainly. "I'd love to, but I suppose I need to check with Gansung."

Deepak laughed. "No need for that! Today is a holiday! That's why we're going!"

Soon Joanna was part of a large group of laughing and chattering novices, heading down the long staircases outside the palace. At the foot of the hill on which the palace was built they reached Lhasa proper, plunging into alleyways and across broader streets like a stream of saffron. 

Joanna tried to stay with Deepak as the excited boys ran from temple to shrine, pouring water over statues of the Buddha and receiving offerings of food. She was caught up in their excitement, enjoying the bustle and the noise, but there was an undercurrent of anxiety. she had never been in Lhasa before, and the further they moved from the palace the less sure she was of finding her way back through the maze of alleys. 

Deepak seemed to be surging ever further ahead in the press of bodies, and Joanna was struggling as hard as she could just to keep him in sight. The other novices seemed to flow forward effortlessly with small but rapid steps, whereas she seemed to be constantly stepping on the sandals or robes of those around her, and falling back to give herself more space. But whenever she did this, novices surged into the gap, creating the problem all over again. 

Finally she had to admit that Deepak was well out of sight. At the same moment, the tail end of the group passed her by, and with shocking suddenness she was all alone, except for a few stragglers rapidly hurrying away. In moments they too were gone. 

Sounds of music and laughter echoed faintly off the narrow walls of the alley. They sounded tantalisingly close, but it was impossible to tell which direction was loudest. Joanna fought down the rising panic and turned around slowly, trying to get her bearings. Logically she should go back the way she had just come, but that assumed the group had travelled in a straight line away from the palace, or as straight as was possible in the twisting alleys. But they might have been on a circular course, and the palace might lie directly ahead. 

It wasn't possible to see more than a sliver of sky between the walls of the buildings, so she couldn't get more than a vague idea of direction, but based on that she thought she should turn to the left off her current course. Heart pounding in her chest, she set off. 

After a few twists and turns she started to doubt her decision. The sounds grew no louder— if anything they seemed fainter, though it was hard to tell. And the alleys were so twisty it was very hard to move in one direction consistently. 

Joanna stopped in her tracks. Despair rose again in her, a sick feeling in her stomach. She was hopelessly lost, in a strange city, far from home. All her fears came rushing back, and so quickly it seemed she would be overwhelmed by them. She bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath and slow her hammering heart. 

"Are you alright?" As Joanna heard these words she felt a hand on her back. she straightened up, alarmed. A man was standing there, a concerned smile on his face. 

“I— well, not really," said Joanna. "I'm lost." She tried to return the smile, but her facial muscles wouldn't cooperate. 

"What's your name?" asked the stranger. He was middle-aged, with close-cropped iron-grey hair under his fedora, very smartly dressed in a dark double-breasted suit. 

"Jo," replied Joanna. She felt calmer. The familiarity of a native English speaker was comforting. 

The stranger smiled broadly, and stuck out his hand. “Jolly good to meet you, Jo! My name is Monmouth, Robert Monmouth."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr Monmouth."

"Oh, call me Robert,” said Monmouth, laughing. "Everyone else does!"

"I'll try to remember," said Joanna, not entirely comfortable with the idea. 

"So, let's get you back to safety," continued Monmouth. "I take it you're here with your parents, yes?"

"No," said Joanna. "I only have my mother in any event, but she's back on Aeropolis.”

"Don't tell me you're here all on your own!" 

Joanna nodded miserably. 

"How on earth did that happen?"

So Joanna told him the whole sorry story. When it was done, Monmouth was shaking his head in disbelief. 

"You are obviously a remarkably resilient young man, to have managed to cope with that. I don't know how you did it."

Joanna didn't feel very resilient, and thought that there hadn't been much choice but to cope. But she decided not to correct Monmouth’s assumption about her gender.

"Anyway, you must come with me, back to Aeropolis. I'm heading there in a few days. I'll make sure you get home." He smiled encouragingly. 

Joanna's heart leapt at his words. She could scarcely believe what she was hearing. The long weeks of waiting, seemingly without hope, were suddenly at an end! She was going home!

The smile was irrepressible, she felt her face nearly splitting with the joy of it. 

"Oh, thank you, sir! Am I really going home? Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Monmouth grinned. "But of course, I'm not going to leave you here, now am I?"

With Monmouth's direction they were soon back at the Potala Palace. Joanna eagerly sought out Lopsang, and introduced Monmouth to him. 

After greeting Lopsang courteously, Monmouth excused himself, saying that he had urgent business to attend to, but that he would return in two days to collect Joanna on his way out of Lhasa. 

Joanna could scarcely stop grinning. Lopsang shared her good humour. 

"I am very pleased for you, Joseph. I knew that this day would come, eventually.”

Joanna smiled back happily. "I can scarcely believe it's happened!”

Gansung greeted the news with a characteristic grunt. Although Joanna had expected this, she was nevertheless a bit disappointed that the caretaker could not share her joy. 

But Deepak more than made up for this. His whoops of joy had Joanna grinning and laughing again, even as she started to realise what leaving would mean.

They were standing at the edge of the courtyard outside their dorm, looking out over the valley below. 

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to miss this place," said Joanna, looking at the prayer flags fluttering in the wind. "And of course I'll miss you, and Lopsang, and my other friends."

Deepak continued to stare at the far-off mountains. "I will miss you too, my friend. But this is not where you belong."

He turned to face Joanna. "I am very glad that our paths crossed. But now you must return to your home and your family. As I will do, sooner or later. I do not really belong here either!"

Deepak suddenly reached out to embrace Joanna, hugging her hard for a moment. Before she could react, he was running off, calling back over his shoulder. "Come on, let's go and throw doughballs at the adepts!"

Joanna ran off after him.